CHAPTER 32
TOP TEN METHODS OF ATTACK WITH FOUNDATIONAL VERSES
#1 METHOD OF ATTACK: THERE IS NO GOD.
1) THE “FOOL” HATH SAID IN HIS HEART, THERE IS NO GOD.
PSALMS 14:1
FOOL. 5036. Naw-bawl’; stupid; wicked (especially impious): - fool (-ish, -ish man, -ish woman), vile person. (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
2) FOR THE INVISIBLE THINGS OF HIM FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD ARE CLEARLY SEEN, BEING UNDERSTOOD BY THE THINGS THAT ARE MADE, EVEN HIS ETERNAL POWER AND GODHEAD; SO THAT THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE:
3) BECAUSE THAT, WHEN THEY KNEW GOD, THEY GLORIFIED HIM NOT AS GOD, NEITHER WERE THANKFUL; BUT BECAME VAIN IN THEIR IMAGINATIONS, AND THEIR FOOLISH HEART WAS DARKENED.
4) PROFESSING THEMSELVES TO BE WISE, THEY BECAME FOOLS.
ROMANS 1:20-22
FOOLS. 3471. Mo-rah’ee-no; to become insipid; figuratively to make (pass act) as a simpleton; - become fool, make foolish, lose savour. (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
The Word of God is unequivocal:
5) THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD; AND THE FIRMAMENT SHOWETH HIS HANDIWORK.
PSALMS 19:1
Any person who has lived many years, who has experienced and seen all of creation: the sun, the moon, and the stars in the firmament, a child in its mother’s arms, the birds in the sky, the bees pollinating flowers, the dew upon the grass, the trees shaken by the wind, the oceans teeming with life, and can still say that there is no God, is a fool according to scripture. It is doubtful that answering such a person or entertaining such a foolish idea will do them or you any good. The person who claims there is no God is spiritually blind, deaf, and dumb. They are only fooling themselves. Their only hope is a miracle on the order of causing a blind man to receive their site.
BUT IF OUR GOSPEL BE HID, IT IS HID TO THEM THAT ARE LOST:
IN WHOM THE GOD OF THIS WORLD HATH BLINDED THE MINDS OF THEM WHICH BELIEVE NOT, LEST THE LIGHT OF THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL OF CHRIST, WHO IS THE IMAGE OF GOD, SHOULD SHINE UNTO THEM.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:3-4
I would not waste my time debating an atheist. All you can really do is intercede and pray that God will be merciful and open their ears to the gospel, that they will see the light before it is too late, and that they will believe and confess the Lord Jesus Christ before they die and speak the Word of God to them when you have an opportunity. Remember, they have been blinded by the God of this world. When you begin such a task, you are entering into battle with the rulers of darkness.
6) THE ENTRANCE OF THY WORDS GIVETH LIGHT; IT GIVETH UNDERSTANDING UNTO THE SIMPLE.
PSALM 119:130
Where there is life, there is hope. Do not give up on your unsaved relatives, friends and acquaintances. Speaking the Word of God gives light to those in darkness. Our Lord can make the blind to see and He is still searching for His lost sheep.
#2 METHOD OF ATTACK: GOD DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU.
7) FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.
JOHN 3:16
If there is one thing that is un-mistakenly clear in the Bible, it is God’s love for all of mankind. Nobody who names themselves a Christian should take advantage of anybody else, whether that person is a Christian or not. A Hindu might take advantage of a non-Hindu, a Muslim might take advantage of a non-Muslim, a Jew might take advantage of a non-Jew, but a Christian has no such advantage. Anybody who claims to be a Christian and takes advantage of any other people is either very, very immature in the spirit or they are a pretender to the faith.
8) THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF.
MATTHEW 19:19
9) BELOVED, LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER: FOR LOVE IS OF GOD; AND EVERY ONE THAT LOVETH IS BORN OF GOD, AND KNOWETH GOD.
10) HE THAT LOVETH NOT KNOWTH NOT GOD; FOR GOD IS LOVE.
I JOHN 4:7-8
All spiritually mature Christians will manifest the love of God because it is the first and main fruit of the spirit. Love is the exact opposite of selfishness.
Selfishness says, “I am first and I will be served.”
Love says, “I am last and I will serve.”
11) THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT WANT.
12) HE MAKETH ME TO LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES: HE LEADETH ME BESIDE THE STILL WATERS.
13) HE RESTORETH MY SOUL: HE LEADETH ME IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE.
14) YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL: FOR THOU ART WITH ME; THY ROD AND THY STAFF THEY COMFORT ME.
15) THOU PREPAREST A TABLE BEFORE ME IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES: THOU ANOINTEST MY HEAD WITH OIL; MY CUP RUNNETH OVER.
16) SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY SHALL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE: AND I WILL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOREVER.
PSALM 23:1-6
I do not believe that there are any verses in the Bible, which have comforted more people in the history of the world. The 23rd Psalm is truly full of foundational verses and it perfectly illustrates God’s love and care for each of us for all of our lives. I highly encourage you to memorize the 23rd Psalm as soon as possible after your salvation. Six verses may seem daunting at first, but if you memorize just one verse each week, you will quickly understand just how easily a large amount of scripture can be memorized over time. It is one of the most beautiful and comforting scriptures in all the Books of the Bible.
I have heard people say, “What about all those Canaanites God ordered the Israelites to kill in the Old Testament? God didn’t love them very much!”
People need to understand something very important. Despite God’s great love for all of mankind, He simply cannot allow sin to multiply forever. Eventually, after much patience, God must step in and put a stop to sin. It is called God’s perfect justice! When God allows a person to make the choice whether he or she will eat from the tree knowledge of good and evil (or allow them to know and attempt to keep the law), God’s greatest desire is for that person to recognize their own inadequacy and to turn back to God’s perfect supply and inexhaustible resources.
Unfortunately, many people do realize their own lack, but instead of turning back to God, they turn to another supernatural resource. They turn to devils. Eventually, as is the case of the Canaanites, after generations of entertaining devilish relationships, sin bears its deadly fruit.
NOW THE WORKS OF THE FLESH ARE MANIFEST, WHICH ARE THESE; ADULTERY, FORNICATION, UNCLEANESS, LASCIVIOUSNESS,
IDOLATRY, WITCHCRAFT, HATRED, VARIANCE, EMULATIONS, WRATH, STRIFE, SEDITIONS, HERESIES.
ENVYINGS, MURDERS, DRUNKENESS, REVEILINGS, AND SUCH LIKE: OF THE WHICH I TELL YOU BEFORE, AS I HAVE ALSO TOLD YOU IN TIME PAST, THAT THEY WHICH DO SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
GALATIONS 5:19-21
Eventually individual people, individual cities, individual countries, and the entire world can cross the line of no return and destruction swiftly follows. It has happened over and over again and there are many examples in the various Books of the Bible: the whole world before the flood because of wickedness and violence was drowned. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire from heaven.
The Canaanites were destroyed by the children of Israel. The Israelites, during the time of Jeremiah the Prophet, were destroyed and taken captive by the Babylonians. It is time for Christians to wake up, look around, and begin to compare their communities with those judged and destroyed in the Bible. We all must start praying for deliverance from the judgment that is surely coming upon the world.
#3 METHOD OF ATTACK: YOU MUST EARN YOUR OWN SALVATION AND YOU MUST KEEP THE LAW.
17) FOR BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH; AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD:
18) NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.
EPHESIANS 2:8-9
19) FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL KEEP THE WHOLE LAW,