The Election Count – Part 11
No… no we don’t! “Stand up for” only appears twice in the Bible
Psalms 35:1-2 A Psalm of David. Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. 2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
Psalms 94:16-17 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? 17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
Both times it is The Lord who is said to, or is or pleaded to “stand up for” our help. But we are never told to “stand up for” anything in Scripture.
And the only things we STAND IN are: “in the Lord” (1 Thes 3:8). In “the gospel” (1 Cor 15:1). “In the faith” (1 Cor 16:13). In liberty.. “in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Gal 5:1).
You say, but aren’t we supposed to “stand up against” the wicked? Well, let’s see. Because that phrase “stand up against” also appears 2 times:
Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he [the beast – the Antichrist] shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
Daniel 11:14 And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.
The beast stands up against the Lord Jesus. Evil men “stand up against” their earthly kings.
Neither of those tell us to “stand up against” evil or injustice. Quite the opposite. If you stand up against things you don’t like or agree with, you’re in some BAD company.
“But aren’t there many people in the Bible that have “stood up against” the wicked?” This phrase “stood up against” appears 3 times:
1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
This is something Satan does.
2 Chronicles 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
This is something God makes the children of the flesh do – to stand up against themselves – to destroy themselves.
2 Chronicles 28:9-13 But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. 10 And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God? 11 Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you. 12 Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, … stood up against them that came from the war, 13 And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.
This is the only one I found that could be considered a good instance of “stand(ing) up against” or having “stood up against” evil. But if you understand its context, as well as a NT Christian’s role – his spiritual battle, it is not justification for you to fight against evil or injustices.
This passage and its justification to “stand up against” evil – fits your job today, spiritually. This is true today as well, as the only reason to “stand up against” some evil. To stand up against those that would put their brethren into bondage. To stand up against those that would bring God’s people into bondage. To stand up against those that, while they were just as guilty, would put others into bondage for their sins. See where I’m going with this?
Remember, our fight is spiritual. Think doctrine – its all about doctrine – the gospel: salvation. This is what the wolves do… bring men into bondage, attempt to put free men into bondage, for their sins. That is what we stand up against. Grievous wolves entering in, not sparing the flock. “Of whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought in bondage.” So this is not justification for a NT Christian to stand up against evil in America. This is justification to stand up for the flock – that they are not brought into bondage, and that WE and our brethren are not taking those that were made free, and bringing them back into bondage.
You say, well your just playing word games here. I should definitely “stand for” what is right and good! That’s just a Bible fact!
Well, let’s see “stand for”, which appears 4 times.
Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
This is Jesus’ job. I don’t think you want to lift yourself up as salvation and rest to men.
Isaiah 40:6-8 … All flesh is grass, … 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
The word of God will “stand for” ever. You cannot be trusted to stand. Flesh cannot stand for what is right and good. Flesh withers. The Lord does not want you to stand for good. You’re worthless, standing with flesh and blood. You’re fists beating the air. You’re grass, trying to stand against the heat of the sun. You will not stand for ever. So why stand at all? You cannot win with flesh, so why fight at all? God doesn’t want you to stand with, to fight with flesh. Not with it, for it, or against it.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Jesus does the standing. His kingdom, which is not flesh and blood, shall “stand for” you. And it will stand for ever.
Here’s the last “stand for”. Now, you may think this is advantageous. But pay attention, it is not justification to fight for a better life, or against injustice in this life.
Esther 8:11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,
1 instance of “stood for” in the Bible:
Esther 9:15-16 For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand. 16 But the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,
This story isn’t here as justification for you fighting for a better life / country / world. This was about the survival of the Jewish race.
Esther 3:13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, …
It wasn’t about possessions, wealth, opportunity, freedom, etc. It wasn’t about freedom, success or happiness in this life. It was only about preserving the seed of Abraham. It was about keeping eternal life.
2 instances of “standeth for”:
Psalms 33:11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
I’m not lying to you or hiding evidence to the contrary.
Not a single New Testament epistle, from Romans through Jude, contains the phrase “stand up” or “stood up”. There are occurrences elsewhere in the NT (4 gospels, Acts, Revelation), but none of them demonstrate or encourage a Christian standing up to evil or oppression. Not a single one contains “stand for” or “stood for”, “standeth for” or “stoodest for”.
There is one instance of “stand against” in the epistles:
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
I’m not hiding anything I found from you! This is the only place we, NT Christians, are told to stand up and fight against ANYTHING.
And we are not to “stand against” losing our freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or our human rights. We are not told to stand against those that would take our freedoms, our possessions, our money, our food, or our lives. We never are.
We STAND AGAINST false doctrine – and ONLY against “false doctrine” alone. We stand against lies, tricks, disguises, hypocrisies, false teachings, deceits, subtilties, beguilings, wiles, that cause women and men to eat corrupt fruit. That cause the sheep to go astray. That cause the lost to not be found. That trample down the good seed (the word of God) by the way side.
You strengthen yourself in, and stand up in the word of God. You stand up for the purity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because the counsel of the Lord “standeth for ever”. The word of the Lord shall “stand for ever”. That is where you stand. There is your armour. And what you stand against is solely “the wiles of the devil”.
You are NOT commanded to “stand up” for what is right and true and good and lawful in this world. That is not serving God. That is not fighting the good fight of faith. And you will get no reward for “standing up” and fighting worldly evil.
You can choose to do it if you desire, but you won’t be doing it Scripturally. You’ll be doing it rebelliously, defiantly.
You say, “but I’m just standing up for the law. Obedience of the law – the constitution!”
Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Its not our job to root out evil in America. Its not our job to call out wickedness and unfairness and injustice in America. That is a fight which is fleshly, carnal, worldly. Its not your job as a Christian. Its not your fight as heavenly-born son of God. You’re fighting the wrong fight. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against… spiritual wickedness”. You’re fighting against the wrong sort of wickedness!
Once upon a time, it WAS important to root out evil in the earth. To stand up for the righteousness of the law! Because in the Old Testament, that was the only way to be saved! And if there was wickedness and idolatry and perverting of the judgment, and forsaking of the law in the land, souls would die!
But we don’t live in Israel. We are not under the law. We are not “in works”.
Disobeying the law no longer leads souls to Hell. Rather, a lack of understanding, and believing, and confessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ sends people to Hell. False doctrine leads them to continue in their blindness to how they can be made free from the law. THAT is the evil we should fight against. THAT is what you should be fighting for, posting about, striving to inform people of.
Spiritual wickedness, spiritual oppression, spiritual bondage, spiritual blindness, spiritual imprisonment! That is the ONLY evil we should strive against. That is the only wickedness that we should wrestle against.
But you just keep fighting against the wrong sort of wickedness, don’t you… You just can’t stop fighting man’s fight, can you? You guys, just love your Facebook, and Twitter and Parler. You just gotta keep posting all those political statements. Posting, and “liking”, and sharing, and retweeting this and that, and commenting on this and that, and arguing for this and against that… fighting for all these worldly things… Doing this, you’ll make some people happy and some people mad. You might please some conservatives, some right-wingers, some supposed “Christians”, and you’ll piss off some liberals. Maybe that is what you like about it. Pissing off the liberals. Getting praise of the conservatives. But they won’t change their minds. Maybe you punch a couple holes in their favorite arguments. Maybe you “win” a political argument against a staunch liberal on social media. Well… Wahoo! The angels are rejoicing in heaven! A sinner has come home! A new name written down in glory!! The Lord has a crown laid up with your name on it… Oh wait.. None of that is true?
Oh, well at least we put those liberal jerks to silence, yeahhh baby!!! Shut up liberal jerks! Maybe they’ll “find the light” and be conservatives… From fighting? Yeah, right! I’ve never seen it. They never let go of their pride, and they never shut up. Do they? You know they don’t!
There IS a way to put your enemies to silence. But its not by arguing politics. Its not by fighting. Quite the opposite:
1 Peter 2:13-15 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
Ooooh. Ouch. You don’t like that one do you? Submit?? No… You’d rather rebel against the Biden administration than submit to it. You’d rather complain about Governor Hogan’s COVID rules than to, in well doing, obey them.
Submit? No way.. I’d rather keep fighting for social and economic freedom, arguing politics. I know it’s a tough fight, but maybe someday they’ll wise up, and shut up, and listen to my opinion, my knowledge, my logical reasoning, my truth! One day I’ll put them to silence! … Fat chance!
Fools are put to silence with your submission. But you don’t want to it God’s way, do you?
But there is one other way to silence fools, Scripturally. Maybe you fighters will like this one a bit more.
Matthew 22:33-34 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine. 34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
Ooooh. Ouch. You don’t really like that one either do you? By doctrine?? That means you have to preach Christ’s doctrine. That’s a little harder than sharing an article, or reposting a nice bar graph you found. That’s a little more of a risk that you won’t find very much support from your conservative base. That’s a little more of a risk you’ll be hated of all men. You’d rather fight politics with politics, than to fight spiritual wickedness with good doctrine.
But maybe, one day, with all your political fighting you’ll convince them, and they’ll say… “oh I get it now, abortion is murder, and we DO need to build a wall, we need to LIFT all the COVID restrictions, and we better NOT vote for these dangerous socialist agendas”. Maybe .. maybe one day you win yourself a political convert on social media. Well.. Wahoo! The angels are rejoicing in heaven! A sinner has come home, baby! A sinner has repented of his unlawful deeds! A new name written down in glory, baby! Oh yeah, baby! Score one for God, baby!! Here you go Lord, I brought forth some good fruit: here’s one ripe and juicy conservative! Now Lord, you’re gonna wanna slap this pro-Life Capitalist right here, right down there in the front row of your Church there. He’s gonna let his light shine for all the world to see.
Except of course this is all wrong. All mocking aside, you know this is wrong, right?
No one has been saved SPIRITUALLY from this. How could they have… because you chose to fight CARNALLY! Maybe they repented of their “liberalism”, but no one has repented of their WORKS: unto salvation.
If anything, you’ve made them MORE hardened against the gospel. You’ve made them trust in their works. In their turning from their sins. You’ve made them MORE self-righteous. You’ve turned them the wrong way. You’ve turned them farther away from the Lord. You’ve distracted them, deceived them. You’ve convinced them they are better now, cleaner now, fixed now.
You’re no better than the “Reverend” Warnock, are you? You’ve left the word of God, to fight politically. You might as well run for a Senate seat. You’ve left the word of God just like he has.
You’ve left the cold flowing waters to give men the waters of men; the waters of your red, American, patriotic blood.
You’ve left the wisdom of God to give them man’s wisdom.
You’ve left the riches and the mansions in glory to give them Capitalism. What an evil thing that is! Opportunity to buy and sell and get rich. Opportunity to work hard for riches. You think that is Godly? That’s satanic! That is not God’s system He set up! Its Satan’s! With God, if you want to be rich, you don’t buy and sell. You give. Give your things away FREE. And He will give to you. You serve him, and He will reward you. Capitalism is not from above.
You’ve left giving them salvation truth, to give them “freedom of speech”, and “freedom of religion”. What evil things those are! Why are you fighting for that?
Please understand me, no matter how much you argue and fight on social media for what is “right and good and true”, you cannot clean up America. You cannot fix America this way. You cannot teach men righteousness this way.
Isaiah 26:10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
No matter how clean the land itself is, even if you were to clean America up, if the wicked are there, they will do wickedly. That’s what they do!
Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
You can’t make them understand righteousness without them getting saved – “be purified, and made white”!
Unless you give them the gospel, they can’t be wise. (of course, they can be “conservative” fools – fighting for the same foolish things that you’re fighting for. But they can’t be wise to righteousness.)
The wicked shall do wickedly. And no amount of you screaming for law and order over anarchy and sedition, or capitalism over socialism is going to change anything. The wicked shall do wickedly.
What are you striving for? What is this perfect vision of America, this fantasized “land of uprightness”, that you are fighting for? The wicked shall do wickedly. (That includes all of us – YOU included… you “conservative”, prideful, highminded, wicked sinner – you’re no less wicked than the “liberals” you hate). So what good is it to clean the land? And how is convincing them to act and vote like you do going to profit the land? As long as you and I are in the land, it cannot be upright. There is no peace to the wicked. There is no peace to America. You can’t have a righteous land of America. So again, what are you striving for?
Please understand me, God does not need you on Facebook or Twitter or Parler, fighting to convince the world of their sin, hypocrisy, racism, covetousness, murders, Godlessness. Why? Because its not your JOB, its not your FIGHT. That doesn’t mean its not important. You say, “well someone’s got to do it.” You’re right. The Lord does. Its HIS fight. He’s got it covered.
Jude 1:14-15 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
He doesn’t need you to convince the world of their sin.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
This is not the Christian’s fight/work. And when Jesus was here it wasn’t His either!
John 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
You sit there and judge men, and condemn men, and accuse men, after the flesh. And think you’re so wise and righteous, and so just, and such a good servant, such a good soldier for God.
But Jesus didn’t judge or condemn! Jesus did not judge a single man according to the flesh. He condemned those teaching false doctrine, but never did He call out a single man for theft, or oppression, or fraud, or adultery, or murder. Never. You judge. But He did not judge.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
The word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ shall judge mankind. Jesus has it covered. Its His job. But that is not our job on the earth.
The Lord is coming to judge the world, and your job is to turn them to righteousness.
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
You say, that’s what I’m doing! Telling them to be righteous and be Christianly, instead of being all wicked and liberal!
No, “turning men to righteousness”, true righteousness, not one’s “own righteousness, which is of the law”, CANNOT be done with flesh and blood. Not a single one of us is righteous. So how can we make another man righteous? We can’t!
No carnal fighting, social media posts, videos, speeches, images, gifs, news clippings, charts, graphs, nor any words of man’s wisdom that you can SCREAM on social media can make men righteous. The only thing that can make men righteous is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jan 24 2021
The Election Count – Part 11
Downloadable Word document:
The Election Count – Part 11
The Election Count – Part 11
No… no we don’t! “Stand up for” only appears twice in the Bible
Psalms 35:1-2 A Psalm of David. Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. 2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
Psalms 94:16-17 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? 17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
Both times it is The Lord who is said to, or is or pleaded to “stand up for” our help. But we are never told to “stand up for” anything in Scripture.
And the only things we STAND IN are: “in the Lord” (1 Thes 3:8). In “the gospel” (1 Cor 15:1). “In the faith” (1 Cor 16:13). In liberty.. “in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Gal 5:1).
You say, but aren’t we supposed to “stand up against” the wicked? Well, let’s see. Because that phrase “stand up against” also appears 2 times:
Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he [the beast – the Antichrist] shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
Daniel 11:14 And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.
The beast stands up against the Lord Jesus. Evil men “stand up against” their earthly kings.
Neither of those tell us to “stand up against” evil or injustice. Quite the opposite. If you stand up against things you don’t like or agree with, you’re in some BAD company.
“But aren’t there many people in the Bible that have “stood up against” the wicked?” This phrase “stood up against” appears 3 times:
1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
This is something Satan does.
2 Chronicles 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
This is something God makes the children of the flesh do – to stand up against themselves – to destroy themselves.
2 Chronicles 28:9-13 But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. 10 And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God? 11 Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you. 12 Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, … stood up against them that came from the war, 13 And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.
This is the only one I found that could be considered a good instance of “stand(ing) up against” or having “stood up against” evil. But if you understand its context, as well as a NT Christian’s role – his spiritual battle, it is not justification for you to fight against evil or injustices.
This passage and its justification to “stand up against” evil – fits your job today, spiritually. This is true today as well, as the only reason to “stand up against” some evil. To stand up against those that would put their brethren into bondage. To stand up against those that would bring God’s people into bondage. To stand up against those that, while they were just as guilty, would put others into bondage for their sins. See where I’m going with this?
Remember, our fight is spiritual. Think doctrine – its all about doctrine – the gospel: salvation. This is what the wolves do… bring men into bondage, attempt to put free men into bondage, for their sins. That is what we stand up against. Grievous wolves entering in, not sparing the flock. “Of whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought in bondage.” So this is not justification for a NT Christian to stand up against evil in America. This is justification to stand up for the flock – that they are not brought into bondage, and that WE and our brethren are not taking those that were made free, and bringing them back into bondage.
You say, well your just playing word games here. I should definitely “stand for” what is right and good! That’s just a Bible fact!
Well, let’s see “stand for”, which appears 4 times.
Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
This is Jesus’ job. I don’t think you want to lift yourself up as salvation and rest to men.
Isaiah 40:6-8 … All flesh is grass, … 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
The word of God will “stand for” ever. You cannot be trusted to stand. Flesh cannot stand for what is right and good. Flesh withers. The Lord does not want you to stand for good. You’re worthless, standing with flesh and blood. You’re fists beating the air. You’re grass, trying to stand against the heat of the sun. You will not stand for ever. So why stand at all? You cannot win with flesh, so why fight at all? God doesn’t want you to stand with, to fight with flesh. Not with it, for it, or against it.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Jesus does the standing. His kingdom, which is not flesh and blood, shall “stand for” you. And it will stand for ever.
Here’s the last “stand for”. Now, you may think this is advantageous. But pay attention, it is not justification to fight for a better life, or against injustice in this life.
Esther 8:11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,
1 instance of “stood for” in the Bible:
Esther 9:15-16 For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand. 16 But the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,
This story isn’t here as justification for you fighting for a better life / country / world. This was about the survival of the Jewish race.
Esther 3:13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, …
It wasn’t about possessions, wealth, opportunity, freedom, etc. It wasn’t about freedom, success or happiness in this life. It was only about preserving the seed of Abraham. It was about keeping eternal life.
2 instances of “standeth for”:
Psalms 33:11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
I’m not lying to you or hiding evidence to the contrary.
Not a single New Testament epistle, from Romans through Jude, contains the phrase “stand up” or “stood up”. There are occurrences elsewhere in the NT (4 gospels, Acts, Revelation), but none of them demonstrate or encourage a Christian standing up to evil or oppression. Not a single one contains “stand for” or “stood for”, “standeth for” or “stoodest for”.
There is one instance of “stand against” in the epistles:
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
I’m not hiding anything I found from you! This is the only place we, NT Christians, are told to stand up and fight against ANYTHING.
And we are not to “stand against” losing our freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or our human rights. We are not told to stand against those that would take our freedoms, our possessions, our money, our food, or our lives. We never are.
We STAND AGAINST false doctrine – and ONLY against “false doctrine” alone. We stand against lies, tricks, disguises, hypocrisies, false teachings, deceits, subtilties, beguilings, wiles, that cause women and men to eat corrupt fruit. That cause the sheep to go astray. That cause the lost to not be found. That trample down the good seed (the word of God) by the way side.
You strengthen yourself in, and stand up in the word of God. You stand up for the purity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because the counsel of the Lord “standeth for ever”. The word of the Lord shall “stand for ever”. That is where you stand. There is your armour. And what you stand against is solely “the wiles of the devil”.
You are NOT commanded to “stand up” for what is right and true and good and lawful in this world. That is not serving God. That is not fighting the good fight of faith. And you will get no reward for “standing up” and fighting worldly evil.
You can choose to do it if you desire, but you won’t be doing it Scripturally. You’ll be doing it rebelliously, defiantly.
You say, “but I’m just standing up for the law. Obedience of the law – the constitution!”
Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Its not our job to root out evil in America. Its not our job to call out wickedness and unfairness and injustice in America. That is a fight which is fleshly, carnal, worldly. Its not your job as a Christian. Its not your fight as heavenly-born son of God. You’re fighting the wrong fight. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against… spiritual wickedness”. You’re fighting against the wrong sort of wickedness!
Once upon a time, it WAS important to root out evil in the earth. To stand up for the righteousness of the law! Because in the Old Testament, that was the only way to be saved! And if there was wickedness and idolatry and perverting of the judgment, and forsaking of the law in the land, souls would die!
But we don’t live in Israel. We are not under the law. We are not “in works”.
Disobeying the law no longer leads souls to Hell. Rather, a lack of understanding, and believing, and confessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ sends people to Hell. False doctrine leads them to continue in their blindness to how they can be made free from the law. THAT is the evil we should fight against. THAT is what you should be fighting for, posting about, striving to inform people of.
Spiritual wickedness, spiritual oppression, spiritual bondage, spiritual blindness, spiritual imprisonment! That is the ONLY evil we should strive against. That is the only wickedness that we should wrestle against.
But you just keep fighting against the wrong sort of wickedness, don’t you… You just can’t stop fighting man’s fight, can you? You guys, just love your Facebook, and Twitter and Parler. You just gotta keep posting all those political statements. Posting, and “liking”, and sharing, and retweeting this and that, and commenting on this and that, and arguing for this and against that… fighting for all these worldly things… Doing this, you’ll make some people happy and some people mad. You might please some conservatives, some right-wingers, some supposed “Christians”, and you’ll piss off some liberals. Maybe that is what you like about it. Pissing off the liberals. Getting praise of the conservatives. But they won’t change their minds. Maybe you punch a couple holes in their favorite arguments. Maybe you “win” a political argument against a staunch liberal on social media. Well… Wahoo! The angels are rejoicing in heaven! A sinner has come home! A new name written down in glory!! The Lord has a crown laid up with your name on it… Oh wait.. None of that is true?
Oh, well at least we put those liberal jerks to silence, yeahhh baby!!! Shut up liberal jerks! Maybe they’ll “find the light” and be conservatives… From fighting? Yeah, right! I’ve never seen it. They never let go of their pride, and they never shut up. Do they? You know they don’t!
There IS a way to put your enemies to silence. But its not by arguing politics. Its not by fighting. Quite the opposite:
1 Peter 2:13-15 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
Ooooh. Ouch. You don’t like that one do you? Submit?? No… You’d rather rebel against the Biden administration than submit to it. You’d rather complain about Governor Hogan’s COVID rules than to, in well doing, obey them.
Submit? No way.. I’d rather keep fighting for social and economic freedom, arguing politics. I know it’s a tough fight, but maybe someday they’ll wise up, and shut up, and listen to my opinion, my knowledge, my logical reasoning, my truth! One day I’ll put them to silence! … Fat chance!
Fools are put to silence with your submission. But you don’t want to it God’s way, do you?
But there is one other way to silence fools, Scripturally. Maybe you fighters will like this one a bit more.
Matthew 22:33-34 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine. 34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
Ooooh. Ouch. You don’t really like that one either do you? By doctrine?? That means you have to preach Christ’s doctrine. That’s a little harder than sharing an article, or reposting a nice bar graph you found. That’s a little more of a risk that you won’t find very much support from your conservative base. That’s a little more of a risk you’ll be hated of all men. You’d rather fight politics with politics, than to fight spiritual wickedness with good doctrine.
But maybe, one day, with all your political fighting you’ll convince them, and they’ll say… “oh I get it now, abortion is murder, and we DO need to build a wall, we need to LIFT all the COVID restrictions, and we better NOT vote for these dangerous socialist agendas”. Maybe .. maybe one day you win yourself a political convert on social media. Well.. Wahoo! The angels are rejoicing in heaven! A sinner has come home, baby! A sinner has repented of his unlawful deeds! A new name written down in glory, baby! Oh yeah, baby! Score one for God, baby!! Here you go Lord, I brought forth some good fruit: here’s one ripe and juicy conservative! Now Lord, you’re gonna wanna slap this pro-Life Capitalist right here, right down there in the front row of your Church there. He’s gonna let his light shine for all the world to see.
Except of course this is all wrong. All mocking aside, you know this is wrong, right?
No one has been saved SPIRITUALLY from this. How could they have… because you chose to fight CARNALLY! Maybe they repented of their “liberalism”, but no one has repented of their WORKS: unto salvation.
If anything, you’ve made them MORE hardened against the gospel. You’ve made them trust in their works. In their turning from their sins. You’ve made them MORE self-righteous. You’ve turned them the wrong way. You’ve turned them farther away from the Lord. You’ve distracted them, deceived them. You’ve convinced them they are better now, cleaner now, fixed now.
You’re no better than the “Reverend” Warnock, are you? You’ve left the word of God, to fight politically. You might as well run for a Senate seat. You’ve left the word of God just like he has.
You’ve left the cold flowing waters to give men the waters of men; the waters of your red, American, patriotic blood.
You’ve left the wisdom of God to give them man’s wisdom.
You’ve left the riches and the mansions in glory to give them Capitalism. What an evil thing that is! Opportunity to buy and sell and get rich. Opportunity to work hard for riches. You think that is Godly? That’s satanic! That is not God’s system He set up! Its Satan’s! With God, if you want to be rich, you don’t buy and sell. You give. Give your things away FREE. And He will give to you. You serve him, and He will reward you. Capitalism is not from above.
You’ve left giving them salvation truth, to give them “freedom of speech”, and “freedom of religion”. What evil things those are! Why are you fighting for that?
Please understand me, no matter how much you argue and fight on social media for what is “right and good and true”, you cannot clean up America. You cannot fix America this way. You cannot teach men righteousness this way.
Isaiah 26:10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
No matter how clean the land itself is, even if you were to clean America up, if the wicked are there, they will do wickedly. That’s what they do!
Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
You can’t make them understand righteousness without them getting saved – “be purified, and made white”!
Unless you give them the gospel, they can’t be wise. (of course, they can be “conservative” fools – fighting for the same foolish things that you’re fighting for. But they can’t be wise to righteousness.)
The wicked shall do wickedly. And no amount of you screaming for law and order over anarchy and sedition, or capitalism over socialism is going to change anything. The wicked shall do wickedly.
What are you striving for? What is this perfect vision of America, this fantasized “land of uprightness”, that you are fighting for? The wicked shall do wickedly. (That includes all of us – YOU included… you “conservative”, prideful, highminded, wicked sinner – you’re no less wicked than the “liberals” you hate). So what good is it to clean the land? And how is convincing them to act and vote like you do going to profit the land? As long as you and I are in the land, it cannot be upright. There is no peace to the wicked. There is no peace to America. You can’t have a righteous land of America. So again, what are you striving for?
Please understand me, God does not need you on Facebook or Twitter or Parler, fighting to convince the world of their sin, hypocrisy, racism, covetousness, murders, Godlessness. Why? Because its not your JOB, its not your FIGHT. That doesn’t mean its not important. You say, “well someone’s got to do it.” You’re right. The Lord does. Its HIS fight. He’s got it covered.
Jude 1:14-15 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
He doesn’t need you to convince the world of their sin.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
This is not the Christian’s fight/work. And when Jesus was here it wasn’t His either!
John 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
You sit there and judge men, and condemn men, and accuse men, after the flesh. And think you’re so wise and righteous, and so just, and such a good servant, such a good soldier for God.
But Jesus didn’t judge or condemn! Jesus did not judge a single man according to the flesh. He condemned those teaching false doctrine, but never did He call out a single man for theft, or oppression, or fraud, or adultery, or murder. Never. You judge. But He did not judge.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
The word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ shall judge mankind. Jesus has it covered. Its His job. But that is not our job on the earth.
The Lord is coming to judge the world, and your job is to turn them to righteousness.
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
You say, that’s what I’m doing! Telling them to be righteous and be Christianly, instead of being all wicked and liberal!
No, “turning men to righteousness”, true righteousness, not one’s “own righteousness, which is of the law”, CANNOT be done with flesh and blood. Not a single one of us is righteous. So how can we make another man righteous? We can’t!
No carnal fighting, social media posts, videos, speeches, images, gifs, news clippings, charts, graphs, nor any words of man’s wisdom that you can SCREAM on social media can make men righteous. The only thing that can make men righteous is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
By Pastor • Christian Life • 0