Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• Last week: Healthy Christian Fellowship
• Recap & Examples
• 1. Commitment to Christ
• Are you committed to the Lord Jesus Christ?
• 2. Commitment to God's people
• 3. Commitment to Unity
• 4. Identifying those who cause division
• This evening: v19b-20
• To be an encouragement
• Reading v19b-20
• A battle: an enemy, evil, be innocent
• Overview:
• Be wise about what is good
• Innocent about what is evil
• The promise of victory

Be wise about what is good

• Beware of flattery
• 2 Tim 3
• Why should Tabor be exempt?
• To be able to detect those who are not in Christ
• Their private life - do they live for the Lord
• Their doctrine - not according to the Scriptures
• We must know the word of God
• Be wise in the Scriptures
• Be wise about ethical matters
• Examples
• What is lawful, is not beneficial or edifying
• Think about what is noteworthy and lovely

Innocent about what is evil

• Example of Suzanne Wesley
• The great danger today is to expose our self to that which is evil
• Not only do we become polluted, but we become desensitized
• Do not believe a satanic lie - we should not experience the things of the world
• There is a battle for the mind
• Theological understanding:
• First master the word of God
• Do not undertake deep study of worldly philosophies
• 1 Cor 14:20

The promise of victory

• The apostle Paul is thinking of the spiritual battle
• God's word is stronger
• God will have the victory
• God will crush Satan (under our feet)
• God will crush Satan (v20)
• The first mention of Satan in the epistle
• We should give little attention to the devil
• The New Testament is all about God, Christ and His people
• Gen 3:15
• The seed of the woman will come and crush the serpent's head
• We should think about Jesus Christ
• How do we understand v20?
• Do we apply this victory in times of temptation and present difficulty?
• Is it speaking of a final and eternal victory?
• Satan was cast out at the cross
• Examples
• He is a defeated foe
• Yet he seeks to tempt and deceive Christians
• He is the prince of the power of the air who works in the sons of disobedience
• He is hateful towards the Church of Jesus Christ
• A reference to the final victory
• An application to the struggling believer [1 Cor 10:13]
• The wicked one does not touch him - 1 Jo 5:18
• Satan can hinder us - 1 Thess 2:18, 1 Cor 16:9
• Paul's thorn in his side
• Paul entering the area of spiritual warfare at the close of the epistle

Closing Remarks