Here are my topic notes from my wed. eve. topic.
Facing Evil
Facing The Devil
Facing Opposition
In The Face Of The Devil
1. WWII people faced evil. People were willing to face evil and die. Folks put themselves in grave danger to aid the Jews. Civil War was similar. Maybe every war…
2. Do we face opposition today? How do we face opposition? How would I react?
3. Am I/you so complacent we would fail the test?
4. How can we combat complacency?
5. How did Jesus face opposition?
WWII
Pull facts out of the Nazi Crimes against ethnic Poles paper….
Examples of people who faced opposition and lost.
Judas: Matt. 26:14 Judas offers to betray Jesus.
Peter: Luke 22: 54-62 Peter denies Christ. Why?
Pilate: Matthew: 27: 24 The closest Pilate comes to winning is washing his hands of the affair.
I have a few examples of people who won. People who were resolved. People who were determined to live the life they felt God had called them to. There are lots of examples of people who faced opposition and won. Stephen, Paul, Peter, John the Baptist…
Examples of people who won.
Read some of the Martyrs Mirror accounts of people who were killed. People who were resolved.
John The Baptist:
John The Baptist had told Herod it was not proper or lawful for him to have his brother Phillip’s wife. Acts 12: 2 John the Baptist is murdered
James the Son of Zebedee Page 13
Phillip: Stoned with his head to a pillar.
The Ebonites, denied the trinity of Christ and worshiped idols, continued obstinately in their blasphemous doctrines and idolatry, and did not listen to this pious apostle of Christ, but apprehended him, and, having made his head fast to a pillar, stoned him.
James the Lesser
A cruel young man, being the high priest, summoned him before the judges. The goal was to compel him to deny that Jesus was the Christ. They wanted him to renounce the Son of God and the power of His resurrection. So they placed him on the pinnacle of the temple at the time of the passover so he could make his denial publicly. However, he proceeded to boldly confess that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah. Because of this testimony people praised God and magnified the name of the Christ. Then the enemies of truth cried: Oh, the just has also erred; let us take him away for he is unprofitable. So the threw him off of the temple roof and stoned him. But neither the fall or the stoning killed him. Having only broken his legs, he lying on his knees prayed for those who stoned him. One of the priests begged for James’s life. However another man had a fullers stick and struck him over the head with it, so that he died.
Barnabas:
Barnabas was badly treated by a sorcerer who stirred up the Jewish population. They decided not to take him before the judge because they were afraid Barnabas’s innocence would be discovered and he would be released. They put a rope around his neck and dragged him out of the city and burned him.
Mark Page 18
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was put in prison for preaching without a license. At one point they told him that if he would agree not to preach he could go home. He had a wife and 5-6 children. Bunyan would not compromise. He was stuck in prison. In fact Pilgrim’s Progress was written while he was in prison. Bunyan didn’t die in prison. The government changed the law and he was freed. While John Bunyan was in prison he wrote many books. He had written 60 books by the time he died at the age of 60.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Pages 3 and 4
So how do we face opposition? Evil is a scary thing. Pain is a scary thing. How do we face it? The Bible says we will not face anything we are not able to bear. Is this comforting?
Are we facing opposition today? Is the evil we face today more subtle? It is pretty obvious what the Nazis were doing was wicked and evil and I assume we would agree that helping those who are being persecuted would be a good thing. However, it may be harder to stand up for Truth, the Gospel, for Jesus Christ then to stand up against the Nazis.
How do we go about resisting evil without using carnal force? How do we stand with others against evil? We, Mennonites, try to keep peace by avoiding the issues. Then, when an issue needs to be dealt with, typically, people have bad attitudes and can’t function or relate to each other in a way that would resolve the issue. The Bible talks about resisting evil with love. This is how Jesus did it. Of course, they killed Him. HE won.
To win spiritually could mean death or “premature” death. It could mean persecution of some kind. We need to realize that living for Christ could or will lead us into painful territory. Friendships may be affected, family ties may need to be severed or changed. These are things that are painful and possibly could be referred to as “emotional persecution“. Acknowledging Jesus as our Lord and living for Him will bring trials and struggles. If we are going to win in the spiritual sense we need to be firmly resolved to the fact that Jesus is who He said He was. If we are firmly resolved to this fact nothing will deter us from our goal. The goal of living a Christ like life. Living the life we believe God has called us to live. The goal of doing the Father’s will no matter what.
Jesus:
John 5:16 The Jews continued to persecute Jesus. This was not an isolated incident. This was a continual action. The Jews were determined to keep Jesus from accomplishing his mission. Jesus was resolved.
Luke 6: 9-11 Jesus knew the scribes and Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Him. Anything, they were looking for ways to accuse and condemn Him. Jesus knew this yet He remained resolved in the face of opposition. He heals the man and tells the scribes and Pharisees that refusal to do good on the Sabbath was completely opposite of God’s design. Because Jesus revealed or showed them this evil concept they responded with anger.
Mark 12: 38-40 Jesus tells the Jewish leaders the facts. Facts they don’t want to hear. He condemns them and ultimately this is why they crucified Him.
Jesus was victorious over death…
Those who have put there trust in the Father will also be victorious. Rev. 19: 17-21 Rev. 20 4-10
Facing Evil
Facing The Devil
Facing Opposition
In The Face Of The Devil
1. WWII people faced evil. People were willing to face evil and die. Folks put themselves in grave danger to aid the Jews. Civil War was similar. Maybe every war…
2. Do we face opposition today? How do we face opposition? How would I react?
3. Am I/you so complacent we would fail the test?
4. How can we combat complacency?
5. How did Jesus face opposition?
WWII
Pull facts out of the Nazi Crimes against ethnic Poles paper….
Examples of people who faced opposition and lost.
Judas: Matt. 26:14 Judas offers to betray Jesus.
Peter: Luke 22: 54-62 Peter denies Christ. Why?
Pilate: Matthew: 27: 24 The closest Pilate comes to winning is washing his hands of the affair.
I have a few examples of people who won. People who were resolved. People who were determined to live the life they felt God had called them to. There are lots of examples of people who faced opposition and won. Stephen, Paul, Peter, John the Baptist…
Examples of people who won.
Read some of the Martyrs Mirror accounts of people who were killed. People who were resolved.
John The Baptist:
John The Baptist had told Herod it was not proper or lawful for him to have his brother Phillip’s wife. Acts 12: 2 John the Baptist is murdered
James the Son of Zebedee Page 13
Phillip: Stoned with his head to a pillar.
The Ebonites, denied the trinity of Christ and worshiped idols, continued obstinately in their blasphemous doctrines and idolatry, and did not listen to this pious apostle of Christ, but apprehended him, and, having made his head fast to a pillar, stoned him.
James the Lesser
A cruel young man, being the high priest, summoned him before the judges. The goal was to compel him to deny that Jesus was the Christ. They wanted him to renounce the Son of God and the power of His resurrection. So they placed him on the pinnacle of the temple at the time of the passover so he could make his denial publicly. However, he proceeded to boldly confess that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah. Because of this testimony people praised God and magnified the name of the Christ. Then the enemies of truth cried: Oh, the just has also erred; let us take him away for he is unprofitable. So the threw him off of the temple roof and stoned him. But neither the fall or the stoning killed him. Having only broken his legs, he lying on his knees prayed for those who stoned him. One of the priests begged for James’s life. However another man had a fullers stick and struck him over the head with it, so that he died.
Barnabas:
Barnabas was badly treated by a sorcerer who stirred up the Jewish population. They decided not to take him before the judge because they were afraid Barnabas’s innocence would be discovered and he would be released. They put a rope around his neck and dragged him out of the city and burned him.
Mark Page 18
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was put in prison for preaching without a license. At one point they told him that if he would agree not to preach he could go home. He had a wife and 5-6 children. Bunyan would not compromise. He was stuck in prison. In fact Pilgrim’s Progress was written while he was in prison. Bunyan didn’t die in prison. The government changed the law and he was freed. While John Bunyan was in prison he wrote many books. He had written 60 books by the time he died at the age of 60.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Pages 3 and 4
So how do we face opposition? Evil is a scary thing. Pain is a scary thing. How do we face it? The Bible says we will not face anything we are not able to bear. Is this comforting?
Are we facing opposition today? Is the evil we face today more subtle? It is pretty obvious what the Nazis were doing was wicked and evil and I assume we would agree that helping those who are being persecuted would be a good thing. However, it may be harder to stand up for Truth, the Gospel, for Jesus Christ then to stand up against the Nazis.
How do we go about resisting evil without using carnal force? How do we stand with others against evil? We, Mennonites, try to keep peace by avoiding the issues. Then, when an issue needs to be dealt with, typically, people have bad attitudes and can’t function or relate to each other in a way that would resolve the issue. The Bible talks about resisting evil with love. This is how Jesus did it. Of course, they killed Him. HE won.
To win spiritually could mean death or “premature” death. It could mean persecution of some kind. We need to realize that living for Christ could or will lead us into painful territory. Friendships may be affected, family ties may need to be severed or changed. These are things that are painful and possibly could be referred to as “emotional persecution“. Acknowledging Jesus as our Lord and living for Him will bring trials and struggles. If we are going to win in the spiritual sense we need to be firmly resolved to the fact that Jesus is who He said He was. If we are firmly resolved to this fact nothing will deter us from our goal. The goal of living a Christ like life. Living the life we believe God has called us to live. The goal of doing the Father’s will no matter what.
Jesus:
John 5:16 The Jews continued to persecute Jesus. This was not an isolated incident. This was a continual action. The Jews were determined to keep Jesus from accomplishing his mission. Jesus was resolved.
Luke 6: 9-11 Jesus knew the scribes and Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Him. Anything, they were looking for ways to accuse and condemn Him. Jesus knew this yet He remained resolved in the face of opposition. He heals the man and tells the scribes and Pharisees that refusal to do good on the Sabbath was completely opposite of God’s design. Because Jesus revealed or showed them this evil concept they responded with anger.
Mark 12: 38-40 Jesus tells the Jewish leaders the facts. Facts they don’t want to hear. He condemns them and ultimately this is why they crucified Him.
Jesus was victorious over death…
Those who have put there trust in the Father will also be victorious. Rev. 19: 17-21 Rev. 20 4-10
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