Victory over Evil (38 of 70)
Series: Mark - God's Message for Today
Jerry Watts
Mark 9:14-29
We learn much from music and can discover much about people by listening to the music.
For years, our music was 'littered' with songs of victory. Titles included "Faith is the Victory" and "Victory in Jesus," while lyrics stated thoughts like "From Victory unto Victory His army shall He lead, till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed" and "Onward Christian Soldiers, marching AS TO war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Hell's foundations quiver at the shout of praise, Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise!" From those songs, you get the idea that we were in a war. Interestingly, I went through my Baptist Hymnals from 1956, 1975, and 2008 only to discover a different mindset which has emerged. In the back of the Hymnals are "Topical Indexes" (which means one way the hymns are sorted is by topics.) Noticeably left out of the 1975 and 2008 hymnal which appeared the last time in 1956 is the topic "Christian Warfare." This section did not have an enormous number of hymns (approx. 20), but what is interesting to me is that, while we are still the players in a battle between good and evil, between God and Satan, we have discounted or dismissed this truth. Don't miss this truth: "Anytime you go to war, you better go with one objective, TO WIN. If that is not your objective, you will NEVER win."
The deep theologian will say, "God has already won the war, so we don't have to worry." While this is true in the big picture, why is it that Paul felt that we did have to fight a battle? He said for us to put on the armor, to fight the good fight of faith, to stand firm against the evil one. If we are not recognizing evil and fighting against it, then we are falling for it.
Evil is taking a toll on modern day Christianity, Christian, and the church. Because we don't want to face evil, believers are faltering, churches are fai ...
Series: Mark - God's Message for Today
Jerry Watts
Mark 9:14-29
We learn much from music and can discover much about people by listening to the music.
For years, our music was 'littered' with songs of victory. Titles included "Faith is the Victory" and "Victory in Jesus," while lyrics stated thoughts like "From Victory unto Victory His army shall He lead, till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed" and "Onward Christian Soldiers, marching AS TO war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Hell's foundations quiver at the shout of praise, Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise!" From those songs, you get the idea that we were in a war. Interestingly, I went through my Baptist Hymnals from 1956, 1975, and 2008 only to discover a different mindset which has emerged. In the back of the Hymnals are "Topical Indexes" (which means one way the hymns are sorted is by topics.) Noticeably left out of the 1975 and 2008 hymnal which appeared the last time in 1956 is the topic "Christian Warfare." This section did not have an enormous number of hymns (approx. 20), but what is interesting to me is that, while we are still the players in a battle between good and evil, between God and Satan, we have discounted or dismissed this truth. Don't miss this truth: "Anytime you go to war, you better go with one objective, TO WIN. If that is not your objective, you will NEVER win."
The deep theologian will say, "God has already won the war, so we don't have to worry." While this is true in the big picture, why is it that Paul felt that we did have to fight a battle? He said for us to put on the armor, to fight the good fight of faith, to stand firm against the evil one. If we are not recognizing evil and fighting against it, then we are falling for it.
Evil is taking a toll on modern day Christianity, Christian, and the church. Because we don't want to face evil, believers are faltering, churches are fai ...
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