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“STANDING FOR THE TRUTH MAKES ENEMIES”
STANDING FOR THE TRUTH MAKES ENEMIES
Garland M. Robinson
When we choose to become children of God and live by God’s direction (the New Testament), we can’t expect to be friends with everybody. Though we certainly would desire to be, the fact is, those of the world won’t allow it. That’s not our choice — it’s theirs.
The world has never had a greater friend than Jesus the Christ. His mission was to be a friend to all. His own words were that the “Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost”(Luke 19:10). John said of him, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”(John 1:29). The Savior of the whole world said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”(John 10:10). But, concerning the world he said, “And ye(the world, sinners) will not come to me, that ye might have life”(John 5:40). “He came unto his own, and his own received him not”(John 1:11).
Though many received the Lord Jesus as their friend, far many more did not. Though the common people received him gladly (Mark 12:37), the rest did not. He told his disciples (John 15:17-25), “These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world... the world hateth you. ... The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. ... He that hateth me hateth my Father also. ... But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.”
Every faithful Christian would love to get along and be friends with everybody. But “everybody” won’t have it. The masses are in love with the world — the things of this world/life, not the things that are eternal. The Lord’s word from Heaven is, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever”(1 John 2:15-17).
Loving the Truth and Standing for the Truth, by its very nature, makes you “at odds” with the world. That was true concerning Jesus and it’s true concerning those who follow him. Standing for the Truth will make enemies. People don’t want the deeds of their life exposed. They don’t want to be told their conduct is wrong, sinful, immoral, shameful, ungodly. They want to put those things far from their mind. They are full of themselves and don’t want to be told what to do. They’ve bought into the lie of the devil that man’s existence is the product of evolution and there is no consequence for their behavior. Others simply don’t care. Would to God we could say something or do something to wake them up and get them to think about their soul and that one day they will stand before the judge of all the earth to answer for their deeds!
It’s frightening to watch people live as they do and know where they’re heading and there’s not a thing we can do to prevent it from happening. We’re standing helpless watching them wreck their lives. Ours is to do exactly what Jesus tells us to do and what he did — warn them of the error of their way! There’s nothing more we can do. It’s up to them to heed the warning. The principle of Ezekiel 3:17-21 is just as true today as it’s always been. God tells Ezekiel to speak to the people and “...give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul”(Ezek. 3:18-21).
The power to change lives and save souls is not in me or you, it’s in the Gospel. Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”(Rom. 1:16). The power to save is in the teaching of the Gospel, not programs or gimmicks. God gives us the Bible to tell us what to do and how to live. We can’t improve upon that.
