Losing the Battle (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Introduction

What a truly incredible hymn that is that we have just sung. Teach me your way, oh Lord. We’ve come here to learn that way better. And to truly live lives as we sang at the outset this morning that are holy to the Lord. And it is my intention in this lesson to help us to accomplish that awesome overarching goal of living a life that is holy to the Lord and helping each other do the same. Is it possible to hold? Is it possible to hold the line on morality in the 21st century? Hold the line. That is to do as God’s people what we are instructed to do in teaching and living the righteousness of God individually, collectively.

Whose line are we talking about? We’re talking about God’s line. We’re not talking about some hedge that I might put about the law where I tell everyone what is the safe and acceptable behavior in every possible area, and then you are to match your behavior in life to the line that I draw. That’s the hedge. Now, putting a hedge about the law in terms of my personal response might be a good idea. Because I don’t want to violate God’s line, whatever it is. But the hedge is not the line. The line is the line. But I wonder are we, as individual Christians, as a church of God’s people in the 21st century. Are we losing the battle? Will clearly immoral behavior be ignored, even condoned, and practiced openly among the Lord’s people.

This is the question that concerns me today.

And thus the church in Corinth is admonished at the end after dealing with all kinds of specific battles in the church there over doctrine and morality. He encourages them at the end by saying, be on the alert. You need to stay extremely watchful. Stay on the alert. Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Defend the plot. As we see in 2 Samuel 23 of David’s mighty men doing that when others were fleeing. But they gained a great victory because of the Lord because they stood their ground. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men, like warriors, like soldiers. As Paul would tell Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 3 to be a good soldier for Jesus Christ. Act like men, be strong. Strengthened for the warfare that occurs.

That warfare is delineated by Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, the next epistle that he writes to Corinth, when he says, we are destroying speculations. We are demolishing arguments. We demolish arguments, the New International Version says. We’re destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.

We are surrendering our thoughts in submission to the will of God. And anything that stands opposed to that, any message that is contrary to that, we fight against it. We declare it to be false and dangerous, and we stand for what is true and what is right. Are we losing that battle in an era of increasing moral dequire? Now let me just say, as the next few things appear on the screen, that I will not be able to even closely touch any of these topics to the extent that they would need to be discussed as it relates to living holy lives before God. But what I am introducing here is the thought that morals are in decline, and probably even in decline to some degree among those who profess to be Christians in the 21st century.

Let’s just start with our language. We’ve come a long way in eighty years when Clark Gable set society in a stir with the use of a profane word when he was being frank with Scarlet. And when there was such a moral outcry over this one insertion of a profane word that is now considered benign in relation to what is commonly heard and rated in the movies. And now it’s not if there is a word of profanity which might determine whether or not we will watch a particular show, but how many words we can tolerate. It has just a handful of expletives.

I’m just saying in our society, we’ve gone a long way. Some movies, if you took out the profanity, would have very little dialogue at all that was of any substance or meaning. It’s like, can we not get writers who actually can communicate ideas other than expletives right and left? Just to demonstrate, we have come a long way, have we not? What do you think has happened in terms of people’s dress in just the last 20 years? I know what the 60s were, though I was not really around until I was born in the 60s, but I don’t know what all of that was all about. So I heard it was in the 60s when I entered into the world when that revolution took place and many skirts became popular and all of that.

And dress styles, they come and go, they change with the passing of time. But I think there is more of a tolerance of what is immodest than probably there’s ever been. And it’s not just about how much skin is revealed. The skin may actually be covered, but the garments that are being worn accentuate every curve and every angle, particularly of the female’s body in current custom and culture. And men will tell you that it is provocative, that it provokes lust. And some women say they don’t get that, and that’s the male problem. But the Bible addresses the issue of modesty, modest apparel. And it does so, admittedly, from the standpoint of dressing in such a way, perhaps ostentatiously with jewelry and the nature of one’s clothing to draw attention to the outer package of a person rather than the inner package or character of a person, which ought to be emphasized by godly women.

We read about in both 1 Timothy 2 and in 1 Peter chapter 3. But the thing about clothing that is revealing versus ostentatious is that it’s designed to do the same thing, to draw attack to the outer package rather than the inward person. So what are we doing? What kind of message are we sending in relation to how we dress? The issue of modesty boils down to a couple of things an accurate perception of the impact of my clothing, choices, and others’ perceptions of those and my motives in so choosing. And there’s the consumption of alcohol. It’s so commonplace that it’s just what people do. You go out to business lunches, people they drink. And if you’re footing the bill, you expect you’re expected to provide.

Almost everybody drinks. Oh, there’s actually some people who refuse. Some athletes refuse simply from the standpoint of health and being able to perform, which ought to tell us something at the highest level. And so they refrain from alcohol altogether, which shows, first of all, that you can.

Money is often more motivating than spiritual principle. But so many want to defend today the social drink. Impurity.

I don’t see it diminishing. I see it only increasing. And why not? I mean, the television programs, if you have a good first date, it ends up in fornication. Most of the time. Is that reality? Is that what’s happening in our culture? How many young people who date someone for several months find themselves engaged in sexual immorality? Adultery is commonplace as well. Never mind the strong warning of Hebrews 13 to verse 4 that fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. Sexting. A term I wish I never had to mention from the pulpit. Electronic illicit exchanges. Video promiscuity. Internet pornography. What makes us think that we can engage in any of that and our marriages last? Impurity part two. The attempt to normalize homosexuality, transgender. This is our society advancing the cause of the evil one.

I could talk about gambling. And I’m not talking about anything that might be a gamble in life. Getting in your car is a gamble. Investing in a company is a gamble. But I’m talking about wagery and the greed and the immorality that so often coincides with the practice. And then there’s drugs, of course. We are dealing with cannabis legalization, opioid addictions. Look at where our culture is headed. What decisions are Christians going to make about these areas? I would suggest to you that our standards among believers are not what they were. That’s my observation. Now, you know I’ve not been around very long. But I have been around a few decades. And my observation is that our standards are not what they used to be in regard to these things.

Now I know we could look at some of the areas that I’ve talked about and suggest that there is a certain practice that might be within that category that’s not actually a violation of God’s law, and we can debate that in some Bible class about perhaps, I don’t know, some something in the area of gambling that we might say. I don’t think that’s a violation of the will of God. Well, that’s far cry than going to a casino and all that’s attached with that. Some people even think that’s okay. So again, I’m not here, I don’t have time this morning. You don’t want me to talk about each one of these to the extent that I show you every scripture that applies to this particular behavior.

All I’m suggesting to you is that our standards are not what they were among the Lord’s people. And that you’ll hear people in Bible classes justifying things that you did not hear them justifying 30 years ago. Is it because of a hedge we put about the law? Or is it because of changing morals? Here’s a couple of things I want to observe about this. Many want to justify what they want to practice. You see, nobody likes pangs of conscience that suggest that the behavior I want to engage in is actually inconsistent with what the Bible teaches. Because that might suggest that if the day of judgment were to come, that I would be lost. And people don’t like feeling that way. Like Felix tried to silence his conscience when Paul talked with him about righteous, a right kind of conduct and the self-control that he would need and the judgment that is to come.

And that pain of conscience is unpleasant. People want to remove the sting of that. There’s a couple of examples of that when Jesus is before Pilate and he says, Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice, and that his kingdom is not of this world in that context of John 18. And the response of Pilate was what? What is truth? Truth. What is that? Because Jesus had just said, Everyone who’s of the truth hears my voice. But, well, let’s not, we don’t want to consider that. So, can we really know what truth is? And the other is when the lawyer comes to Jesus and asks him about the greatest commandment, and he says, It’s love the Lord your God. Even he answers the question, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the second is likened to it, love your neighbor as yourself.

And Jesus says, Do this and you will live. And his response is, well, who’s my neighbor? I could practice it, but who really is my neighbor? And that leads Jesus to tell the story of the Good Samaritan to define for him very clearly who his neighbor would be, that he was to love. But those kinds of questions are to deflect this standard of responsibility that I have. And churches may preach against some of this. I don’t know what churches are doing in relation to some of these topics here. My suggestion, my thought is, since I’m not everywhere in every place at all time, believe it or not. And I don’t know what everybody is saying. My thought is, my idea is that they don’t want to address this stuff very often.

1. Violating God's Principles Carries Horrific Consequences

And if they do, they sort of put it in the realm of, well, you probably shouldn’t do it, but if you do, if you teach once saved, always saved, then what’s there to be concerned about. So I want to make some observations with you this morning about this. This is what I want you to take. I want you to know this. When we violate God’s principles, the holiness to which he calls us, when he talks about impurity, and so many texts could be cited. Galatians chapter 5, Ephesians chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. So many texts I could look at this morning and have on other occasions. Regardless of what men say, and regardless of how you want to feel, or regardless of how you feel about what you think the scriptures teach, know this.

Violating God’s principles carries horrific consequences. That’s why we should express godly sorrow that produces repentance. The repentance which is required to be in Christ in the first place. I was thinking about that as we were partaking of the Lord’s Supper this morning when you think about the sacrifice of Christ and the sins that we’ve committed in our past, that true recovery from that is more than just I shouldn’t have done that. True recovery is to express godly sorrow because of what that sin meant to our Lord. The cost that it brought to Him to remedy, and a determination that says, I’m going to go a different direction. I’m going to go the direction the Lord has instructed for me. Because the reason why I should express such godly sorrow, the reason why I should embrace his remedy is because if I don’t, those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul says that about the practice of the lusts of the flesh, which would be involved in the discussion of those things we had on the screen earlier. The impurity, the sensuality. Those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Either that is true or none of this is true. Either that is true or we should just go home. This is the Bible. This is the word of God we’re talking about. This is the message from our Creator. So, whatever you get out of this lesson, I want you to get this. Horrific penalties. This should not be taken lightly. This isn’t decided by what I want to do. Or if I can make some argument in Bible class that is good enough for me to justify the conduct.

When you violate the principles as God determines it, there are horrific consequences attached, and we need to be concerned about that rather than winning an argument.

2. The Standards of Churches and What Teachers Teach Matters

Because ultimately, as good as you think your argument is, your argument might be with him on the last day. And guess what? You lose. So know that. Now, the second thing that’s important, but not quite as important as the first is that the standards of churches and what teachers teach matters. And I can illustrate this quickly from the book of Revelation, two messages to the church at Pergamum and Thyatira in chapter 2. There were some in Pergamum that were holding to the teaching of Balaam, which encouraged immorality. We had a sermon on him recently, I believe. Yes, I do remember that. And they held to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. So there were doctrinal matters that they embraced that were false. And a woman by the name of Jezebel that was tolerated at Thyatira, and there will be serious consequences for churches who do not hold the line in regard to biblical morality.

We just read Revelation 2 and see that is so. To Thyatira, he says, but I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira in Revelation 2 and verse 24, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan as they call them. Boy, I would like to know more about that. All that was involved in the deep things of Satan, but certainly the behavior of Jezebel, whoever she was, figurative speech, probably here, her name literally was not Jezebel, but the immorality that she practiced and tolerated. Says, those of you who have not known the deep things of Satan as they call him. I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come. He who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.

3. The Battle Can Be Won

He shall rule them with a rod of iron. I will give him the morning star. Verse 28. So know that. But finally, I want to tell you this. The battle can be won. And we need to be intent on winning it. And we can win this battle with the help of our God by doing this. By trusting, living, and advancing the righteousness of God.

I must believe that God’s ways are right, that they are best, that they are saving and exalting. It begins with trust. Regardless of what men say and the things they practice, when I read the New Testament, my obligation is to trust. I believe God’s ways are right, that they are best, that they are saving and exalting. And I start with that, regardless of what men in churches do.

And then, secondly, before I can help others, I must implement these principles myself in my life. I did have it listed third, but I thought before you can advance it first, you have to live it. I trust it, I implement it, I live it in my life, and then I advance it to others in whatever ways that I can. By my example with my lips, by my participation among a group of people who holds God’s line, who teaches God’s will in truth without compromise. And my involvement in this is what matters most in this world. Believe it or not, it’s more important than who wins the college football championship. I already know who’s going to win it. It’s infinitely more important. How wonderful it is to be here.

Conclusion

One who trusts, lives, and advances the righteousness of God. That is the value of what goes on here at this place. You need to be thankful that you’re involved in it. Embrace such a treasure and do so without delay. Let’s stand and sing.