Charles Whisnant, Bless Those Who Are Rude To You>

LIVING ON THE HIGH GROUND
Romans 12:14
charles e whisnant, pastor/teacher/student of the word

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
You may be thinking, “Now wait a minute! Do you mean when somebody, even in the body of Christ, treats me like dirt, I am supposed to say something good about them? That is a lie.” Yeah, it sure is. And God is not telling you to lie about them.

What does it mean to bless somebody, to speak well of somebody?

REVIEW FROM ROMANS 12:9-13 Paul first of all, the general look at this matter of practical Christian living from verse 9 through 21
Main Idea: When someone you know is mean to you, for any reason, it is not a normal reaction to pray for blessings over their life. Even adults struggle with being kind to those who are unkind to us. God asks us to live this way because we are called to live differently than those who don’t believe in Christ. By living in such a dramatically kind and loving way, we are showing the world how God loves them!

2} When someone is rude or mean to you, how do you normally react? What would it look like if you reacted the way this verse is suggesting?

3} How can praying for an enemy change the way you feel about them?

4} If a friend hurts your feelings by saying or doing something that is hurtful or thoughtless, what would the correct response look or sound like?

5} If you have a friend or family member who is mean to you all the time, should you keep being their friend? Why or why not? What do you think this verse is encouraging?

6} How would living this way change your friendships and other relationships?

EXPOSITIONAL STUDY

Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (NASB:
Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not. kjv
Greek: eulogeite tous diokontas [humas], eulogeite kai me katarasthe. )
Amplified: Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them (Amplified Bible – Lockman)
NLT: If people persecute you because you are a Christian, don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. (NLT – Tyndale House)
Phillips: … as for those who try to make your life a misery, bless them. Don’t curse, bless. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: Be constantly blessing those who are constantly persecuting you; be blessing and stop cursing.
Young’s Literal: Bless those persecuting you; bless, and curse not;

BLESS THOSE WHO (continually) PERSECUTE YOU: eulogeitetous diokontas (humas):

1. (Romans 12:21; Job 31:29,30; Matthew 5:44, 48, Luke 6:28; 23:34; Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 4:12,13; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; James 3:10; 1 Peter 2:21-23; 3:9) Matthew 5:44, 48; Luke 6:28, 23:34

SURRENDER ENABLES SPIRIT FILLED SUPERNATURAL OBEDIENCE

Bless (2127) means speak good or well. When eulogeo is used by men toward men it means to speak well of with praise and thanksgiving . Can be from men to God, from men to men, and from God to men. When God blesses men He grants them favor and confers happiness upon them.

1. Pursue hospitality toward the brethren as the wicked pursue them.
2. First, love speaks well of its persecutors.
That is getting right down to where the rubber meets the road, isn’t it? That means you don’t go around badmouthing people who are not nice to you. You don’t run them down or speak harshly about them to others, but you speak well of them. You find something that you can approve, and you say so to others. That is a tough one.

I confess that that is not my natural reaction. When somebody persecutes me, I persecute back! At least I want to. But this is what the Word tells us we don’t need to do and we should not do.

3. It means to even invoke God’s blessing upon them. This is not our NATURAL reaction to those who persecute us, but instead calls for a SUPERNATURAL response, a response which imitates our Lord Jesus facing the ultimate “persecution” on Calvary

(1Cor 11:1, Lk 23:34, cp a Spirit filled Stephen’s response even as the rocks were hitting him!

See Acts 7:55, 59, 60 and compare Acts 6:3, 5, 10!). God’s commandments always include his entanglements – beloved of the Father, we can ONLY obey this command as we yield to and are filled by His Spirit and walk by His Spirit, for ONLY THEN will we be enabled to NOT fulfill the desires of the flesh, which are desires for revenge rather than blessing! (Memorize one of the most important verses in the New Testament — and ask God to enable you to live it out in “shoe leather” Christianity! = Gal 5:16

Now you know, if you didn’t understand Romans 1-11, you can’t understand this.

In Romans 8 we know why we can do this. …Because God is causing all things, even those people who bring us grief, to work together for good to those that love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. You see, you have got to have the first 11 chapters of Romans to even begin to understand chapters 12 through 16.

Everything in chapters 12 through 16 hinges on what we have already studied in Romans. God is in charge. He even uses the persecution. To do what? To drive us to the end of ourselves. Why? Because Romans 8:29 says that we might be conformed into the image of Christ Jesus. So the pain and all the things that we go through in this quarry, in this school, in this workshop down here on this earth are all tools that God is using to chip off and to hone and to make us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. It drives us to the end of ourselves where we learn to decrease and then He is able to increase in our life. That is what life is all about.

So as a believer, when it comes, back off and say,”God, I don’t know what you are doing in this, but thank you that you are in control of it and I am not about to wish evil upon this person. I want them to know the same God I know and trust and walk with day by day.”

Charles Whisnant Sunday December 28 2014

 

 

I made a commitment when I started expositional preaching (read the text, give understanding of the text, teach the text, and made application of the text) back in 1982, that I would not skip a passage of scripture if I did not agree with it or lived it, but I would try to live up to the passage.  This is one passage that I have struggled with.

Romans 12:14

• Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  (NASB:
• Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not. kjv
• Greek: eulogeite tous dokontas [humas], eulogeite  kai me katarasthe. (
• Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them -(Amplified Bible –
• If people persecute you because you are a Christian, don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.- (NLT –
• as for those who try to make your life a misery, bless them. Don’t curse, bless.)
• Be constantly blessing those who are constantly persecuting you; be blessing and stop cursing.- Wuest)
• Bless those persecuting you; bless, and curse not; Young Literal
• Bless those who make a practice of persecuting you; bless them instead of persecuting them – Mof
• Call down blessings on your persecutors –neb
  

 

Main Idea: When someone you know is mean to you, for any reason, it is not a normal reaction to pray for blessings over their life.  Even adults struggle with being kind to those who are unkind to us.  God asks us to live this way because we are called to live differently than those who don’t believe in Christ.  By living in such a dramatically kind and loving way, we are showing the world how God loves them!

BLESS THOSE WHO (continually) PERSECUTE YOU: eulogeitetous diokontas  (humas):

Romans 12:21; Job 31:29,30; Matthew 5:44, 48, Luke 6:28; 23:34; Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 4:12-13; I Thessalonians 5:15; First Peter 2:21.

     

 

Charles e Whisnant, Pastor/Teacher. Sunday December 2012, 2014 Part 1 of 3 Luke 1:78-79 Bible Study: Who Go To Heaven?

God’s great visit to us is the incarnation of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  LUKE 1:78-79
HE VISITS US AS THE DAYSPRING FROM ON HIGH.
THE DAWN OF A NEW BEGINNING

Charles e Whisnant Pastor/Teacher, 2014

I will post all three sermons on VIMEO.COM

Sunday Evening December 21, 2014 Part three of the sermon I started in the Bible Study Hour

What does the coming of Christ mean to us?

We’re so helpless that God sent a baby-a baby!–to help us out of the mess we’re in.

1. It is Light to those who are in darkness. Christ is the light!

He has come into this world and nothing can ever be the same again. One writer notes that “there are a great many dark places in our life, but there is no darker place than our sins.” We all have those “dark places,” and we don’t know what to do about them. The wisest philosophers and the most illiterate peasants have no answer for the problem of sin. But when Christ shines his light, he doesn’t merely condemn us, he says, “Come to me. Believe in me. Trust in me,” and when we do, our sins are forgiven forever.

2. It is Pardon to those condemned to death.

Put your face to the sunrise.”     Too many people just deny they are in the darkness of sin.

Gail Russell, whom was such a beautiful girl and was so messed up as to her need to over come stage fright)  She was in so much darkness of not knowing how to get out of the trouble she was really in.  She could not over come a serious alcohol problem.  It destroyed every part of her life and damaged every relationship she had.  Her marriage was destroyed. Her career was destroyed.  Her life was destroyed.  And died at 36 years old.  She hit rock bottom. Only if the “the light had been shown to her but it wasn’t.

I think that’s what Tim Keller was driving at when he said that Christmas means the end of thinking you are better than someone else, because you’re not, I’m not, we’re not. We’re all in the same boat, and apart from the grace of God, we’re all going down together. It is a big advance spiritually to be able to say, “I am a sinner too.”  As long as we pretend we’re okay, or as long as we blame others, or as long as we make excuses for our bad behavior, we are still living in the darkness of denial.

If you want to go to heaven, you’ve got to get off your high horse. Until you do, you’ll never be saved.

3. It is Guidance to those who have lost their way.

1. Psalms 107:19; Isaiah 9:2; Isaiah 42:16; 59:8; Matthew 4:

4. It is Christ that Gives.  “to enlighten them that sit in darkness“

• Luke 2:32; Isaiah 49:6,9;  Isaiah 60:1-

5.  It is Christ that comes to shine and guides

• Jeremiah 6:16; Isaiah 48:17, 22

So this is what Christ’s coming means to us . . .

Light   Pardon    Guidance

This is the difference that Jesus Christ makes.
            -When he comes into a life, the shadows flee away.
            -When he comes in, the guilt of our sin is removed and we are set free.
            -When he comes in, despair disappears for our feet have found the path of peace.

 

I want to think Ray Pritchard for the outline and the reason I taught this lesson. 

Charles Whisnant, Pastor/Teacher Sunday December 21, 2014 Sunday Morning Sermon

God’s great visit to us is the incarnation of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  LUKE 1:78-79
HE VISITS US AS THE DAYSPRING FROM ON HIGH.
THE DAWN OF A NEW BEGINNING
Charles e Whisnant Pastor/Teacher, 2014

Part Two

 

Why is it so hard for humans to accept the idea that Jesus’ grace is completely sufficient, while at the same time being completely independent of what we might do to earn it?  Ray Pritchard

Counterintuitive grace.

Pause for a moment on that last one. In what sense is grace “counterintuitive”? The word refers to something that goes against what we would normally expect to be true, i.e. “You must go north first in order to go south later” or “Having fun is hard work.” For a long time I’ve felt that grace is the hardest doctrine to accept. We fight against it because it runs against the grain of everything we instinctively believe. Grace forces us to confront two very difficult truths:

1) There is nothing we can do to contribute to our own salvation.
2) If God doesn’t save us, we will never be saved.

Basically grace says, “You’re a hopeless mess” and “Only God can help you now.” And in our natural state we would rather do anything than admit those two things.

The  reformation slogan “sola gratia”, or grace alone, in today’s world is under constant attack. What is it about being saved by God’s grace alone that is so hard to swallow. The scriptures are clear that our deliverance from hell is due to the goodness of God, despite the lack of good in our fallen nature. Americans, especially, because of our belief in our own good and innate nature to do good, struggle to think of ourselves as totally depraved in our own nature and unable to do good on our own. We carry this democratic ideal into our theology that each individual has the ability to make things better.  To an American grace alone is senseless because the condition of man is not so bad. Without a recognition of the human condition we will find Arminius’ opposition to ‘grace alone’ is much more palatable. It gives a much better view of self.

CHRISTMAS WHAT IS THE POINT:

Christmas is the end of thinking you are better than someone else, because Christmas is telling you that you could never get to heaven on your own. God had to come to you. It is telling you that people who are saved are not those who have arisen through their own ability to be what God wants them to be. Salvation comes to those who admit how weak they are.  Tim Keller

“Christmas is the end of thinking you are better than someone else.” That might make a good banner to hang over the front door of every church. Those of us who believe in Jesus aren’t any better than anyone else, sometimes we seem like we’re worse than a lot of people, but that’s not the point.

God came down to us.  That’s the point.
God’s Sunrise:  the dayspirng or dawn:  Jesus Christ

In Luke 1:78. “the dayspring from on high has visited us.”

Because the heart of our God is full of mercy towards us, the first light of Heaven shall come to visit us—to shine on those who lie in darkness and under the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Phillips)

The picturesque old English word ‘dayspring’ means neither more nor less than sunrising. And it is here used practically as a name for Jesus Christ, who is Himself the Sun, represented as rising over a darkened earth, and yet, with a singular neglect of the propriety of the metaphor, as descending from on high, not to shine on us from the sky, but to ‘visit us’ on earth

The Coming of the New Covenant:  Luke 1:78-79

Luke 1:78 , that brings the Sunrise from on high which shall visit us to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death and it is the New Covenant that guides our feet into the way of peace. John MacArthur also says

Now in the morning the sun rises, of course, from the sky and so there’s a clear metaphorical connection, but he’s talking about there’s going to come a great light from heaven, not the sun, not the morning star, not the glow of dawn that precedes the sun, not the first light of the day physically, there’s coming from on high another Sun, a Sunrise who will shine on those who will sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

Isaiah 9, Malachi 4:2, Second Peter 1:19,  Revelation 22:    6

 

Charles e Whisnant, Sunday December 21, 2014

Bible Study Hour and the 11 a.m. Hour and then again at 6:00 p.m.

God’s great visit to us is the incarnation of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  LUKE 1:78-79
HE VISITS US AS THE DAYSPRING FROM ON HIGH.
THE DAWN OF A NEW BEGINNING
Charles e Whisnant Pastor/Teacher, 2014

There were three parts to this one sermon, which was taught in the Bible Study Hour and at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

  http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/2008-12-19-Sunrise-at-Bethlehem/ Ray Pritchard     

The headline from a recent USA article told of new research from the Pew Foundation suggesting that most Americans would answer yes to that question. 2008 by the way.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-12-18-saved-heaven_N.htm
     Most American religious believers, including most Christians, say eternal life is not

exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior, a new survey finds.    Of the 65% of people who held this open view of heaven’s gates, 80% named at least one non-Christian group – Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists or people with no religion at all – who may also be saved, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

This means 52% of Christians do not agree with the doctrines many religions teach, particularly conservative denominations.

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, calls the findings “a theological crisis for American evangelicals. They represent at best a misunderstanding of the Gospel and at worst a repudiation of the Gospel.”
This survey on salvation is a follow-up to a highly controversial finding in Pew’s Religious Landscape survey, released earlier this year. It detailed the religious demographics, beliefs and behavior of 35,000 U.S. adults surveyed in 2007.

Pastors, theologians and Christian commentators complained that the Landscape Survey question on access to eternal life — which 70% said was open to many faiths — was too vague. “Did people mean only other religions that are similar to their own, like Baptists grudgingly admitting Lutherans might go to heaven?” said Pew research fellow Greg Smith.

So Pew revisited the topic in a new survey of 2,905 adults, conducted July 31-Aug. 10, with more specific questions. Smith says the new findings reinforce the original finding that “Americans really are thinking quite broadly.”

Christian believers who named at least one non-Christian faith that could lead to salvation included 34% of white evangelicals, even though evangelical doctrine stresses that salvation is possible only through Jesus.

Higher levels of church attendance made some difference, particularly among white evangelical protestants. But an overall majority (54%) of people who identified with a religion and who said they attend church weekly also said many religions can lead to eternal life. This majority included 37% of white evangelicals, 75% of mainline Protestants and 85% of non-Hispanic white Catholics.

Pew’s new survey also found that many Christians (29%) say they are saved by their good actions; 30% say salvation is through belief in Jesus, God or a higher power alone, which is the core teaching of evangelical Protestantism; and 10% say salvation is found through a combination of behavior and belief, a view closer to Catholic teachings.

The number of those who said actions determine who attains heaven, was lowest (11%) for white evangelicals, highest for white Catholics (47%).

The number of people saying theirs is the only faith that can lead to eternal life increased slightly, from 24% to 29%, between 2007 and 2008. The biggest increase was among white evangelical Protestants — up from 37% to 49%.

Overall, the new findings are “an indictment of evangelicalism and evangelical preaching,” said Mohler. “The clear Biblical teaching is that Jesus Christ proclaimed himself to be the only way to salvation.”

Mohler sees behind the statistics the impact of pluralism and secularism in U.S. society and the challenge of facing family and friends with “an uncomfortable truth.”

\”We are in an age when we want to tell everyone they are doing just fine. It’s extremely uncomfortable to turn to someone and say, ‘You will go to hell unless you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus,’ ” Mohler says.

Rhema Marvanne singing

http://youtu.be/mv2T5xm423w

Right Living For Better Evangelism

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER 2:11-12
RIGHT LIVING: THE BETTER WAY OF EVANGELISM
DECEMBER 17, 2014   Pastor/Teacher Charles e Whisnant

RIGHT LIVING: THE BETTER WAY OF EVANGELISM:  2:11-5:11

1A    GENERAL PRINCIPLES: 2:11 – 12
    1B    ABSTAIN FROM FOLLOWING SINFUL PASSIONS: 2:11
    2B    MAINTAIN GOOD CONDUCT AMONG THE GENTILES: 2:12
2A    LIVING AS CITIZENS:  2:13-17
3A    LIVING AS SERVANTS: 2:18-25

The key verse in this section 2:11-20 is verse 15.
“That with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance’s of foolish men.”

=============================================================

1A    How to keep those who blast Christianity quite?  How to silence the critics? How to bring men  around to glorify God?

1B    Living the righteousness  of Christ in our living.

2A    The single greatest tool we have in evangelism?  Right living.

3A    The motivation to carry on the Christian life in the middle of a difficult situation, and society?
    1B    Its your duty.  1:1-2:3
    2B    Due to your spiritual benefits you do.  2:4-10
    3B    Its our obligation to live holy before a watching world.

4A    How are we to view ourselves in order to live this way?
    1B    We are stranger in this land.      vs. 11-12
    2B    We are citizens:          vs. 13-17
    3B    We are servants:          vs. 18-20

5A    Peter is calling us to a righteous life in the middle of a society that does not like Christianity
    1B    Your life will either affirm their remarks or put to silence their comments about Christ.

6A    Peter calls us to do this:
    1B    To discipline our inward and private life.
        1C    It begins with integrity.  What is on the inside that counts.

The price of our redemption is to set aside the things of this world. Hebrews 13:14

Our attitude is as such that we think in terms of the temporary. We are so focus on Christ that the attraction of this world do not pull us in.  For we are ready to depart and be with Christ.

We just don’t seem to fit in…we are “aliens and exiles”.  This is going to take discipline from the inside.

 

Dearly beloved, i beseech 3870 you as strangers3941 and pilgrims 3927 abstain 567 from fleshy lust 1939, which war again the soul”5590

• Romans 12:1; 2Corinthians 5:20; 6:1; Ephesians 4:1 Philemon 1:9,10)

Pilgrim – one who journeys in foreign lands. “One who comes from a foreign country to dwell by the natives of a city or land, a stranger, sojourner. Since heaven is the home of the Christian, the NT speaks of Abraham and other believers as pilgrims while on earth (Hebrews 11:13; 1Peter 2:11; cf. Genesis 23:4; Psalms 39:12).”

Beloved (27) (agapetos from agape) means dear or very much loved (in context by God their Father!). It is a love called out of one’s heart by preciousness of the object loved. The “Beloved” are those to whom Christ has shown love.

Beseech or Urge (3870) (parakaleo from para = beside + kaleo = to call)

• means literally to call to one’s side and so refers to the act of calling someone to one’s side in order to give aid or help

Aliens (3941) (paroikos from para = beside + oikos = dwelling, home) means literally  to dwell near and thus to have a home alongside of.

• (1Peter 1:1 1Pe 1:17; Genesis 23:4; 47:9; Leviticus 25:23; 1Chronicles 29:15; Psalms 39:12; 119:19,54; Hebrews 11:13

Strangers (3927) (parepidemois from para = near by and here implies a transitory sense describing one who passes near but on to something beyond + epidemos = stranger, epidemos from epi = in or among + demos = a people) literally means a stranger alongside and so a stranger or sojourner

Abstain (568) (apechomai or apecho from apó = away from – the idea of putting some distance between, marker of dissociation, implying a rupture from a former association + écho = have) means to be away or be at a distance
Fleshly (4559) (Sarkikos from sarx = flesh)  refers to that which pertains to the flesh, in context the depraved nature inherited from Adam. It means having the nature of flesh, i.e., sensual, controlled by animal appetites (inherited from Adam), instead of by the Spirit of God.

Lusts (1939) (epithumia from epi = at, toward {the preposition “epi-” in the compound is directive conveying the picture of “having one’s passion toward”} + thumos = passion. Root verb epithumeo = set heart upon)  is a neutral term denoting the presence of strong desires or impulses, longings or passionate craving (whether it is good or evil is determined by the context) directed toward an object

Wage war (4754) (strateuomai from strategos = army, stratos = an encamped army) means literally to perform military service, serve as a soldier in the army, go to fight,  carry on a military campaign, make a military expedition, lead soldiers to war or to battle.  (Romans 7:23; 8:13; Galatians 5:17,24; 1Timothy 6:9,10; James 4:1)

Against (2596) (kata) generally describes a downward movement and when used as a hostile sense as in this verse conveys the idea of “against”.

Soul (5590) (psuche or psyche from psucho = to breathe, blow, English = psychology, “study of the soul”)

 

Charles e Whisnant, Quotes

 

Far too many who want to go to Heaven, want to get there doing as little as they can, they don’t want to give any effect, they want to obey as little as possible, they want to live their lives as their way. They might have a little trouble getting there!]

 

A person becomes a believer, is born again, becomes a Christian when the Holy Spirit brings into their mind their need of forgiveness and their need for a Savior, Jesus Christ.

We have been taught to just believe, its all that necessary. I believe the Bible that I hold in my hand is rather close to the original. So how do we know that? listen and learn. Its true we do.

Hackers are hacking my sermons and putting them out for the world to see! Wish!

What is to be our reaction to the reaction of the world as we see on display today around the United State and the World? Are we going to have to adapt to what we see every day in the world around us? Are we going to have to change our way of thinking about how the worldview is been presented to us?

We have certainly over the years been asked what we thinking about a number of issues, “Can we drink beer, or Jack Daniel?” “Can we have sex before marriage?” “Can we smoke weed, etc??” Can we be a Democrat and still be a Christians? Can a Christian believer join the Freemason or the Lions, Beavers, or any club?” “Can a Christian read other translations other then the KJV? ” I

First Peter 2 have been my topic of study for over a year in our church. There seem to be the idea of holiness that is to illustrated our lives before God and man. When ask such questions has this one, I usually like to give them my sermon notes on the subject of holiness,

You have been called to participation. God invites men and women to participate in fellowship with Him and in His salvation. God’s saving initiative, the effectual call of God. God called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. First Peter 1:1, 15, 2:21 and 3:9 and 5;10 From the sermon tonight. From Darkness To Light. Sin to Salvation.

 

First Peter 2:11 will be our text Wednesday at ROJBC

1Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. (nasv)

Dearly beloved, i beseech (3870) you as strangers(3941) and pilgrims (3927) abstain (567) from fleshy lust (1939), which war again the soul”(5590) (Strong’s number) God has never called the Believer to Fit In. But to Live And Speak To The Glory of The Lord.D L Moody captured the essence of Peter’s exhortation when he exclaimed…”I have more trouble with D. L. Moody than with any man I know.”

Quotes

Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then?

Daniel Wallace; Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then?

More info on Daniel Wallace can be found at: http://www.csntm.org/