Are you a person of conviction?
Is conviction a good thing or a bad thing? Well, it all depends. You
know that the Muslim who flies our airplane into the twin towers does so because
of conviction. That’s exactly what
happened. The Terrorist bomber that
straps these bombs on his body and goes down into the subway and sets it off,
does so because of a conviction. So is
conviction a good thing or a bad thing?
As long as your conviction is the same as my conviction, we’re both
going to be happy. Conviction will be
good.
It seems like in these modern days, that most of the good, noble
people in the United States that I see don’t really have strong convictions,
while at the same time the worst people here in the United States are full of
passionate intensity. The drug lords,
the gangs paint their symbols on our buildings, and our buses, and our train
railroad cars and our bridges while the good people sit idly by and say, “What
is happening to the world? This is so
bad.” I think we need more conviction
as Christians. I think it may be time
for the silent majority to stand up and be counted before we become the
defeated minority.
In World War two, Winston Churchill said: “Never give in, never give in, never; never;
never; never give in. Whether it’s
great or small, large or petty - never give in except to the convictions of
honor and good sense.”
A conviction is more than just a belief. What is a conviction? Let
me define that. A belief that doesn’t
come from a conviction in the heart is not a real belief. It needs to have conviction with it. And a conviction that does not become an
action is not really a conviction at all.
A conviction is something you believe in to the core of your very
being. Probably there are ten church
members in most churches that are there just because of inheritance, compared
to every one that is there because of conviction. We need to have convictions about the truth and about what we
believe.
Martin Luther, risking his
life, took his hammer and some nails and nailed on to the door of the church
his theses, his convictions about the truth that he learned from the
Bible. I admire that. He was not afraid to stand up and be
counted. Over here in First
Thessalonians, chapter one and verse five Paul makes another statement. Paul says,
“Our gospel came to you not
simply with words, but also with power, and with the Holy Spirit and with deep
conviction.” Paul was successful as an
evangelist because he had deep convictions about the truth.
Conviction is good, and it’s bad. When you and I are convicted of
the same thing, life is peaceful. But
when you are convicted of something that is definitely wrong in my opinion,
then we have a problem. We’re going to
be at loggerheads with each other. The
sparks are going to fly. So we need to
make sure that our convictions are based on the Bible. The foundations of your convictions needs to
be based on God and eternal truth.
Here’s a text in Isaiah. Come
back here to Isaiah in your Bible.
Isaiah, chapter eight, and I want you to notice verse 20. It says, “To the Law and to the testimony, If
they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them.” So if your convictions don’t
line up with the Bible, your convictions aren’t right. They’re not truthful.
The basis of your belief is critical. I believe with every ounce of my being that God’s Bible is THE
one and THE only standard of right and wrong.
Do you believe that? This is our
handbook. This is our source of
truth. The word of God. It is the oldest book in the world. Every time the archeologists dig up
something, it confirms the Bible. Live
by this Bible. You can’t find truth by
majority vote. Suppose we all vote down
the law of Gravity. How many would be in favor of that? Would that make it OK to jump from a high
cliff? You can’t determine truth by
voting on it. You can only determine
truth by God. God is the source of
truth. Jesus said, “I am the Way,
the Truth and the Life.” He is the truth. So that’s how we determine what truth is.
As you establish life long convictions, please make sure they are
in the center of God’s path. I was
hiking on a 31 mile section of the Appalachian trail in the Smoky Mountains
this Sept 15. At one point I looked
down to the left side of the trail and the sharp drop off seemed to go straight
down over a hundred feet. I can tell
you that I stayed in the center of that path.
Stay in the middle of God’s known truth. If you get to the far side of any belief you can become
fanatical. Eccentric oddballs seem to
gravitate into our church. I don’t want
to be a Weirdo. I want to be square in the midst of God’s
will. Look at a text here in
Proverbs. Proverbs four, 26 and 27. “Carefully walk a straight path, and
all your ways will be secure. Do not
lean to the right or to the left.”
Our upward path to Heaven is straight and narrow. But It is paved with hope and shaded with
grace. Stay in the middle of the path
of life. Establish right convictions
that will lead you to eternal life and not into becoming a sidetracked
religious Wacko from Waco or somewhere.
Second Corinthians four, verse 13. “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ With that
same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak.” The apostles spoke out of the beliefs of
their heart. One of the greatest needs
in these perilous last days is for men and women and boys and girls and youth
who are willing to live what they believe.
The greatest want of the world is the want of men (and women), men
who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and
honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience
is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right
though the heavens fall. [Education
57.3] That’s the type of people we need today.
Most of the great stories in the Bible are of those stalwart men
and women who stood up and were counted for the right. That’s why they’re great heroes. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. They were friends of God. Today we need men on boards and committees
who stand up and say, “I will not vote for this investment. The interest rate is way too high and we
need to adhere to our church policies.”
We need people who are willing to speak up at committees or
Constituencies and stand for principle.
Romans chapter 14, verse five says, “Each one should be fully convinced in
his own mind.” We nee people who will
speak up for the truth. Who will stand
for the right. Who are willing to be
counted. In these last days we need
courageous Christians. Strong backed
people who are willing to buck the trend and stand for the truth that has been
proven right.
God give us men that these times demand.
Men whom the lust of office does not kill.
Men who have honor and will not lie.
Men who will spurn flatteries and sin.
Men who stand tall and live above the fog.
Men who stand for the right though the heavens fall.
That’s what we need today.
First Corinthians, chapter 16, verse 13 says, “Be on guard.
Stand firm for what you believe. Be courageous. Be strong.”
Thankfully, in every age
someone has had the courage enough to stand by God given convictions. Look at some Bible examples.
Come back to Genesis 39, the story of Joseph. If there was ever a young man who stood for
what was right, it was Joseph. He
refused the advances of Potiphar's wife.
She was a wild woman. Joseph had
been entrusted with all that his master owned.
In fact what did the master say?
Verse 6 says, “He did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.” Joseph was well-built and handsome. He would have been selected to appear on the
Egyptian Bachelor program. Young,
single & successful. She “cast” her
eyes upon him. Be careful what you cast
your eyes upon, because what we look at long enough we want. But Joseph stood strong. Why?
His family would never find out.
No one would know. But Joseph
knew that God would know. God was the
master of his life. Joseph loved God
and would rather die than hurt God.
Joseph stood true to his convictions. We need modern Josephs who are
willing to stand for the right regardless of the Devil’s temptations.
God wants you to live for the right. To be ruled by your convictions and not your hormones. Most people say, “well if it feels good, do
it.” That’s not the criteria. Be bold in what you stand for otherwise you
will fail and fall. God is looking for
a people who will stand for what is right.
God wants overcomers, not to save ourselves, but to honor Him. God is looking for a last day remnant people
who will consider sin as the most expensive thing in the world. Sin will puncture your cup of joy. Sin is too costly. Joseph could not make it with Potiphar's wife anyway. Why is that? A relationship that is cemented together with sin will eventually
come unglued.
Let’s go to another man.
Second Samuel 11. This is the
story of Uriah the Hittite. He was a
man of conviction. David fell into sin
with Bathsheba. David finally figured
out a way to cover it up. David should
have been out fighting with the troops, but he was home alone. He invited her husband Uriah to come home
from the battle. Look at verse
eight. “And David said to Uriah, Go
down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's
house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.”
So you get the picture here?
The king says to one of his soldiers, and what does the soldier do? What is the king? The king is the commander-in-chief, right? The commander-in-chief of the United States
army is Barack Obama. The
president. So when the king says to one
of the troops, “You come home.” “Yes,
Sir.” “You go to your house.” “Yes, Sir.”
“And here’s a big banquet.” Probably
with wine and everything else. “You go
in there and do whatever you want to do.”
And so what happened?
Verse 9. “But Uriah
slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and
went not down to his own house.”
He didn’t go home. Uriah had
eaten army rations for many weeks.
So, David sent a sumptuous banquet with Uriah but the
man would not enter his own house or eat the kings food. Uriah was convicted in his heart that it was
not right to party while his fellow troops were out there risking their
life. He placed duty before
pleasure.
Do you place duty before pleasure? “Oh, no. I never do. I
always do my duties first. Then I have
my pleasure.” On Sabbath our duty is to
worship God. Is that true or
false. That’s what we are expected to
do by the Creator of the universe. So
how dare any of us skip our duty to go off and have fun. I am sure Uriah badly wanted to be in his
own home with his own wife in his own bed.
But He had convictions about what was right and wrong. He stood by his convictions. Uriah’s loyalty was with the King of
Heaven, not the King of the land.
Let’s go to another individual.
John the Baptist. He spoke
against sin. He preached
repentance. Herod married Herodias, his
brothers wife. It was sinful. Leviticus 20:21. Jeff Foxworthy said, “You
know you are a redneck if you go to a family reunion to look for a date.” John the Baptist said to Herod, “This is wrong. You’re not doing right.” He stood tall for his conviction against
sin. He lost his life, but that didn’t
bother John the Baptist. He preached
God’s truth despite the consequences.
Never backpedal when you’re standing against sin. Call homosexuality and drunkenness and
adultery and abortion by their right name.
Stand for the right regardless of the cost. Isaiah 7:9 “If you do not
stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
Now let’s look at just one more story. Daniel and his three friends.
Would you bow down to an idol to save your life? In many Muslim lands today you risk your
life if you convert to Christianity.
You will be killed or imprisoned or tortured. You will be placed in a work camp where you will be re-educated
or you will be denied the right to buy or sell. They will cut your hands off.
They will decapitate you. Over
there, few people stand publicly for their convictions.
In Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood up for what is
right. Everybody was standing. They were told to bow down or they would
burn up. The furnace was heated as hot
as it could be heated. The
strongest Monarch in the world,
Nebuchadnezzar, said, “When you hear the music, bow down to my golden image. If not you will be thrown into the burning
furnace.” Come over here to Daniel,
chapter three in your Bible. And
Nebuchadnezzar said, “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my
hand?” Look at Daniel three and verse
17. Notice what these three men of
conviction said to this world ruler. “If it be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and
He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.” Now look at verse 18. “ BUT IF
NOT, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods,
nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” What conviction! When did they come up with that kind of courage? Long before the fire was even built they
drew a line in the sand. You, yourself
must draw your line in the sand, before you find yourself in a car on a lonely
dark lane with your date. There are
just some things you will never ever do.
You men will never be unfaithful to your spouse. Under no circumstance will you ever cheat or
gossip or lie. Some things are always
wrong, and we can’t do them.
We need men and women of courage today. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not bow, budge, bend or even
burn. Jesus was with them. They knew what was right and had the courage
to stand by their convictions. And they
did not stand alone. Jesus was with
them.
Never attack Hell with a squirt gun...Not when you have unlimited
access to the abundant water of life.
Take Jesus with you. He can
douse your fires of lust. When you see
MTV or a movie or see a women’s magazine at the check-out line of the grocery
store you see the pressure to conform to worldly ways. The world gives Emmy awards to the HBO show
“Sex in the City” or ABC’s “Desperate Housewives”. We give Emmy awards to the type of thing. The world is sliding deep into
immorality. True Christians must stand
apart from the world.
We need youth today who will come out of the world and stand for
God. Youth who will say NO to drugs,
smoking, attending a party where there will be drinking. Youth who will not be defiled. Youth who are like Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego. Youth who have the courage to
live their convictions regardless of what the crowd might want to do. Second Thessalonians 2:15. “Stand firm and hold to the teachings
we passed on to you.” Romans 12:2. “Be ye not
conformed to this world.”
Modern culture is almost valueless. There are no rights or wrongs.
Anything goes. Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego stood alone. Noah voyaged alone. Daniel prayed alone. Joseph stood alone. It’s not what the crowd does. The Sodomites
stood in a crowd following Satan’s lustful cravings and they fed the flames
that fell on their day of judgement.
Revelation 18:4 says: “And I heard
another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, My people.’” God’s people should come out of the
world. We don’t want to be a part of
the world because we want to put Jesus Christ first in our lives. We want Jesus to be honored by our thoughts
and our actions. We want to be
different. A cut above. We don’t want to be worldly. We want to be heavenly. We want to get ready to live on those
streets of gold because that’s where we’re going to be.
So now is the training ground.
I urge you young people, I urge you older people, let’s stand for what
is right. Let’s have godly convictions
and be willing to stand for our convictions.
Not fanatical convictions, Not
way off on one side or the other, but in the heart of the will of God.
Let’s sing our closing hymn.
Stand Like The Brave. That’s
what Christ would have us to do. You
may have to stand alone in your family.
You may be the only one in your family, but have the courage to stand
like the brave.
Dear Father. Help us each
to stand with Jesus Christ. To be
brave. To not conform to the world’s
mould, but to be transformed by Thy power.
Empower us. Go with us. Dismiss us with Your presence, Your love and
Your courage. We pray in Jesus’ name,
amen.
Hymn of Praise: #34, Wake the Song Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:58 Hymn of Response: #610, Stand Like the Brave
Return to McDonald Road Sermons Index
Return to McDonald Road SDA Church Home Page
McDonald Road Sermon transcribed by Steve Foster 10/24/09