Scripture deals with everything,
doesn't it? Our Lord and His wisdom does not leave us without
understanding concerning everything we're to encounter. Read verses
38 through 42. You've heard that it hath been
said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you
that ye resist not evil. Resist not evil, but whosoever
shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other
also. And if any man will sue thee
at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also. And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, go with him twain, two miles. Give to him that asketh
thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not away."
Turn not thou away, lone, whatever he hath." Our Lord is talking to his disciples. That's
who he's talking to. This is not for the world. This
is not for everybody. These are not moral precepts
for the world to abide by. That's not who he's talking to.
The world is under the law, and I'm glad. I'll tell you why
in a minute. You see, so many people take
these, what our Lord is saying here, and abuse them, misuse
them, misapply them, to teach things like pacifism, nonviolence,
that there's never any need whatsoever for taking up arms, And there
are whole religions or denominations that use these verses like that.
That there's no need for any type of fighting whatsoever.
Joshua sure was in the wrong with David. No need for capital
punishment. They take these verses and abuse
them and apply them to everyone without exception. The Lord is
talking to his people. He is teaching his disciples
how we are to respond when we are personally injured or insulted. Me, myself, and I. When someone confronts me, this
is how I'm to respond. You see that? He's talking to
his disciples. He said, when someone smites
thee on thy cheek, You turn your other one to him also. Isn't
that what he did? That's what he did. Did he defend
his loved ones? Absolutely. He didn't rebuke Peter when he
took out that sword and started swinging it. He just said, put
up your sword. Don't you know I can call twelve
legions of angels? Well, the Lord is not teaching
pessimism. He's teaching His disciples how
to respond. He's teaching us how to respond,
how to react when things are done to us personally. You see
that? If they smite you, if they sue
you. And the great principle He's teaching us, and this is
what we as disciples We need to learn, and this is what He
will teach us, is teaching us all our life. Dying to self. Self-defense. You know, we get defended. Offended. And we defend ourselves. We say, don't do that. We are
confronted because we love self, we defend self. Well, the thing
self needs to do is die. Die to self. Now, remember how
he started the whole Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor
in spirit. That's where it all starts. Blessed
are the poor in spirit. If you're poor in spirit, you're
not going to be too easily offended, are you? And you're not going
to lash out at somebody when they get after you. David was
a man after God's own heart. They learned so much from him.
Our Lord said that. This is a man after my own heart. And one time, you know the story,
Shimei, the fellow was cursing David, cursing him. David didn't
deserve that from Shimei. Now, that fellow was wrong in
what he was doing to David. David did not deserve that from
Shimei, but David thought David did think, I deserve it though.
I deserve it from the Lord. I'm a sinner and I deserve so
much more. And the Lord sent this man to
curse me, humble me. I need humbling, David thought.
I know why this is happening, David thought, because I need
humbling. David didn't deserve it from that man. And that man
was wrong, and the Lord dealt hardly with that man. He dealt
hardly. He killed him. But David's reaction
was, and the right reaction was, He suffered himself to be depraved.
He told his buddy he wanted to cut his head off. He said, you
leave him alone. The Lord sent him to curse man.
So that's to be our reaction. They cursed our Lord, didn't
they? They said all manner of evil against him falsely. Did
he deserve it? No, sir. Who sent it? His father. His Father. He learned obedience
by the things He suffered. Why? Because we do. We do. As human beings. But self has
got to die. And the ultimate aim, look at
it, verse 48, is to be like our Father. See that? Be ye therefore
perfect. That's complete. Love in your
enemies even. As your Heavenly Father is perfect. Now, this law, an eye for an
eye, verse 38, he said, You've heard it been said, and our Lord
is the one who wrote this law, an eye for an eye, a tooth for
a tooth. That's a good thing. Our great
God wrote this law of perfect justice, that whatever the crime
was, the punishment would fit the crime. And it's good. God's law is holy, it's just,
and it's good. The reason our penal system or
justice, if you want to call it that system, today doesn't
work is because there is no justice. There is no justice exacted.
So criminals think they get away with it and they continue to
do it. If there was justice served, it would greatly deter the crime,
wouldn't it? In other words, if you stole
something and got your hand cut off for it, You'd really think
hard about stealing again when you've got one left. The Lord
did this, and it greatly deterred crime. And it still does, even
in Arabic countries today, they still practice it. They still
practice it. Brother Cody Groover told me
one time, I asked him about crime and all in Mexico. He says, mostly
theft, mostly petty crimes and all, very little violent crimes.
Most people don't have guns and all that anyway, but I asked
him what about assault and rape and things like that. He said
very little rape goes on because if a girl or a woman is raped
in a village, the men will go find that fella and they'll string
him up. So he said very little of that
goes on. And our Lord is the one that wrote this law, he said.
Eye for an eye. And the people of this world
make fun of this, don't they? They think this is harsh, it's
cruel. No, sir, it's good. It's holy,
it's just, it's true. The law was written not only
to reveal sin and not only to make us accountable, but to restrain
sin and punish it. God is good and holy. Justice. Justice. But now, the Lord is
talking to His disciples and He's telling them, if you're
smitten, don't strike back. Don't retaliate. If you're sued,
whatever they want, give it to them and give them more. He said,
vengeance is mine. I will repay. See, we can never
exact revenge. We can never exact... We can never put an end to it. It's a vicious cycle. You retaliate,
they retaliate. You retaliate, they retaliate.
And there's a lot of people hurting across it. Our Lord, in His wisdom,
He says, withdraw. Don't retaliate. I will. And I'm going to put an end to
it. Vengeance is mine. I will repay."
And then it's ended. Now, I'm not going to address
every situation, hypothetical situations, you know. I will
give you one. What if an intruder comes in
our home with a gun with the intent to do us bodily harm or
our family? The Lord is saying, just let
Him have at you. No. I'm the husband, okay? My wife depends on me. I'm her
protector, right? I have children in the home.
They depend on me for their safety and their protection. If I don't
provide for them, I'm not much of a husband or a father. An
intruder, a man comes into your house with a gun and intent to,
you know what he's doing if he's coming into your house. If you
can't resolve it by peaceful means, if you have a gun, kill
him dead. Kill him. Right? The Lord's not telling us that. He's not telling us that. And
I'm not going to deal with every, like I said, every instance.
That the Lord is telling us, His disciples, that we're not
to defend our rights, our reputation, our honor, our self, per se. We're not fighters. We're not
brawlers. We're peacemakers. This is how we differ from the
world. We're not out for revenge. We're
out for mercy. I love that statement. She read
to me a statement. They said to Abraham Lincoln,
This is one that was brilliant. He got it from Scripture. But
they said to Lincoln, who was always trying to make peace even
with his enemies. His enemies were constantly out
to get him. And his friends said to him,
why are you trying to make friends with your enemies? They said,
you need to destroy your enemies. He said, when I make friends
of my enemies, am I not destroying them? Did you get that? That was brilliant. Anything brilliant came from
God's Word. Our Lord loves not all His enemies,
but some of them. Thanks be unto God. Thanks be unto God. that He does
love some of His enemies and He makes some friends. That's
how He destroys His enemies. He makes some friends. He reconciles
us to Himself. But He's telling us the same.
As merciful men, we're out to show mercy, not revenge. We're
not out to get people. We're out to see them saved. Our Lord said this to His...
I didn't come to destroy men's lives. The disciples one time
said, just call him on fire. He said, I didn't come to destroy
men, but to save them. That's the way we need to be.
And the next time he comes, we'll be the destroyer. Take his people
out of here and destroy the rest. But the first time he came to
save, aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? So that's what
he's telling us at verse 39. Resist not evil, whosoever shall
smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
Turn with me to Proverbs 26. This is good. Proverbs 26. Solomon, the Lord, gave great
wisdom to write so many proverbs. And the Lord in His infinite
wisdom is showing us the only way to end the fight is to don't
keep fighting. Now, this is true in every area,
verbal, physical, whatever it is. Look at Proverbs 26, verse 20,
where no wood is, the fire goes out. See that? He's talking here about
gossip, first thing. If you don't repeat a matter,
It won't go on, it'll stop. Read on. No tailbearer, the strife
ceaseth. Verse 21, coals are to burning
coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife.
In other words, if you don't add fuel to the fire, it'll go
out. So he's telling us, and you remember
the verse where the Lord said, what is it that turns away strife? Wrath. What is it that will turn
away wrath? Say you get into an argument with somebody. Heated
words. Heated words always end up in
hot tempers. How did the Lord say, turn away
wrath? There's only one way to do it.
A soft answer. A hard word will get a hard word
back and it just never ends, does it? But the soft answer.
And only an absolute monster will continue to hit a man while
he's down. Only an absolute monster. Boy,
that's what men did to our Lord, isn't it? Turn to 1 Peter 2. I love this. 1 Peter 2. We need to commit
this to memory. 1 Peter 2. I think about it all
the time. And this is to be our reaction. Especially in this day. You know,
we live in a violent day, don't we? We live in a day where people
are settling there. They think it's your right to
just lash out brawlers 1 Peter 2. And that's what our Lord said
about the days of Noah before He destroyed it. Violence. A little violence. 1 Peter 2. 19. This is likeworthy
if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering and
wrongdoing. What glory is it if you're buffeted
for your faults? Take it patiently. If when you
do well and suffer for it, take it patiently. This is acceptable
with God. even here unto where we call.
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you
should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. If anyone could have defended
himself rightfully, there's only one man who could ever really
defended himself. But he didn't. I know. And when
he suffered, verse 23, look at this, he threatened not, I'll
get you back, no, but committed, here's faith, committed himself
to him that judges righteousness. I'll take care of it. Dad, do
you see what they've done? Father, I see. I'll take care
of it. You just do what I say. Take
it patiently. All right, here the Lord is going
to deal with lawsuits. Look at verse 40, back at our
text, verse 40. Boy, if this isn't relevant. Lawsuits. If any man will sue
thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also. You know, gas, if this were true
of everybody, gas would be 20 cents a gallon. It would be free
medical care. Not long ago. You can blame everything
in our society on greed. People want to get something
for nothing. And even if it costs you, If they can do it illegally
or whatever. Lawsuit. This is the most greedy,
self-seeking, covetous nation out to make money at anyone and
everyone's expense, isn't it? And most of our politicians are
lawyers. They're the scum of the earth.
Did I say that? I sure did. Preachers and lawyers
in that order are the scum of the earth. Now, there's no need
to talk about dishonesty, the way people try to make money
by false lawsuits and so forth. There's no suing people. Litigation
is what you call it. No need to talk about that. You're
clear to see through that. What about legitimate personal
injury? that I may be entitled to a compensation
about something that happens to me. What about that? Well,
that's what our Lord said. Now let me ask you then, who's the first cause of all
things? Who's the first cause of all
things? Can anything happen to us? that the Lord didn't ordain
it. So who's to blame? I'm asking. This is what we believe.
Who did it? Something happened to me. I'm
in a wreck and somebody was, or I slipped on somebody's property
or McDonald's served me too hot coffee. Who's to blame? So I'm going
to make money. Am I going to make money from our trials that God sent? No, sir. No, sir. Will the Lord take care of you? Come on now. He always has, hasn't
He? He always has. If somebody else
hurt us and injured us, who did it? What's the cause? Such and
such gave me cancer. I'm going to sue that company.
Who gave you cancer? If we believe things are the
cause of all our troubles, then we'll try to avoid things. We'll try to get whoever it was
that got us, and so on and so forth. It's just an unending,
who did this? The Lord did it. That's what
Job said, didn't he? Let's go out and get these people
to kill my... The Lord did it. The Lord did it. Here's the point. Now, he's talking
about anybody suing you. That expands your reason, doesn't
it? That we don't sue somebody else.
Right? We don't want to be like them. So, here's the point. The Lord doesn't meet our needs
through litigation, lawsuits, or lotteries. He meets them by
His providence. He meets them by His charity.
He meets them by His grace. He meets our needs. He provides
our needs by lawful means, not by vanity. Wealth gotten by vanity
will be diminished. Anyway, but wealth gotten by
labor shall increase, the prophet said. The Lord doesn't use these
means. He doesn't use these means. And
we can't control what others do to us anyway, but I know who
does. I know who does. And that ought to give us comfort.
Whatever happens to us, you say, so we're not supposed to buy
insurance. Well, it's the law. And we're supposed to abide by
the law according to Romans 15. Supposed to abide by the laws of the land.
Paul wrote that in the time of Nero. The law rulers aren't a territory
of good work. We abide by the law. But the Lord will take care of us. If anyone's been more abused,
wrongfully treated than our Lord, I don't know who it is. You said,
you with wicked hands took and crucified the Lord of glory.
What did he do? He had mercy. Great mercy. So he says in verse
41, Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Go with him too. And here's the
principle. You have to put it into everyday
use. Someone asks you, will you take me to town? You say, yes,
and I'll buy you lunch while I'm there. Go the extra mile. Our Lord demonstrated this, didn't
He? What is man that thou art mindful of him? For the Son of
Man that you would visit him. The Lord didn't have to come
to this earth, but He did. And then He went to the cross
on top of that. Much further. So it says in verse
42, Give to him that asketh thee, from him that would borrow of
thee, turn not thou away. Give to him that asks thee. Why should we? Because it's not
ours. It doesn't belong to us. And
our Lord said this. You give to them what I gave
you on loan. Shall I loan to them? They won't
bring it back. Well, I can replace it. Right? I can replace it, the
Lord says. Loan to them. Why? Everything's
been loaned to you. Do we give it back? Do we give
it back to the Lord? Keep it to ourselves for the
most part. But that's what the Lord's teaching. I love what
Martin Lloyd-Jones said about this whole thing. It's just excellent. He said, to be a Christian, disciple
of Christ, what must happen is we become dead to self. attitude
our Lord is instilling in us, not just teaching us, but He's
molding us. He's putting this in us, this
new creature. He said, I need to have the right
attitude toward myself. I've got to deal with this evil
desire in me to get revenge. You know where this came from?
It came from the fall of man. The first thing Adam did was,
that woman, Adam, what has happened to you? You see what a terrible thing this
thing called self got into us in the fall of man, and it controls
everything. It controls everything. Our Lord
is dealing He's unveiling, he's exposing this horrible thing
that controls the natural man called self. It came from the
fall. And man sets himself up as a
god and he protects himself in every way. When he's attacked,
he goes out after someone. When something's taken from him,
It doesn't even matter if it doesn't even belong to him. If
another wants to borrow from him, selfishness. Selfishness. Why should I part
with my goods? Remember, it was Nabal, that
fool, that said that about David and his men. Why should I part
with my goods? Your goods? We're going to see
how long they belong to you. It's self. It's all about self. And the Lord, when He puts this
new creature creating the image of Christ in us, self's got to
go. But our Lord who made Him self
of no reputation and endured everything like He tells us to
do and deserved none of it, He's telling us, He's showing us,
self's got to go. It's got to go. It's got to die.
It's got to die. And you'd be perfect like your
father. Well, that's why this is a lifelong thing. This growth in grace takes a
lifetime. Dying to self takes a lifetime.
It's not immediate at all any more than this growth, human
growth, you know. It takes 70 years and then it's
over. Now you're ready to Go on into
eternity. You've been made a new creature.