April 30, 2017
Scripture:
Scripture:
Hymn 312 - Jesus loves me, this I know
Prayer
We have a hard lesson today, about not taking revenge. Revenge is getting back at someone for something mean they have done to us. It’s a natural response to being wronged. However, the Christian life is a life of faith, and the Lord wants us to trust Him in all things; even hard situations like that.
Proverbs 20:22 tells us not to get back at those that do wrong to us, but rather to wait on the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 5:15 says the same thing; that we are not to return evil for evil. Instead, we must trust in the Lord, and thank Him in the situation.
The Bible has stories of people who wanted to take their own revenge. When Jacob tricked his brother Esau and stole his blessing, Esau wanted to kill him, and Jacob was forced to run away. Cain did kill his brother Abel. These are examples of revenge.
However, we do have some good examples, too. When Saul and David came back from a battle with the Philistines one time, the ladies sang, “Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands!” This made Saul angry, and he tried to kill David. David had to run and hide in the wilderness and in caves. Once when Saul came looking for him, he actually came into a cave where David was hiding. This was David’s chance for revenge! Let’s see what happened. 1 Samuel 24:3-7, 17. David ended up showing kindness to Saul, even though Saul was trying to kill him.
Later in his life, David was running away from his son Absalom. There was a man named Shimei who cursed and taunted him as he traveled along. Some of David’s men wanted to kill Shimei, but David knew that the Lord had allowed him to curse, and so he didn’t take revenge, even though he could have.
Matthew 5:43-44 tells us that we are to love, bless, do good to, and pray for those that hurt us. That is how we show them love. The Lord is our perfect example of this. On the cross, men had whipped, slapped, and crucified Him, yet He forgave them for what they did.
Romans 12:17, 20-21. These verses speak of coals of conviction, not actual burning coals. When we do good and show love to those that hurt us, we are showing them the Lord’s love. Often when we do this, it will make people sorry for the wrong they have done to us.
Recently, we read the story of five missionaries who were killed by the Auca Indians they were trying to preach the gospel to. Their wives didn’t take revenge, though, instead they went after those Indians with love and won many of them for the Lord.
There is another story of a man who had been converted through a missionary, who was trying to share the gospel with someone else in his village. This neighbour got so mad that he smashed a pot on the Christian’s head. The Christian went home and saw his hatchet on the wall. For a moment, he thought about getting revenge, but then he saw his Bible sitting there, and remembered what it taught. Then he had an idea. “I know! I have a brand new pot. I’ll give it to my neighbour to replace the broken one.” He did, and the neighbour was so surprised that it gave the Christian another chance to preach the gospel!
So, we are not to revenge ourselves, but show love. The Lord must help us do this, though!
1 Thessalonians 5:19-28
It can be very easy to quench the Spirit. If, in a meeting, you don’t give out what the Spirit has given you, you’re quenching the Spirit. You can also grieve the Spirit. That’s when you do something that grieves the Spirit and He gives you something to correct you, not for you to share. Grieving and quenching hinders the Spirit’s function and freedom.
1 Corinthians 14:3
Prophesying is not always telling the future. It is also speaking God’s Word for that time. God has a suited word for the occasion. Don’t set this aside as something that isn’t important. It’s easy to despise it, though, when it comes in the form of correction. One usually doesn’t want to hear what hurts.
The Bereans searched the scriptures to find out if what they were told was true. They proved it. It takes times to search the scriptures and prove them. The Bereans were contrasted with the Thessalonians in Acts 17. This edification may have been something the Thessalonians really needed.
Darby put verse 22 as, “hold aloof from every form of wickedness”. Keep your distance. It is especially important to abstain from evil for our testimony.
Verse 23 and 24 seem like a little prayer; maybe his desire for the saints. Verse 23 is very clear on the fact that we are made of three parts. We are only one person, though. But notice the order the parts have been listed in - spirit, soul, and body. We usually list them backwards. God starts with the spirit. Everything has a body, but not everything has a soul and spirit. Trees and other objects have just a body. Animals have a body and a soul. But man has been given body, soul, and spirit.
Sanctify means set apart. So, what’s involved in keeping blameless? What is a soul? In the Old Testament “soul” is often used to refer to a person. When someone passes away the soul and spirit go to the Lord. It’s as if the soul is the real me. Your soul is your mind, will, and emotion - putting it simply. And there are somethings of these things that must be preserved. We often ask God to preserve us on our way home. That is the preservation of our body. Your soul is what you think about, what you like, and your will, and those need to be kept just as seriously. Then there is our spirit. How am I spiritually occupied? Now, we did have a spirit before we were saved. As much as we understand there are somethings that need to be preserved from our enemy.
There is positional sanctification as seen in Hebrew 10:14. When we are saved we are sanctified for ever. Then there is practical sanctification. It is where we read the Bible and apply it to ourselves. 1.Peter 1:2 is where we hear of the sanctification of the Spirit. We have been set apart.
John 17:16-19
Jesus set Himself apart to be able to sanctify others through truth.
Hymn 250 - O Lord! we would delight in Thee
Prayer