Calvary Road Baptist Church
“TO NOT FIGHT IS TO FAIL”
First Timothy 6.12a
In Exodus chapter 17, we read of Moses leading the children of Israel to a place called Rephidim, where the people had no water to drink. When they accused Moses of intentionally trying to kill them, he turned to the LORD, who told him to smite the rock, and water came forth. Their distress was the LORD’s opportunity.
The Biblical narrative immediately turns to the Amalekites coming to fight against the children of Israel. Moses then dispatched Joshua to lead in the fight against the Amalekites. What do you think would have happened had Joshua chosen not to fight, or if the men he led in battle had decided not to fight? After all, the Amalekites’ attack was so disruptive, so inconvenient, so disconcerting.
Do you think it was an accident that the Amalekites attacked on the heels of the Israelites’ distress concerning drinking water? Would you imagine that life-threatening emergencies are supposed to come upon you only when you feel the desire to meet the danger, or that conflict and war comes upon you only when you think you are ready for it?
In First Samuel chapter 17, we read of a war between the Israelites (now living in the Promised Land, and with Saul as their king) arrayed against the Philistines and their champion, the giant Goliath. We already know from the chapter what happens when those in a war refuse to fight because the Israelites under King Saul had refused to fight. Thankfully, a boy named David chose to fight the Philistine champion, Goliath.
Do you think David imagined he would face such a challenge as Goliath when he was dispatched by his father to take food to his older brothers?[1] How about when David killed the lion and the bear? Do you imagine the lion and the bear made sure David felt like defending his life and protecting his flock before they attacked? Or is it likely they came upon him at most inconvenient times?
Near the end of his life and ministry, the Apostle Paul wrote from Roman imprisonment to his young protégé, Timothy. In First Timothy 6.12, Paul directed Timothy to,
“Fight the good fight of faith.”
Both the verb and the noun translated fight in that phrase comes into English as agony and agonize. What Paul urged upon Timothy as a description of his Christian lifestyle was not easy.
Lest you imagine that the Apostle Paul issued young Timothy an isolated directive to engage in spiritual conflict, consider these passages directed to congregations to show them how the Christian life was lived correctly:
First Corinthians 9.25-27:
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
“So fight I”? Paul labeled his activities as a Christian for them to emulate as a fight.
Second Corinthians 10.3-4:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
“War”? “Weapons”? “Warfare”? “Strong holds”? Paul is doing it again, using martial terminology to describe his and his colleagues’ Christian ministry activities.
Ephesians 6.11-13:
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
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.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
“Armour”? “Wrestle”? “Armour” again? Not to mention “breastplate” in verse 14, “shield” and “darts” in verse 16, and “helmet” and “sword” in verse 17. And who is the enemy in this passage, but the devil?
First Thessalonians 5.8:
“But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.”
“Breastplate” and “helmet” are still more terms relating the Christian’s life and ministry to spiritual war and conflict, are they not?
First Peter 5.8-9:
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
“Adversary,” verse 8, and “resist,” in verse 9. And who is our adversary, but the devil?
One gets the distinct impression from a cursory look at these New Testament passages that spiritual conflict best described as war might be a suitable description of the Christian life. Is that your take based upon what we have read?
By way of introduction, allow me to relate to you the conduct in this spiritual conflict (rightly called war) of my mother and father's close family members. I loved my mom. I loved my dad. I sought throughout most of my life, and certainly throughout my adult life, to honor them. But loving someone and seeking to honor them excuses and overlooks their bad choices and misconduct only with a distorted concept of love and a perverse notion of honor.
My mother died some seventeen years ago. My father died much more recently. My mother’s life can be summed up by a conversation she and I once had, in which she related to me the frequency with which she relocated after her divorce, often remaining in a place only a year at a time. She indicated that she moved because people mistreated her and wronged her.
I pointed out to her that her problems were not with other people or locations, so that ending relationships and changing addresses would help, but with her. Rather than adequately dealing with issues and resolving conflicts, my mother’s preferred remedy was to run from people problems rather than address them and seek to resolve them. Changing residences, changing jobs, and divorcing a spouse, are not infrequently the result of unresolved interpersonal conflicts. As it did with her, that can become a very costly pattern.
My father’s approach to life was different from my mother’s in one primary way. He lived his 95+ years by mainly refusing to acknowledge problems and conflicts by pretending reality was not reality at all. My dad had a wonderful Christian mother and father that he was never heard by anyone to badmouth or in any way disrespect. He was from a large family with many siblings. Both sisters were Christians, and most of his brothers were believers. Yet I never knew him to embrace the Gospel.
In war, even in the spiritual war, there are three types of participants because in war, there is no such thing as a non-participant. Of course, some people flee. Rather than deal with spiritual conflict to resolve issues, they run away.
My mom was one who, generally speaking, fled. She assigned responsibility for conflicts to other people and ran away rather than addressing her problems. You may recall that Demas ended up being like that. In Second Timothy 4.10, Paul wrote,
“Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica.”
The Apostle Paul wasn’t much interested in the why of Demas deciding to run away. He focused on the what. After all, there is a war on. If the what is wrong, the why doesn’t matter, and there is no way Demas could hope to be faithful by being unfaithful. How many were harmed by his selfish decision? Life really is that simple.
My dad was an example of a noncombatant. He did not run from conflict. He pretended conflict did not exist. He was a bit of a paradox, truth be told. He would fuss with people all the time as a means of blinding himself to the spiritual realities. I once asked an uncle, dad’s last surviving brother, a fine Christian, for advice to avoid the never-ending arguments that resulted from every phone call I placed to my dad for some forty-five years.
Every conversation my uncle ever had with my dad ended up in an argument, but he continued reaching out in the hopes he might reach my dad for Christ. His efforts continued until he was promoted to glory. My uncle’s response was to tell me that I would not succeed in accomplishing what no member of my dad’s family had ever succeeded in accomplishing.
I am thankful that my interactions with my dad were relatively conflict-free for the last year or two of his life. Not that he didn’t try to fuss with me, but that his advancing age made him a bit less agile in his efforts to turn every conversation into an argument.
In the spiritual war, my dad might be what you would call a conscientious objector. In World War Two, he would be something like the Vichy French. He wanted the spiritual war swirling around him to be everyone else’s issue to deal with. He did not realize, but that his parents and most of his siblings understood, that as a noncombatant, he had lost the spiritual war without lifting a finger.
In this spiritual conflict, if you run, you lose. And if you pretend you are a non-participant by acting like a noncombatant, you still lose. The only way to win in this war is to fight. To phrase it differently, the title of my message is, “To Not Fight Is To Fail.”
Four main points:
First, THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS WAR
I know that war is an unpleasant thing for people to think about. I also know that most people do not like to move through their daily lives and routines with conflict on their mind. People, generally, want to think about good things and want to experience joy and delight. War is never a good thing, and aside from God’s grace and mercy is never accompanied by joy and delight. With respect to the Christian life is war, there are two things I want to impress upon you:
First, existence is war. If it was never pointed out to you that no wild animal ever dies a natural death, you were not raised properly. The only animals that ever die of old age are pets that are looked after, that are fed and sheltered by human beings. Goldfish can die of old age in the goldfish bowl. Parrots and canaries can die of old age in their cages. Dogs and cats can die of old age when they are overfed and taken to the veterinarian for shots, but such is never the case in the wild. In the wild, animals are always torn apart by predators and die the most fearful and violent deaths. Why so? Because of the presence of sin. Every creature in the wild has an innate sense that existence is a war, and failure to recognize that fact results in death sooner rather than later.
The same is true for you and me. After the rebellion against God that began in heaven was brought to the Garden of Eden, the human race has existed in a constant state of spiritual warfare. The first result of the spiritual warfare was a rebellion against God by Eve and then Adam. The second consequence of the spiritual warfare was the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. Death has reigned in the human race from then until now. Look at human history. It has been the common experience of every kindred, nation, tongue, and tribe to either be the victim or the victor in war. I have in my library an American history titled A Country Made By War.
What nation or people has ever existed whose history could be titled any other way? Human existence is war, interrupted by brief outbreaks of peace. And what we see in the physical realm of wars between peoples and nations, and conflicts between individuals, is a reflection of the invisible spiritual war that began long ago and into which every one of us was born. Want to run from it? Want to pretend it does not exist? Then you are like the little child who covers his eyes and announces, “You can’t see me.” You cannot escape because you carry the war with you in your nature. Want to pretend to be a noncombatant, acting as if the war isn’t real? You are already a casualty, and your eternal destruction will bear witness to the fact.
But for the Christian, life is ultimate victory. You don’t think so? Luke 16.19-31. Who ended up suffering the torments of Hell? The man who was rich in this life. And who ended up enjoying the delights of paradise? The poor beggar Lazarus, carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom when he left this life for the next. When Christ rose from the dead in resurrection glory, He won for us the victory that becomes ours through faith in Christ. Paul writes in First Corinthians 15.51-57,
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And what did the Apostle John write? First John 5.4:
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
This is because Christ is the victor, and in Christ, we have the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and a home in heaven. Is life in this world a war? Yes! But for the Christian, it is a war that is already won!
Next, THE COMMAND IS FIGHT
That is the command, is it not?
“Fight the good fight of faith.”
I know that many professing Christians pretend that life as a believer is peaches and cream. But the Christian life is not peaches and cream, and there has never been any pretense otherwise. What did the Savior declare to His eleven men the night before His crucifixion? He said to them,
“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
What can be said in light of these things to those who are not naive but open-eyed and clear-headed Christians? Two things come to mind:
First, expect opposition. When will the Christian face spiritual opposition? Always. All the time. Anticipate spiritual opposition, and thank God on those rare occasions when spiritual opposition does not confront you. By the way, crying because life is not fair doesn’t help much. Toughen up.
Ever wonder why I never refer to this room as a sanctuary? The word sanctuary refers to a place set aside for refuge or protection.[2] But this room is no place of refuge. And no one is protected by being here. Beloved, this entire world is a war zone. The hottest battles occur in and around this room, where some people gather to worship and serve God, others seek training and instruction, still others come to harm Christians and the cause of Christ, and only the astonishingly naive imagine they are in a safe place. The benefits of being here far outweigh not being here. Make no mistake about that. But suppose you are disappointed by what happens here. In that case, it is because you do not read your Bible, you do not seek pastoral counsel and instruction, and you absent yourself from the equipping that is so necessary to deal with the war you are immersed in by being a human.
When you turned from your sins to trust Christ as your Savior, you were not removed from the heat of spiritual battle. Your sins were forgiven, you were adopted into the family of God, and you were enlisted into the fight on the side that has already won. The task before you is to “fight the good fight of faith.”
Why do you imagine the Lord Jesus Christ provided instruction for dealing with serious sins within the congregation, Matthew 18.15-20? Because, as we observe in the Jerusalem Church in Acts chapter five and in the Corinthian congregation throughout Paul’s first Corinthian epistle, there is a constant battle against sins in every congregation. That is why you must, next, prepare for opposition.
Ever read Paul’s letter to the Philippians? The entire letter was written to deal with a sin problem between two strong-minded Christian women members of that Church. And what about Galatians 6.1?
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
My beloved mother was not a Christian. Not being a Christian, she was never a Church member. Never a Church member, she was never trained to deal with those who sinned against her. The result? The things people did to her they continued doing to her until she removed herself to another location, never addressing the real problem, which was her never coming to grips with the issues in her own life she might have addressed had she resorted to God’s Word.
Someone sins against you, you deal with them using an open Bible. They sin against you again, you deal with them again using an open Bible. How many times should sin be dealt with to obtain a change in behavior? Seventy times seven, according to the Lord in Matthew 18.22. Sadly, of the three options that are open, run away, do nothing, or “fight the good fight of faith,” my mom did the first. My dad did the second. While Paul advised, and I have sought to employ in my deeply flawed life and ministry, the third option, the Biblical option.
Most people do not properly deal with spiritual opposition because they have not prepared to do so by coming to Christ, joining a Church, and being equipped for such ministry by their pastor, Ephesians 4.11-12. I urge you to live differently.
“Fight the good fight of faith.”
Third, THE COMMITMENT IS ENGAGE
To do nothing is failure. Sometimes a person will attend Church for years on end, hearing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ once or twice a week, without responding in any way. Such a person is passive. Such a person imagines himself to be a noncombatant in the spiritual war. But a person who thinks that way is actually spiritually defeated already because that person is already dead in trespasses and sins. He is already a casualty in the spiritual war because he was born a spiritual casualty. Read the Bible from cover to cover, and you will notice that inactivity is never acceptable or beneficial to anyone. “Be still, and know that I am God,” Psalm 46.10, is not advice to be passive or inactive. Rather, it is wisdom and the absence in one’s mind and heart of fretting and worry because you are confident that God is sovereign. You came into this world in a bad way. Doing nothing guarantees that you remain in a bad way for the rest of his life before going to your eternal destiny. That is a bad way for eternity.
Just as doing nothing is failure, we must recognize that fleeing is also failure. I ask you, how does running from a problem solve anything? You cannot worship God so long as you are aware your brother has ought against you and you have not sought to reconcile, Matthew 5.23. And you are directed to confront a brother who has sinned against you, as well, the Savior said in Matthew 18.15. To be sure, some people you just cannot get along with. Paul intimates as much in Romans 12.18, where he writes,
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
However, have you reached that point with anyone you have not dealt with Biblically on numerous occasions? I have likely had far more conflict in my almost half-century of Christian service than you have, yet I have reached this impasse with only three people, as near as I can recollect. And I am not the one who left, I assure you. Why? Why did I not flee? Why did I continue to seek reconciliation until, after many attempts, I reluctantly realized that living peaceably with those individuals was impossible? To flee is to fail.
Flee idolatry, First Corinthians 10.14. Flee fornication and youthful lusts and passions.[3] But do not flee an opportunity to reconcile with someone until many, many attempts have proven unsuccessful. Not dozens of attempts, either. Hundreds of attempts, with pastoral counseling somewhere along the way to find out what you might be doing wrong, is a good idea.
To fight the good fight of faith is to succeed. Two things need clarification: First, understand that victory for the Christian is already won. We saw our victory in Christ declared by Paul in First Corinthians 15.57 and by the Apostle John in First John 5.4 if you recall. But those two verses bear repeating:
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
As well, be very clear in your mind how we go about fighting the good fight of faith. Impossible if you are not a Christian, of course. Impossible if you are not a Church member, also of course. God does not bless disobedience. Actions and attitudes within the context of Church membership as a Christian? Love, John 13.34. Kindness and forgiveness, Ephesians 4.32. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance, Galatians 5.22-23. Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity, Second Peter 1.5-7. Oh, don’t forget prayer, Ephesians 6.18 and First Thessalonians 5.17.
These are some of our spiritual warfare tactics when fighting the good fight of faith. Notice, as well, that interaction with people is the key. Not avoidance. Not dismissal. And certainly not cutting people off and running from them. Every encounter is a God-ordained opportunity to fight the good fight of faith. And no encounter damages anyone. We are not mean when we fight. An encounter might hurt. There is a fair amount of pain in war. But with you fighting the good fight of faith rather than running, there is always benefit.
Finally, THE COMMISSION IS MAKE DISCIPLES
This is the charge our Lord Jesus Christ left us with, is it not? This is the Great Commission, is it not? To make disciples? Yes, making disciples is what it is all about. Bring people to Christ. Bring new converts into the congregation through believer baptism. Spend the rest of your life involved in some way, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded, with yourself also being taught along the way.
This disciple-making can be formal or informal. This disciple-making can be corporate or individual. For a growing and maturing Christian, the pattern of disciple-making ends up being everything. You are being discipled or you are discipling. You are discipling at a scheduled time each week, or you seize an opportunity that presents itself, with both of these being optimal. And you are engaged with an individual, individuals, or with a group.
But you are never doing nothing. You are not passive, trying to pretend you are a noncombatant because you realize everyone is in the war. Neither is your pattern flight. You are not a runner because you are committed to fighting the good fight of faith. And you are excited at the prospect of God turning someone indifferent toward you, or who acts like an enemy, into someone who has become a cherished friend.
Yes, we are in a war. You were born into this way and on the losing side.
If you have turned to Christ, you are already a victor. If you turn to Christ, you will thereby become a victor.
Just understand that the plan, throughout the rest of your Christian life until you die, is to fight.
“Fight the good fight of faith.” Fight the Christian fight the Christian way. But fight.
__________
[1] 1 Samuel 17.17-18
[2] Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996), page 1603.
[3] 1 Corinthians 6.18; 1 Timothy 6.10-11; 2 Timothy 2.22
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