Jump Start # 2355

1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

NOTE: Monday is a holiday and there will not be a Jump Start that day.

Memorial Day Weekend is upon us. Picnics and cooking out. Graduation parties. Big car race in Indy. Beatles festival in Louisville. Lots of stuff going on. But it is also a time to reflect. Veterans Day honors the service men and women who serve. Memorial Day honors those in uniform who never made it back home. They gave their lives serving their country. I often wonder what impact wars have had upon congregations. There have been times when just about every able bodied male was involved in the war effort. This must have drained congregations of deacons and possible even elderships. And, when the wars were over, some never came home. The impact not only to the families but to the people of God must have been enormous.

Our verse today, one of several in which Paul reminds the preacher Timothy that they were engaged in a spiritual battle. There was a fight of faith taking place. Paul expected Timothy to be involved in that fight and to battle well. Those strong military terms often do not set well with our times today. Folks want peace at all costs. Can’t we get along, often means laying down the sword and smoking the peace pipe of compromise. Toleration is the new definition of love. Don’t judge. Don’t condemn. Don’t point fingers. And, definitely do not engage in battles. Today’s philosophy has no fighting the good fight, other than condemning Christians for simply doing what the Bible says.

Fight the good fight of faith. Several things to pull from those thoughts.

First, the world, especially Satan, is hostile to our faith. Satan can appear nice. He can engage in conversations with Eve. He can look like one of the sheep. He can appear to be helpful, nice and not all that bad. Oh, but he is. He wants to kill you. He wants to destroy your marriage, wreck your congregation and get you on that downward path to Hell. His words are lies. His fruit is poison. He confuses with his twisted thinking. He shifts priorities. He focuses upon things that do not matter. He is external and shallow. He is all about the moment. He hides the consequences and provides a crowd to cheer you on as you happily slide away from the Lord without realizing it.

We are engaged in a battle. We are going different directions and we are after different things. What is of value to the Christian, is mocked by the world. Labels, name dropping, image, and impressing others seems to mean a lot to the world. The child of God is interested in pleasing the Lord.

So, we must protect what is dear to us. We must guard our children. We must keep our congregation free from error. We must keep our lives and hearts pure. We do this by feeding upon the word of God. We do this by saying “No,” when the world wants us to say “yes.” We must draw lines and never cross those lines. We must teach, protect and walk continually with the Lord. Little by little, Satan is trying to chip away at our values. A show here. A movie there. A book. A website. A friend. A step, just one step, closer to the world. After a bit of time, just one step, that’s all, closer to the world. Then, only one more step. And before you know it, there we are, standing right beside the world. How did we get there? A step. Then another step. We weren’t paying attention. We weren’t sharp. We weren’t fighting the fight. We weren’t holding our ground.

Second, there are some things that are non-negotiable towards the world. Our families are off limits to the world. Our congregations are off limits to the world. Our hearts are off limits to the world. Fighting can be intense. Our brave military men and women are first trained, then they are equipped with the best weapons in the world, and then they are led by those who are experienced. They are not left on their own. That’s what we must do to both our families and our congregations. We must train them. We must equip them. And, then, we must lead them.

I have never been in the military. My dad was. He was a marine in World War II. We’ve watched many war movies together. Most times he’ll say, “It wasn’t like that.” He’s told me some stories. I’m amazed. He was just a country boy freshly graduated from high school who had never left the county he was born in. When I think about all of that, I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t have made it. Wars are not nice. Property is destroyed. Fields are torn up. Animals die. And, the greatest causality, is that people are killed. Name the war, and people died. Look at the battles in the Bible. People died. Look at the battles in history. People died.

When I think about this expression, “fight the good fight of faith,” this is intense. It’s going to be tough. Wars are dirty, hard and exhausting. I wonder how we translate all of that spiritually? We need a seriousness about what we are doing. This is why the apostles tell us to be sober minded. Pay attention. Get serious. Not everything is funny. Not all of life is to be a joke. Families are dying all around us spiritually. Sexual affairs, addictions, neglect, indifference and apathy are killing the people of God. It’s time to put on the full armor of God. It’s time to lace up our boots and grab our shield and sword. Someone is after your heart. Are you going to let them get it or are you going to fight to the very end, defending what you know is right?

Third, unlike physical wars, the outcome of this battle is certain. The Lord wins. Read Revelation. Satan is punished forever in the lake of fire. The tools God gives us will defeat Satan. Stick with God and you’ll come out on the other side victoriously. You may have a few wounds and a scar or two, but it’s war. It’s hard not to have a few scars. But in the end, we win. We win because God wins. Satan wants you to feel overwhelmed. Satan wants to scare you. He wants you to lower your weapon and give up. He wants you to believe that there is no hope. He wants you to think that you just cannot go on any more. He wants you to surrender, because he knows that if you stick close to the Lord, that you will win. He cannot defeat the Lord. He tried and he failed. Jesus crushed the head of that ole’ serpent. And, yes, Jesus had a few scars. There were nail prints. There was a pieced side. There were wounds from a crown of thorns. But, those were not enough to conquer the Lord.

This Memorial Day, remember that we are all soldiers. We are fighting the greatest battles of all time, the battle for our hearts. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory!

Roger

Jump Start # 1554

1 Timothy 6:12 “”Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

This week our Jump Starts are looking at the theme of “fighting the good fight.” We are engaged in a war. What is at stake is our souls. Jesus had warned His followers that people would love darkness more than light. He warned them that they would be hated because of His name. Nothing has changed about that. The modern church has tried to smoke the peace pipe with the world but that hasn’t worked. The result has watered down the message of God and presented a weak church that bows down to the whims of the world. The church, it’s message and it’s Savior seems weak, pointless and out of touch with the world. We must dig in and fight. There must be no ground given up. We must allow God to put a stake in the ground and then rally around the Lord. We must hate what God hates and love what the Lord loves. There is a fight going on. We will fight by the rules. We will not get in the mud and call names or do things that Jesus would never do. It’s not that kind of fight.

One of the things that often happens is that a person doesn’t realize that he is in a fight until it is too late. This happens especially in the family. For instance, how often do we learn of a couple filing for divorce. It is at that time that one of them reaches out. They are in a panic state and they want people, especially the leaders of the church to come and save the marriage. For a long, long time there has been trouble. Things haven’t been good in a long time. Never did this one spouse ever say anything. Maybe it’s pride. Maybe she believed it would just turn around. Maybe she never saw that there was a fight going on for her marriage. Satan was trying to tear them apart. But now, days before the marriage is officially over, she reaches out. She is expecting a miracle. Why won’t someone do something, she says to herself. He’s moved out and moved on. He’s already replaced her with someone else. A person cannot wait until their boat is about to go over the waterfall before they cry for help.

The same could be said of parenting. A teenager has been in a downward spiral. His grades stink. He’s friends stink. Sometimes he even stinks. His attitude has been disrespectful and hateful for a long time. He’s been drinking. He’s played around with drugs. He has no interest in God. One night he gets arrested. The embarrassed parents finally reach out to the shepherds of the church wanting them to save their child. He’s been in the far country for a long, long time. Why didn’t they reach out before? Why didn’t they ask for help the instant they saw trouble? Why did they wait until the boat is on the waterfall before they cried for help? Did they not realize that a fight was going on? Did they not see that Satan was trying to steal the heart of their child?

The congregation is like a pit crew on a racing team. The driver has his job but he needs to come in and get refueled. He needs fresh tires. He needs to makes some adjustments. The owner is talking to the driver over the radio. Then the driver zooms back to the race, fueled and ready to journey on. This is our relationship with the church. We need others to help refuel us. We need some fresh tires. We need someone to talk to us. But in the end, it is each of us that must get back out there and journey on. No one can do that for us. No one can finish our race for us. But they certainly can lighten the load. They can sit with us when we are facing difficult times. They can encourage us when we feel like quitting. They can energize us to get through one more day.

Each of us are engaged in fighting our own battles. Others can hand us equipment. They can be there to cheer us on. They can stand beside us. They remind us. But it is our own battles that we must face. Fight the good fight of faith is not a battle that we struggle through alone. The Lord is with us. This is a spiritual battle. This is the Lord’s battle. The battle ground is our hearts and that’s why we are involved. The battle ground is our marriages and our families and our congregations. We will not let Satan have those. We will fight until there is no more fight in us.

There is no reason for any to battle alone. The structure of the church is that we need each other. We need each other to pray, to encourage and to remind us. All around us today, are little reminders that we are in a battle. An off color joke here. An immodest billboard there. A trashy TV show. A song filled with hate. Satan is trying to change your values. He is trying to get you to enjoy the moment for the price of selling your soul. He wants you, like Esau, to trade your birthright for a bowl of soup. Enjoy the moment is the message of Satan. Don’t take this stuff too seriously, is the message of Satan. Everyone is doing this. You are missing out. Surround yourself with people who think differently than you do and before long, you’ll become like they are.

There is a battle going on. Is it time for you to get some help? Is it time for you to talk to the folks at church for advice? Is it time for you to meet with the shepherds and open up your Bible and see what you need to be doing? Are you going to sit back and watch your kids be taken away from you by Satan? Are you going to sit back and watch your marriage fall apart, while Satan smiles?

Fight the good fight—roll up your sleeves, open your Bible, draw a line in the sand and get tough. How serious are you? Jesus said if your right eye offends you, pluck it out? Would you do that? Would you go through this life without a smart phone, cable TV, internet, if it meant saving your soul? Would you? What price would you pay? Would you travel an hour one way to be part of a thriving congregation? Would you? What price would you pay?

Fight the good fight—

Roger

Jump Start # 1553

1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

  I was called to the hospital late last night. A dear brother hovers near death. I sat with his wife and watched the numbers on monitors bounce up and down. The thought that angels may have been in the room ready to usher his soul into eternity crossed my mind. Our passage for today also came to my mind. One of the greatest fights a person goes through is the fight to live. The body can do remarkable things to just hang on.

The good fight. Paul’s words to Timothy were about the spiritual battle that Christians are engaged in. There are many “fights” in life—some good, some not so good.

Parents will fight to have quality education and decency taught to their kids in schools. There are fights and petitions to save trees, whales, and the environment. Some fight city hall. Some fight progress and change. Politicians are giving it their all to be the last man or woman standing for the up coming Presidential election. It has become a real dog fight and many are tired of the name calling, mud slinging and empty promises.

I suppose if there is a “good fight” then there must be some “bad fights.” Some fight tooth and nail, almost literally, to promote things that God opposes. Same-sex marriage, legalizing drugs, lack of censorship—there are those who will pour all that they are into those causes and movements. Their voices are loud. They will not stop until they get what they want. They do not care about others, only what they want. They are fighting a battle, but they are fighting a bad fight.

The good fight of faith that Paul had in mind is the work of the kingdom. This is what we as Christians need to be engaged in. This work isn’t left to just the shepherds and preachers of a congregation but it’s something that all of us must be engaged in. It is the work of the N.T. This fight of faith is the teaching and preaching of God’s word. It is the standing where God stands. It is the promoting of the Gospel. It is saving and keeping souls. It is a work that is not completed in just one generation. Paul was engaged in this battle. Timothy was as well. And now, all these generations later, you and I are still in this long battle.

Paul mentions this warfare often in his letters. He reminds us that it is a spiritual battle. It may seem at times that we are losing this battle. More are on the wrong side of things than the kingdom side. The other side seems to have more resources and they do not go by the rules. Society seems to be getting worse. We are not leaning more toward Mayberry days but the godless way. Shows on TV illustrate this. Plays, music and theatre illustrate this. The envelope of decency is pushed more and more. More raunchy shows. More loose talking. More filthiness. More lack of direction and moral compass. More trashing of God. More blasphemy. More taking God’s name in vain. More misquoting God. My grandparents would be shocked to see what’s going on today. It’s not that people are sinning more, it’s that it is no longer hidden. It is no longer shocking. It is no longer frowned upon. Wrong is becoming right. Wrong is becoming normal.

So, what can be done? Some are looking for a candidate that has the best morals. That’s not the answer. Our hope and our fight doesn’t come from the statehouse or the Whitehouse. Our fight is spiritual. It’s long past the time for churches to stop sitting quietly on the landscape waiting for people to come to them. Reach out. Use every tool of media today. Be positive but be assured. Speak the words of Christ. Don’t go along. Don’t be silent. Stand up, stand up for Jesus is too often a song that is sung sitting down. It is time to stand up for Jesus. Fight that good fight of faith.

To fight involves a few obvious things:

First, we must know who the enemy is. Who are we fighting? Too often, we fight ourselves. We tend to shoot our own wounded. We pour too much energy defending opinions and things that really do not matter all that much. The great Stonewall Jackson, general of the Southern armies in the Civil War, was shot by his own troops. He eventually died because of that. Shooting their own, friendly fire, has taken out too many good soldiers. Know who the enemy is. It is Satan. He is behind everything that is wrong. He is behind every lie. He is behind every broken vow. He is behind every corrupt deal. He is behind every scandal. He is behind every sinful thought and act. Our enemy, is the greatest enemy, Satan. He deceived Eve. He hurt Job. He filled Peter’s heart. He was with Judas as he cut a deal to betray Jesus. From the first book of the Bible through the last book of the Bible, Satan is there. He knows Scripture. He knows Christ. He knows your heart. He knows how to come knocking. There is not one noble deed attributed to Satan. There is not one kind word that comes from Satan. He is a liar and he is wicked. His fate is sealed. Christ came to destroy his works and in the end, he will be cast into Hell forever. Hell has been made just for him.

Satan does pitch underhand. He does toss easy things for us to swing at. He is out to destroy your congregation, your marriage, your family and finally your soul. He’ll use anything that he can to do that. He will dance temptation before your eyes. He will use people that are dearest to you. He will misuse God’s very word. He will use drugs, alcohol, porn, to get our eyes off of Jesus and to get us in a fog that we can’t see straight. He will convince us that we are right, when we are not. He will even use religion to satisfy our souls, while feeding us poison of an empty gospel preached by those who have no convictions. Satan is tough. The landscape is full of those who he has conquered. He has convinced folks to write books declaring that God is made up and that evolution is a fact. He will use the populace to convince the weak heart that most people are doing right. The majority cannot be wrong. The majority wants same-sex marriage. The majority wants free drugs. The majority doesn’t want to be confined by religious rules. The masses dance to that song. They are dancing all the way to Hell. Satan smiles every time someone files for divorce. He smiles when preachers get so discouraged and disgusted that they quit. He laughs when congregations split and brethren refuse to talk to each other. He dances when young people off to college are drowning themselves in alcohol and have stopped going to worship. He loves it so much when college professors preach his message to young minds.  Satan is alive and doing well in our times.

What’s the fight? The fight is against Satan. Resist and he flees is what James tells us. Teach and preach that word. Fill the church houses with God’s message. Tell others about God at work. Satan’s gospel opens the door to all kinds of freedoms but it ends with crushed lives, broken dreams, tear filled eyes and souls bound for eternal Hell.

Our fight is against the greatest enemy. On our own, we are toast. We can not do it. The enemy is too strong for us. We have no hope of standing against his attacks. But with God, we can overcome. The flaming arrows of the evil one are distinguished when we hold up the shield of faith. That’s what the Ephesians were told. John reminds us that greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. The eventual outcome is known. It’s not up in the air. It is not something that could go either way. Christ wins. That’s the story of Revelation. Satan will be defeated. He loses. Everyone connected to him, loses. Overcome is one of the key words in Revelation. Overcome with Christ. Overcome through faith.

Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. We fight. We fight a winning battle with Christ. He doesn’t fight it alone. He fights with us and through us. Recognize the enemy. Learn how he operates.

Tomorrow, we will discuss more of this battle that we are fighting.

It’s a good fight because the battle belongs to the Lord! We are fighting for what is right. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Don’t quit.

Roger