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.
I’m a little bit older than the rest of our subscribers, but although they are quite commonplace now, I grew up in an era when home game stations were just beginning to take over the entertainment market. Not many people had them and on a Friday night, my wife and I used to walk across the street from our apartment to rent one for the weekend. Although a lot of the games back then had to do with some type of racing, occasionally we would bring one home where we had to fight in combat against each other in order to survive. The problem is that every time we raised our weapons to strike the first blow, we would turn and look at each other as we sat on our bed. We didn’t have the heart to fight against each other, so instead we would have our characters do silly things that had nothing to do with fighting at all.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
In order to fight with another person, both people have to be actively engaged, and rather than going to war with others, Jesus taught the path of passivity. This means when people wrong us and cause us to suffer we are not to resist evil. We must follow the example of the creator of Heaven and Earth who had the power and authority to destroy this world when He was here, but He chose the path of suffering instead.
Matthew 5:38-40 (KJB) Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 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 Lord does not want us to resist evil, or push back against those who do evil to you. This requires a certain amount of suffering, and it doesn’t feel good when people wrong you in some manner. They might steal from you, defraud you of your wages, speak evil about you, and even divorce and take your beloved children. But when this happens, we are called to suffer it, knowing that when we obey Christ in such a manner, He is going to swiftly pour out His vengeance upon their heads.
Romans 12:17-19 (KJB) Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
God is going to pour out His vengeance upon those who have caused His loyal and faithful servants to suffer, and to say anything else would be calling God a liar. Obedience pleases the Lord, and when we allow ourselves to endure sufferings we can cry out mightily to God and He will avenge us speedily.
Luke 18:1-8 (KJB) And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 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.……
When somebody wrongs you in some manner, the natural reaction is to wrong them back. If somebody lies about you, you want to lie about them. If they falsely accuse you, you want to falsely accuse them right back. But in order to do the will of God from our heart, we must refuse to retaliate and choose the path of suffering instead. When we humbly obey the Lord in such a manner, He will rise up with shield and buckler to avenge His own children.
Proverbs 20:22 (KJB) Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
Psalms 35:1-6 (KJB) Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.
Even when false witnesses spoke out against Christ Jesus, He never said so much as a word.
Mark 15:4-5 (KJB) And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.
Proverbs 20:3 (KJB) It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.
Even when people did evil things to the Apostle Paul, rather than avenge himself, He knew that the Lord would reward them according to their works.
2 Timothy 4:14-15 (KJB) 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.
Remember that it is the responsibility of men of God to rebuke with all authority, whether they are powers of darkness in this world or spiritual wickedness in high places. But whenever you stand up for the truth of scripture you are going to be persecuted and hated by the impenitent. Take it from somebody who knows, as I have dealt with many things such as these over the past twenty five years. But we must never take matters into our own hands by avenging ourselves, because it is God who will do battle for us.
So instead of trying to win that game so many years ago on our bed, it all came down to relinquishing the fight. In order to serve God we must embrace the path of suffering that people put us through, with the understanding that when push comes to shove, it really takes…..
………Two to Tango
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.♥️
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