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The Bible Gives 24 Reasons Why God Lets His Children, His Disciples and The
Innocent Suffer in This Life.
Why Believers, The Innocent & The "Good" Suffer in This LifeCOPYRIGHT ©
JANUARY 14, 1996; Revised 10/10/08; 01/14/10; 08/09/10; 03/16/11
By L. Tyler,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FriendsOfRonTyler/
http://groups.google.com/group/friends_of_ron_tyler
San Diego, CA 91976-0272;
http://biblicalmaturity.yuku.com/forums/66All rights reserved.This file,
in its entirety, may be posted on or copied off of computer networks like
Internet or WWW by anyone so inclined as long as it is not changed.
CONTENTS:
[1.] Three of 24 reasons explaining why Jesus allows His own to suffer
[2.] A Letter to a Suffering Friend about Suffering
[3.] 19 More Reasons Jesus Allows His Own to Suffer
[4.] How Should Jesus' Disciples Act Towards Those Who Make Them Suffer?
[5.] WARNING! SUFFERING AHEAD! World suffering could rise to a whole new
level since . . .
[6] Why Would Jesus Let America Suffer?
+++18. So that our enduring and genuine faith may bring praise, honor and
glory at His appearing in the presence of all the angels, demons, cherubim,
seraphim and those with Christ.
***[Hebrews 12:1 Therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily
besets [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2
looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that
was set before Him endured [the] cross, despising the shame, and sat down
at the right of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such
contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be weary and faint in your
minds.
***1 Pet. 1: 6 in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little [while], if need be,
grieving in manifold temptations; 7 so that the trial of your faith (being much
more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire)
might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus
Christ, . .]
There are 21 more reasons, from the Bible, that Jesus allows the innocent
and the godly to suffer in this world and in this life. They are found below in
this file. Please read on. First, a letter to a friend about suffering:
Dear Friend,
In the last two thirds of this document I list 23 reasons the Bible gives for the
suffering experienced in this world. But before we get to them, we must deal
with the One we feel is responsible for the suffering in this world. The God
who the Most High God in our universe characterizes Himself as Father and
Love, the Love described in 1 Cor 13. That means the One who has allowed
your suffering, the suffering you are concerned about, the One who controls
the extent of the suffering, is One who is characterized by longsuffering,
patience, kindness; who is free of envy, evil jealousy, vain boasting,
vainglory, haughtiness, conceit, evil pride, rudeness, and selfishness. He is
not touchy or fretful or resentful; does not rejoice at injustice and
unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail, and bears up
under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best
of every person, hopes under all circumstances, endures everything [without
weakening], and never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes
to an end]. He has promised that He will work all things together for the
good of those who obediently love Him and are called according to [His]
design and purpose. Any suffering He allows His children to endure is under
His control for the good of His Children.
According to Eph. 1:11 everything is under His control because He works
EVERYTHING according to His own will. The world is never out of control.
Even though Satan is allowed to be ruler of this world, and he and his
demonic angels work and will in people to do the evil they want to do, the
book of Job shows us that Satan can't do anything to God's people without
God's permission. You may ask, "Why does Jesus let Satan do evil things and
work in people to do evil?" How would you feel if your mom said not to taste
the desert she just made, and you tried to disobey her but every time you
tried you couldn't move? How would you feel if your buddy hit you too hard,
and every time you tried to hit her back, you froze? How would you feel if
some little kid cussed you out, trash talked you and ridiculed you in public in
front of your best friends, and ever time you tried to say something hard
back or do something to the kid you froze? How would you feel if someone
you thought was your friend ruined your best coat and then stole money out
of your wallet, thinking you wouldn't see, and you tried to get even but when
you tried to do something to your buddy, you became paralyzed?
You wouldn't like that kind of world, where you couldn't do the bad things
you want to do. You would feel like a prisoner, or like you were tied up. Jesus
made this world so you could choose to not do His will, and choose to do the
bad things you want to do, or if you wanted to, you could choose to obey
Jesus because you Love Him. This world is made so that you can choose
between doing the good and doing the evil, because He doesn't want robots
or slaves. He wants people to choose Him because they Love Him. In the
meantime, dads will choose to do evil to their daughters, Hitler chose to
have killed 20 million people, Stalin chose to have killed 30 million and Mao
chose to have killed over 50 million. American mothers have chosen to kill
by abortion over 40 million babies since 1960. The beauty is that He has
promised that every human being who comes into the world will be
enlightened by Jesus before they die (Jn 1:9), even if they haven't been born
yet. So everyone has a chance to choose Jesus before they die. He gives us
all the opportunity to choose (John 16:7-11).
Dear friend, please remember the point about 1 Cor. 10:13*, He doesn't
allow you to be tried more than you can bear, because you are stronger,
have a better understanding of spiritual warfare and a deeper faith, the trials
will be greater--but never more than you can bear. Consider the trials of John
the Baptist and all the apostles except John. They all died violent deaths at
the hands of those who hate them, but never more than they could bear. [1
Cor. 10: 12 So let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No
temptation has taken you but [what is] common to man; but God [is] faithful,
who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but with the
temptation also will make a way to escape, so that you may be able to bear
[it].]
An exercise is no exercise if it doesn't challenge you at the point where you
have to strain and go aerobic, sometimes painfully. The same with "spiritual"
muscles, the trial has to produce stress, strain and even pain for you to
become stronger, more capable, more useful and fruitful. The fruitful vine
looks terrible when it is pruned, and it would feel terrible if it could feel, but
because it is pruned it has the potential of being more fruitful, and I know
you want more fruit of the Spirit in your life. I know that you want to
compassionately cherish God and others even more than you do now, and
that's how you get there. This life is boot camp and a war, which, thank God,
is shortened for our sakes. Our resurrected life with Jesus Christ is worth the
struggle. All of our experiences in this mortal life can be used of God to
prepare us to help, comfort, teach, encourage, edify etc others better when
we are given the opportunity to be his delegated agents on earth as he rules
from Jerusalem in fulfillment of His promises to King David. To rule the earth
with Him enthroned in Jerusalem for a 1000 years (Rev. 20: 2-7), to walk
around as His agents enabled to raise the dead, open the eyes of the blind,
to bind up the broken limbs and hearts, to counsel the broken hearted with
wisdom inspired of God, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to free the
captives, to teach in power the lost how they can be found etc etc etc etc. I
can hardly wait!
We know how the Most High Father let Jesus' body be tortured to death to
die in our place for our sins, because of our sins, so that He could be both
Just in punishing sin, and Merciful in offering us forgiveness on the basis of
relying on Jesus substitutionary and sacrificial death for us. The Spirit tells us
that Jesus suffered much for us in His human body so that He would learn,
like we have to, that it is best to obey (Heb 5:8,9).
God, The Father, the Consuming Fire, the Most High God sent His only Son
born of woman to bear our death penalty, allowing Him to suffer terribly. For
about 19 hours the Father allowed His Son to be falsely accused, unjustly
tried, verbally abused, physically abused, spit upon, beaten, slapped,
punched, slugged, tied up, led away as a prisoner, imprisoned, mocked,
ridiculed, flogged Roman style with a whip made of leather strips embedded
with pieces of bone or metal that brutally tore His flesh, and stripped in
public (Mat 26:6-27:31). His hands and feet were nailed to a cross and for
about three to six hours He was hung on a cross publicly to die a slow and
exceedingly painful death, every second filled with misery suffering (Mat 27).
***1 Peter 2:19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward
God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what credit is it if, when
you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good
and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 21 For to
this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example, that you should follow His steps: 22 “ Who committed no
sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; 23 who, when He was reviled, did
not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed
Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His
own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for
righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like
sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of
your souls. NKJV
***Heb 9: 26 . . . "But now He has appeared one time, at the end of the ages,
for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And just as it is
appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment — 28 so also the
Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a
second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting
for Him. HCSB
All of the Apostles except John died violent deaths at the hands of
persecutors, and they tried to kill John but he was miraculously spared to
write Revelation. The Most High Father allowed Paul to suffer terribly and
Jesus gave him part of the reason, to save him from pride (2 Cor 12),
teaching Him that He makes His strength perfect in our weakness, so that
the credit and glory goes to the right person, to Jesus who was living in Paul
and in lives in all His children. Jesus allowed Paul to suffer in - - - -
"imprisonments, [beaten] with countless stripes, and frequently [at the point
of] death. 24 Five times I received from [the hands of] the Jews forty [lashes
all] but one; 25 Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned.
Three times I have been aboard a ship wrecked at sea; a [whole] night and a
day I have spent [adrift] on the deep; 26 Many times on journeys, [exposed
to] perils from rivers, perils from bandits, perils from [my own] nation, perils
from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the desert places, perils in the
sea, perils from those posing as believers [but destitute of Christian
knowledge and piety]; 27 In toil and hardship, watching often [through
sleepless nights], in hunger and thirst, frequently driven to fasting by want,
in cold and exposure and lack of clothing." 2 Cor 11
Jesus and the apostles made it clear that significant suffering lies in the path
of anyone who becomes a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ alone to be
saved from the power, presence and penalty of sin.
***" Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."(2
Timothy 3:11-13)
***Luke 6:22 "Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude
you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s
sake. . . . 21:17 "And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake." ***John
15:19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because
you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you."
So how have the children of God suffered in the past according to the Bible
and Fox's Book of Martyrs? Is it like their suffering today?
***Does not He weep over our strayings, our failures that hurt ourselves, our
loved ones, His other children; He who wept over the straying sheep of
Jerusalem?
***Does not He grieve for us in our great loss and suffering , He Who wept
when He saw Mary and Martha weeping over Lazarus' suffering and death?
***Does not He feel our grief and sense our loss, He Who in the midst of
horrific suffering and pain was so deeply moved to compassion for Mary
when He saw her great grief and broken heart as she helplessly watched Him
suffer and die, that He gave her the comfort of a son in His beloved John?
***Does not He feel and sense our grief, our loss, our hurt, our anguish; He
Who is our great High Priest who having suffered as we in His mortal body
can now be touched and compassionately empathize with us in our pain,
grief, loss, hurt and anguish?
***He who loved and welcomed the little children, who invites us to come to
Him as little children, who holds us in that safe and wonderful place that is
the palm of His nail scared hand, will He not welcome us to come running to
Him crying and weeping and greiving blindly in our tears so that He can hold
us close and comfort us with His great Comforter?
***Will He not welcome us in our need and hurt; He who welcomed the leper,
the outcast, the
rejected, the lonely, the lost and the desperate?
***Will not He compassionately care for and cherish us when we are
belittled, stumbled, tripped, grieved, offended, shamed and spiritually
weakened; He who FEELS AND KNOWS PROFOUNDLY when one of His is
belittled, stumbled, tripped, grieved, offended, weakened (1 Cor
11+Rm14)--- SO MUCH SO THAT INASMUCH AS IT WAS DONE TO ONE OF HIS
IT WAS DONE TO HIM?
***Will not He welcome, understand and accept our grief, our tears, our
heartaches, our regrets, our grieving over our condition, our grieving over
our past; even as He welcomed, accepted and honored Mary's tears with
which she washed His feet?
***Will He not BE THERE FOR US in our hurt, our loss, our grief, our
helplessness in the face of our tragedy; even as He was there for the father
of the Talitha girl, there for the widow who had lost her son, and there for the
Centurion and his servant?
***HE IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***Oh how much He loves us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***THOUGH WEEPING I PRAISE HIM!!!!!!!!
***THOUGH HEART BROKEN AND WEEPING I PRAISE AND THANK HIM!!!!!!
***THOUGH CRUSHED AND BROKEN UNDER THE WEIGHT OF MY TRIALS, I
WORSHIP HIM!!!!!!!!! ***THOUGH DYING, HURTING, ACHING, GROANING, I
POUR OUT MY HEART IN WORSHIP AND THANKSGIVING TO HIM WHO LOVES
AND LOVED ME AND MINE SO VERY MUCH, SO MUCH MORE THAN ANYONE
ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE CAN!!!!!!!!!! EVEN SO COME LORD JESUS!!!
***OH HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, OUR IMMANUEL, YOU ARE WITH US, YOU ARE
OUR GOD WITH US AND WE ARE SAFE IN YOUR HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***ALL PRAISE, GLORY, HONOR, MAJESTY, POWER, THANKSGIVING, WORSHIP,
MIGHT AND AWE TO THE FATHER AND TO THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN FOR
US!
AMEN AND SELAH!
Why then does He allow us to suffer, to grieve so deeply and have hearts so
broken than you can feel the pain throughout your chest, so depressed that
it seems a struggle to survive, grief so deep that you feel that you will never
stop grieving?
Here are 24 reasons that I have become aware of and they are all for our
good. Please consider them and, in each, ask if its goal was accomplished in
your life.
+++1. So that we can know that we belong to Christ. If the world hated Him,
it will hate us too----if we live like He wants us to live.
***[2 Tim 3:11 . . . What persecutions I endured! But the Lord delivered me
out of all. 12 Yea, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.; 1 Pet. 2: 19 For this [is an undeserved gift of loving kindness] ,
if for conscience [toward] God anyone endures grief, suffering wrongfully. 20
For what glory [is it] if you patiently endure [while] sinning and being
buffeted? But if you suffer [while] doing good, and patiently endure, this [is
an undeserved gift of loving kindness] from God. 21 For were you not called
to this? For Christ also suffered on our behalf, leaving us an example, that
you should follow His steps,;
***Mat. 13: 20 But that which was sown on the stony places is this: he who
hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy. 21 But he has no root in
himself, and is temporary. For when tribulation or persecution arises on
account of the word, he immediately stumbles. 22 And that sown into the
thorns is this: he who hears the word; and the anxiety of this world, and the
deceit of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But that
sown on the good ground is this: "he who hears the Word and understands;
who also bears fruit and produces" one truly a hundredfold; and one sixty;
and one thirty.]
+++ 2. Because we are followers of Christ, who was tortured and executed
by the world. If they did it to Him, they'll surely do it to us too. All but one of
the apostles were martyred.
***[John 15: 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But
because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, The
servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted Me, they will
also persecute you. If they have kept My saying, they will also keep yours. 21
But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do
not know Him who sent Me.
+++3. So that evil doers will not come to God just to escape from Hell and
suffering in this life. He wants sinners to come to Him because they love Him
who first loved them, not because they forgot to join the Noah's Ark Club and
don't want to drown. The promise that all who live godly in Christ Jesus is
often enough to scare away the superficial and shallow pretenders. He allows
evil to happen to His own children, to separate the wheat from the chaff and
so that we may find out if our faith is real, or just froth. Noah's flood Genesis
6 + Rev. 21:27
***[Mat. 13: 20 But that which was sown on the stony places is this: he who
hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy. 21 But he has no root in
himself, and is temporary. For when tribulation or persecution arises on
account of the word, he immediately stumbles.
***1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time. And just as you have heard
that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, from
which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they
were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have continued with us. But
[they went out] so that it might be revealed that they were not all of us.
+++4. So that we wont miss (be homesick, want to look/go back like Lot's
wife did) this world's social-economic-political system when we are in Heaven
or ruling with Christ on earth. To love the world's social, political, and
economic systems is to be God's enemy. He wants us to be so burned out,
disillusioned, disappointed and alienated by the by the social systems of this
world, by our faith in people, that we won't look back or wish to go back to
them.
***[1 John 2:15 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16 because all that [is]
in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passes away,
and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.;
***Heb. 11: 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off. And they were persuaded of [them] and
embraced [them] and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth. 14 For they who say such things declare plainly that they seek a
fatherland. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that [country] from
which they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16
But now they stretch forth to a better [fatherland], that is, a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a
city for them.]
***Lk 9:62 But Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and
looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
+++5. So that we can know how and why to choose between the good and
the evil. We don't seem to be so inclined to do evil if we know it is going to
hurt, and hurt us specifically.
***[Deut. 30:15 Behold! I have set before you today life and good, and death
and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk
in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His
judgments, so that you may live and multiply. And the LORD your God shall
bless you in the land where you go to possess it. 17 But if you turn away
your heart, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship
other gods [self, money, sex etc.] and serve them, 18 I declare to you today
that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong [your] days on the land
where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it. 19 I call Heaven and earth to
record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, 20
so that you may love the LORD your God, . .
+++6. Because of our own sins. Our Father Loves us enough to discipline us.
Our Shepherd King Loves us sheep enough to use His rod on us when we
need it to see His way.
***1 Cor. 5: 1 Everywhere [it is] reported [that there is] fornication among
you, and such fornication as is not named among the nations, so as one to
[sexually] have [his] father's wife. 2 And you are puffed up, and have not
rather mourned, so that he who has done this deed may be taken from your
midst. 3 For as being absent in body but present in spirit, I indeed have
judged already [as though I were] present [concerning] him who worked out
this thing; 4 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered
together, with my spirit; also, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ; 5 to
deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
***1 Cor. 11: 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that]
bread and drink of that cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats
and drinks condemnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For
this cause many among you [are] weak and sickly, and many sleep. 31 For if
we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are
judged, we are chastened by [the] Lord, that we should not be condemned
with the world.
***Hebrews 12: 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to
you as to children, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint
when you are rebuked by Him; 6 for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and
He scourges every son whom He receives." 7 If you endure chastening, God
deals with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father does not
chasten? 8 But if you are without chastisement, of which all are partakers,
then you are bastards and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of
our flesh who corrected [us], and we gave [them] reverence. Shall we not
much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For truly
they chastened [us] for a few days according to their own pleasure, but He
for our profit, that [we] might be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now
chastening for the present does not seem to be joyous, but grievous.
Nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those
who are exercised by it.
+++9. To help and enable us to learn and acquire patience, experience and
hope in the compassionate cherishing of God in the midst of trials and
suffering. Rom. 5:3,4 SEE ABOVE #
+++10. Because of His Name- Because of His Truth - Because of His Life -
Because of the shining Light of His Truth, because it is an honor to be
counted worthy of His sufferings if God permits.
***[Acts 5:40 And calling the apostles, beating [them], they commanded not
to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then indeed they
departed from [the] presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were
counted worthy to be shamed for His name.
***Rom 8: 17 And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and
joint-heirs with Christ; so that if we suffer with [Him], we may also be
glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
[are] not worthy [to be compared] with the coming glory to be revealed in
us.
+++11. So that we may have the honor of being glorified together with Him
who suffered so greatly at the hands of this world's social system. [Rom.
8:17 SEE ABOVE]
+++13. So that we may learn to Love Jesus and His Way enough to obey
Him even when it hurts.
***[Heb. 5:7* [For Jesus], in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up
prayers and supplications with strong cryings and tears to Him who was able
to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared, 8* though being a
Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9* And being
made perfect, He became [the] Author of eternal salvation to all those who
obey Him, . . . Psalm 15:4
+++15. Because they hated and killed Jesus they will hate and try to kill the
Jesus in us.
***[Lk. 6: 22 Blessed [are] you when men shall hate you, and when they shall
cut you off, and when they shall reproach [you] and shall cast out your name
as evil, for the sake of the Son of man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for
joy. For behold, your reward [is] great in Heaven. For so their fathers did
according to these things to the prophets. [John 15:18,19 see above.]
+++16. To end at us the cycle of some of the hate and violence in our lives,
we being what Martin Luther King Jr. called "shock absorbers" of the evil
around us, so that it will stop at us and we will learn not to pass it on. He has
called us to turn the cheek, go the second mile and bless and pray for those
who curse and abuse us.
*** [Luke 6: 27* But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to
those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who
despitefully use you. 29* And to him who strikes you on the [one] cheek, also
offer the other. And to him who takes away your garment, do not forbid your
tunic also. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes
away your goods, do not ask [them] again. 31 And as you desire that men
should do to you, you do also to them likewise. 32 For if you love those who
love you, what thanks do you have? For sinners also love those who love
them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do
you have? For sinners also do the same. 34 And if you lend [to those] of
whom you hope to receive, what thanks do you have? For sinners also lend
to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, and do good,
and lend, hoping for nothing [in return]. And your reward shall be great, and
you shall be the sons of the Highest. For He is kind to the unthankful and [to]
the evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Matt. 5;
***Romans 12: 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse. . .
. 17* Repay no one evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If [it is] possible, as far as [is] in you, seeking peace with all men. 19* not
avenging yourselves, beloved, but giving place to wrath; for it is written,
"Vengeance [is] Mine, I will repay, says [the] Lord." 20 Therefore if your
enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For [in so] doing you
shall heap coals of fire on his head. 21* Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good.;
***1 Cor. 6: 7 Indeed then there is already a failure with you all, that you
have lawsuits with yourselves. Why not instead be wronged? Why not
instead be defrauded? 8 But you do wrong and defraud, and these things to
brothers.
+++18. So that our enduring and genuine faith may bring praise, honor and
glory at His appearing in the presence of all the angels, demons, cherubim,
seraphim and those with Christ.
***[Hebrews 12:1 Therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily
besets [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2
looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that
was set before Him endured [the] cross, despising the shame, and sat down
at the right of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such
contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be weary and faint in your
minds.
***1 Pet. 1: 6 in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little [while], if need be,
grieving in manifold temptations; 7 so that the trial of your faith (being much
more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire)
might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus
Christ, . .]
+++20. So that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you,
and you in Him.
***2 Thessalonians 1: 3 We are bound to thank God always for you, my
brothers, as it is right, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of
each one of you abounds toward one another; 4 so much so that we
ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in
all your persecutions and tribulations which you endure. 5 For [this is] a
manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted
worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer, . . . 11 Therefore we
also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of [this]
calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith
with power, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in
you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and [the] Lord Jesus
Christ.
+++21. Because we fail to pray as we ought to pray and don't ask Him to
deliver us and our from evil, the Evil One, the evil ones. We fail to obey
Jesus and pray "deliver us from the evil one." People suffer and experience
pain in this world because they choose not to go to Jesus for deliverance and
redemption, choosing not to ask for His help His Way.
***Mat 5: 13 And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the
evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.***James 4:" . . . . You do not have, because you do not ask."
+++22. So that all of the Host in Heaven, all the angels, cherubim and
seraphim; so that all the Host of Hell, the evil powers, evil principalities, evil
rulers of darkness and the spiritual hosts of wickedness; and so that all saints
of all time may know THAT JESUS IS SALVATION, THE SAVIOR WHO IS ALL
SUFFICIENT TO SAVE, PRESERVE, DELIVER, SHEPHERD AND COMFORT
FAITHFULLY HIS OWN WHO LOVE AND SERVE HIM, NO MATTER WHAT
HAPPENS TO THEM AND THEIR LOVED ONES, HAVING NOT SEEN HIM,
HAVING NOT TOUCHED HIM, HAVING NOT HEARD HIM EXCEPT BY FAITH,
FAITH WRAPPED IN LOVING ACCEPTANCE OF HIM AND HIS WILL. The
suffering is allowed to show all of the Host in Heaven, all the angels,
cherubim and seraphim; all the evil powers, evil principalities, evil rulers of
darkness and the spiritual hosts of wickedness; and all saints of all time -
that this all-surpassing power, God's Light shining in our hearts to give us
the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ, is from
God and not from us.
***Eph 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given,
to announce among the nations the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches
of the Christ, 9 and to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the
administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages in God, who has
created all things, 10 in order that now to the principalities and authorities in
the heavenlies might be made known through the assembly the all-various
wisdom of God, 11* according to the purpose of the ages, which he purposed
in Christ Jesus our Lord,
***2 Cor 4:7 But we have this Treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-
surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on
every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but
not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in
our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in
our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for
Jesus' sake, so that His Life may be revealed in our mortal body.
***John 2: 28 Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God. 29
Jesus says to him, Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed: blessed
[are] they who have not seen and have believed.
How should genuine Christians personally act towards the evil doers who do
them harm, cause them loss or bring God's judgment on the nation?
"27 But I say to you who are listening now to Me: [in order to heed, make it a
practice to] love your enemies, treat well (do good to, act nobly toward)
those who detest you and pursue you with hatred, 28 Invoke blessings upon
and pray for the happiness of those who curse you, implore God's blessing
(favor) upon those who abuse you [who revile, reproach, disparage, and
high-handedly misuse you]. 29 To the one who strikes you on the jaw or
cheek, offer the other jaw or cheek also; and from him who takes away your
outer garment, do not withhold your undergarment as well. 30 Give
[something] to everyone who begs of you, and of him who takes away from
you your goods, do not demand or require them back again. 31 And as you
would like and desire that men would do to you, do exactly so to them. 32 If
you [merely] love those who love you, what quality of credit and thanks is
that to you? For even the [very] sinners love their lovers (those who love
them). . . . 35 But love your enemies and be kind and do good and lend,
expecting and hoping for nothing in return but considering nothing as lost
and despairing of no one; and then your recompense (your reward) will be
great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant), and you will be sons of the Most
High, for He is kind and charitable and good to the ungrateful and the selfish
and wicked."
How is it possible to kindly and compassionately Love those who have made
themselves our enemies, those who seek to do us harm and cause us loss?
Howis it possible to kindly and compassionately Love one who is in the
process of killing you, like Jesus and Stephen did? It is a supernatural act
enabled by the Holy Spirit. But before we get into that, it really helps if we
see our godless anti-Jesus enemies the way they really are. They are
spiritually blind, dead and doomed to an eternity of suffering in a place
completely devoid of kind Love, enlightening Light, liberating Truth,
everlasting purposeful and meaningful Life, and the incredibly wonderful
Way of dwelling with loved ones in peace and harmony.
***2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the
same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the
veil is taken away in Christ.
***2 Corinthians 4: . . . 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who
do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine on them.
***Ephesians 4: . . . 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated
from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the
blindness of their heart;
***Ephesians 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and
sins, . . . 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together
with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
***2Thess 1: 6 [It is a fair decision] since it is a righteous thing with God to
repay with distress and affliction those who distress and afflict you, 7 And to
recompense] you who are so distressed and afflicted [by granting you] relief
and rest along with us [your fellow sufferers] when the Lord Jesus is revealed
from heaven with His mighty angels in a flame of fire, 8 To deal out
retribution (chastisement and vengeance) upon those who do not know or
perceive or become acquainted with God, and [upon those] who ignore and
refuse to obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 Such people will pay the
penalty and suffer the punishment of everlasting ruin (destruction and
perdition) and eternal exclusion and banishment from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 When He comes to be glorified in
His saints [on that day He will be made more glorious in His consecrated
people], and [He will] be marveled at and admired [in His glory reflected] in
all who have believed [who have adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him],
because our witnessing among you was confidently accepted and believed
[and confirmed in your lives]. AB
***Rev 21:8 But as for the cowards and the ignoble and the contemptible
and the cravenly lacking in courage and the cowardly submissive, and as for
the unbelieving and faithless, and as for the depraved and defiled with
abominations, and as for murderers and the sexually immoral and the
practicers of magic arts and the idolaters (those who give supreme devotion
to anyone or anything other than God) and all liars (those who knowingly
convey untruth by word or deed)--[all of these shall have] their part in the
lake that blazes with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.
When you see your oppressor, tormentor and/or executioner in this light you
might be more inclined to be moved to kindly Love them, but it still requires
the supernatural intervention and enabling of the Holy Spirit. We need to call
on Jesus to save us from our natural human reaction and response to such
evil doers(Rom 10:13), present and yield ourselves to Jesus to be used as His
instruments (Rom 6:13,19 and 12:1,2), and trust Him to work and will His
supernatural Life, Work and Will in and through us.
***John 15:5 I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I
in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from
vital union with Me] you can do nothing.
***Phil 2:13[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while
effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and
desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure, satisfaction and
delight.
***Heb 13:20 Now may the God of peace . . . 21 Strengthen (complete,
perfect) and make you what you ought to be and equip you with everything
good that you may carry out His will; [while He Himself] works in you and
accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ (the
Messiah); to Whom be the glory forever and ever (to the ages of the ages).
Amen (so be it).
Jesus' Spirit in you can work and will in you to kindly Love those who are
crucifying you, who are stoning you to death, and to ask Jesus to forgive
them for your tormentors are spiritually blind, dead and doomed to an
eternity of suffering, the result of their choice to reject Jesus and His Way,
and to choose their own way to do their own thing.
World suffering could rise to a whole new level since according to the news,
Israel is preparing to attack Iran's nuclear development facilities, Saudi
Arabia has given Israel fly over permission giving Israel's airforce a clear shot
at Iran, Hezbollah is moving foot soldiers close to Lebanese-Israeli border
and preparing many of their 40,000 missles for firing against Israel, and
Hamas is preparing for an attack on Israel from the south. If Israel strikes
after 8/19 any attack on Iran's facility loading nuclear fuel rods will result in
nuclear fallout over wide areas of the Mid East, including possible fallout on
American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. If Israel doesn't strike before
8/20, Iran will have nuclear weapons much sooner than expected. Israel is a
very small nation and two or three nuclear explosions in Israel would
essentially destroy the nation. Israel can't let it come to that. Israel would
probably have to use its nuclear weapons to stop the Hezbollan hordes if
they invade Israel. Israel would probably have to use nuclear weapons to
destroy Iran's nuclear program. All of this makes Revelation 6 seem very
possible:
***Revelation [literal translation] 6: 3 And when He [Jesus] opened the
second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and behold!" 4
and there went forth another horse -- red, and to him who is sitting upon it,
there was given to him to take the peace from the land, and that one
another they may slay, and there was given to him a great sword. 5 And
when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying,
"Come and behold!" and I saw, and lo, a black horse, and he who is sitting
upon it is having a balance in his hand, 6and I heard a voice in the midst of
the four living creatures saying, "A measure of wheat for a denary, and three
measures of barley for a denary," [very high prices for food meaning food
shortage and resulting famine] and "The oil and the wine you may not
injure." 7 And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
living creature saying, `Come and behold!'8 and I saw, and lo, a pale horse,
and he who is sitting upon him -- his name is Death, and Hades doth follow
with him, and there was given to them authority to kill, (over the fourth part
of the land (Mid East?), country (Israel?), world (societies, cultures?) or the
earth,) with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of
the land.
(Strong's1093) gh~, — ghay; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or
the whole of the terrene globe (including the occupants in each application):
— country, earth, ground, land, world.
I hope all the pre-tribulation rapture people are correct, but I believe they are
not. I believe the rapture takes place at the last trumpet:
***1 THESS 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the archangel's voice, and with the TRUMPET of God, and the dead in
Christ will rise first.
***Rev 11: 15 The seventh angel blew his TRUMPET, and there were loud
voices in heaven saying: The kingdom of the world has become the
[kingdom] of our Lord and of His Messiah,
and He will reign forever and ever!
If that is the case, then that means that we, the disciples of Jesus Christ, will
go through most of the Great Tribulation, described in Revelation chapters 6
-11. Believing this it is easy to see how the impending war between Iran and
Israel could be the war described in Revelation 6, where one fourth of the
Mid Eastern population is killed in the first several weeks. Iran now has
nuclear bombs and the missiles that could deliver them to Israel, Europe and
our military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. This means that the two Moslem
states that have nuclear weapons, Iran and Pakistan, have powerful
segments of their population that are committed to the destruction of Israel.
Israel would be insane to not make a preemptive strike given the following
facts:
A bomb that could easily fit in a van, a pickup with a large camper shell, or a
mobile home; a four wheel drive van, pickup or mobile home driven at night
on a dirt road across the Canadian border without being checked, or across
the Syrian or Jordanian border.
So it is clear that it wouldn't take many of these nuclear bombs and their fall
out to kill most of the people in Israel, and the fallout would kill tens of
thousands in Syria, Jordan and Iraq.
So it is perfectly reasonable that Israel will strike Iran first, and that could be
the beginning of the Revelation 6 war that begins the Great Tribulation. Oil,
gas and everything made from them would become extremely expensive
here in the USA, forcing Americans who live from paycheck to paycheck into
desperate living conditions, and many would fall into a hard and difficult
poverty struggling just to have shelter, food and clothing.
Did you get that? "They know God has said that anyone who acts this way
deserves to die." God breaks it down in Ezek 14
***12 The LORD God said: 13 Ezekiel, son of man, suppose an entire nation
sins against me, and I punish it by destroying the crops and letting its people
and livestock starve to death. . . . 15Or suppose I punish a nation by sending
wild animals to eat people and scare away every passerby, so that the land
becomes a barren desert. . . . 17Or suppose I send an enemy to attack a
sinful nation and kill its people and livestock. . . . 19 And suppose I am so
angry that I send a deadly disease to wipe out the people and livestock of a
sinful nation. 20 Again, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, I, the
LORD, promise that the children of these faithful men would also die. Only
the three of them would be spared.
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