Friday, February 09, 2007

From the desk of Walter Martin:

When we see idolatry, we are supposed to be provoked. When we see evil, we are supposed to get exercised about it. If you can calmly walk through this upholstered cesspool of earth; if you can see evil, filth, degeneracy, and hear vile language; if you can see the corruption of the media and the perversion of the Gospel; if you can see the multiple forms of idolatry—the worship of things and of the creation more than the Creator; if you can see this today and you are not provoked about it, then you are not in touch with God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is provoked by evil, and he stirs up the Church so that we may do something about it.

Christianity is not passive. Christianity is vigorously active! Paul, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, blameless, trained under Gamaliel with his Ph.D at the University of Damascus, stands in Athens. He looks around and sees idolatry, and he gets angry in his spiritual nature. Notice, the Scripture says he did something about it. He went out to try and reason with them.

Do you know what happens to people today when the Holy Spirit stirs them up? They turn on their television sets and skip prayer meeting.

Am I right?

I’m afraid that too often, it’s true. But if you really are in the will of God, do you know what happens to you when the Holy Spirit provokes you? You go out and you do something about it. Paul went out and he argued.

Oh, we have people today who say, “Christians aren’t supposed to argue. We’re supposed to love.” Gush, gush, gush. Let me ask you something. Do you think that argument for the truth excludes love? Love became flesh in Jesus Christ, and when love ran into the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodeans and the Scribes, love argued with them!

Incarnate love has to tell the truth. If someone is dying, do you go to their hospital bed and “love” them so much you never tell them they’re going to die in their sins? They are forever lost if you don’t.

What is love? Love is telling the truth.

Paul did not pick arguments. He went out and he witnessed for Jesus Christ and when people argued with him, he answered them. Christians are supposed to give answers to the world. We are not supposed to go about looking for arguments, but we must love people so much that we are willing to argue for the truth.

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