Defending the Faith Many today even in the church express cowardice by choosing to be politically correct in not being offensive to anyone.  In other words they purposefully choose to be impotent in the service of their God.  I don’t know about you; but for me, I am much more concerned about being offensive to my Savior, Judge, and God than I am to  offending people. Psalm 3:6 “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” At camp we sing this verse and remind ourselves that we as God’s people are to have some backbone. With the verses we will look at, let us remind ourselves that our God does not give us license to be ugly, haughty, mean, or judgmental outside of what God the righteous Judge has already said.  His word alone given by inspiration and preserved by God Himself will be the only reasonable standard of     judgment for all.  Jesus, the Lord, speaks and says, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). When Christians speak, they are to speak like Jesus with authority.  The authority of the Christian is not found in themselves or in the organization of the church but rather in the Bible alone.  “If anyone (religious – a Christian) speaks let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11).  It is in God’s word that authority is both given and expressed.  There is no higher authority entrusted to man today outside the living word of God which is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12). The term “church” is often misapplied and misused by many in the religious establishment.  The religious establishment today is much like the religious establishment of Jesus’ day in that they are more concerned about their religious establishment than they are in fulfilling the will of the Father.  See the chief priests and Pharisees as they gather their own man made counsels and express fear and concern regarding their works when they are compared with Jesus’ works.  They realize that if they are silent everyone will believe in the real Jesus and that they will be removed and replaced from their positions of power (Jn. 11:47-48).  They then concluded that it was more reasonable to do away with one who speaks boldly regarding the will of the Father than for their positions to be done away with (Jn. 11:49-51).   Jesus would not and could not compromise the will of His Father with the will of the entrenched religious establishment.  The choice was easy for the majority to see the minority disciples as trouble makers who are being a threat to the religious establishment.  All on judgment day will in one way or another be asked which is more important to you, that your will or the religious establishments will be done or the Father’s will?  “The church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth’ (1 Tim. 3:15).  The term “church” does not mean “religious establishment” it simply means the “called out children of God.”  You see, God has not called for there to be a religious establishment.  He has called some to be servant leaders like (elders who are also called bishops) who are to shepherd a congregation owned by God.   Jesus and the apostles never taught there should be a divided church of the “haves” (clergy) and the “have nots” (laity).  One of the reasons we love Jesus so much is because he elevates the common man and values him more than man does himself. Saints in the first century and in the twenty-first century are admonished by the Father through passages like Jude 3.  “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you EXHORTING YOU TO CONTEND EARNESTLY for THE FAITH which was once delivered to the saints.”  The faith of the saints of the first century is to be the same faith of the saints in the twenty-first century.  It is not to have evolved and modified and changed what was     believed and taught by Peter, Paul, James, and John.  We see how the leaders of the early church conducted themselves.  Apollos “vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ” (Ac. 18:28).  Christians are to    defend and confirm the gospel proclaimed in the first century (Phil. 1:7) Sadly, most who call themselves Christians today do not have a clue as to what this specific “faith” really is.  Christianity today has become so complex and divided and confusing that sincere people are going in a hundred different directions and none of them use the compass of the Scriptures as their only sure reliable guide for stability     before God and man. Today, many of the Pollyanna mindset don’t want to think anything bad about anyone and these simply refuse to think that there are perverters of the gospel out there.  Perverters of the gospel existed during Paul’s time, and they have not gone away.  They are some of Satan’s best agents.  They get people close to Jesus but just not IN Jesus Christ.  These feel comfortable where they are, and their conscience does not bother them.  They feel confident in their perverted gospel as if it were declared from an angel from heaven (Gal. 1:6-9).  There are those out there who are mere men, and they think too highly of themselves as they add or delete from God’s holy, perfect word whatever they desire; and because on the surface they appear to be messengers of light    11:14), they are followed (Mt. 15:7-9). The faith of the first-century church must be defended against alleged revelations from angels and sincere men who want to bind their opinions upon God’s people taking away the freedom Christ offers (Jn. 8:32).