For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth...Eph 5:9
Winter 2006 Volume 7, Issue 1 |
It's Not Enough To Be For The Right! |
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Strange as that may sound, it’s true. One must not only be for the right, but a part of being for the right is to be against the wrong! In our day, when the forces of sin and wrongdoing are so vocal, the temptation surely comes to God’s servants to have an inward loyalty to that which is right, but to refrain from taking any stand against the wrong which would cause the public spotlight to shine on them. One of Satan’s fondest hopes would be that the majority of feeling among the saints calls for a “nothing negative, nothing controversial” stand. It is a temptation to elders today to forget their obligations to be “holding fast the faithful word...and to convict the gainsayers” (Tit. 1:9) and to follow a “nothing negative, nothing controversial” course. Today, it is a temptation facing the gospel preacher to take the same course, and fall into the habit of proclaiming “nothing negative, nothing controversial.” We are saying this: The gospel preacher, in planning his presentations over a period of time, must deal with the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) and that includes items negative and controversial. How could elders and preachers rest at night unless the truth on all Bible matters is presented? In their very hearts, how could they live with themselves unless they thus keep themselves “pure from the blood of all men?” (Acts 20:26). In the long ago, David spoke of God’s precepts, acknowledged them as being right, and therefore said, “I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:104). He, as God’s servant, could not be for the right and then be passive regarding the wrong! Isaiah said that for the sake of God’s own, “...will I not hold my peace...I will not rest” (Isa. 62:1). God spoke to Ezekiel, telling him that the wicked would perish and that if God’s servant did not warn the wicked, “his blood will I require at thy hand”! (Ezek. 3:18). And the other side was true as well: “Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not...he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul”! (verse 19). Elders, preachers, Bible class teachers, are you for the right? You say, “Yes!”? Then, test it: Are you against the wrong? Will you stand against the crowd —against that wrong and for that right? Remember, it’s not enough to be just for the right. W.N. Jackson |
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