Insight for Living

Bill Meyer: Our generation has assaulted the value of human life at every turn. So how do we push back against these godless attacks? Well, the moral battles raging around us won’t be won through public debate alone.

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll contends it starts with men and women who are determined to stand as stalwarts of the Christian faith, armed with timeless biblical wisdom and unwavering conviction. Peter warned us that the enemy prowls around with deadly intent. The hour is urgent, the stakes are eternal. And in Chuck’s words, it’s a time for strong resolve.

Chuck Swindoll: Courage is just another word for inner strength. Courage is the determination to hang in there, to persevere, endure hardship, fear, and all manner of difficulty. The fact is, it’s impossible to live victoriously for Jesus Christ without courage. We cannot honor God in a godless culture without courage.

The real test of courage isn’t so much for those fighting on the battlefield, or for witnessing in the midst of opposition, or even facing down a burglar in our homes. Real courage demands a strong resolve that goes much deeper than all of that and is much more demanding. Be assured that in some way, your resolve will be tested today and every day.

Your test of courage may not be as exciting as a beachhead landing, or sailing around Cape Horn, or making a spacewalk. Instead, it may be as simple as saying no to an improper invitation. It may be as uneventful as facing a pile of laundry with a positive attitude. It may be a private or unknown struggle within yourself between right and wrong. Remember, God’s Medal of Honor winners are made in secret because our most courageous acts occur down deep inside, away from the view of the general public. That takes courage. It takes a strong resolve.

I think that’s why the Apostle Peter issues us a warning in his first letter, the final chapter. Listen to his pressing warning in 1 Peter 5, verses 8 and 9: "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are."

Bill Meyer: You’re listening to Insight for Living. If you’d like to start your day with a dose of encouragement, sign up for Insight’s daily devotional. You can do that online at insight.org/devotional. And now, today’s message from Chuck titled, "A Time for Strong Resolve."

Chuck Swindoll: For the past seven days, I have gotten my eyes opened to another world. I haven’t been alone in that experience. A number of our pastoral staff members and wives were with me as we concentrated our time, energy, and attention on a rather sizable group of ministers and their mates. It was a time of great reward and it was quite revealing. Quite honestly, it was also a time of real draining of energy, and I must admit there were occasions when it was a bit discouraging.

We listened to stories of great success and joyful experiences as God had given His blessing, and His growth, and His favor to certain ministries. And we sighed with those who told their stories of pain, and brokenness, and loneliness. As expected, we heard one account after another of how legalism had eclipsed grace. And in spite of the efforts of a faithful minister to teach the truth about God’s wonderful freedom that comes through Christ, it seems as though the enemy is still winning some victories.

Matter of fact, the last morning we were together, Cynthia and I having breakfast, one of the men stopped by to express gratitude to all of us who had participated in the leadership of this pastor's conference. And he said, as he requested prayer for his future in the church that God had led him to lead, he said in years past he had begun to see the grace of God. And he had become bold enough to preach the grace of God. And it was frowned upon by his particular community.

As a matter of fact, a number in the church began to question his teaching, and no less than 300 of them had left rather abruptly when he decided it was time to get specific about the grace of God, to free people from the bondage of traditionalism. Those 300 left not because he was in doctrinal error or because he was morally defecting from the faith, but rather because he announced publicly it would now be all right for Christian women to wear pants. They didn’t have to wear dresses or skirts; they could wear pants.

He lost his choir some years later along with all those in music leadership when he permitted the singing of new songs, one of which was the great piece "Majesty." That was just too much for some of them and they left. Yes, our hearts were broken over stories like that. Not all of them were that dramatic. Our theme for the conference was "A Time to Renew Your Joy." And I'm hoarse today, not because I preached all week, not just because of that, but because I laughed with them all week.

It was great to see some of them laugh for the first time in a public meeting. One layman said it had been almost two years since he had laughed out loud in his church. And he said, "This week I’ve made up for the next five years." The fun we’ve had together. We deliberately had fun and laughed and enjoyed the Lord together and opened His Word to the theme of grace. And some of them just sat and wept. It was great to be with them. They were so open, so teachable, so warm, some of them in tough places.

One man told of how his mentor, who had taught him so much of his theology in his formative years, had recently turned on him because the man had, in studying the Scriptures, come to the realization that he no longer believed a person was saved by being baptized. And he no longer believed that once you came to know the Lord Jesus, you could lose your salvation. And when he publicly testified against baptismal regeneration and when he spoke of eternal security, at the close of the service, that mentor came forward and publicly discredited him and said the man is a deceiver and cannot be trusted.

Yes, there were also accounts of moral defection as well. One man told of being in the unhappy place of confronting a long-time fellow minister with his moral failure. And the deeper they dug, the more they uncovered and found that the man had been living a life of duplicity for 25 or more years. Adultery with women on the side and preaching with vigor every Sunday. And as a matter of fact, he is still engaged in ministry.

The man spoke, holding back the tears as he and his wife talked of how they had become the marked people because they are the ones that are negative rather than the ones standing for the truth. What a privilege it was to be in a new scene and to talk to people who were all the way north, as far north as Canada and as far south as Jamaica, and from most of the states in these great United States, and to rub shoulders with some of the great men in ministry. The authenticity and the joy were wonderful. We were from all the varying personalities and temperaments, and yet our last time together, we arm in arm stood in that place and we sang "We Are One in the Bond of Love," and we closed with the Lord’s Prayer.

The Lord began to impress on me three or four thoughts that I have not been able to ignore. They sort of kept me awake through the night thinking about speaking today to all of you. First, I thought of this: the enemy is hard at work. And this is no time to slacken our efforts. If indeed the enemy is at work in secular places, I can assure you he is alive and well in the church. He is at work assaulting and assassinating the lives of men who were once strong in the pulpit. He is cutting the feet out from under individuals who were once effective and full of zeal and courageous songs and sermons.

The enemy is hard at work. If he’s done anything in this final decade, he has rolled up his sleeves and intensified his efforts, hopefully to discredit those who now have integrity. Second, I thought the pressure and the needs are enormous on people of all walks of life. Have you begun to notice that? It’s especially true of those who are engaged in some kind of spiritual leadership. You may be in music leadership, or you may be in teaching leadership, or you may be in missions or educational leadership. But if you are a Christian and you are influencing people for the cause and the good of Christ, you are under pressure, perhaps like you’ve never known before.

My Bible is open to a couple of verses of Scripture from Peter’s pen. 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 8 and 9 seem to say it better than I in all of my struggling efforts can say them. Listen to these words and let them sink in, though they are familiar. 1 Peter 5:8, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert." Why? Why does he say that with such passion? Why does he write that with such a heavy pen? Because your adversary.

It isn’t the adversary of some distant body of prelates, some small group of influential leaders who are doing the work of ministry. Your adversary, fellow Christian, fellow minister, fellow leader, fellow teacher, fellow elder, fellow deacon, fellow Christian parent, Christian leader, Christian businessman or woman, your adversary the devil. Look at his method. Prowls about. Isn’t marching to some heavy cadence? Invisibly, insidiously, cleverly, brilliantly, with stealth and strategy. Your adversary prowls about like a roaring lion.

He is on a pursuit. He is deliberately seeking someone to devour. Put your name in place of someone. I’ll do that. "Like a roaring lion, he is seeking to devour Chuck Swindoll or the Swindoll family or the integrity of the Swindoll name." Now you do that with your name and with your family. He deliberately is prowling about to ruin, to discredit, to take the ring from your voice and the power from your influence. So be of sober spirit, be on the alert.

What do I do with an enemy like that? This is no day for a wimp. I don’t know that it’s ever been so for people in ministry. As I read through history, I find that it’s just from one battle to another as the church has stood against all odds. This is certainly no time for hiding. "Resist him" is the command and doing it "firm in faith." Not in the energy of your own strength but firm in faith, knowing that you’re not alone. The verse concludes, "Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world."

I’ve got a whole new group of brethren that I didn’t know 10 days ago who are in the same world I’m in, the same world you’re in, and they’re going through the same stuff we’re going through. We’re in this together for the long haul, for the cause of Christ. I also thought of this: thirdly, the temptation to overreact is great, perhaps greater than ever. By overreacting, I mean just giving in. The pressure mounts, greater and greater tests come, and it’s easy to just succumb, to sort of quietly surrender, to compromise the message. Just don’t make waves. Just keep the peace at any price.

Or another reaction is to fight back with a bigger fist. And if you’re being shouted at, shout back. If you’re being accused, accuse in return. If you’re being assaulted, then roll up your sleeves and find a way to assault in an even more evil manner. Or simply the ultimate overreaction is to quit. Just fold up the book and go into some other work. Just get away from the pressure. It is a little frightening, men and women, for me to realize afresh how many ministers today in confusion are whipped like dogs, are intimidated by a few powerful people in their church.

It’s a little frightening for me to remember how many today minister from hearts that are angry or even bitter. If God ever wanted to do a significant work, it is now. It is now. Some of us by grace have seen the beginning of this century, but to see the end of it, these may very well be your last days. How important not to end them in a whimper or with a sigh. Which leads me to the fourth and causes me to move into the message that I really have from the Lord today for all of us. This is a time for strong resolve. It’s a time for strong resolve.

We cannot, we dare not just sit back and sort of hope for the best. You with small children, you cannot simply fold your hands or go out into the workplace and just earn enough money to give them the best and hope they turn out right. They need attention and training and time and discipline and love and care and affection. They need it deliberately from parents. They need touch. They need affirmation. They need presence. This is a time of strong resolve. It is a time of strong resolve for people in pulpits, for those who write music, for those who put into pages of books truth for the next generation to read.

Billy Graham’s perhaps best book, released back in the late 60s, was entitled *World Aflame*. I have quoted from this before, but it’s worth repeating. "In a declining culture," says the evangelist, "one of its characteristics is that ordinary people are unaware of what is happening. Only those who know and can read the signs of decadence are posing the questions that as yet have no answer. Mr. Average Man is comfortable in his complacency and as unconcerned as a silverfish ensconced on a carton of discarded magazines on world affairs."

He is not asking any questions because his social benefits from the government give him a false security. This is his trouble and his tragedy. Modern man has become a spectator of world events, observing on his television screen without becoming involved. He watches the ominous events while he sips his beer in a comfortable chair. He does not understand that his world is on fire and that he is about to be burned with it.

Now understand as I present to you a number of resolutions, that I am not advocating that leadership take on an iron fist, or that there no longer be vulnerability among those who are God’s spokesmen and women. I’m not suggesting that there be influence by intimidation or by mind control or by verbal threats. You know me well enough to know that I stand against everything that represents. I’m not calling for bullies in pulpits or for unteachable and inaccessible teachers in places of importance.

But first and foremost, I want to promote the idea of modeling truth, authenticity, as always patterning our lives after the one who came before us and has gone on beyond us, Jesus Christ, who came, remember, full of grace and truth. Perfect balance. But we need strong resolve. I don’t think Christians can survive the next 10 years, certainly as the events on the horizon begin to emerge into reality. I don’t think we can survive sort of yawning our way through the decade, taking our cues from the media.

While in prayer about so much of this, I was led ever so gently back into the great book of Psalms in Scripture. The book of Psalms. How unusual it seemed to me that God would lead me there, stop off at Psalm 102. I, like you, have always thought of the Psalms as a book of great praise and a book of devotion, but suddenly it seemed to pulsate with exclamation points that were inherent in the text. Psalm 102, for example, if you read the superscription, which is originally in the Hebrew text, we’re told it is a prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.

We don’t know who he is. No one knows. We know who wrote Psalm 101 because the superscription reads "A Psalm of David," and the same for 103, "A Psalm of David." But there’s no man by name connected with 102. Could it have been one of the lonely prophets? Could it have been a man that is never named in Scripture, but for some reason, the Spirit of God chose his writings and included them in the sacred text? But what a moving account of a man in need. It’s a pleading Psalm. "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry for help come to Thee."

I can just see his hands lifted in a dark place and he pleads to be heard. He pleads for divine assistance. He says, "Do not hide Thy face from me in the day of my distress. Incline Thine ear to me; in the day when I call, answer me quickly." There’s urgency in his words, isn’t there? "For my days have been consumed in smoke." Listen to the vivid imagery. "My days consumed in smoke, my bones scorched like a hearth, my heart has been smitten like grass." Do you get the meter of the Psalm? My days, my bones, my heart. Consumed, scorched, smitten like grass and withered away.

There’s a loss of motivation and passion. "My heart has been smitten like grass and something is withering inside me." Let me tell you something: the person who speaks for God knows the mandate. And there is nothing so depressing as feeling that the blow is gone out of the voice or the passion is now missing that was once there, or that there is indifference and apathy in place of zeal and direction. There’s nothing more tragic than a leader who has lost the drive to lead. Maybe he was one of those.

There’s also a loss of appetite. He says, "Indeed, I forget to eat my bread. Because of the loudness of my groaning, my bones cling to my flesh." Have you ever been so distressed, so discouraged that fixing a meal seems a Herculean task? Or you see a time to stop and eat as an interruption in your grief and mourning? And involuntarily, you realize that you’re losing weight. Oh, for the good old days, I can hear some of you say. But what gets you there is misery and heartache, and you say, "When will I ever get back on my feet?"

Bill Meyer: Chuck Swindoll is midway through a message he’s titled "A Time for Strong Resolve." It’s the fourth and final study in a special four-part mini-series on the sanctity of life. If you found yourself resonating with Chuck’s presentation today, the creative team at Insight for Living has a helpful resource for you. It’s a Bible companion for this study, and it’s also called "The Sanctity of Life." It’s designed to guide you through an in-depth Bible study on all four topics in this series.

Life is precious because it’s sacred. God designed it that way. In fact, Jesus said He came so we could live life to the fullest. But ask anyone who’s had an abortion or whose family has been shattered by adultery and they’ll tell you how empty life can feel when God’s design gets violated. This resource has been thoughtfully designed to be read alongside your copy of Scripture, helping you think biblically about God’s gift of life and showing you how to stand strong in a culture that devalues what God declares precious.

In addition, there are sections on guarding personal purity and placing appropriate boundaries that guard us from moral compromise. With careful attention to applying biblical principles, this guide will help you find the forgiveness and healing that can seem impossibly out of reach because God offers hope, always. You’re invited to request a copy of the Sanctity of Life Bible companion when you support Insight for Living with a donation. Call 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org/donate.

In closing, from its earliest days, Insight for Living has been sustained by the voluntary donations of grateful listeners just like you. And no one makes a bigger difference than our monthly companions. A monthly companion is someone who agrees to give a contribution every month. We’d love to add you to the team, and you can do that right now by calling 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org/monthly-companion.

I’m Bill Meyer, inviting you to join us when Chuck Swindoll presents five strong resolutions for 2026, Friday on Insight for Living.

The preceding message, "A Time for Strong Resolve," was copyrighted in 1990, 2000, 2014, and 2024, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.