Video Transcript: Some More Good Objections

So, we're talking in the second part of this session about some more good objections. We talked about some of the other objections last time. And now, we're going to face some more of those. And there are a ton more that we never even covered in this brief course that we're taking. But what do you expect? We're fighting against the whole kingdom of darkness, of satan himself. But listen, Paul who faced those objections, who gave his body and finally his life to face those objections, he said once, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds." So, what objection is there that you will come against that you cannot demolish the stronghold of that objection, because you have the divine power within you (the Holy Spirit).

Remember, objections are something that are thrown against. And remember what we said last time. Let's thank God for them because they're an exhibition that there's life there. Let's pray and, then, move on. 

Dear Jesus, we think, this morning of your servant, Paul, and of how he faced objections day after day after day. And yet, he had that divine power within him. He was convinced of the truth. And because of that, he could turn aside all those objections, even though there were people who died in their unbelief. Still, he could present the truth with power. We want to be that way too. We love you. Amen.

So, before we look at some more of those objections, I want to make a few comments again. So, just some thoughts. First, view objections as requests for more information, not as rejections. The first time somebody says something against the truth that you are presenting, don't think, "Oh, boy, they're rejecting it." Do you know what I learned from salesmen? Many salesmen have told me this. When someone says, "No," they're just asking for more information. And when they reject what you say, you have to have it in your mind, "Do you know what? I've got to get them more truth so that they can believe it."

The second, always-- and I mean ALWAYS-- our aim is to win souls, not arguments. We can't go home feeling good because we've got somebody to be quiet. We can't go home feeling good because we won that one. Because we lost their soul. Our aim is souls, souls, souls. And until we get someone across the line to faith in Jesus Christ, we're not done. And we haven't won yet no matter how good we might have looked in a discussion. We're willing to let them make us look bad in order for us to bring them the Gospel. Always, we want to win souls, not arguments. 

And third, you and I are actual witnesses, not paid experts who testify. Do you see the difference there? When you look at a courtroom - a scene on TV or online or you're actually in a courtroom - there are witnesses there. And they say, "What did you see? What did you experience? What was it like?" 

And once in a while, they'll put paid experts up there who will say, "Well, in such a situation, this and this is true." But they haven't experienced it. The difference between an actual witness and a paid expert is that the witness has experienced it. And we're not out there as paid witnesses who testify about something out there that we haven't really participated in. We are actual witnesses of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and of having received his power. 

So, let's look at some more of those objections that you might hear. Somebody will say to you, "Actually, we have our hell on this earth." And as we listen carefully, we know that that person is hurting or knows someone who is hurting. So, we won't put them down. But there's something we have to point out to them. 

It says in Acts 17:27, "God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him; although, he is not far from any one of us." Keep those words in mind, because they're going to be important to where we're going. He is not far, right now, from any one of us. 

And then, in Matthew 25:33, 41, we saw these verses already. At the final judgement where Jesus will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are accursed, into the fire prepared for satan and his angels." And Jesus told a frightening story once about a man who had everything on this earth except faith. And he ended up in hell. And in hell, when he was in torment, he looked up into heaven, and he said, "Father Abraham, have pity on me and just give me a drink, because I am in agony in this fire."

Do you see what I'm saying here? That in the first place, God is saying, "I'm not far from you." So, the people who say we have our hell on this earth, we don't. Because hell is found in Matthew 25 where Jesus said, "Depart from me. You're separated from me." 

And then, the Luke story, he's in agony in hell. That is an agony that can never be overcome. But in this life, there's no separation yet. No matter how bad things look, God is always with us. In hell, we're totally separated from him. 

Here's another objection you might here. "I have my own religion." That's such a dangerous one. A lot of people say that. "That's nice that you're a believer and you want me to hear it, but I have my own religion." And listen to what the Bible says about that in Isaiah 42:8. "I am the Lord. That is my name. My glory will I not give to another or my praise to idols." In those passages in Isaiah, very strong about saying, "I am the only," "I am the one true God." Chapter 43:11 says, "I, even I am the Lord. And apart from me, there is no savior."

And then, it Acts 4:12, a verse we've looked at many times already, and that is, "Salvation is found in no other, for there is no other name given under Heaven among people whereby you must be saved."

That's the truth. And when people say, "I have my own religion,"-- again, very carefully because we always act compassionately-- say, "What is your religion based on? Mine is based on the Word of God."

And when they say this or that, you have to ask them, "What is your truth? What is that based on?" And a lot of times, if they're honest, they'll just have to say, "It's what I feel inside." And that's not much to base it on.

There's another objection you might hear, and that is, "I'm not really ready now." That's a dangerous one. "I'm not really ready now." Listen to what it says in the Bible. 1 Thessalonians 5:3-- I want to say at this point, we have these truths in our mind, and we share them with people. But remember what Peter said. "With gentleness and respect." Because the truth, we're going to see in Jeremiah, is like a hammer. Think of when people say, "I'm not ready now." In 1 Thessalonians 5:3, it says, "When people are saying peace and safety, destruction will come upon them as labor pains on a pregnant woman. And they will not escape." 

Isn't that frightening? The very people you are talking to, who say, "Well, I'm not ready now," they might walk out on the street and get hit by a great big truck. They might fall out of their bed on their head. They might get shot in a robbery. They might die of a heart attack. What do they mean they're not ready now?

There's another verse, 2 Corinthians 6:1, 2. Paul says to them, "I beg you." Paul didn't mind urging people, begging people. He says, "As God's coworker,"-- "I'm working hand in hand with God on this,"-- "I urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. I'm presenting God's grace to you right now. Don't treat it as if it doesn't matter, because in the time of my favor, I heard you. And in the day of salvation, I helped you. I tell you, now," Paul says, "is the time of God's favor. Now is the day of salvation."

And then, there's a very frightening verse in Hebrews 9:27, a verse that we keep in our mind when people say, "I'm not ready now." It says there, "It is appointed onto everyone a time to die." Who knows when that time is? And after that, judgement. And when somebody says to me, "I'm not ready now," I might come with some of these verses. I might come with a summary of these verses. But most often, I'll say to them, "So, what's holding you back? What is there right now that keeps you from accepting God's forgiveness?" 

I've asked people that several times. And sometimes it helps to bring them across the line. Or I say to them, "When will you be ready?" And I don't mean just a rhetorical question like, "Think about this." I say, "When will you be ready? Tonight? Tomorrow?" And that ties right back into the other. "What will it take to have you be ready?"

Well, there's another objection that we might hear. And that is, "Well, you know, all roads lead to New York." Or we could say, "All roads lead to Rome," in that day. Or, "All roads lead to Chicago," or take the capital of your country where you're living and say, "Yeah, every road finally ends up there." And by that, people mean you can come on the Buddhist road or you can come on the Islamic road or can come on the Shinto road or whatever road it might be of all the religions in the world. But they all lead to the same.

Another idea there is, is, "All the paths lead to the top of the mountain." I've heard that same thing. But do you know what? When we're talking this way, all roads do not lead to New York and all religions do not lead to forgiveness through Jesus Christ. There is only one.

Acts 4:12 again. "There is no other name given under Heaven among people by which we might be saved." 

And Jesus himself said in John 14:6, "I," and in his language, he emphasized it. In our language it would be in bold or underlined. "I," and what he meant was I alone. "I alone am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 

When Paul was talking to a young pastor and he wrote to him in 1 Timothy 2:5, 6. And he said to him, "There is one God and one mediator between God and people - the man, Jesus Christ who gave himself as a ransom for all people." 

Those are pretty clear words. And I want to ask you now as you approach people who will say, "All roads lead to Rome, " or "There are many ways of salvation," "All religions are the same." They're not. Draw a diagram and have a big line about two-thirds of the way across the paper. And on this side of the line where you have the most room, write all the religions of the world. Write Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Islam, science, and all of the rest, every religion you can think of. And on the other side of the line, put Christianity. And then, show that person the difference - why Christianity is by itself on one side of the line. Above all these religions, write the word "Do". And above Christianity, write the word "Done". 

Every religion in the world except Christianity says you have to do something in order to be forgiven. And only Christianity says, "It's done. Jesus did it for you." 

There's another objection that you might hear. And that is people say, "It's too late." 

"Why is it too late? I'm right here with you. Here's the Truth. If right now, you will ask God to forgive you through Jesus, you'll be forgiven. And you belong to him."

It says in 2 Corinthians 6:1, 2 the words we just looked at. Paul says, "Now is the day of salvation. Now is the time of God's favor. Now is the day. It's not past." 

And there's a beautiful verse that Jesus spoke in John 5:24. Jesus said, "Listen. I'm telling you the truth. Whoever hears my word,"-- "You're hearing me right now, aren't you my friend? John or Mary or whoever you might be,"-- "Whoever hears." You're hearing it. "Whoever hears my word and believes on God who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."

You might hear those objections - "It's too late." But it's not as long as you're able to talk with them.

There are so many, but let's look at just one more. The person says, "I've always lived a good life." 

And do you know what you have to do right away? Say, "You sure have." let them know that you appreciate what they have done and the way that they've lived. They probably are very good people. Most of the people we know are. I've found even criminals have a good side to them. So, we can affirm that. Say, "Yes. I think you've done a lot of good things. But listen to what the Bible says."

In 1 Kings 8:46, it says, "There is no one who does not sin." And I would say in all of my experiences, years and years of sharing the Gospel with those who are not saved, I've never met anyone who would say he never sinned. What they usually say is, "Well, I'm not as bad as so and so." Or, "I never hurt anybody." People like to say that. And maybe they didn't. But the Bible says, "There is no one who has not sinned."

And then, James says in 2:10, "Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." He's not saying there that people are as bad as they could be. He's saying if you've sinned, you've sinned. Ask him and then pray that the Holy Spirit will convince them.

Well, as I said, there are a lot of objections we could deal with. But I want to say to you as we close on this idea of the objections that vocal witnesses will always share these verses that I shared with you, with confidence. It's God's Word. 

God called a man by the name of Jeremiah and asked him to be a prophet. And Jeremiah was living in a time when people couldn't care less who God was or what God said. And God made two promises to Jeremiah. In chapter 5, he says, "Jeremiah, my Word in you is going to be like a fire, and the people's hearts will be like wood. Now, get going."

And later on, in chapter 23, God says to him, "Jeremiah, my Word in you is like a hammer, and it's going to break rock-hard hearts." So, we can share the Gospel with confidence, because it's God's Word.

We'll share these verses that we look at and many more that we could with compassion. Compassion is Christ's way. Just look at the stories in his life. He meets a real live prostitute at the well. He talks to her so kindly. He leads her home. A self-important man with a lot of religious experience comes to him at night - a man by the name of Nicodemus. He shows him the way of Salvation. A man by the name of Zacchaeus was just a wretched guy who sold out his own people. Jesus goes to his house. 

We'll always share these verses with caution, because it's the Spirit's work. That same Holy Spirit that put everything in this world in place works through you. We saw the difference on Pentecost when fearful disciples became great proclaimers, great vocal witnesses of the Word.

It says in Hebrews 12:3 about Jesus. As we go about being vocal witnesses, consider Jesus who had such contradiction of sinners against himself. Day after day after day, people are contradicting Jesus. He never quit. We're going to find objections day after day, and like Jesus, we'll never quit. It's too important.