Do Bible terms sometimes upset you? When Christ says, I say unto you that hear, do you think He is talking about people with ears? He is talking about people with spiritual perception. Can you hear what God is saying?
But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also. Give to every one that asketh thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? for even sinners love those that love them. And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for even sinners do the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much. But love your enemies, and do them good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. And judge not, and ye shall not be judged. Luke 6:27–37a.
Sinners are not to be resisted or thought of on a natural plane. They’re not to be hated, but they are to be loved. You are to do good to them. This is very difficult, but it is at this point that the move of God’s Spirit in the earth will find the perfection of spirit restored to the Body enabling God’s people to do the great exploits. I cannot see how judgment can come through the church of the end time if the people are still subjective in their reactions to the persecutions round about them.
When the disciples were passing through a little town of Samaria, Jesus’ face was set as though He was going to Jerusalem and immediately the racial prejudice of the Samaritans against the Jews arose. They wouldn’t listen to Christ. Even two of His disciples said, “Let’s pull fire down out of heaven and consume this city.” They said this because they were subjective. They were angry and hostile. Their reactions came from within them, not from God. The Lord wouldn’t grant it.
However, there was a time when fire did fall from heaven to consume 450 prophets of Baal when Elijah prayed for it (I Kings 18). But Elijah had another spirit. The disciples let their own feelings get in the way. We cannot see what God wants to do in the earth as long as we move on either the plane of human sympathy or of human antipathy.
You cannot let sympathy get in the way. Neither can you allow your heart to become bitter or have an antipathy against people. “Well, that person did me wrong so I’ll pray against him.” The judgment that will come in the name of the Lord in this end time will come through a people who have perfect love for their enemies. It will come through a people who are no longer reacting on a human plane or through human sympathy. “Oh, Lord! don’t hurt him; don’t judge him. I don’t want to see that happen.” It’s what God want that counts; not what you want. Get your feelings out of the way. Do you say, “Oh Lord! I see what that fellow did to me and to So-and-So. Kill him, Lord.” That won’t work either. You can’t react on a human plane. God will move through people who have perfect love for their enemies. Do you believe that’s true? If someone smites you on one cheek, do you turn the other? Do you pray for them that despitefully use you?
One of the greatest things that can happen to a body of believers under persecution is to go into fasting and prayer for perfect love for everyone who speaks evil against them.
God cannot bring about a clear-cut decision or an execution of judgment until the people have a right spirit to serve Him. When God would judge a situation where the person involved has a wrong spirit, He must first judge the wrong spirit. If we would follow the “Ananias and Sapphira route” we would wind up with an empty church—nobody to bury the dead. We must, therefore, come to the place where the Lord perfects our spirits before the judgments return.
To us He says, “Love your enemies, do them good and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great and ye shall be the sons of the Most High for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.” “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. And do not pass judgment and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned.”’ This is one of the basic reasons the Lord is demanding a right spirit. You cannot play God without Him cracking down on you. You’re to be merciful because God is merciful. Don’t judge and God won’t judge you. Condemn not and you won’t be condemned. We rise up to take the thing in our own hands when it isn’t our business.
For those who come into trouble we must believe and have faith. This walk is to be without judging one another; and we must exercise faith for others without condemnation; then situations can be reversed and love and faith can clear them.
We don’t excuse wrong doing, but people become overtaken in a lot of things where it is easy to judge them. It’s easy to see something in a wrong light. In the Body of Christ, our greatest strength comes from being merciful. We believe in grace; we don’t believe in judging or condemning. This is what it means to have a perfect spirit.
Release, and ye shall be released: give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. Verses 37b–38.
Do you have a problem? How are you going to solve it? “Oh, I’m just going to get in there and fight that situation until I break it down and destroy it.” It would work better if you would rise into that excellency of spirit; then the Lord will see that you get a release. Instead of using the negative defense, “Well, I have to solve this problem and that problem,” simply rise above them with a perfect spirit and watch how God takes care of them.
I am convinced there are some really valid problems for which there are no solutions. There are relationships in families where someone will not walk with God and viciously goes the other way. Homes have broken up and people face difficult situations because they want a walk with God. What do we do for them? Do we counsel them on some strategy that will outwit the other person? No, that’s not the answer. Rise into the perfect spirit. Christ never solved a problem through contention, but always through perfect love.
I believe there is such a thing as building a spiritual wall of defense; but build the wall against the evil a person sends to you, not against the person. Build all the walls against the evil, the contacts, the responses that you have, but not against the individual, so that you can become a channel for God to minister His will.
Romans 12:17–21: Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. When you walk in that perfect spirit you open the door for God to have a clear channel to deal with the evil thing. He will either work a miracle in that individual or He’ll destroy him. But it is God. He says, “Vengeance is Mine.” Give place to the wrath of God.
I believe there are too many things that come into being only to misfire. They are aborted at the last minute. God cannot deal with them because our spirits are in the way. If we build walls of defense and walk in a perfect spirit, though an evil host come round about us, we’ll live in victory.
Daniel was put in the lions’ den because he was uncompromising and faithful. He had real integrity. Daniel 6 says that an excellent spirit was found in him. What did he do with that excellent spirit? People fought him, but he didn’t fight back. He continued seeking God with all of his heart and with a perfect spirit. No doubt he had real spiritual defenses built against his enemies because he didn’t seem to care what they did. They formed a conspiracy against him. They put him in the lions’ den, but his spirit was so perfect before God that God delivered him. Then what happened? Daniel wasn’t asking for vengeance but God was. The men who plotted against Daniel, along with their wives and children, were bound and thrown into that same lions’ den, and every one of them was torn to pieces. We may think it was a terrible thing for them to do that to Daniel, but God allowed it to happen so that He would be justified in what looked like a premature judgment. He wouldn’t wait for them to die or for hell to reach them, but he had to bring judgment because their very actions were standing against Daniel’s bringing forth the great end-time revelations. God wasn’t going to let Daniel be destroyed; but He was going to destroy Daniel’s enemies because they were God’s enemies. Daniel had an excellent spirit because he kept out of the way. He gave place to the wrath of God. Avenge not yourselves but give place to the wrath of God. Stand aside and let God do it. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay,” saith the Lord. You don’t repay.
It is only our unbelief that will draw us away from this sermon. “Well, if I do that I’ll get run over. I’ll be hit.” No, because it’s the Word of God. “All right God, I’ll believe. I’ll commit myself wholly into your hands. I’m going to walk with You with a right spirit.” Then watch God start dealing. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay,” saith the Lord. “All right, it’s Yours. Don’t let me usurp or interfere. Just let me stand here in the situation with a perfect love and a perfect spirit, and You take care of the problem.”
I believe God is giving us light in this message for situations where we could run into trouble and where churches could be split or go into confusion. But it won’t happen if the people will seek God and change their thinking. You never know who is right in a difficult situation because both parties fuss back and forth and become so bitter that God can’t put His blessing on any of it. That is why there cannot be a clear-cut decision.
I would like to see a great company walking with God, all of them walking in unity and all of them walking in love—the kind of love where one will turn to a brother and say, “I tried to destroy you; but you loved me; and God opened the door and saved me.” The wronged person would say, “Thank God that you repented and God saved you.” Like Saul of Tarsus, “Say, you know, I took some of your family and I put them in prison.” “Yes, Paul, we know but we don’t hold it against you. We love you with a perfect love. We pray for you even though our families have been destroyed by your persecutions.” “Oh, thank you that you prayed for me, for God brought me up short and dealt with me and saved me and now I am an apostle.”
Some would say, “Look back down the road and see all the people who failed, who were smitten by God’s judgment.” What about them? They persisted in persecution and vengeance was in the hands of God. He couldn’t let His people, who were moving in perfect love, be destroyed. That’s the way it happens, but it is always decisive. The persecutor will either become an apostle Paul or a disembowelled Judas on the rocks—never anything in between.
I would like to see something clear-cut in God’s dealings with people as He brings them up short and says, “Here, how about this? You either repent or else.” But He can’t; His hand are tied because people are saying, “Vengeance is mine. I am going to repay. Not the Lord—I’m going to find a way to do it.” We’re going to be believers.
I have never seen such a time as this in which so much psychic and spirit force is beamed at the people of God. What do we do with it? Will we practice, concentrate, and build up a psychic and spirit force against it? Forget that. Will you fight the devil with the devil’s tools? What do we do to work the works of God? Be a believer. Believe on Him whom He has sent. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
God deliver us from a bad spirit, from anything but walking in the perfect love of God. It will be difficult for us to learn how to apply this word, but in applying it I believe God will help us to see the end of many problems. God loves us all, and He’s not going to hurt us. I’m for victory! “I’m sorry, but I won’t buy this.” What do you want, another ten years of things handing undecided—another five years, another year, another six months? O God, bring us to the place where, with a perfect spirit, we will walk on in victory, after victory, after victory.
Help us, Lord. There’s something of perfect love that you’re demanding. O Jesus, our Lord, we’re going to follow Your teachings. We are Your disciples. We’re not a people who are going to use Your name to work out our own ideas, to bring about our own desires. We’re going to see the things you’ve prophesied and spoken. You’ve opened the door for them. You’ve created them, and we’re going to walk in them. The only hindrance we can do anything about, is our own spirit, and we can make it right before you, Lord. This we ask You to help us with, in the mercy of Jesus. Amen.