Beloved, I am glad to share with you today on the next window of the temple of truth, namely the order not to resist, or the non-resistance. To resist is to let others do what they want, without opposing them in any way whatsoever.
In asking it, the Lord Jesus really wants to give us spiritual height, making us reconsider our hierarchy of values, because can material injustices justify the fact of tearing each other apart? For how can one understand that in a different situation with a brother or a sister, one finds oneself before unbelieving judges rather than resorting to the arbitration of the members of the Church or the holy people?
Yet the children of God are destined to be judges of the world; would they then be incapable of deciding on much less important questions, how to understand that they are incompetent for the affairs of the present life?
Is it normal to take people who do not count for anything in the Church as judges? Quarreling is already a defeat in our spiritual life. Why not rather consent to be stripped, knowingly suffering an injustice? Those are some of the questions that interpellate us. This is why the Lord Jesus tells us in Mat 5.38-40: “You have learned that it has been said: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I tell you not to resist the wicked. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, introduce him to the other as well. 40 If anyone wants to plead against you, and take your tunic, leave him your cloak again. “
But the cloak is an indispensable garment for the cold periods that will have to endure, in the same way as to accept the sacrifice knowing that a reward awaits us at the end. Indeed, it is advantageous for us to suffer from injustice than to be its authors, for the kingdom of heaven is not for those who commit such actions. We read this in 1 Cor 6: 9-11: “Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not deceive yourself: neither immorality, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, 10 nor the effeminate, nor the infamous, nor the thieves, nor the greedy, nor the drunkards, nor the outrageous ones, nor the captors, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that’s what you were, some of you. But you have been washed, but you have been sanctified, but you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.”
And also we read in Lev 24:20: “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; he will be made the same injury he has done to his neighbor. This is because Moses saw the harshness of the hearts of the children of Israel right now.”
I. THE STRENGTHS OF NON-RESISTANCE
- Sweetness
– must be sought : Zeph 2.3 “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, Who practice his ordinances! Seek justice, seek humility! Perhaps you will be spared in the day of the wrath of Jehovah.”
-is a mark of non-resistance : Luke 6.29 “If someone strikes you on one cheek, present him also the other. If someone takes your coat, do not stop him from taking your tunic again.”
-is a fruit of the Spirit : Gal 5.22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, temperance;” Gal 6.1 Brothers, if a man comes to be surprised by some fault, you who are spiritual, straighten it with a spirit of gentleness. Take care of yourself, lest you be so tempted.” ; Eph 4.2 “in all humility and gentleness, with patience, supporting one another with charity,”
– it is essential for the teacher : 2 Tim 2.25 “he must gently straighten the adversaries, in the hope that God will give them repentance to come to the knowledge of the truth,”; Titus 3.2. “Do not begrudge anyone, be peaceful, moderate, full of gentleness to all men.”
-is essential for the listener : 1 Peter 3.4 : “This is why, rejecting all defilement and all excess of malice, gently receive the word that has been planted in you, and that can save your souls.” James 3.13 “Which of you is wise and intelligent? May he show his works by good conduct with the sweetness of wisdom.”
-it is precious in the eyes of God: 1 Peter 3: 3 “but the inner adornment hidden in the heart, the incorruptible purity of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which is of great value before God.”
2. Promises to the meek: Psa 22.27 “And all the ends of the earth shall think of the LORD, and turn to him; All the families of the nations will bow to your face.” ; Psa 37.11 “The wretches possess the land, and they have abundant peace.” ; Psa 147.6 “The LORD upholds the unfortunate, and lowers the wicked to the ground.” Psa 149: 4 “For Jehovah rejoices in his people, and glorifies the poor by saving them.” ; Isaiah 11.4 “But he will judge the poor with righteousness, and will pronounce with righteousness upon the wretched of the earth; He will strike the earth with his word as a rod, and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” ; Isaiah 29.19 “The poor shall rejoice more and more in the LORD, and the poor shall make the Holy One of Israel the subject of their gladness.” ; Mat 5.5 “Happy the good-humored, for they will inherit the earth!”
3. Christ Himself, an example of gentleness: Isa 53.7 “He was mistreated and oppressed, and he did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to slaughter, to a sheep dumb before those who shear it; He did not open his mouth.” ; Mat 11.29 “Take my yoke upon you and receive my instructions, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls.” ; Mat 21.5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king comes to you, full of sweetness, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the young of a donkey”. ; 2 Cor 10.1 “I, Paul, I pray you, by the meekness and goodness of Christ, me, humble of appearance when I am in your midst, and full of boldness toward you when I am far away, -; 1 Peter 2.23 “He who, insulted, made no abuse, mistreated him, made no threats, but relied on him who judged justly;
4. God enjoins us to exercise mercy: Pro 3.3 “That goodness and faithfulness do not forsake you; Lie them on your neck, write them on the table of your heart. ; Pro 11.17 The good man does good to his soul, but the cruel man disturbs his own flesh.” ; Micah 6.8 “You have been made known, O man, what is good; And what the LORD asks of you, that you practice righteousness, that you love mercy, and that you walk humbly with your God.” ; Mat 5.7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy!” ; Luke 6.36 “Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.” ; James 2:13 “For judgment is without mercy on those who have not had mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
5. Patience is ordained: 1 Cor 3.7 “So that it is not the one who plants that is something, nor the one who waters, but God who makes it grow.” ; Eph 4.2 “in all humility and gentleness, with patience, supporting one another with charity;” Eph 6.9 “And you, masters, do the same thing to them, and abstain from threats, knowing that their master and yours are in heaven, and that there is no acceptance of persons before him.” ; Col. 3.13 “Suppose one another, and if one is about to complain of another, forgive one another. As Christ forgave you, forgive you too.” ;
6. Long-suffering is ordained: 1 Cor 13.4 “Charity is patient, it is full of kindness; charity is not envious; charity does not boast, it does not swell with pride”; 2 Cor 6.6 “by purity, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by holy spirit, by sincere charity”; Gal 5.22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, temperance”; Col 1.11 “strengthened in all respects by his glorious power, so that you may always and joyfully persevere and patient.” ; 2 Tim 4.2 “Promote the word, insist on every occasion, favorable or not, reprove, censure, exhort, with all kindness and instructing.”
II. THE CONSEQUENCES OF RESISTING
- Conflict is forbidden: Pro 3.30 “Do not dispute without reason with someone, When he did not hurt you.” ; Pro 17.14 “To start a quarrel is to open a dike; Before the argument comes to life, go away.” ; Pro 25.8 “Do not hasten to contend, lest in the end you know what to do, when your neighbor has outraged you.” ; Pro 26:17 “Like one who catches a dog by the ears, so is a passer-by who gets angry for a quarrel where he has nothing to do.” ; Phil 2.3 “Do nothing in the spirit of party or vain glory, but humility makes you look upon others as being above yourself.” ; 2 Tim 2.14, 24 “Recall these things, conjuring before God, that we should avoid arguments of words, which only serve the ruin of those who hear. 24 But a servant of the Lord must not have quarrels; he must, on the contrary, be condescending for all, be fit to teach, endowed with patience;”
- Revenge is forbidden: Lev 19.18 “Thou shalt not avenge yourselves, neither shalt thou bear any grudge against the children of thy people. You will love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” ;
Pro 20:22 “Do not say, I will make evil. O hope in the LORD, and he will deliver you.” ; Pro 24:29 “Do not say, I will do to him as he has done to me, I will give to every man according to his works.” ; Mat 5.39 “But I tell you not to resist the wicked. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, introduce him to the other as well. ; Rom 12.17 “Make no evil for evil. Seek what is good in front of all men.” ; 1 Thessalonians 5.15 “You are all children of light and children of the day. We are not night nor darkness.” ; 1 Peter 3.9 “Make no evil for evil, or insult for injury; bless, on the contrary, because that is what you have been called to inherit the blessing.”
3. The spirit of revenge manifested itself with :
-Jezabel, to Elijah : 1 Kings 19.2 “And Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, Let the gods do unto me in all their rigor, if at this time tomorrow I do not make of your life what you have done of life of each of them!”
-Achab, to Micah : 1 Kings 22.27 “And say, Thus saith the king, Put this man in prison, and feed him with bread and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.”
-Haman, toward the Jews : Isaiah 3.6 “But he disdained to lay hands on Mordechai alone, for he had been told of what people Mordecai was, and he wanted to destroy the people of Mordecai, all the Jews who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.”
-The Philistines to Israel : Eze 25:15 “Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because the Philistines have committed vengeance, because they have taken revenge with disdain and from the bottom of their souls, wanting to destroy everything, eternal hatred,”
-Herodiade, towards John the Baptist : Mat 14.8 “At the instigation of her mother, she said: Give me here on a plate, the head of John the Baptist.”
-The Nazarenes, to Christ : Luke 4.29 “And rising up, they drove him out of the city, and brought him to the top of the mountain on which their city was built, to bring him down.”
-The Sanhedrin, towards the apostles : Act 5.33 “Furious with these words, they wanted to kill them.
When the day came, the Jews formed a conspiracy, and cursed themselves, saying that they would abstain from eating and drinking until they came to an end. would have killed Paul.”
4. The dispute is to be avoided : 1 Cor 6.1 “If any of you, when he has a dispute with another, dare he plead before the unjust, and not before the saints?” ;
Pro 25.8 “Do not hasten to contend, lest in the end you know what to do, when your neighbor has outraged you.” ; Mat 5.25, 40 “Grant yourself promptly with your adversary, while you are on the way with him, lest he deliver you to the judge, that the judge deliver you to the officer of justice, and that you be put in prison., 40 If anyone wants to plead against you, and take your tunic, leave him your cloak again.”
5. Hate is condemned : Lev 19.17 “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; you will take care to take back your neighbor, but you will not charge yourself with a sin because of him.” ;
Pro 10.12 “Hatred excites quarrels, But love covers all faults.” ; 1 Jean 2.9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is still in darkness. ; 1 Jn 3.15 “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” ; 1 Jean 4.20 “And if any man say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see?”
6. Wickedness is condemned : 1 Cor 5.8 “So let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, not with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of purity and truth.” ;
1 Cor 14.20 “Brothers, do not be children in judgment; but for malice, be children, and, with regard to judgment, be made men.” ; Eph 4 :31 “Let all bitterness, all animosity, all wrath, all clamor, all calumny, and every kind of wickedness, depart from among you.” ; Col. 3.3 “But now, renounce all these things, anger, animosity, malice, slander, dishonest words that may come out of your mouth.” ; 1 Pierre 2.1 “Therefore rejecting all malice and cunning, dissimulation, envy, and all slander.”
From what precedes, the Bible wants us to go from the law of retaliation to that of the Lord Jesus Christ, for whom to resist the wicked one is to do evil for evil. He wants that instead of exercising vengeance, he asks the Christian to suffer another insult, presenting the other cheek.
We must choose to suffer greater injustice, knowing that our Lord Jesus Christ will not abandon us when the time comes. Our prayers strengthen and support you all for this purpose.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me as follows :
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you and ask forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as my Lord and personal Savior. I acknowledge that you died on the cross of Calvary and that you rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me each day to eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal to me and strengthen my heart and my faith so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me in your divine family so that I too can contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all adoration, power, and glory, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to your questions and comments, before sharing with you next week on the following window of the temple of truth, which is unlimited service.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you profusely.
David Feze, Servant of the Lord Almighty.