“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad…” Proverbs 24:17-18

Part three of three.

Three good reasons that we should not celebrate when our enemies fall.

1. To conform us to Jesus image. Though at times He was bold and blunt-spoken, Jesus was never vindictive. To the Contrary. He wept for His enemies when He pondered the awful judgment awaiting them (Luke 19:41-44), and prayed even while dying, that God would forgive their sins against Him. He was the express image of His compassionate Father who said “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? (Ezekiel 18:23). And conforming us to His character image is the primary goal of the Holy Spirit in all His work in and for us. (See Romans 8:29)

2. To release God to fully defend us. When we are harassed and persecuted by adamant adversaries, we need help very badly! And God wants to provide that help whenever and wherever it is necessary. He freely offers His services as our all-powerful Defender and Arbitrator of all our disputes: “I will contend with him that contended with thee” (Isaiah 49:25) But to receive His defense, we must forfeit our self defense and the spirit of revenge. Then He will step in and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, He will make a way through a sea of slander, persecution, injustice, illegality, and oppression . (See Genesis 12:3, Exodus 23:22-23.Luke 1:74-75)

3.So we wont be like our enemies. We must understand that this divine ban on the spirit of revenge is not binding on our enemies. Presently free to be as wicked as they will, they sing and celebrate when we are persecuted and beam with joy when we are crestfallen.

David knew all about this: “But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together…with hypocritical mockers in feasts” (Psalms 35:15-16). The Philistines freely made sport of Samson after his defeat and made a trophy of Saul’s head after his death: and the Edomites rejoiced when Judah fell to the Babylonians. But one day God freely judged both of these nations for their unchecked vengefulness against His children.

There is also a powerful assurance hidden in this proverb: one day God will reckon with our vengeful enemies.

Solomon’sinspired word states “when” not “if”: “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth…..when he stumbleth”. It is a strong sustaining comfort to know that God has promised to right every wrong done against us if our offenders remain bent on harming us and those we love: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Jesus personally assured us that our heavenly Father would give us perfect justice: “And shall not God avenge His own elect, who cry unto him day and night, though he bear long with them…. I tell you that He will avenge them speedily” (Luke 18:7-8)

We don’t have to think a thought, speak a word, or lift a finger in retaliation.

Our Father will take care of that for us in His own time and way. We are free to leave our enemies in His hands and focus all of our attention on pursuing His will for our lives. Hence, unshackled by vindictiveness, we press toward the mark set before us.

Gods commands are His enabling and every one of us can confess with confidence, “God can do this in me” By the power of His Spirit He can enable me to live absolutely free of the spirit of revenge and full of the spirit of reconciliation--not in the here after, but now in this life.

He did this in David, who progressed from cutting off a piece of the Kings robe, to publicly renouncing his right to take revenge on the “Lords anointed.” (see 1 Samuel 24,25,and26).

When Saul died, David wept, not with feigned mourning but with real grief over what Saul could have been had he not turned from God.

Steven prayed for his raving murderers, crying out “Lord lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:60)

And centuries later as William Tyndale was dying he prayed for the very monarch who had ordered his execution. “Lord open the King of England’s eyes.”

If the grace of God was sufficient for them; it will be sufficient for us too.

We need only to understand that the grace that David, Steven, and Tyndale exhibited, did not come instantly but was the result of the process of Sanctification that comes as we repent from and lay aside the spirit of revenge and choose the spirit of mercy. (Hebrews 12:1)

HANG ON BELIEVERS

THE LOVE OF MANY HAS GROWN COLD

 

Moses Lake, Washington

Bethel, Alaska

Pearl, Mississippi

West Paducah, Kentucky

Stamp, Arkansas

Jonesboro Arkansas

Edinborough, Pennsylvania

Fayetteville, Tennessee

Springfield, Oregon

Richmond, Virginia

Littleton, Colorado

Tabor, Alberta, Canada

Conyers, Georgia

Deming, New Mexico

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma

Santee, California

El Cajon, California

Blacksburg, Virginia

What do these communities have in common?

Each of them have experienced the terror of mass murder perpetrated upon students in school.

Mass murder committed by people who have allowed hate to overcome every other emotion that is known to mankind.

Why, does this happen over and over and each time the body count goes up and the brutality is more extreme than the incident before?

A godless, unchurched, and often heartless world is producing more and more Cho Seung-Hui types all the time. What happened in Blacksburg, Virginia last week, is a harbinger of things to come. I wish it wasn't true but it is!

Somewhere, even now, a demonic presence is working in the heart of another tormented soul or souls, challenging them to set the bar higher than Cho Seung-Hui set it in Blacksburg . More likely sooner than later, someone will act in a similar manner again! How can I say that with confidence? Because these are the end times, iniquity abounds and is embraced by our culture today and the love of many has waxed cold!

Cold as ice!

Jesus talks about it to us in Matthew ch. 24

There is good news for Christians and the broken-hearted everywhere. Jesus Christ is Lord and He is coming soon to put an end to horror-filled days such as the one seen on campus after campus.

Hang on, righteous men and women everywhere!

Declare the truth that;

HELP IS ON THE WAY!

Part two of three postings

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad….Proverbs 24:17-18

As we learned in part one of this posting , the Word of God indicates that God Himself will stop defending us with His full powers, if we harbor vindictiveness against those we consider enemies.

In addition to these warnings, Proverbs 24, contains five commands, two are explicitly stated, while the other three are implied. They are:

1. Do not celebrate your enemies adversity: “Rejoice not…”

2. Do not be glad when your enemy is sad: “and let not thine heart be glad”

3.Do not harbor a spirit of revenge. [implied]

4. Cultivate goodwill, or a desire for repentance, and reconciliation. [implied]

5. Receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit--and OBEY Him. [implied]

In the first two commands God orders us to neither celebrate, smile, nor gloat when evil befalls our bitterest enemy.

He speaks not only to outward displays of revenge but also to its inner presence known only to us and the Holy Spirit.

The only way to avoid delighting in the demise of our detractors is to not allow the cause of such reactions-the spirit of revenge- to rest in our hearts.

If you want to kill a weed, pluck it up by its roots.

Removal however is not the full solution; we must also refill our hearts with something of God, namely goodwill.

The apostle John asked that heavenly fire be called down upon the Samaritans, who were, the Jews longstanding enemies. Jesus who was nearby reminded the embryonic apostle of the message of love, that the purpose of His mission was blessed reconciliation, not the bitterness of revenge. “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of; for the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:55-56)

We too must remember this and pray on a regular basis for our enemies to repent: “pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

To live in this conciliatory spirit, or the love of God, in this bitter, revengeful world, we need to be filled with a new spirit--the Holy Spirit.

WHY?

Only He imparts and helps us cultivate Gods own love, which enables us to permanently conquer the spirit of revenge: “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit who is given to us” (Romans 5:5)

Merely receiving the Spirit is not enough.

We must continually yield to Him, if we want to display His love.

Hence the five commands listed above.

When God commands, men question: “But why, God? “Why should I neither celebrate nor be glad when my enemies fall?”

In the next posting we will examine the three reasons given in scripture that directs us to do as God has commanded regarding the seeking of revenge.

Part one of three postings

“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad…” Proverbs 24:17-18

“Vengeance is the most deeply rooted passion in the human soul” Oswald Chambers

The spirit of revenge is a bitter determination to redress a wrong, loss or defeat.

In making us “sanctified, and fit for the masters use,” the Holy Spirit seeks to purge us of this stubborn sin.

Therefore He inspired Solomon to address it in the Book of Proverbs.

There David’s son ordered us not to plan or execute any acts of retaliation: “Say not, I will render to the man according to his work” Proverbs 24:29

The New Testament continues his line of thought. Jesus commanded non-retaliation. “But I say unto you that ye resist not evil” Matthew 5:38-48 and the Apostle added “Recompense to no man evil for evil” Romans 12:17

Full blown retaliation is not the only way the spirit of revenge manifests. It also betrays its presence by subtle acts of spite, appearing accidental but actually in deliberate hurtful comments, costly oversights, and other mistakes.”

One of its more common manifestations lies in prompting us to celebrate or secretly be glad, when our enemies fall into trouble, harm, dishonor, or defeat.

Solomon’s description of this is “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth, lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” Proverbs 24:17-18

Paraphrasing, this states: When your adversary stumbles or falls {into trouble, loss, dishonor, or defeat}, don’t celebrate or even be glad, if you do, God will see you {harboring a spirit of revenge}, and, displeased with you, stop {defending you by} punishing your enemy.

In this Proverb we find warnings, commands, questions, assurances, and a hint.

Two warnings are clearly seen, as God here alerts us to the adverse consequences of holding or displaying vengefulness.

First, the spirit of revenge displeases Him: “ Lest the Lord see it, and it displeases Him.

Displeasing the Lord will cause us to loose Gods full approval which spoils our fellowship with Him, reduces our effectiveness in prayer, blunts our ability to hear His voice, blocks our insight into His word, and hinders our usefulness to His service.

Second vengefulness causes God to stop defending us: “and He turn away his wrath from him [your enemy].

When people become obsessed with defaming, discouraging, and defeating us, we need God on our side actively confusing, thwarting, and limiting them, and dividing their alliances, so we can continue moving forward in His will.

As long as we continue pleasing Him, He continues helping us by resisting our adversaries.

Sometimes this brings them to contrition and repentance “When a mans ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” Proverbs 16:17

To be continued

BULLS EYE ON YOUR BACK

“Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.: (1 Corinthians 15:58)

When strong or persistent trouble meet us, we naturally and rightly wonder if we have mistaken Gods will.

Perhaps sometime, somewhere, somehow, what we thought was His leading, was not His leading.

We recall well known examples of others who reaped trouble for following wrong paths.

Jonah encountered a terrible storm at sea because he did not obey Gods direct guidance.

When the disciples decided to go fishing when the Lord had ordered them to tarry, they fished all night without catching anything.

But there is another side to this issue.

Sometimes we meet sudden, sharp, or stubborn opposition when were in the very center of Gods will.

God summoned Abram to leave Chaldea and travel to Canaan-and as soon as he arrived a famine engulfed the land--Joseph obeyed his fathers call to visit and report on his brothers and they sold him into slavery. Moses obeyed Jehovah’s dramatic call to return to Egypt and deliver his brethren--and instead of Pharaoh releasing them, he increased their burdens. God lead Moses to take the Israelites to the Promised Land through the wilderness-- where they were met by “fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought.” Jesus clearly constrained the apostles to enter a boat and row toward the far shore of Galilee-- and that night a powerful squall nearly sank them. An angel from Gods presence released the apostles from prison and sent them to “Go stand and speak in the temple”--where, again, they were arrested and narrowly escaped execution. The Lord gave the Apostle a powerful vision ordering him to Macedonia, where he succeeded in converting only one woman and was later severely beaten and jailed without a trial.

Have you, as they did, obeyed the Spirits leading only to be rewarded with roadblocks, delays, perplexities, critics, and determined opposition?

Are you reeling with doubt and wondering if you were mistaken?

Don’t let the “afterwards” of obedience dismay you; calm down and patiently re-examine the “before.”

Was your path scriptural, or in accord with Gods written purpose, plans, and righteousness?

Did the Holy Spirit seal His leading by strongly impressing your mind with a portion of His Word?

Was you decision made in close fellowship with Jesus, with honest, open prayer accompanied by sustained deep peace?

Was your motive right, namely to please the Lord?

Is the path that you are pursuing in line with the calling, ministry, or gifting that God has given you?

Since taking this path, has God confirmed that it is His will for you?

Has He continued blessing your private fellowship with Him with fresh insights from His Word and given you inner peace, despite, the troubles and opposition that has met your efforts?

If so then you are not mistaken, you are a target.

The devil has targeted you for attack because you are in Gods will.

Why does evil do this?

He hopes to confuse, to turn, to discourage and confound you to the point that you step aside from Gods perfect will for the sake of comfort.

So consider the source of opposition and re-double your efforts to do that which God has appointed you to do.

REJOICE FRIENDS AND SAINTS OF GOD

HE IS RISEN INDEED

Liberal theologians say that the Easter story is just that--a myth , a legend, manufactured by the authors of the New Testament.

This skepticism has been around since the German theologians of the early 1800s. It is prevalent in the theologically liberal seminaries until this day.

If mortals who are prone to boasting and celebrating in grand style, manufactured the Easter story, why then would they tell it in such a low-key manner?

The focus of the Easter story is a man coming back to life in just three days.

That would seem to be worthy of trumpets blaring, cymbals clanging, and a great parade down main street for all to witness.

There has never been a larger event than the resurrection of a humble man from Nazareth.

He is hated, and despised by both the religious establishment and the political figureheads.

They had planned for months to have him slain publicly by hanging him on a cross.

But He had other plans.

In around seventy two hours He is up and doing, appearing amongst His friends, going about the country in His new body that can think, talk, touch others, and even eat a fish dinner with His loved ones.

One of the greatest testimonies to the truth of the Easter story it is that is just the opposite of what the writers of fiction would pen.

Instead of the garish hoopla, Jesus went to the common man in the common places.

In John ch 21 we see where the resurrected Christ is found in the northern part of the country, not in the largest population center of Jerusalem.

He is not celebrating with His friends, nor is He confronting His enemies, Pilate and Herod, nor is He flaunting the reality of His resurrection before the high priest of the temple.

Further when Jesus meets up with some to exchange in friendship sharing, its not the elite, the rich, or the popular.

It is those whom society would label as losers.

There is Peter, the man who betrayed Jesus.

He sees Thomas, the one who is called doubter.

He visits with John and James, the two brothers, who had just a few days before contended among the other disciples about their desires for eminence on the Kingly throne of Jesus.

He visits with others who remained unnamed, obviously they were not important enough among their peers to mention.

That is not the fabric of a lie, written by a group of men bound by agreement to propagate falsehoods.

That is the truth about a Savior who defied and conquered over death, hell and the grave.

Then, as today Jesus goes to those whom He loves.

That gives me great comfort for I too have betrayed, doubted, and used His Kingdom riches for my own service.

I too deserve to remain anonymous, and yet the Christ still comes to me, loves me, talks to me, and gives me a hope for a personal resurrection, through Him alone.

When I consider the story of Easter, I know with certainty that there is nothing in this life that can take my faith, undo my desire for His righteousness, or cause eternal life in Him to be a futile hope.

The resurrection of Jesus is the wonderful promise that, anything is possible for us, in and through Him.

Thank you Jesus.