Video Transcript: Some Good Objections

Thanks for coming back. I say that because this is a hard study and sometimes a struggle. It means everything in the world to me, and I know it means that to Jesus. But we're not used to being those vocal witnesses, and sometimes, as we've seen, it can be kind of scary. Plus, we've been covering a lot of material. We started a long time ago about how ordinary, everyday people were out there doing a vocal witness, being a vocal witness, and then, how we're provided for and the lack of it and the joy. Then, we saw how we're prepared by the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit. And last week, in fact, we saw we just plain are ready and ought to be out there doing and being the vocal witness. 

I read a story some time ago about some missionaries who came to a far village in China. And they explained how God came down as a person and lived for us and took the burden of our sins and set us free, and the people there believed. And then, after they believed, they looked at the missionaries and they said, "So, when did this happen?"

And the missionaries said, "2,000 years ago."

And they said, "What took you so long to get here?"

And I think people around us would be saying the same thing. In one of the churches I served, a young man of 19 was working on his car in the backyard, and the car slipped off the blocks and crushed him. And he lived there for about two hours and finally, his mother came home and quickly called for help, and they came to lift the car off. And just before he died, he said to her, "What took you so long to get here?" 

And there are people all around us who want to hear about Jesus, and their reply to us is going to be, "What took you so long to tell me about this?"

And I want to ask you this morning. We're going to be talking today and next week about handling objections to your vocal witness. How many objections have you faced? Have you faced some? And if there have been no objections, does that mean there has been no vocal witness? Why does it take us so long to get the Good News to people who only know bad news? The people in your life. Let's pray about it.

Jesus, you said you had only one purpose in coming to this earth. And that was to seek and to save those who are lost. We call ourselves your disciples, and you have said, "As the teacher is, so shall the disciple be." We want to have that as the goal of our life - to seek and to save those who are lost. Help us to be that way through the power of your Holy Spirit within us. Amen.

And so, we're talking today and next week about good objections. Today, some good objections. Next week, some more good objections. But before we talk about those objections, I want to talk about some thoughts with you. Number one, when you face objections, don't reject them. Objections are a sign of life and of interest. The word "objection" comes from two smaller words in the Greek language meaning "to throw against." And that's what people are doing. They're throwing all sorts of reasons against accepting what we bring to them. But do you know what? You can handle it. 

Jesus said his Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. And we saw that the Holy Spirit lives in us. We have the Holy Spirit. We have all of the Holy Spirit we're ever going to have. It's a matter of our yielding to him. And so, we can handle those objections. And remember, the enemy is not the person who's raising the objections. The enemy is satan himself. 

Another thought is that objections always make sense to the person who's voicing them. Will you keep that in mind? When you are being a vocal witness and people object to what you're saying, remember, they make sense to that person. And what does our body language say to them? Do we want to interrupt them? Do we turn away? Do we shake our heads? Does our body show that we're rejecting what is so important to them? 

Next session, we're going to have some more good objections. And the session after that is going to be on good listening. And that's very important how we listen to these objections. And then, the third thought is give those objections a hearing to find out what's behind them. If we don't know really what people are thinking, we're liable to scratch where they don't itch. We're liable to be talking to them about something that's not really a problem for them. We have no fear to take time and to listen carefully to what they say to us. So, give them a good hearing to find out what's behind them.

Then, I want to talk with you this week and next week about some of the objections that you might hear. One of them, you'll hear quite a bit is, "I don't believe God exists." Now, it's no use quoting Scripture on this one because the Bible assumes God does exist. Do you ever think about how the Bible starts? "In the beginning, God." It doesn't explain where God comes from. It doesn't explain anything about God. It just says, "Do you know what? God is a fact of life. God is there."

And so, when we approach someone and they say, "I don't believe God exists," it's a matter of logic. He either does or he doesn't. And then, we have to employ very careful logic. And I say be careful, because we don't want to be putting somebody down on this. We don't want them to hear us that way. But when someone says to me, "I don't believe God really exists," then very carefully-- even though it might not come across in our class here-- very carefully, I try and work around to the point where I say, "Hey, my friend. Would you say that you know everything there is?" 

"Well, not really."

"Well, in talking with you, I realize that you know quite a bit. But would you say that you know everything there is?"

I would say everyone would say to you, "Well, I don't know everything. "

And then, I say, "What if God exists in that space that you don't know about? Couldn't God be there?"

We're not going to logic somebody into believing God exists. But we can help them along the road a little bit. So, very carefully, we point out to them that if they don't know everything, it might be God is where they don't know something.

Another objection we might hear is, "I have always believed that. I have found that to be an escape that people use." 

When you have explained the way that God wants us to repent and to be forgiven and to go on to live for him, people will say, "I've always believed that." You have to find out what do they mean by that? Have they believed what you have presented to them? Don't back away from that one too easily. 

It says in Romans 10:9,10, "If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." 

And then, remember we talked about one of the approaches that we could use when we had all the different approaches. One of the approaches was the two questions. You first ask them, "Do you think you're going to go to Heaven some day?" And 99% of the people are going to say, "Yeah."

And then, the second question is, "If you were to stand before God and he would say, 'Why should I let you into Heaven,' what would you say?" And that's the question that you have to ask the person who says, "I've always believed that." 

You tell them about this verse maybe. You have the verse in your mind even if you don't quote it. And then, you say, "That's very interesting. So, you do have a religious faith. Let me ask you a question about that. Would that be okay? If you were to stand before God," and then, go ahead and ask that question and see what they answer. It gives you a pretty good idea of where they are and what they really believe.

There's another objection that you might hear. And that is, "My God would never send anyone to hell." We hear that a lot. "I'm just such a big-hearted person, and my God is just such a big-hearted person. Sure, we do things wrong. Sure, I don't believe maybe the way you believe. But my God would never send anyone to hell." 

Well, the first thing I say to them is, "My God wouldn't either." And then, I want to explain something to them. I usually go to Exodus 34:6,7. And it says there, "And God passed in front of Moses, saying, 'The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin." That's a wonderful God we have. 

The same God says, "Yet, I do not leave the guilty unpunished. I punish the children and their children for the sin of their parents to the third and fourth generation."

And another verse that you can look at, at the same time is Matthew 25:33, 41. Jesus is talking about the final judgement, and he says that, "The judge will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. He will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" 

Do you know, the story of Exodus is the story of God reaching out and delivering his people? God comes to them and says, "I'm your God. I have set you free." God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. 

Jesus, when he looked at people who didn't believe just cried. It doesn't say that he had a few tears. In his language, the word is he wept. He sobbed because people were going to be separated at that final day, and he didn't want that.

I think in the book of Hebrews where it says in chapter 4:11, "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter into God's rest so that no one will perish,"-- listen to these words-- "so that no one will perish through disobedience." People send themselves to hell. God doesn't. We have to maintain that point.

It's the same in Romans 11:22-24. Listen. "Consider, therefore, the kindness and sternness of God. Sternness to those who fell but kindness to you, provided you stay in his kindness. Otherwise, you will be cut off. And if they do not persist in obeying and they persist in their unbelief, they will be cut off." It's people who cut themselves off from God's forgiveness and God's love. God doesn't send anyone to hell. He wants the whole world to be saved. It took a little time on that one, but some of those are pretty important.

Another objection you might hear is, "What about the heathen in," wherever it might be. In Africa or in Asia or up in Alaska or at the North Pole or something. People will raise that question and say, "You're telling me about that. I hear that. But what about people who have never heard." I think there are various verses that we have to have in mind to share with them at that point.

One of those is a very familiar Romans 3:23. "For all have sinned and fall short of giving God glory." 

There's another in Romans 1:18, 19. "The wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven against the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth in their unrighteousness." The truth is there, and they're suppressing it. They're holding it down since what may be known about God is plain to them because God made it plain to them. People know about God. That's why they're fearful. That's why every tribe and every people they've ever found has had some kind of god. They worship an alligator or a tree or whatever it might have been. But they know they should be worshipping the true God. Everyone is guilty and fall short of God's glory.

And then, there's a verse I want to share with you that's very important. And that's Luke 12:47, 48. Jesus has been talking about a master who had servants and went away. And he says when the master comes back and he finds a servant who isn't doing his will, he will punish him. And listen to what Jesus says. "The servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many stripes. But the one who does not know him and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows."

So, everyone has sinned, and everyone will be punished in accordance with that except those who come to Christ. But those who are punished are punished because of their sin.

Well, there are lots more verses we could talk about there. But let's look at another objection. Somebody says, "I don't believe the Bible." Before you get into that, let me tell you this. Don't try to build up a case that the Bible is true. Don't try to convince them that the Bible is true, because we're working because we believe the Bible. 

When somebody says to me, "I don't believe the Bible," I always say to them, "What would you say is the number one thing the Bible teaches?" And then, you're off the fact of having to try to prove that the Bible is God's Word or it's true.

I always say to them, "That's interesting that you don't believe that. What would you tell me is the most important thing the Bible teaches?" 

Some will say, "God's mad at everybody."

And some will say, "I'm not really sure," because a lot of people who say they don't believe the Bible just plain don't read the Bible. 

So, then, I'll say, "I'm so glad you brought that up, because I can tell you what the Bible says. John 3:16 - 'For God so loved you that he gave his only son and he punished him with the sins of the whole world so that you won't have to die for your sin, but you can be set free.'"

Or I share with them Psalm 103:9, 10. "He will not always accuse nor will he harbor his anger forever. He does not treat as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities." I just get them on that. 

And then, later on, when I do have a chance to talk about the Bible, I'll say, "Listen. Here's one verse 2 Peter 1:21. It says there, 'For prophesy never had its origin in the human will. But prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were moved along by the Holy Spirit.'" 

So, as we confront these objections, we will always share these verses, first of all, with confidence. It's God's word. Over and over in the Bible, it says, "The Lord said. The Lord said. The Lord said, 'Write this'"

A lot of times, Jesus settled an argument by saying, "You know what it says in the Bible." And other authors of the Bible too. It was enough for them to settle an argument by saying, "The Bible says."

We'll always share these verses, as well, with compassion. It's Christ's way. We're not going to pound somebody with these verses. They're stepping stones to the Truth, and we'll use the whole Scripture and these verses to show them that Jesus wants them home again. 

One of the stories that Jesus told was about a shepherd who left 99 sheep who were safe to go out and look for one that was lost. And that's a picture of Jesus. That's his example. And you can say, "And he's reaching out to you too." And if they refuse, what is it? It's their unbelief that one day will send them to hell. 

And then, vocal witnesses will always share these verses with caution. It is the Spirit's work. Remember we studied and said, "It's the work of the Spirit to convince people of sin"? 

There's a beautiful story in Acts 16 where Lydia is saved, and it says, "And the Lord opened her heart to believe the words of Paul." 

I want to close with a prayer. It's the words of a beautiful hymn. Lord, speak to me that I may speak in living echoes of your tone. We know that you want that, Jesus. And we do too. We love you. Amen.