Dear lover of Jesus in war,
The clarion call for every true disciple of Jesus is to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord! Our lives as born again believers is and unimaginable fight against remaining sin and the Love of this world- that is the predominant way this world basis their thinking.
Our hope is in the gospel alone! The foundation of all that we say and do is built upon the rock solid inspired God-breathed word of God. The Bible is the infallible Word of God with "Supreme Authority in All Matters of Faith and Conduct.
Dear Christian we are in a war! Our everlasting souls stand before eternity and so with that reality staring us right in the face the question that we must ask ourselves is—are we leaning on our own understanding concerning the meaning of life, or are we banking all our hope on the way this world says we should live in matters of faith and conduct? My hope for myself and all who read this exhortation is that with all that we have within us we are trusting in Jesus to whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Pro 3-23) (Col 2:3)
This is a question we must ask ourselves daily if not every minute. We do not have the luxury to be at ease with the philosophy of this present age or playing with sin as if it’s trivial. “We must be killing sin or sin will be killing us” John Owen. We must passionately fight against the tide to give in because the majority of Americans hold to this way of thinking and belief system. The system that places its hope in man or Government, its view of life, sexual orientation, etc… apart from the Bible.
And yes believe it or not this verse in our Bibles 1 John 2:15-17 stop loving the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
True Christianity will always be hated by this world. The proof lies in the realty of the blood stained cross. There were only a small group of people who followed Jesus and most tried to stone Him because Jesus never beat around the bush when it came to calling out sin or sinners whether religious or unconverted. Moreover, in the early Church, and in modern places like Sudan, China, Pakistan, etc.. Those who herald the truth of the gospel with unclenching determination to their risen lord you’ll find out their endings are not a bed of roses but martyrdom.
Why is this? The Bible is as clear as the nose upon our faces. The hearts of all men are born with a horrific debilitating disease called sin. This disease affects the whole of man. We are fallen creatures and right out of the womb there is an innate desire to sin and not only to sin but to love our sin! (Ps 51:5)
The man born with this disease will never love the Jesus of the Bible or His glorious gospel unless they are rescued by sovereign grace and the dominion and slavery of sin is broken by the High Sherriff of heaven, Jesus Himself!!!! (John 6:44-45) (John 1:12-13). God’s word is clear. The carnal mind is at enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (Rom 8:7). Mankind is born spiritually dead and apart from saving grace our spiritual discernment is absolutely bankrupt! 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
My burden for writing this exhortation is because when I look around at modern evangelicalism it is a downright embarrassment. Who would want to a Christian when we look and act so much like the world! We stand with our Bibles in our hands and raise our hands in our worship services and we cry Holy, Holy, Holy, but in reality there is no resemblance to holiness according to Jesus! It all looks like a charade to those outside!
We are shocked at the sexual destruction that plagues our society. We are shocked by the failure of marriages and homes. We are shocked by the rampant realty of gossip, lying, stealing etc, yet we eat it up on our televisions but we chalked it up to “it’s just entertainment”. We boast that we are pop culture junkies but what we can’t boast in is in Holiness because our lives drip of downright hypocrisy!
Every Christian is called to peruse holiness. (2Cor 7:1) (Eph 4:22-24) (1Thess 3:13, 4:4,7) (2 Pet 3:11) The gospel evangelist to the Hebrews even proclaims “that without holiness no one will see the Lord” and yet we play around with sin because it’s just entertainment while the world laughs at us and perishes in their sin. (Heb 13:8)
Where are the men and women of courage? Who will stand and take the battle right into the face of our enemy and confront the philosophies and passing pleasures of this world for what they really are—fool’s gold!!!
Where are those who will stand with the apostle Paul and say Philippians 3:8-10 indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
Satan’s ultimate desire is the obliteration of Biblical Christianity (John 8:44) (1John 3:8). Our stance upon the old truths of God’s eternal word will never be popular. Liberal theology, denial of the inerrancy of scriptures, Atheism boasting in there made up religion of self worship. Gainsayers mocking true Disciples of Christ and playing fast and loose with certain text of scriptures to prove or pacify there indulgences in sin etc..
Whatever the cost may be to be courageous for the gospel, remember it is always better to obey Jesus than man! (Acts 5:29). Remember we live in a crooked and perverse generation so contend for the faith by looking unto Jesus. (Phil 2:15) Regardless of the persecution that will arise if you take action remember the inspired words of Paul in 2 Timothy 3:12 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Be prepared to meet great opposition but nevertheless don’t hesitate to share the truth of God’s glorious gospel for it is the only power to raise sinners from the dead and break the bondage of sin. Jesus said it very plainly in Matthew 10:34-40 34 " Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 "For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; 36 "and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' 37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. 40 " He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
Remember, be gospel centered! Everything we do and say must find its focal point at the cross. Keep the plain things the main things. It’s easy to get hung up on the symptoms of sin whether it’s homosexuality, fornication, abortion, lying, stealing etc.. The bottom line is that Jesus has come to destroy the works of Satan and to completely abolish the oppression of reigning sin! (1 John 3:8)
Our hope is the gospel! The main thing is that men women, boys and girls need new hearts! We must be born again! (John 3:3) Oh! And bless God through the gospel He works a miracle of grace and transforms our hearts out of darkness and into His marvelous light! So, be courageous for the truth and tackle the monster called sin by the strength of the cross. And may our Great God be pleased to use us in gospel ministry to see heart transplants that even we received and experienced at the foot of the cross!!
I hope that when our day comes to stand before the lord Jesus we can say with a joyful confidence 2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight, i have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Striving with you my friends in the fight for our souls and the gospel!
Casey Kirkman
