Why We Need to Contend for the Faith (Episode 30)

Unless you live with your head buried in the sand, you know that there are vicious assaults going on against the Christian faith these days. Not everybody agrees with, or wants to submit to, God’s plan for their lives and for this world. The opposition is passionate about getting their message out. In this episode, Frank King argues that the church must be just as or even more passionate to contend for the faith.
Based on the words of Jude’s epistle, this assault against the Christian faith is not unique to our day. It existed during the days of the apostles as well. Jude expresses the urgency of his appeal to the believers:
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3, KJV).
According to Jude, his initial intent was to write to them about salvation, which is extremely important. But that initial intent was overcome by the need to address this more urgent issue. There exists two key terms or phrases in the verse above: “earnestly contend” and “the faith which was once delivered to the saints.”
To earnestly contend for the faith means we must not be passive or noncommittal but diligent to do so. The faith that was delivered to the saints refers to the undiluted gospel that has been given to us by the Lord Jesus and His apostles.
What was the occasion for Jude’s urgent appeal? It was ungodly men who had crept in among the believers unawares. These men denied God and the Lord Jesus Christ (verse 4).
The State of the Church Today
We have the same kind of evil men among us today that existed in Jude’s day.  Some are preachers who have gained access to pulpits in our churches. They are preaching another gospel. Some downplay or outright the deny the need to repent. They turn the message of grace into a message of go to heaven your way. Some don’t even believe in the virgin birth of Christ or the deity of Christ.
Accordingly, the state of today's church continues to decline. It used to be that if you were an American, the default assumption was that you identified with Christianity as your faith. That’s certainly not true anymore.
It used to be that if you said you were a Christian, we had a pretty good idea of what you meant by that. And that there were some core beliefs that you adhered to. But that’s becoming less and less true today.
We can’t reverse what has happened in the church. But we must not ignore the danger either. God is calling the church to go against the grain of society. To earnestly contend for the faith that was given to us by the Lord and His apostle. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is still the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.

Abiding in the Truth (Episode 27)

In America, we have freedom of religion.  Accordingly, we have countless religious choices. Regardless of what one’s religious beliefs are, he is almost certain to find an accommodating religion. In this episode, Evangelist Frank King addresses the importance of Christians knowing and abiding in the truth found in God’s Word.
Paul wrote to the church at Galatia because after knowing the truth, the local body failed to hold fast to the same. He expressed amazement by how quickly the church’s departure from the truth had occurred. “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel,” he wrote (Galatians 1:6, KJV).
One thing that’s evident in Paul’s words to this local church is that merely knowing the truth does not safeguard you from ending up in error. Hence, the need for a personal commitment to abiding in the truth.
What did Paul advise the church to do? He writes, “But though we, or angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (verse 8).
In other words, shun everyone who comes to you preaching a message that differs from what we the apostles have preached to you. The Galatians knew the truth because Paul had given that to them. In effect, he told the church to use what he had taught them as the basis for detecting false teachings.
Paul goes as far as saying that even if an angel comes and tries to give them another gospel, let him be accursed. Under the OT law, when something was accursed, you were to avoid it like the plague. That’s what Paul was telling the people of God to do about divergent teachings. And that is excellent advice for us as well.
The Importance of Sound Doctrine
Paul’s message to the Galatians underscores how vital it is for those who preach to preach and teach sound doctrine in the church.  In 2 Tim 2:15, he writes, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workmen that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly diving the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV).
This one verse speaks volumes regarding the importance of the ministry of the Word of God. The phrase, “rightly dividing” comes from a Greek word meaning to “cut straight.”
Think about a surgeon. If you were going under the knife for a medical procedure, you want a surgeon with steady hands, one who can cut straight. That’s because during surgery, cutting a little too far to the left or to the right can be fatal. The point is that preachers and teachers must strive to communicate the gospel clearly. They must strive to get it right. Because when they don’t, they leave room for the truth to be perverted by false teachings.
The main point in this episode is that knowing the truth is not synonymous with being anchored in the truth. You can realize the latter end only through a personal commitment to abiding in the truth. The eternal consequences of failing to do so should be your greatest inspiration.

Sometimes, You Have to Encourage Yourself (Episode 24)

We all need to be encouraged at times. Believers attend church regularly to be encouraged through the good news of the gospel. In this podcast episode, Evangelist Frank King says it’s also important to be able to encourage yourself.
Sometimes, your need to be encouraged can’t wait until the next time the church doors open. Or the kind of encouragement you need to hear may not be the message for the day at church. Your best friend may not be available to talk to or come by. If you don’t know how to encourage yourself in the face of circumstances that threaten to overwhelm you, you will have a problem standing in times like that.
A time occurred in King David’s life when he had to encourage himself. While he and his army were out at war, the Amalekites came into their city and burned it and took their wives and children captive.
When David and his men returned home and saw the destruction, they were emotionally devastated. “David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep” (1 Samuel 30:4, KJV).
As if that was not enough, the men of David’s army talked about stoning him! Now David did not burn down their city. He did not take their wives and their children captive. He was one with them. He’s feeling the same loss they were. But the men were grieved.
David could have lost it at this point. He could have wallowed in self-pity.  But “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (verse 6).
Your Relationship with the Lord
Anyone subjected to what David experienced would be emotionally distraught. No matter how spiritually mature you are and how much you love God, a button exists that life can push and bring you to a low point in your life.
But David was able to overcome by encouraging himself in the Lord. No other source of encouragement existed. His entire world had fallen apart.
It’s moments like this one that we find out what we are really made of. All of us know how to thrive when all is well. But what about when the bottom falls out of life? David challenges us in that regard. When he had lost his possessions and his wife and his children, and his own army wanted to stone him to death, he encouraged himself in the Lord.
The key to David’s success was his relationship with the Lord. David was the one God had sent Samuel the prophet to anoint with oil as king. After that divine experience, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13, KJV). As it was with David, before you can encourage yourself IN the Lord, you must first have a personal relationship WITH the Lord.
Several ways exist for you to encourage yourself in the Lord. For instance, you can sing songs of praise and worship. Or you can read the Scriptures to build yourself up in faith. You can even speak the Word audibly to yourself. Tell yourself that with God on your side, you are more than a conqueror. And that He is faithful and will not allow you to be tested above what you can bear. Also, that He will never leave nor forsake you.

Seeing Good in Your Bad (Episode 23)

In this podcast episode, Frank King challenges believers to learn to see some good even in bad times. But oftentimes, seeing good in your bad is not an easy thing to do. Too often, when bad times come in our life, all we can see and think about and talk about is what we are going through. God, however, can take those situations and use them for His glory.
One purpose of the gospel is to change our perspective on life and on the challenges we face in life. Since God is with us, even our bad times are seasoned with some good. According to the Bible, God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him. That’s a good reason to believe that even when things are bad for us, God is causing them to trend toward something good on our behalf.
Seeing good in your bad is an act of faith. You must be able to look beyond what you see and believe the hand of God is working on your behalf. Sometimes, He is working out His best in you through the bad things He allows you to endure.
Every one of us is going to be tried in this life at one time or another. That is true even when you faithfully serve the Lord. Paul writes, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12, NASB). “All” means no exceptions.
Paul Sees Good in His Imprisonment
One reason Paul the apostle was such a dynamic servant of God was because he understood that his life was not just about him. What God was doing in his life was bigger than he was. Even when life was difficult for him, he saw good things happening.
Paul’s love for the Lord, reflected in his letter to the church at Philippi, should challenge all of us. While in prison in Rome, those who heard of his afflictions were emboldened to preach. But not all of those preachers had the right motive for preaching. “Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will,” Paul says (Philippians 1:15). He could do nothing about how others were exploiting his imprisonment. He was confined to jail.
But Paul could look beyond the bad and see the good. “In every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I will rejoice” (verse 18)!
Put yourself in Paul the apostle’s shoes. You are the world’s most influential Christian leader. But now you are in jail for the cause of Christ. You are no longer free to go about preaching and defending the gospel. Others are using your affliction to exploit the gospel. What would your state of mind be in a situation like that?
Of course, a difficult time in your life is bad--period. The message in this episode is not an appeal to deny that fact. But the question is, are you capable of seeing good in your bad?

How to Be Strong in the Lord (Episode 22)

Being a Christian does not automatically make you strong in the Lord. You can be a Christian and not be strong in the Lord, but you can’t be strong in the Lord without being a Christian. Moreover, being strong in the Lord does not automatically come with the duration of time you have been a Christian. You can be a Christian for 50 years and still not be regarded as being strong in the Lord.
In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul writes, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10, KJV). Every Christian has what he or she needs to become strong in the Lord. That’s because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
Admittedly, some believers have more challenges to becoming strong in the Lord than others do. But the fact remains that every Christian has been endued with the wherewithal to realize that end.
But how do we become strong in the Lord, and why is that important? Paul writes, “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (verse 11). The first part of this verse reveals in a nutshell, HOW to become strong in the Lord. We accomplish that end by putting on the whole armor of God.
The second part of the verse reveals WHY we need to be strong in the Lord. It is so we can stand against the wiles—the schemes, tricks, or attacks--of the devil. It stands to reason that if we must put on the whole armor of God so we can stand against the wiles of the devil, then we won’t be able to stand strong if we don’t do that.
The Enemy Determines How We Must Fight
In this episode, Frank King underscores the point that we don’t get to determine how we must fight to win against the devil. Rather, the enemy determines that. Why do you think our nation has intelligence agencies? It’s because we must know what works against adversarial nations and what does not. If we ignore the intelligence and we just do what we always do, our warfare will not be effective. The same thing is true about our enemy, the devil. It is the nature of the enemy that dictates the kind of warfare we must fight in order to win.
In our own strength, you and I are no match for the devil. The only way we can win against him is by donning ourselves with the armor that comes from God.
The components of the armor of God are listed in verses 14-17 of Ephesians, chapter 6. There, Paul uses the symbology of armor. He talks about the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Then he says praying always (verse 18). In other words, put all these components on, praying always.
But how do we put on these components of the armor of God? We do that by applying those components to our life. In other words, by walking in truth or integrity, walking in righteousness, living by faith, obeying the Word of God and praying always. That is how we become strong, not in our own strength but strong in the Lord.

Having the Wrong Concept of Life (Episode 18)

Your concept of life matters because it determines how you live your life. If your concept of life is wrong, then the life you live will be wrong in the eyes of God. And many people today have the wrong concept of life.
This world wants us to believe life is about getting lots of stuff. To some degree, we all feed into that idea. That’s because for almost every special occasion, we celebrate by buying things for people.
Jesus said, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15, NASB).
Jesus taught a parable about a man who had the wrong concept of life. According to Jesus, the parable applies to everyone “who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (verse 21). The sad truth is that many people who attend and serve in the local church fall into this category Jesus is talking about. God wants to be first in our lives. He wants us to love Him more than we love things and worldly success.
It is not unusual to see or read about people who are rich and famous but who are still searching for fulfillment. They underscore the fact that life is not simply about material wealth. True life comes only through a personal relationship with Christ. 
Before we came to Christ, we had a self-focused perspective on life. Everything was about us. Now we must have a Christ-focused life. Furthermore, the Bible says that through Christ, we are translated from death to life. So, it is only through Christ that we can know true life. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

Discipleship and Unbelief (Episode 8)

Discipleship and unbelief tend to not go together. How can someone be a disciple and fail to believe at the same time? But unbelief, as used in this episode, does not refer to a person who does not believe in the person or the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. Rather, it refers to genuine disciples who at times struggle with their faith.
Just because you are a follower of Christ, and you read your Bible, and you have been born again does not mean you can’t have bouts with unbelief. All of us can find ourselves in that undesirable place at one time or another.
Jesus' disciples had a more intimate relationship with Him than any of us can. They virtually lived with Him throughout His public ministry. They heard all of His teachings and saw all of His miracles. You would think that if anybody was unshakeable in their faith, it would be them. But that was not the case. Even they were guilty of unbelief at times. 
This subject is important because faith is the essence of Christianity. "All things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23, NASB). But being a Christian does not automatically make you vibrant in your faith. Strong faith is not incidental to being a Christian. It does not just happen over time. But you must consistently work at growing in and deepening your faith.
The most powerful thing God has given us for strengthening our faith is His Word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Delighting in His Word daily will starve your unbelief and feed your faith.
 

Do Not Worry About Your Life (Episode 5)

People today have numerous reasons to worry and to be anxious about their life. Reasons include rampant crime and murder, chronic diseases, the high cost of living, etc. But Jesus says, “Do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat, nor for your body, as to what you will put on” (Luke 12:22, NASB).
For believers, God is our heavenly Father. It is a basic requirement for a father to provide for his children. And God is more than able to provide for us. He can do “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think….” (Ephesians 3:20, NASB). That’s why we should find it hard to obey the words of Jesus: “Do not worry about your life.”
It should be no surprise that Jesus addressed this all-important subject during His public ministry. Being human, we all experience periods of anxiety and worry. But if you really trust God, your life will not be dominated by worry. That does not mean you will never worry, but your life will not be dominated by worry.
The reason this subject resonates with us so deeply is because many people today are seriously worried or anxious about something or several things in life. Through His teachings, Jesus challenges us to live life on a higher level because God is our provider. He wants His children to trust Him. The clear evidence of genuine trust in God is the absence of excessive anxiety and worry in your life.

Our Heart and Our Worship to God (Episode 4)

Worship in its simplest definition is an act of reverence to God. This is one of the biblical ways that we show our appreciation for God to Him. Every week, millions attend the house of God to worship Him. Our styles of worship come in several forms. Some prefer a contemporary style. Others prefer to stick to the traditional. Still others desire a blend of styles. Though some churchgoers are a stickler for one style or the other, that is not what matters to God.
One reason God created us is to worship Him. He does not need our material things. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1-3, KJV). The question is what constitutes acceptability to God? How do we know that when we gather at a local church or in a similar place to reverence God, that our veneration pleases Him? In this podcast episode, Frank King focuses on the relationship between our heart and the acceptability of our worship.
Our worship to God includes activities such as giving, singing, praying, etc. But these acts of reverence must come from our heart to be acceptable to God. Unlike men, God is not impressed with our external expressions of reverence. People look on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

The Token of Our Inheritance (Episode 3)

Think for a moment about our eternal fate. One day, those of us who have placed our faith in Christ, will forever be with the Lord, and it’s going to be good beyond description. But what is our assurance of such a wonderful eternal future? How can we be sure of that?
Some people are mystified by the depth of a believer’s conviction about Christ. Perhaps, you have had someone ask you, how do you know that Christ is real; how do you know that God is real? And how can you be confident about your eternal fate?
Think about those who choose to risk their life for the cause of Christ. And those who have faithfully attended the house of God for tens of years. There must be something real to being a Christian. And there is. For God has already given us a guarantee of our inheritance through the person of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, "Having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance...." (Ephesians 1:13-14, NASB).
This pledge is not from man but from God who cannot lie. We need not worry about what the eternal future holds for us. After we accepted Christ as our Savior, God sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise. He has given us that as a token of our inheritance.