Sermon Tone Analysis

At one point during a little league game, the coach calls one of his young players to the side, “Do you understand how important cooperation is?”The little boy nods, “Yeah, coach.”

“You know,’ coach continues, “it’s important we learn to be a good sport no matter what?”

The boy nods yes

 “So,” the coach continues, “when a strike is called, or you’re out at first, you don’t argue or curse or attack the umpire.

Do you understand all that?”

Again, the boy nods.

“Good,” says the coach.

Then he points to a woman screaming in the stands and says “Now would go over there and explain all of that to your mother?”[i]

None of us like to lose.

We need to learn to be good sports about it; we ought not to play to lose, but play to win.

While this is true about games like baseball or Monopoly or competitions like the science fair, there are some struggles you simply /cannot /afford to lose.

You can’t afford to lose the war with temptation, or the battle against discouragement or despair.

You must win the fight of faith, and the war with the world.

Scripture is full of admonitions on how to fight and win these battles.

Tonight we focus on 3 keys to winning found in *1 Cor.

15:58*.

If you’re facing a battle tonight, or if you just want to be a little more prepared for future skirmishes, listen to what God says to you tonight.

*PRAYER*

*            *The main theme of *1 Cor.

15* is the resurrection of Christ, and of His people.

Apparently there were some in the Corinthian church who had a hard time swallowing the doctrine of the resurrection.

I have a feeling they were influenced more by Greek philosophy that Christian theology.

Paul reminds the church that apart from Christ’s victory over death and our victory over death, our faith in Christ is worthless.

Because He rose from the dead, we know we will rise from the dead, and ultimately, our victory is certain.

But what about all the battles between now and the resurrection?

Paul offers some help for victory here and now, beginning with the first:

*1.    **Hold on to what you know is true.

*/Be steadfast…/

The truth is not just something you know—it’s something you cling to.

Several years ago in a NCAA cross-country championship race, held in Riverside, California, 123 of the 128 runners missed a turn.

Only one of them, Mike Delcavo, stayed on course and began waving for fellow runners to follow him.

He was able to convince only four other runners to go with him.[ii]

Have you ever felt the pressure to run the wrong way?

I have.

Sometimes it’s easier to run with the crowd than swim against the flow.

Sometimes it’s easy to lose your grip on what’s true and settle for what’s convenient.

Satan and his demons are professionals at deceiving us.

We can rationalize and reason our way into doubting and disbelieving the truth.

Even folks who read their Bible, understand God’s truth, know right from wrong, can still allow their grip on God’s truth to slip.

Slick talking preachers can twist and mold a lie until we end up embracing heresy instead of sound doctrine.

Skeptics can cast just enough doubt in our mind to tip us into unbelief.

When trouble or trials get hot and heavy, we can begin to wonder if what God said really is true.

If God loves me, how could He let this happen?

If God is all-powerful, why can’t He prevent tragedies?

The voice of the ancient serpent whispers as he once did to Eve  

*Genesis 3:1* /Has God indeed said…?/

The truth is not just something you know—it’s something you must cling to.

*Acts 2:42* /And they continued *steadfastly* in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

/

*2 Thessalonians 2:15* /Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

/

*2 Timothy 1:13* /Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

/

If you want to win the battles of life, you must cling to what you know is true, and the one and only thing you can always be sure is true is what God says.

Beware!

The truth won’t always /look/ true, won’t always /feel /true, won’t always /seem/ true, but the truth will always /be /true.

When arguing with an opponent, Abe Lincoln said, “Let me ask you this: how many legs does a cow have?”

“Four, of course,” came the reply.

“That’s right,” agreed Lincoln.

“Now suppose you call the cow’s tail a leg; how many legs would the cow have?”

“Why, five, of course,” was the reply.

“Now, that’s where you’re wrong,” said Lincoln.

“Calling a cow’s tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.” [iii]

God’s truth is an anchor for your life, a constant in the constantly changing world.

The battles in your life cannot be won by lies; you must steadfastly cling to what you know is true.

When the Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for his writing about the evils of the Soviet Union, he concluded his speech by quoting a Russian proverb: “One word of truth outweighs the whole world.”[iv]

Are you holding on to what you know is true?

Are you grounded in the truth of God’s Word, able to stand steadfast against the deceptions of the devil?

/Be steadfast.

Hold on to what you know is true.

/ A second key to winning the battle is:

*2.    **Don’t retreat in the face of adversity.

*/Be…immovable…/

*     *Scientists tell us that in animals, there is what is called the fight or flight response.

In the face of danger, most animals will run if they see a way of escape, and fight only if they feel cornered.

Many of us wisely follow the same pattern: we’d prefer retreat to combat.

Sometimes the wisest thing to do is walk away from a fight.

As Vance Havner used to say any bulldog knows it can whip a skunk, but they also know it’s just not worth it.

But there are times when the best thing to do is not to retreat, but to stand your ground and, if necessary, resist.

You can see some of this in our culture.

For a the past few decades, a small but very vocal minority have been working very hard to keep Christians quiet.

They demand we keep our religions to ourselves.

They don’t want us speaking up in the high school, college or university.

They want to gag us when it comes to political or moral issues.

If that weren’t enough, they demands we embrace things that God says He hates: divorce, sexual immorality, homosexuality, abortion, keeping prayer out of school, and the “all religions are equal” mindset.

They tell us, in effect, to stand down or be trampled down by the weight of progress.

We must make a choice, either to retreat or resist.

Your adversity perhaps comes in the form of troubles.

Christians in Haiti are experiencing this kind of adversity—sickness and suffering and death that surely must threaten to overwhelm their trust in Christ and the good God of the Bible.

There are many problems and pains that make it easy to turn your back on God, give in to your doubts and fears, slide down the slippery slope of unbelief.

We must make a choice, either to retreat or resist.

When I think about how to face such adversity without retreat, I think of two statements found in Scripture.

The first one addresses adversity which comes in the form of persecution.

In *Acts 4*, the Jewish leaders wanted to keep Peter and John quiet about Christ.

*Acts 4:18-20* /So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.

For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard./

They didn’t start swinging swords, but they didn’t retreat either.

/They resisted.

/

/     /As for the other kind of adversity, listen to the words of a man named Job, who endure more troubles than any of us ever will:

*Job 13:15* /Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.

/

/       /Job was determined that nothing that happened to him would separate him from his faith in God.

He didn’t retreat: /he resisted.