All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn to Proverbs chapter 20. Proverbs chapter 20. Again, we're going through this
blessed book. Today I'm going to try to deal
with three verses in Proverbs. Lots of times I just deal with
one, but I'd like to look at verses 22 to 24. Say not thou I will recompense
evil, but wait on the Lord, and He shall save thee. Diver's waits
are an abomination unto the Lord, and a false balance is not good.
Man's goings are of the Lord. How can a man then understand
his own way? God's people are declared in
scripture to be the salt of the earth. The very savor of life. They're the beloved of the Lord.
And God's people are living in a world that hates them. It's the world of false man-centered
religion. The Lord Jesus Christ in his
high priestly prayer bore that truth out. He says in John 17,
14, I have given them thy word. He's talking to the Father, he's
praying, he's talking about his people, he's talking about the
bride, and he said, I've given them thy word. That is, I've
opened their hearts to an understanding of who you are, who I am and
who they are. I've given them, I've imparted,
I've given them thy word and the world hath hated them, detested
them. It's the world of false religion
that is in absolute opposition to the truth. The world hates
it. You know why the world hates
it? It's because when you preach that salvation is of the Lord,
and what you're doing is you're removing all of their glory and
their honor and what they thought they did for God. The world has hated them because
they are not of the world. They're of a different spirit
and a different belief. And because the world hates them
for their love of the Lord Jesus Christ, they're harassed, and
reproached, and slandered for the sake of the gospel. But in
all of this evil, they are said to be the blessed of the Lord.
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you,
and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely. for my sake. But when this evil
comes, because of the sake of the gospel, when we're oppressed
for his sake, what is to be our response? When somebody comes
up and they're lambasting you falsely,
for the sake of the gospel. They're telling you that you
don't understand, you don't know what you're talking about, it
can't be like that, God is not that narrow-minded. Whatever
they say, what is to be your response? The scripture says
in verse 22, Say not thou, I will recompense evil. Don't say, don't let your heart
be drawn to say, I'm going to handle this. I'm going to handle
it. Scripture declares concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, Isaiah 53, 7, He was oppressed and afflicted. Not for what He did. That's what
the Pharisees told Him. It's not what you do, it's what
you say. That's why He was oppressed.
That's why He was afflicted. And what did He do? What did
He do when He stood before Pilate? The Scripture says He opened
not His mouth. He trusted His God, His Father. No place in the Word of God are
we encouraged or permitted to retaliate for the wrong that's
done unto us. What are we to do? Wait on the
Lord. Wait. Leviticus 19.18 says, Thou
shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of
thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am
the Lord. Proverbs 24.29, Say not, I will
do so to him as he hath done to me. I will render to the man
according to his work. As long as I have the ability
to think as long as the Lord gives me memory. Again I'll never
forget what Brother Scott said to me one day. I mean I can remember
where we were. We were between, we were going
to Fairmont and we were just about halfway between Barrickville
and