The Fog of War
Week 4: Basic Evangelism Training 101
By Miles Crouse
09 June
2007
Saturday morning, 10AM
Proverbs 30:10
The fog of war is a term used to describe the level of doubtfulness or uncertainty experienced by participants engaged in military operations.
Today it is easier to see and point out the blatant error and confusion in false religions and we will do that in hopes of understanding how to stand those that oppose Christ, but first we must look a little closer to our own camp because enemy’s lies are not always so obvious. In fact it is well said that the lie closest to the truth is easiest believed.
So today before we peer through the fog of confusion of other religious beliefs where going to have a surprise inspection of our own.
"There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness" (Proverbs 30:12).
"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12),
It is mistaken to think that the only deceived souls in the world, are those outside our churches who have no professed faith in Christ.
There is a large group within the Lord’s church today who have correct doctrine, but have never truly tasted of Christ. No one can see the heart of a man, so we think that if a person has correct doctrine, he must know Christ. Of course, you know a person can have all the correct doctrine in the world and not know the Savior. Look at the Pharisees.
In our churches today, every person has been taught that
· Nothing the sinner can do will ever merit the favor of God.
· We all understand clearly that the highest moral achievements of the unsaved man are only "filthy rags" in the sight of a holy God.
· We know well such passages as,
"by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9);
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5),
· We all know that Heaven cannot be earned by any good works.
· We are know that Christ alone can save any sinner.
These are the basic doctrines of Christ and can all be found in all of our doctrinal statements. So far so good.
We all know that Christ is the only Way unto the Father, and that we must personally exercise faith in and upon Him: that He only becomes our Savior when we believe on Him.
During the last one hundred and twenty-five years, almost the whole emphasis of "Gospel preaching" has been thrown upon faith in Christ, and evangelistic efforts have been almost entirely confined to getting people to "believe" on the Lord Jesus. The difficulty with this, is at times, repentance has been left out. We have to understand that a faith that has no fruit is a dead faith.
No one can read the New Testament attentively without discovering that there is a superficial "believing" in Christ which does not save. In John 8:30 we are told, "As He spake these words, many believed on Him”. Nevertheless, one does not have to read much farther on in the chapter to discover that those very same people had only a superficial faith and were unregenerate and unsaved souls. In John 5:44 we find the Lord telling these very ones who seemed to believe that they were of their “father the Devil;” and in John 5:59 we find them taking up stones to cast at Him.
These passages have presented a real difficulty unto some; yet it ought not. They created their own difficulty, by supposing that a superficial faith in Christ necessarily saves. It does not. There is a faith in Christ which saves, and there is also a superficial faith in Christ which does not save.
"Among the chief rulers also many believed on him." Were, then, those men saved? Many preachers and evangelists, as well as tens of thousands of their blinded followers, would answer, Most assuredly. But let us note what immediately follows here:
"But because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:42, 43).
Can anyone say that those men would not forsake all and follow Christ had any kind of true saving faith? Remember faith always has repentance. It always has real tangible measurable fruit. As James said, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26).
Men who are afraid to risk the loss of their worldly positions, earthly interests, personal reputations, or any thing else that is dear to them, for Christ’s sake, do not have true saving faith and are yet in their sins. It does not matter how many times they say they are trusting in Christ’s finished work to take them to Heaven. Jesus said in Matthew 12:33, “the tree is known by his fruit.” Earlier in Matthew 7:16 Jesus said of true believers—“Ye shall know them by their fruits.”
Probably most of us have been brought up under the teaching that there are only two classes of people in this world, Believers and Unbelievers. In a sense this is true, but such a classification is can be misleading. It would be better to classify people those who are united with Christ and those who are his enemies. Why? Because some who profess to know Christ have only known Him from a distance, but have not forsaken all to follow Him. Let’s look at three types of people.
The same three types are clearly discernible in the world today.
1. First, those who have Scarce Faith. There are the vast multitudes who make no profession at all, who see nothing in Christ that they should desire Him; people who are deaf to every appeal, and who make little attempt to conceal their hatred of the Lord Jesus.
We see these kinds of people when we look at the hardened leaders of Israel, the scribes and Pharisees, priests and elders. From start to finish they were openly opposed to Christ, and neither His blessed teaching nor wondrous works had any melting effects upon them.
2. Second, there are those who have Superficial Faith. Think of many of the common people who "heard Him gladly" (Mark 12:37). Of those people a great many of whom are said to have professed to "believed on Him" (see John 2:23; 7:3 1; 8:30; 10:42; 11:45; 12:11). Yet there is no real evidence that the majority of them were saved. They were not outwardly opposed to Christ, but they never yielded their hearts to Him. They were impressed by His Divine credentials, yet were easily offended (John 6:66).
There is that large group who are attracted by Christ in a natural way. So far from being openly antagonistic to Him and His cause, they are found among His followers. Having been taught much of the Truth, they "believe in Christ," just as children reared by conscientious Muslims believe firmly and devoutly in Mohammed. Having received much instruction concerning the virtues of Christ’s precious blood, they profess to trust in its merits to deliver them from the wrath to come; and yet there is nothing in their daily lives to show that they are new creatures in Christ Jesus! We must ask ourselves, if there is little or no fruit of saving faith, does a person really know Christ?
3. Saving Faith. Third, there was the insignificant handful who "received Him" (John 1:12) into their hearts and lives; received Him as their Lord and Savior. They are the "few" (Matthew 7:13, 14) who deny themselves, take up the cross daily, and follow a despised and rejected Christ in the path of loving and unreserved obedience unto God.
Yes, there is a faith in Christ, which saves; but there is a superficial faith in Christ which does not save.
What, then, does saving faith consist of? What is the difference between superficial faith and saving faith?
First, we need to recognize that the two things often have much in common: that superficial faith in Christ which does not save, has in it more than one element or ingredient of that which does vitally unite the soul to Him.
Saving faith is the opposite of unbelief, whatever form it takes. Superficial faith is simply a form of unbelief, that professes to know Christ, but comes short of forsaking all and following Him. A person who will not forsake his sin, even though he professes to follow Christ is still in unbelief. Holiness is the mark of true saving faith. How can we recognize this unbelief?
A.W. Pink says it well,
“Unbelief is not simply a sickness of fallen human nature, but is a heinous crime. Scripture everywhere attributes it to love of sin, obstinacy of will, hardness of heart. Unbelief has its root in a depraved nature, in a mind which is enmity against God. Love of sin is the immediate cause of unbelief:”
People who love therefore live in their sin have no real assurance that they are Christians at all, but are condemned. As John 3:19 says, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil".
As we go out and preach the Gospel, let us not demand any less than what Christ demands. Listen to our Saviour’s words:
Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
If the Gospel were more clearly and faithfully preached, fewer would profess to believe it!
Saving faith is a genuine coming to Christ: Matthew 28; John 6:37, etc. But let us take care that we do not miss the clear and inevitable implication of this term. If I say, "I came to the U.S.A.," then I necessarily indicate that I left some other country to get here. Thus it is in "coming" to Christ: something has to be left. Coming to Christ not only involves the abandoning of every false object of confidence, but it also includes and entails the forsaking of all other competitors for my heart.
Saving faith consists of the complete surrender of my whole being and life to the claims of God upon me:
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him" (Colossians 2:6).
Yes, mark it well, that Christ is "received" as LORD. O how far, far below the N.T. standard is this modern way of begging sinners to receive Christ as their own personal "Savior." If you will consult your concordance you will find that in every passage where the two titles are found together, it is always "Lord and Savior," and never vice versa: see Luke 1:46, 47; 2 Peter 1:11; 2:20; 3:18.
Saving faith is a believing on Christ with the heart:
"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Romans 10:9,10).
Saving faith, then is the opposite of damning unbelief. Both come out from the heart: unbelief, from a heart that is alienated from God, which is in a state of rebellion against Him; saving faith, from a heart which is reconciled to Him and so has ceased to fight against Him. Thus, an essential element or ingredient in saving faith is a yielding to the authority of God, a submitting of myself to His rule. It is very much more than my understanding assenting and my will consenting to the fact that Christ is a Savior for sinners, and that He stands ready to receive all who trust in Him. To be received by Christ, I must not only come to Him renouncing all my own righteousness (Romans 10:3), as an empty-handed beggar (Matthew 19:21), but I must also forsake my self-will and rebellion against Him (Psalm 2:11,12; Proverbs 28:13).
Conclusion: Don’t let the fog of war blind you from reaching the hearts of sinners. Don’t let up until the heart has been humbled by the Law and conquered by the Love of Christ!