Don't rejoice when your enemies fall

Proverbs 24:17-18 (NLT)

Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall;
don’t be happy when they stumble.  For the Lord will be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them.

This is one of those several passages in the Bible where I cringe when I read/mediate on them because I know that they are so difficult to follow.  Other examples, at least for me, and this is only a partial list:

Luke 6:27-28:      “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”

Luke 14:33:          “So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.”

Matthew 12:36:    “And I tell you that on the Judgment Day people will be responsible for every

                             careless thing they have said.”

Philippians 2:14:   “Do everything without complaining or arguing”

Matthew 5:29-30: “If your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

I don’t have many “enemies” in my life, but the few I do, I would have a very hard time being sad and unhappy for them when they might stumble.  Yet these verses remind me that my natural attitude against my enemies is not the attitude of a believer in God and His Son, Jesus Christ.  I remember how good I felt one day when I heard that a former boss, who I thought really mistreated me, wouldn’t give me good assignments, showed partiality to others, and did everything he could to discourage me, was demoted.  Oh, indeed, I felt so good about this news about this former tormentor.  Then I read these verses not too long after this demotion.  I was convicted of my sin.  All I could do was confess my sin and pray that the Lord no longer be displeased with me.  This is one of those verses, I believe, that many believers are not aware of so when they violate it, they are not judged as transgressors.  However, once they are aware of what these verses teach, then to violate them now becomes a sin.  This is an illustration of what James 4:17 teaches. 

It is very interesting what the last part of these verses says----that if you rejoice when your enemies stumble, the Lord will turn away His anger from them.  When the Lord’s child is hurt by another, the Lord gets angry (Deut 32:35-36, Rom 12:19).  You must give way to the Lord and let Him deal with whoever has hurt you.  You are never to seek revenge.  Instead you are to overcome evil against you with good (Rom 12:21).  Oh, how difficult this is for us humans.  Our instinctive nature is to fight back when insulted, hurt, taken advantage of, any kind of evil perpetrated against us.  But that is not to be part of our spiritual nature as obedient followers of the Lord.  It takes all of the Lord’s strength within us not to rejoice when our enemies fall and not to seek retribution and revenge against them. 

Think about it……did Jesus rejoice when his enemies stumbled and failed?  Did he laugh or smirk or show any kind of pleasure when those who confronted him constantly during His ministry were made foolish by His words?  Did He ask God to hurt or destroy those who were torturing and crucifying Him?  Quite the opposite, He asked God to forgive His enemies.  Such is the attitude we Christians must have even though it perhaps is the hardest thing we ever have to do in our lives.

Do you need to confess, as I had to do, the times when you know that you rejoiced when an enemy failed and were happy when he/she stumbled?  Oh, yes, it may very well be the most difficult thing you’ve ever had to do, but it is the right thing, it shows your obedience to the Lord, and He will bless you for your humility including the sense of true freedom (example of Joseph in Gen 45, Luke 6:36-37, Matt 18:21-35).   

“Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense.”  Proverbs 19:11

God's power demonstrated through man's obedience

Joshua 3:15-17 (NIV)

Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off.  So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

According to The NIV Study Bible p.292, the Jordan River was 80-100 feet wide at Jericho most of the year, but during the spring flood it was as wide as a mile.  There were fords where people could cross in shallow water, but there were too many people who needed to cross to use these small fords.  How many people?  Numbers 26:51 mentions 601,730 adult males, adding all the numbers of the 12 tribes.  No mention of women and children but there easily could have been on the order of 2 million people needing to cross the Jordan.  The Lord performed another miracle, as Joshua said He would in Joshua 3:5.  As soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant touched the water, the Jordan River stopped flowing and all these people were able to cross it safely.

Perhaps the general population learned more about the Ark of the Covenant after watching the movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, than anywhere else.  The movie showed the power of God that emanated from the Ark.  That power was demonstrated in this passage of Joshua by the parting of the Jordan River.  The purpose for the Ark was to symbolize God’s visible throne on earth and the covenant He had made with His people. The Hebrew word for Ark (aron) refers to a chest or coffer.  Exodus 25:10-22 describes God’s instructions to Moses for how the ark was to be constructed.  It was a chest 2 ¼ feet in height, 2 ¼ feet in width and 3 ¾ feet in length that contained the tablet of stones inscribing the Ten Commandments carried by priests from Mt. Sinai to the Promised Land.  Since the Ark was overlaid with pure gold, both inside and out and had gold moldings around it with gold rings near the feet through which poles were placed to carry it, it required four priests to carry it.  The Ark was either destroyed or taken away by Nebuchadnezzar when the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC.  The Ark is never mentioned again until Rev 11:19 where John’s vision indicates that the Ark has returned to the Temple.  

Not only does God work miracles when they fit His will, but also He works miracles when His people live by faith in Him.  These Israelites either had seen or were told about the parting of the Red Sea 40 years earlier so they were willing to be obedient.  On page 27 of Rick Warren’s book on “Purpose-Driven Life” he makes a statement that really struck me and I hope will do the same to you…….”Instant obedience will teach you more about God than a lifetime of Bible discussions”.  Think about this and resolve to be obedient when you reach a decision point.  God rewards obedience, test Him on this; He is faithful if you are. 

How important it is to encourage one another

I Thessalonians 5:11 (NASB)

Therefore, encourage one another, and build up one another…..

Hebrews 3:13 (NIV)

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT)

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another……..

Encouraging another is one of the most important acts of love and humility that you can ever do in your life.  It is a rare human being who does not like hearing or reading personal words of encouragement from another.   Yet, why is it that so few people offer encouragement to others and, as a result so few people feel encouraged?  When was the last time someone spoke or wrote to you words of encouragement?  A better question……..when was the last time you spoke or wrote words of encouragement to someone else?  

Encourage means to inspire with confidence; to stimulate to action by assisting and supporting; to make another feel special, to transmit trust, to challenge another to be the best he or she can be.  The Greek word for encourage means to help, to comfort, to set free so that a person can move forward and realize his or her potential. God has commanded His people through the Scriptures to encourage one another.   It’s important enough to God that encouragement is mentioned 63 times in Scripture. 

Words of encouragement should be intentional as Barnabas’ intentional encouragement of Paul in the book of Acts (e.g. Acts 9:26-27).  Words of encouragement should be timely and on the mark (e.g. Proverbs 25:11).  Words of encouragement should never be withheld, yet, frankly, most of us choose to withhold such words……why?

Encouraging one another is a main reason why people attend church.  A primary reason why people stop attending church or are sporadic in church attendance is because they are not encouraged in the experience.  As an unbeliever and a beginning Christian, it is not expected that you would go to church to encourage others as much as you need encouragement yourself.  However, as you mature as a Christian, with hopefully maturity coming in part due to the encouragement from others, then you should do more encouraging others than others encouraging you.  Mutual encouragement is the biblical model with the more mature Christians setting the example.  

Who is a model of encouragement in your life?  I hope that everyone reading this has at least one person in your life who is like Barnabas was to Paul.  I feel so fortunate because I can list several models of encouragement in my life (MA, TA, AB, WC, JD, JM, SN come to mind quickly---I’m telling these folks separately that I’ve listed them as examples to me), people who consistently model the definition of encouragement.  Encouraging others is not a natural human characteristic as it is to criticize and complain and condemn. A great evidence of spiritual growth and maturity is the ability to consistently to encourage others. 

Where do you stand as an encouraging person? Are you a model of encouragement in lives around you?  All it takes is to lessen the self-centeredness in your life and take the time (and sometimes the energy) to tell or write others those words of encouragement that they should hear and often need to hear.  They should not be false or flattering words, but words that you mean and words well-deserving for others to hear or read.

“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success”—Unknown“

There is nothing better than encouragement from a good friend”—Katherine Hathaway

Your primary purpose in life

I Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

 

I Corinthians 10:23-31 focuses on the Christian conscience (see also Romans 14).  Christians must never do things from a selfish standpoint.  Rather, Christians should think about what best benefits others.  Indeed so much easier said than done.  In verse 27, Paul advised his readers that if a believer is invited to an unbeliever’s home for dinner, you should go and eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for conscience’s sake.  However, if you are there with another believer and that believer has a weaker conscience than you, then you are to do nothing that will cause that weaker Christian (or even the unbeliever) to stumble (see also Romans 14:23).  If the meat served has been offered to idols and you know that the weaker Christian would have a problem with you eating it, even if you don’t have a problem eating it, you should not eat it.  This is the background for Paul stating in this passage that whatever you do, including eating and drinking, do it all for the glory of God. 

The primary principle to follow in the life of a Christian is to glorify God in everything that you do.  A second primary principle is described in verse 32 where the Christian must also do all he/she can to put others’ needs first and do nothing to cause them to stumble. 

What does it mean to glorify God?  Well, first realize that you were created to glorify God.  You must never forget this!  You are here on this earth to glorify God.  You ask, “why am I here, why I am alive, what is my purpose?”  It is to glorify God with what he has given you—time, talent, treasure---and in all that you do in your life.  Isaiah 43:7 declared:  “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made”.  Whether you believe this or not, the Bible is clear that God created you for His purpose and pleasure.  Colossians 1:16 (Message) says that “For everything, absolutely everything…….. everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.”  You were not brought into this world by accident.  God created you (read Psalm 139:13-16) and because He created you, you are never insignificant.  He created you for His purposes and if you haven’t already (or even if you have) you need to read Rick Warren’s book “Purpose Driven Life” to help you realize what your purpose in life is if you don’t already know. 

OK, so what does it mean to glorify God as His created child?  Well, it’s simple although of course it’s easier said than done.  To glorify God means to bring Him honor in everything you do---what you think, what you speak, what you do.  You glorify God by what you do with your body (I Cor 6:20).  You glorify God by putting Him first in your life, meaning that you have no other idols, no higher priorities in your life other than to please Him.  You please Him by being obedient to what He says in His Word.  Of course, you need to know what His Word says.  To glorify God means that you speak about Him to others, that you are not ashamed of your relationship with Him.  You glorify God by doing good works that others see and they in turn glorify God (Matt 5:16).  To glorify God is to talk to Him, to listen to Him, to think about Him often throughout your day, not just on Sunday morning for an hour or so.  To glorify God is to give thanks to Him everyday for all His provisions and blessings.  Glorifying God also includes suffering for Him, with suffering often the result of your denying yourself sinful pleasures in deference to Him.  Your ultimate goal in life is to become more and more like Christ and reflect the glory of God in you (II Cor 3:18b)  

The best way to glorify God is to ask yourself before doing anything whether or not you think God would be pleased with what you are about to do.  The problem is that most of us never think to ask that question before we proceed to do it or say it or think it.  It’s a discipline that must be learned through daily practice and daily discipline that some master and others never do. 

“God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him”---John Piper