Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
When we look at the world today, there are many events that can be classified as a calamity, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and landslides, hurricanes, wildfires, droughts and even volcanic eruptions. During the days of Moses, Pharoh was resisting the will of God. Because of his rejection to submit to God’s will, and obey the prophet that God had sent, God sent unto him calamities. He turned his life into a place of chaos. He and his nation dealt with numerous plagues and pestilence. Because of his mocking attitude of rebellion towards God, he even lost his own son, and his army.
This Reminds me of the Christian Life.
God has not changed, and he is certainly is not mocked . He can punish people in numerous ways, and continues to do so today. Calamity is an event that results in distress and great loss. God is watching every moment of the day? Those who cause God’s faithful to suffer, will enter into a calamity that is sent directly from the Lord.
Deuteronomy 32:35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
When you begin the Christian life, you most certainly are going to enter into persecutions and sufferings, if you truly desire to do the will of God from your heart. It will begin with your relatives and close friendships that you have developed over many years of your life. You must be prepared and ready for them to spread gossip and lies about you. If you believe and stand up for biblical truth, you must brace yourself to get shot at by the enemy. Some of them will be of your own household, betrayed both by wives and family members.
You must be ready for people who know you in the past, when they began to call you a cult or God freak. Be ready as the falsely accuse you, and only wish that you were dead.
Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
When you become a sincere Christian, persecution doesn’t come from just unbelievers. It can come from people who profess faith in Christ, who really don’t believe in scriptural truth. They have a form of Godliness, but they reject the power of God. Some of you that are listening today have come out of heretical forms of Christianity, while others have turned away from false religions. In that simple act of turning away from those things, you condemn those who are involved with it, because of which you will be hated by them. The same persecution happened to Noah. The hatred manifested toward the faithful, is a result of their willful disobedience and unfaithfulness to Christ.
John 15:20-21 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
Many people in the world profess some kind of belief in God, whatever that may be to them, but for a Christian, we know that there is only one God, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In order to inherit eternal life, we need to keep His sayings and teachings, abiding in the doctrines of Christ. When you begin to obey the teachings of Jesus, and have to suffer or be persecuted because of your obedient conscience towards God, you find great favor with the Almighty. Some of your own family members will betray you, just says Judas did to Jesus, but God is watching and He will punish their actions here upon the earth. He punished Goliath, He punished Pharoh, and He punished the lying hearts of Ananias and Sapphira his wife with immediate death. Many people don’t fear God, and to those people I warn, you better. Some people won’t believe in a lake of fire, but to those people I warn, your out of your mind. Some people don’t believe in eternal punishment because they have been loved a little too much in this world. When people don’t believe in damnation anymore, it’s probably because this is what’s going to happen to them. Like everyone, someday they too will have to stand in judgment before Christ the Lord, for their actions here upon the earth.
1 Peter 4:1-5 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
When a Christian has to suffer because they want to obey the teachings of Christ, when a person has to suffer because they want to do the will of God, they are truly blessed by God, and the Lord Jesus sees their obedience and will avenge those who unjustly suffer because of their conscience towards God.
1 Peter 2:19-20 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
The court of Christ Jesus is the highest court there is, or ever will be. The highest authorities scattered throughout this entire world, will eventually be bending the knee before Christ Jesus, and will have to account for what they have done while here upon the earth. The day of accounting came early for Pharaoh in Egypt, but He mocked the will of God, because of which, he was punished severely.
2 Thessalonians 1:4-6 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
Many people were persecuting the Apostle Paul and speaking evil things about him, but you certainly didn’t want to offend the Apostle, lest he call upon God to punish you, or in the case of the Apostle Peter, to kill you because of your lying heart.
2 Timothy 4:14-15 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
Luke 18:7-8 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.
Whatever wrongs people do to us, or the sufferings and persecutions that we must endure because of our conscience towards performing the will of God, we can know that God will punish all those who are willfully involved. We need not avenge ourselves, because God will do it for us. If they had no fear of God before, they will now. Like Pharaoh, God can punish their families and relatives with plagues and sickness and disease, and their communities with both hunger and pestilence.
Hebrews 10:30-31 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
God knows the heart and the intentions of every person on the face of the earth. When people persecute us and cause us to suffer, we are not to retaliate or return evil for evil. We are not supposed to avenge ourselves in Earthly lawsuits, because the judge of heaven and earth will doubtless take care of the matter.
Matthew 5:39-40 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
The evil and suffering that others have done to you, will come right back on them. Their foot will slide in due time, for the day of the Lord has come. For the time is now, when the Lord shall rise up in vengeance, and put the wicked into a place of…….
…… Calamity
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching tlkjbc, or by going to hipcast, buzzsprout or amazon, or by getting our podcast feed directly at tlkjbc.com, or I suppose, you can find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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