Our Convictions: Our Defense - Part 1

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, March 10th. It's extremely important that followers of Christ believe the right things based on God's Word. Here's more on how your convictions work as your defense. Well, we all have beliefs. The issue is how strongly do we hold these beliefs? Where do these beliefs come from? Are they the result of other people's opinions? Is it because of what we desire that we believe these things?

Or can we say that our beliefs are the result of looking into studying the Word of God? Well, what I want to talk about in this message is this. I want to talk about our convictions, and the title of this message is simply this, Our Convictions, Our Defense. And I want you to turn to Genesis chapter thirty-nine, and I want us to look at one incident in the life of Joseph, a very, very outstanding character in the Old Testament, whose life was certainly a beautiful example of steadfastness, of conviction, of determination, of faith, and how God rewarded him as a result of that.

But I want us to look at just one incident in his life, and just to give you a little idea, remind you of what's going on. In the thirty-ninth chapter beginning in verse one, the Scripture says, Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. And you'll remember that his brothers were going to kill him, and they finally decided not to kill him, but to sell him. Sold him to a passing caravan, went down to Egypt, and now one of Pharaoh's friends and one of his close companions was one who bought him.

So now he is a slave. The Scripture says in verse four, So Joseph found favor in his sight, became his personal servant, made him an overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. Then the Scripture says in verse six, So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge, and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. But he refused and said to his master's wife, Behold, with me, here my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you.

Because you're his wife, how then could I do this great evil and sin against God? And you recall the day after day she kept after him. He kept on resisting till finally she plotted against him, accused him of molesting her, raping her, ends up in prison, though he is innocent. Now here is the perfect example of what real genuine conviction is all about. Now the basis of all of our convictions are our beliefs, and a belief is something we hold to as true, something that we believe is actual and real. When it comes to a matter of conviction, a conviction is a strong belief. It's a strong belief about something that we are absolutely convinced of, having been persuaded either by evidence or by argument. So it's more than just a belief.

It's a strong belief that we're convinced of having been persuaded by evidence and argument that this thing is true. Now today, most people prefer to live by preferences than by convictions. A preference is, this is what I choose to believe, and I believe this based on certain conditions and circumstances.

So where is the conviction which is based on absolute truth, truth outside of ourselves? A preference is something that we choose to believe, and we believe it on the basis of whether it fits the circumstance or not. And so therefore, people who have strong convictions, they don't waver.

People who live by preferences are wavering. They believe this today if it's convenient, this today if they have the approval of others. They lay down what they believe over here simply because of the criticism of other people, and so they wishy-washy. And if you ask them what they believe, they can tell you what they believe today, but it may not necessarily be what they believe tomorrow. This does not mean that once you believe something, your beliefs never change. I'm talking about beliefs that we come to based on what is absolute truth. And oftentimes, people are not concerned about absolute truth.

They're just concerned about what satisfies them, what pleases them, how it works in their life for the day. And so I would simply ask you this question. Would you be characterized as a person of conviction, a person who has strong convictions, a person who lives by their convictions? It doesn't mean that you're obnoxious and don't understand other people. It doesn't mean that you don't give way for other people to express their opinions and that you certainly consider other people's right to have different opinions. But would you be considered a person who has strong convictions?

Or would you be considered a person who lives by preferences? You believe this today, tomorrow you may believe that. And the reason is because you operate on the basis of what's convenient to you, what feels good to you, not on the basis of searching out to ask a question. What is the absolute truth?

What's actual and what's real? Because there are many things today that appear to be real, many deceptive ideas and philosophies that come along that sound good, that feel good, that fit into the lifestyle of a person who does not want to live obediently before God, fit into the lifestyle of a person who wants to just go from one idea to the other and live according to feeling rather than truth. Which kind of person would you be characterized by? Well, somebody says, well, I certainly don't want to be a person who is characterized as strong beliefs and characterized as a person who has strong convictions because usually a person like that is very critical. Not necessarily. You can have very strong convictions and every person ought to without being obnoxious, without being critical of other people.

You don't have to be that way. But the issue is, have you thought about it enough? Are your convictions and your beliefs important enough that you not only know what you believe, you know why you believe it, and what you believe and why you believe it is based on the absolute truth.

Now, I agree that absolute truth is not a very popular thing today. But let's look at, for example, let's look at some examples in the Scripture about men and the many women, not only in Scripture but also in history, who have had very strong convictions. And let's go back to Joseph for a moment.

And what I want you to see here is this. While he was given the awesome responsibility of overseeing the whole household of Potiphar, the Scripture says there was one thing he was not given control over. That was Potiphar's wife. Isn't it interesting how the devil works?

In the Garden of Eden, for example, God said, all the trees of the garden you may freely eat, except this one you must not eat, which is the one Satan went after, the one that they couldn't touch. So here he is in Potiphar's household. He has control in the final decision-making process over every single thing in Potiphar's household, except one thing, his wife. And so what does Satan do? Satan works on her. So she comes to him and attempts to seduce him. And he says no. Now why?

Remember this now. At this point in Scripture the Ten Commandments have never been given. So we don't have thou shalt not commit adultery.

We have what Joseph knew in his heart was the truth of God, the will of God and the way of God, that you should not commit adultery with somebody else's wife. And so what happens? So she keeps coming to him and his answer is this. There's no one greater in this house than I. He's withheld nothing from me except you because you're his wife. How then could I do this great evil?

Now listen to what he didn't say. He didn't say, How can I do this great evil and sin against your husband? Or sin against you? He said, How could I do this great evil and sin against God? Joseph was a man of principle and conviction. His conviction was that the absolute, undeniable, unalterable, unchanging, divine truth is you do not go to bed with somebody else's wife.

That is, you do not commit adultery. That was the purpose and plan of God. He had a conviction about it, not a belief about it, not a feeling about it. Or he could have said, Well, you know, he's put everything else under my control well. Or he's been gone a lot well.

Well, she, there must be something about me she likes. In other words, he could have rationalized all kind of things. But he had more than a belief system. He had convictions, convictions of right and wrong. Now today you and I live in a society where people don't like that. They don't like the right and wrong attitude.

They love the idea of preferences depending upon my circumstances and the situation that I'm in. He was a man of conviction. For example, think about Daniel. Here is Daniel. And if you'll turn to that book for a moment, I want you to just notice several things. That's one of our prophets, Ezekiel Daniel.

And if you'll turn to the first and second chapters there, you'll recall what's going on in Daniel's life. He was a young Hebrew. When the Babylonians went into Jerusalem, burned it, destroyed it, took many of the young people away. And so the king's idea was to make them like the Babylonians, to induct them into their culture. And one of the ways he chose to do that was to give them a certain kind of food to eat, wine to drink. He taught them the language, of course. And what they wanted to do was to de-Hebrewize them and to make them like Babylonians.

Well, it came to Daniel at this point. And when the king's man, whom he sent to give instruction and direction and divine guidance to these young men, what happened was he said to him, he said, we would like the privilege of an alternative. Instead of eating the king's food and drinking his wine, we don't want to do that. And if you'll allow us, we'll just eat vegetables and then you compare us with the rest. Well, by the grace of God, he allowed him to do that.

Now the issue is not what happened because we know what happened and they turned out looking a whole lot better. What is it that caused Daniel to refuse the king's food and the king's meat, king's wine? What caused him to refuse that? Daniel had a very basic conviction that he was not to eat the meat or for dietals. And he knew that that meat probably was and so he said, I'm not going to do that. We're not going to do it.

Now we're not going to do it no matter what the consequences are, but we're not going to and we have an alternative and this is our alternative. And the Scripture says, of course, that he found favor and the Lord was with him and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. Now, I want you to notice that in Daniel's life, he became a very important part in the whole government. And he interpreted dreams and became a very important part in the life of that whole nation because God used him in a very special way.

Why? Because in the very beginning, he was committed to his convictions. Well, let's take, for example, Peter. Turn to Acts chapter four. You recall that Peter and John went to the temple, healed this man, and so stirred up all of this commotion. And they got brought before the council, and so here's what happens. And they were summoning them and said that they commanded them not to teach any of this resurrection of Jesus and so forth. Peter and John, nineteenth verse, this fourth chapter. Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it's right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.

Why? They didn't get together and have a little confab and say, well, now you know what? We could get in trouble. Listen, the truth is they were living by conviction. They had seen the resurrected Christ. They had heard his commission to share the truth in the whole world beginning in Jerusalem.

They remembered what he said. You shall receive power that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth. They were just living by conviction. And then, of course, if you'll turn to the fifth chapter, so they go out preaching, they holler men again before the council. Then what happens? Verse twenty-eight of the fifth chapter, we gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. So they didn't have another conference.

Here's what they said. Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a prince and a Savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sin, and we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him, period, end of story. We are not going to recant, and we are not going to stop preaching and teaching the Word of God.

We have a conviction that we have been sent, and we have the message, and no matter what happens, that's what we're going to do. Then go to the apostle Paul. I don't even have to tell you about him. Apostle Paul, from the time he was saved, the Jews were after him. They imprisoned him. They beat him.

They stoned him and left for dead. And did he say, well, I've had enough of this. Nowhere any time did he say, well, you're right, you know, I shouldn't be, I'm stirring up too much trouble.

I shouldn't be doing that. He knew that God had called him, and He had called him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and the Jews hated that. And so what did he do? No matter what they did to him, how much they did to him, how long they did to him, whatever he had to suffer, he never stopped. He never recanted. He never changed. He taught the resurrection of Jesus Christ. No matter what it cost him, it cost him his life.

But look what's happened. Two thousand years later, we're still talking about the same theology, we're still talking about the same truth, living with the same principles, and listen, being encouraged and strengthened by the very principles the apostle Paul died for. He was a man of conviction. In fact, the best history written is the history written by those men and women who have lived their lives down through the years and lived their lives with conviction, not by preference, but conviction. Then I think about, to bring it closer to home, I think about, and I want to make a couple of quotes here. You know, back in 1999, at the Columbine School, listen, the morning of April the 20th, 1999, sixteen-year-old Cassie Bernal handed her friend, Amanda Meyer, a note that said, Honestly, I totally want to live my life completely for God.

It's hard and scary, but totally worth it. Later that day, somebody pointed a gun to her head and said, Do you believe in God? Yes, and they shot her to death.

Rachel Scott was also among those killed. One year earlier, she had written in her diary, I'm not going to apologize for speaking in the name of Jesus. I'm not going to hide the light of God that He's put in me. If I have to sacrifice everything, I will, and she did, and it cost her her life.

These are teenagers. Do you have any convictions so strong that nothing will cause you to deviate from them? Or do you happen to be one of those persons who's living by preference? Here's what I believe today because I think it's a good thing and maybe I'll live by this tomorrow, maybe I won't. Turn to First Peter chapter three for a moment. I'll wait at First Peter, past Hebrews and James, the First Peter. And look at the third chapter.

This is what he was referring to when he made these statements. Third chapter, First Peter, verse thirteen, listen to what he said. And he was writing to people who were undergoing persecution because of their faith. He said in verse thirteen of the third chapter, who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear their intimidation and do not be troubled, but sanctify, that is, set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.

I wonder when somebody brings up some controversial subject and they start making criticisms about Jesus and about the Bible and about God and all the rest. What is your response? Are you sort of quiet? Are you the kind of person that says, Well, you know, I have my beliefs, but I keep them to myself. Well, you shouldn't be keeping them to yourself.

They don't keep theirs to themselves. And that's why you have conflict. And so if you have deep abiding convictions that are based on absolute truth, the truth of the word of God, you can stand very firm. And no matter what the argument and what the so-called evidence may be, the truth is, if you're standing on the solid rock of the living word of God, you're standing very, very safe. Thank you for listening to Our Convictions, Our Defense. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.