“The Lion"

"The Lion"

    Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have no need to state our case with bluster, arrogance, or anger at those who disagree with us.  We proclaim the Gospel from the strongest position, namely, the power of God and His Truth.  We therefore communicate with confidence accompanied by a quiet and assured dignity.

   "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves" (II Timothy 2:24-25).

   Insecurity sometimes leads to presenting Christ in bullying or belittling terms.  When one is unsure of the validity of his message, he must add components that, in his own mind, seem to bolster the argument.  This is never the case, especially when it comes to communicating God's Biblical truth.  As a voice of old once said, "Just let the lion out of his cage.  He'll take care of himself."  Of course, one must have utmost confidence in the lion of Scripture in order to trust his capability to proclaim and protect himself.  Believers weak in such assurance sometimes resort to an unChristlike demeanor and attitude when challenged.  They forget or either do not know that we "must not strive."  We rather trust the power of God's Spirit and Word to fight battles for the imprisoned hearts of human beings whose chains cannot be loosed by mere proclamation.  Indeed, the Apostle Paul referred to salvation as being turned "from the power of Satan unto God" (Acts 26:18).  Human argumentation alone could never accomplish such a spiritual purpose.  God certainly uses our communication of His truth.  However, He never requires our wielding of weapons that do not reflect the character and nature of Christ.

    As the saying goes, we do not fight for victory.  We fight from victory, the triumph of the crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus.  "All power is given unto Me in Heaven and earth" declared our Savior (Matthew 28:18).  We do well to keep His place, position, and power much in heart and mind as we seek to share His truth with others. He does not require our use of force in any manner whatsoever to accomplish His redemptive purposes in the hearts of people.  We proclaim and explain the Gospel assertively, but never aggressively as we "earnestly contend for that faith that was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3).  The lion of God's Truth will fend and fight for itself in the hearts we seek to influence not only with the message we share, but the manner in which we share it.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth."

(Romans 1:16)

"He sendeth forth His commandment upon earth: His word runneth very swiftly."

(Psalm 147:15)

"So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

(Isaiah 55:11)

Weekly Memory Verse

    "Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men."

(Psalm 9:20)