Fight the Good Fight – Part 1

Learning What’s Worth Fighting For!

1Corinthians 6:12

 

DATE: 13 July, 2008 AM                                                                                                                                                    

 PLACE: BBC Ballincollig

 

I.       Introduction (1Tim 6:11-12)

 

A.    The theme this month is Bow the Knee Defiantly – The need for Resistance in our Worship! Not against GOD, but against things that interfere between us and God!

B.     What do I mean by that? That in order to worship the Lord Jesus, I must not allow anything, not ANYTHING to come between me and doing His will. In order to yield to God, I must stand firm against sin – amen!

C.     Example of Jesus against the devil’s pressures and temptations (Luke 4:5-8).

D.    Maybe it doesn’t matter to you, but it sure matters to God how easily things become more important to us that He is in our lives. Doesn’t it amaze you how quickly we just go back to our “old routines” right after church?

E.     At some point, a Christian must not only bend the knee towards the Lord Jesus Christ, but also make a stand against enslaving sin that seeks to control their lives!

F.      This morning, I want to start a fight! I want to start a fight against the things that creep into our hearts and minds, and defile us! And by the way, I want to win!

 

II.    Background (Ephesians 6:13)

 

A.    The Meaning of Defiance

 

1.      A willingness to fight

2.      A casting aside what used to control you

3.      Getting angry enough to win against your sworn enemy

4.      A bravery towards your enemy

5.      A resistance to being conquered

 

B.     There are some things are worth fighting for.

C.     Example of Winston Churchill

 

1.      Winston Churchill spent the better part of the 1930’s warning about the rise of Nazi Germany. Year after year in Parliament he gave speeches attacking the government for not taking the threat seriously. They didn’t, and well over 40 million people lost their lives in the Second World War.

2.      The great failure of British diplomacy in the late 1930’s was not taking Hitler seriously enough. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain famously came home from the Munich conference in the Autumn of 1938 proclaiming “peace for our time”. He had badly underestimated quite how dangerous Hitler was and, less than a year later, Britain and her allies found themselves at war with Nazi Germany.

3.      By 1940 Chamberlain had resigned and was replaced by Winston Churchill. In his first speech to Parliament upon appointment Churchill spoke these famous words:

 

.... You ask, What is our policy? I will say; "It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy." You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.

 

D.    Some things are worth fighting for. Some things are worth fighting for because the consequences of not doing so are terrible. And so we fight.

 

III. Message

 

A.    Fight For Control (Luke 6:46; Gen 32:24-28)

 

1.      Instead of fighting to BE in control… (oh THAT is the norm today)…

2.      The fight is for you to YIELD control!

3.      Example of Jacob  - Jacob was a hustler !

 

a.       He was only interested in fast bucks, and pretty women! He only had time for God if he was blessing him. Lived 70 years as a stubborn, selfish, hurtful man towards the world around him – only out for what he could get… and he was good at it too!

b.      But one night, late at night, he lay alone in a tent, with his family at risk of being killed, and with his own life in danger of being struck down by his own bitter brother, Jacob finally began to wrestle in the fight of his life – a fight for who would be in charge of his decisions, his plans, his attitudes, his possessions, his will!

c.       And that night, the Lord Jesus won! Not by brute force (even though Jesus can beat anybody with both arms tied behind his back)! But by Jacob deciding to yield!

 

4.      You need to fight your worst enemy – fight yourself for the right of Jesus Christ to govern, control, and dictate your life from today onward!

 

a.       Where you go

b.      What you say

c.       What you drink

d.      What you wear

e.       Length of hair

f.       The world tells us all these things – it’s about time we listen to God’s word and let HIM decide once again what is right and wrong!

 

5.      Hey! Jesus earned that right, but rarely do believers yield total control over to Him (Philp 2:9-11)!!!

6.      God is asking us to resist the urge to be in charge! To make our own way, do our own thing, be our own man, and live in obedience to Jesus Christ!

7.      When you do…

 

a.       You begin to live by faith instead of only by sight – that’s so pleasing to God

b.      You begin to enjoy the surprises of how God works all things together for good

 

8.      When you don’t…

 

a.       You see only failures, and disappointments

b.      You carry regrets and grief’s and sorrows

 

9.      Hey! There are some things worth fighting for, and the FIRST thing to fight for, is for Jesus to be in charge – to be in control – to be Lord of your life!!!

                                                                                                                                                                                             

B.     Fight for a Good Conscience (1Tim 1:19)

 

1.      Oh the blessing of a clean and good conscience! We call it INNOCENCE in children! When they can run around in a nappy and have no thought of it falling off! When they can look straight at you and stare and stare and have no guilt of shame at all coming to their minds!

2.      What is your conscience?

 

a.       All the things you think about, are in your conscience

b.      All the things you worry about are in your conscience

c.       What you allow or decide is from your conscience

d.      Your conscience is what God moves and pulls upon. The more sensitive, the easier to hear God’s still small voice. The more defiled, means it is harder to get anything from your Bible reading, or even from church (that’s why so many churches have LOUD drums, and Rock Music, and a heavy emphasis on entertainment… burned out consciences)!

e.       And oh how important that our conscience be working well! Not clogged up, and malfunctioning!

 

3.      What affects, and ruins our conscience:

 

a.       Our Past does – the hurts we have felt, and the hurts we have done. The apostle Paul had a past (Act 26:9,10)

b.      Our Looseness

 

1)      When people are lazy… it burns out their conscience.

2)      When someone just lives for video games and entertainment… it burns out their conscience.

3)      When people listen to, and watch constant filth and sin portrayed on TV and in music… what do you think it does to their conscience? It certainly does NOT strengthen it, except AGAINST GOD!

4)      How much sin and laziness do you allow yourself? The more sin you allow, the less conscious you will be of God! Period!

 

c.       Our Bitterness (Heb 12:15) – unresolved revenge

 

1)      Frustration

2)      Anger

3)      Revenge

4)      Bitterness

5)      Burned out conscience

 

4.      What’s it like to have a defiled conscience?

 

a.       Unable to sleep, or rest

b.      In bondage to fear

c.       Overwhelming guilt and shame

d.      Unable to serve and bless and live – just want to die!

 

5.      Oh to fight to retain a clean conscience, or to fight to get it back!

 

a.       Through the cleansing power of just reading and meditating on Scripture (John 15:3)

b.      Through humbling yourself and being honest, totally, and completely honest (Luke 15:21)

c.       Through believing in the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb 9:13,14)

 

6.      A good conscience is worth fighting for! Would you agree!

 

C.     Fight for a Soft Heart (Exodus 8:19; Pr 29:1) I think this is more important than 99% of you will admit

 

1.      Oh how hard the heart can get

2.      It is just SO easy to let our hearts get harder and harder

3.      It takes a fighter to keep their heart soft

4.      Let’s listen to God’s concern about hard hearts

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

a.       Job 9:4  “[God] is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?”

b.      Zec 7:11,12  “But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.”

c.       Jer 5:3  “O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.”

d.      Luke 13:34  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”

 

5.      We need constant reminding about this (Heb 3:13)

 

a.       Force yourself to say, “I’m sorry, please forgive me!”

b.      Force yourself to go ahead and forgive people and SAY “You’re forgiven!”

c.       Force yourself to get on your knees and pray blessings upon your enemies, and those who hurt you (Matthew 5:44)

d.      Fight the urge to fight and don’t seek revenge (Romans 12:17-21) – let the Lord fight for you!

 

6.      Keep your heart soft, and sensitive to the gentle breeze of God’s holy Spirit, and the simple push of God’s commands

7.      Stay able to feel, and able to love, and able to respond to simple things

 

IV. Conclusion/Application

 

A.    This morning, I wanted to start a fight! I want to start a fight against the things that creep into our hearts and minds, and ruin us! And, I want to win!

B.     I believe that there are some things are worth fighting for, because the consequences of not doing so are terrible and so wrong. And so we fight.

C.     Please, start a fight…

 

1.      For Who’s going to be in Control

2.      For a Good Conscience

3.      For a Soft Heart

 

D.    This is not the kind of fight you might expect, but it is the most necessary fight to be in today!

E.     There is more next week…

 

1.      Fight for a Clean Life (1Cor 6:15-20; 3:16-18)

2.      Fight for a Godly Home (Nehemiah 4:12)

3.      Fight for a Lost Soul (2Tim 2:4; 23-26)

 

F.      Don’t miss a single meeting!

 

 

Craig Ledbetter |  Pastor  |  Bible Baptist Church  |  021-4871234  +353-21-4871234  |  biblebc@gmail.com  www.biblebc.com