Open—Bill Prost
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And we've seen #36 in the Bank of the book.
3-6 in the appendix.
We go to meatballs.
I don't know, I cry out right now. We're praying that you can smell anything, mood, anything before they're saying if you're doing anything together compared to management. Uh, I don't know if you.
Umm, I'm sorry.
Bye, bye, bye bye.
No.
Because of the enabling hello.
Uh oh, oh oh oh, 04 hours ago and four hours and then after that.
Oh my God.
The same photography by mountain side. I can't even through their minds, That's all. And trust, so long as I don't know if you've heard anything.
We read some scriptures before we ask the Lord's help.
First Corinthians, chapter 14.
1St 29.
This verse has two parts.
Both are equally important.
Let the prophets speak.
Two or three.
And let the other judge.
Verse 31 We may all prophecy one by one, that all may learn, and may, and all may be comforted and encouraged.
And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
First Peter, chapter 4.
Verse 11.
If any man speak.
Let him speak as the oracles of God.
Benny man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth.
That God in all things may be glorified.
Through Jesus Christ, to whom he praised and dominion, forever and ever. Amen.
Any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. John, Chapter 7.
Inverse in verse 18.
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He that speaketh of or from himself.
Seek of his own glory.
Aston Hotel.
The blessed God and our Father.
Standing one with our brethren, who has prepared these meetings, their burden for them and for this meeting in particular.
That the head in glory.
Would have liberty in his own house to direct.
Their God and our Father, we are in deep need at this hour of a word from thee.
And our desire is that the one who laid down his life for us would alone have the preeminence and be glorified.
We would be in fear and trembling to stand in a place where we would be presuming to speak as the oracles of God.
And yet we think of the Apostle Paul, who expressed his weakness, who expressed his need to be prayed for, for boldness.
Because it was to that weak vessel you had given such a high.
Such a high calling and charge to complete the Word of God. And so we do pray our God and our Father for boldness for those to whom you have given a word this day.
For thy people.
And those of us who would be find it so easily to open our mouths.
Would remember those words. He who speaks of himself seeks his own glory.
So our God and our Father, we go forward in faith as our brothers who have stepped forward in faith to have this meeting at this time, We do look to you, our God and our Father.
For a word for thyself.
We're here for Jesus sake.
We're here for him.
Give us that our daughter and our Father, that we need to be here, His witnesses in this dark scene, this day. Meet this meeting to thee and ask it in His precious name, that name we love, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I'd like to speak for a few minutes on one verse that has been particularly before me lately.
And I have no problem in confessing to all of you.
That it has been before me because I so often fail in it.
Maybe others can relate to it in the same way, so please turn with me to Romans chapter 12.
Romans, chapter 12.
This is a very practical verse.
And as we know, it is at the end of a chapter that brings before us a number of practical exhortations based on the doctrine that has already been given. As we know, the main doctrine of Romans is given in the 1St 8 chapters and then Paul takes a bit of a digression to talk about Israel and where they would come into the picture.
Through chapters 9:10 and 11:00.
But then, beginning with chapter 12, there are a number of practical exhortations, very down to earth, very needful for us.
But notice the last verse in the chapter, verse 21.
Be not overcome of evil.
But overcome evil with good.
This verse has been very familiar to me just about all my life.
And I'll tell you why. It'll bring a smile to some of you. I grew up in the days when they still read the word of God in schools.
And when I finished Grade 6, that was as far as that particular school went, and we had to go to another school for grades seven and eight.
But at the end of grade six, they had a bit of a graduation ceremony, and one of the students in our grade six class was detailed to do the Bible reading at that graduation ceremony.
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And the Bible reading was Romans 12 verses 5 to 21.
But in order that he might read it properly and without stumbling, he was required to read it in front of the class every day for a month before the graduation. And as a result, most of us pretty well learned it by heart. Maybe he did too. He hardly needed the Bible when he got there anyway. He did his job well. But most of us got a good grounding in Romans 12.
I regret that those days are past and that the Word of God is.
No longer read, at least in Canadian schools, and I understand not in US schools either.
But this verse, I would suggest, gives a balance to the Christian life that is most necessary. On the one hand a negative thing and on the other hand a positive thing. And Christianity is both.
On the one hand, we are not to be overcome of evil.
I want to make several applications of that, first of all in the world around us.
Because it is very easy to be overcome by what is going on in the world around us. I feel it, you feel it, we all feel it.
But if I may be permitted to say so, I believe some of you young people are feeling it, perhaps even more than I.
As you live and move in school and in the business world, you are finding the evil coming at you from every side.
And ultimately, there is no way of avoiding it. Some parents are home schooling their children in order to avoid the evil in the schools, and that's a good thing. Perhaps there's no one perfect way of educating children. But sooner or later we have to come face to face, don't we, with the evil that is in the world.
What happens when we encounter that evil? Let's turn to a verse in Second Peter that shows us the principle.
We find the word overcome in much of the New Testament. It's in the Old Testament as well. John uses it repeatedly, but so does Paul. As we have seen, so does Peter. It's used extensively.
Second Peter chapter 2 and verse.
19.
Now here it's talking about the world and the government of God in the world, but it is particularly talking about how the spirit of the world and those who are not true have infiltrated the profession of Christianity. Very serious, because what you and I are encountering in the world here in North America is what has become of Christianity.
In countries like Canada and the United States.
That were once founded on Christian principles. Notice what it says here in verse nineteen of two Peter 2.
While they promised them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption. And here's the word For of whom a man is overcome, the same is he brought into or in *******.
*******.
And the world wants to bring you and me into ******* by promising liberty. But then we find out that very quickly it's *******. And that goes on all the time in natural things in this world. And there are those who are lured into situations where they are promised liberty and all kinds of good things, only to find that it is a trick. And the end result is to bring them into *******. And that is one of Satan's Wiles that he uses.
Extensively in this world and ultimately on you and me as believers.
And so you and I have a responsibility to avoid the evil that is in this world and not to be overcome by it.
How can we do that?
Is there a way to overcome the ******* in this world? Let's turn to a verse in the First Epistle of John, chapter 5.
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An excellent verse which it is very good to remember. First John, chapter 5.
And verse four, first John 5 and verse 4.
For whatsoever is born of God.
Overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Now at first glance this might seem to be a little bit difficult to understand because I said at the start of what I was talking about that I failed most miserably many times, and still do, in carrying out what we had in that verse in Romans 12. But here in John it seems to indicate that.
It's a blanket statement. John's making a blanket statement.
We have to get used to that in the writings of John, because John speaks in the abstract. To use a common phrase, John says it like it is bad grammar, but it makes the point. John says it like it is. John tells us simply in the abstract that whatsoever is born of God over cometh the world.
That means to you and me that God has given us everything.
To overcome this world and not to be overcome of evil.
But then he goes on to say, this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith, and that brings before us the solemn truth that an overcomer cannot trust in his own strength. And if you and I go out there seeking in our own strength to be overcomers, we are going to find that we don't have it. We are going to find that Satan is stronger than we are, and that he and all his tricks in this world is not going to.
Rest until he has you and me in *******.
And I might point something out here because there is a well known man out in Christendom today whom I admire very much, and I will not name him, but he is very versed in what might be called Christian apologetics. And he does an excellent job of refuting arguments by people who think they know what they're talking about and who think they can box him in by arguments.
Trying to.
Denigrate and destroy the Word of God.
And usually he can manage to put them in their place.
I say to you, there is a place for that. There is a place for that. We won't turn to it. But in the book of Proverbs there is the verse that says, answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. There is a place for that.
But that same man also has said, and again, I'm not throwing stones, I merely want to point something out that's important to remember. That same man says, don't send young people to college merely with a good knowledge of the word of God.
They need to know Christian apologetics. They need to know how to answer arguments, because the world very often will say we don't recognize the Bible as an authority.
Is that a valid argument?
I suggest that it is not.
I prefer rather what one of our old writers from the 1800s said, He said in simple terms, if I had a sharp knife or a sword in my hand and a man were to argue with me that it was not real, but that it was merely made of plastic or rubber or some such thing.
He said I wouldn't do it as a Christian, but there would be a very practical and effective way of demonstrating to him that that knife or that sword was real and you all know what I'm talking about.
For man says the sword isn't real. Use it on him. He'll soon find out whether it's real or not.
As I say, there is a place for Christian apologetics. But when we use the word of God, who gets the glory? The Lord? If I'm able to silence someone's clever arguments, maybe I start to think of myself as being rather good at it.
But when I use the word of God, He gets the glory and it is the sword of the Spirit as we get in Ephesians chapter 6 used by the Spirit of God in convicting power.
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I remember well a story about a man who was a drug addict and a believer was seeking to reach him with the gospel, and he went over repeatedly to that man's home, usually, of course, because the man and his wife tended to be poor. The man spent most of his money on drugs, and when he came he always carried a nice big pizza under his arm to serve when they got there. And so his presence in the home was always welcome, even if the message he gave wasn't welcome.
And one time that drug addict simply said to him.
You know, everyone needs a crutch in this world and you have yours and I have mine. You have your Bible, your Christianity, that's your crutch, and I have my drugs. So let's each one use our crutch and be content with it.
Well, in telling of it afterward, that drug addict said the man didn't try to. The Christian man, that is, didn't try to argue with me, didn't try to go into all the if, ands, buts or wherefores. He simply opened his Bible and read the 53rd of Isaiah.
In retrospect, he said. You know, that chapter charmed me. I had never heard anything like that in my life before that here was someone.
About whom that chapter is speaking.
About whom all those wonderful things were said, who went into death in order that others might be saved. He said it brought me to Christ and didn't answer the question of crutches, but it brought him to Christ. It was the word of God. So going back again, because we don't want to take too much time, but going back again to Romans chapter 12.
Be not overcome of evil.
That takes real strength in the world of today. It takes relying on the Lord so as not to be drawn into the evil that is in this world and how many have been drawn into it. And let me say this, and I say this not pointing the finger anywhere but back here.
Sometimes in our hearts there is a tendency to say, well, I certainly will not be drawn into the grosser forms of evil in this world. I certainly will not be drawn into the things that really will take me down that broad Rd. along with the world.
But is there any harm in enjoying a few things in this world?
To answer that, I would say yes and no.
We are not dead to nature. And that reminds me of a story that once again took place way back in the 1800s, where two believers were riding in a train, one of them older and wiser than the other. And as they were riding along in the train, the older one noticed out the window some rather spectacular and beautiful scenery and pointed it out to the other believer.
So it isn't that beautiful scenery. Isn't that a pretty sight?
All the other ones said yes it is, but brother, you and I are dead to all that.
Well, the older brother said nothing, but as time went on, the conversation turned to other things, particularly the Lord's things, and the time came around to 12 noon, and the older brother rather abruptly got up and started heading off down the aisle.
Oh, the other one said, where are you going? Where are you going? Well, he said, it's 12 noon. I'm going down to the dining car to have some lunch.
All the younger ones said, well, wait a minute, I'll come with you.
Oh, the older brother said. You don't need to. You're dead to all that.
Or, Needless to say, the younger brother got the point.
And he was probably much less dead to that particular angle of things than the older brother. But anyway, the point is we're not dead to nature. And there's nothing wrong with enjoying the things of nature, even though, as the hymn says to us, they bear to us death stand. That is, everything in this world of nature has been stamped with the effect of sin.
But when Paul talks about the world, the apostle Paul, and when John talks about the world, they're not talking about the created world in the sense of what God made. They're talking about the system of things that is the world that started with Cain. They're talking about that vast world system, which.
Started out with Cain's family and which went out from the presence of God. Wanted nothing to do with God and sought to make themselves as happy as possible in a world spoiled by sin. But leaving God totally out of the picture. That is the world that we are in today, and that is the world where evil will come at you and me.
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We are not to be part of that world. Yes, we have to live and move in it. We don't want to become monks or nuns or hermits or something like that.
We are to be a witness to it, but not part of it. And in order to do that, you must walk in communion with the Lord. You need His strength.
But I say to my own heart and to you too, that is only half the battle.
That's only half the battle overcoming consists not merely of not being overcome of evil. It consists in overcoming evil with good.
First of all, let's talk once again about the outside world.
Out in the world of today, we find increasingly, and you know it better than I do, some of you younger ones, we find it increasingly that it is a selfish world. Oh yes, there are people that will help you out now and then and there are people that will do kind deeds. If you start out to cross the street here in America and in Canada, generally speaking, someone will stop and let you pass. There are people who are courteous.
But generally speaking.
It's a dog eat dog world out there, isn't it? People are selfish. People look after themselves 1St and then if there's anything leftover then maybe I'll do something for someone else. And increasingly you and I are finding that attitude overtakes this world so that the love of me, the love of self, is not merely being tolerated, but it is being, it is being proclaimed.
And exalted as the right thing to do.
But as a brother used to tell us back many years ago, the wisdom of God is not merely an improvement on man's wisdom.
It is the direct opposite of it, and the wisdom of God that we find in the Word of God is exemplified in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we get it in Philippians chapter 2, the one who was the only one that had a right to a reputation made himself of no reputation. The one who had a right to everything took a place of having nothing, and went down, down, down, down, all the way to the death of the cross.
That is the way the world thinks, and that is the way God's wisdom thinks. Now you and I are told to overcome evil with good.
I say it to you, in order to overcome evil with good, we are going to have to go down. The world says be proud of yourself, be proud of what you're doing, be proud of who you are. The word of God says not in so many words, but in principle, every form of pride. Excuse me?
Every form of pride is wrong and ought to be condemned. Pride is at the very top of the list of things that is or that are an abomination to the Lord. So let us remember that in order to be an overcomer and overcome evil with good, we have to be ready to go down.
But once we are ready to go down, then we will find ourselves in a position to meet the world and to overcome evil with good.
And it's very interesting to me that even the world is beginning to recognize that, although they have no power to carry it out, but in some cases they're beginning to recognize it. Let me tell a story. And this actually is a true story that I read not too long ago. It's not a Christian story. As far as I know, the individuals were not believers. But it indicates how even the world recognizes the importance of this scriptural principle.
There were two girls in their early teens who in their school were both on the basketball team.
And both were good basketball players, but one of them was exceptionally good.
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And as the season went on, the one that was exceptionally good, Needless to say, scored most of the points for her team more than any other single player.
And as a result, as sad to say often happens, it stirred up in her friend, who was also on the team, a spirit of resentment. She's just a little too good. She's getting all the glory. She's getting all the kudos, all the clapping, all the tears. She's scoring more points than any other player.
And I don't like it.
Is that natural to our own hearts? I'm afraid it is, we have to admit. Well, as a result, that friend who was becoming resentful refused to pass the ball to her good friend that could play well. And every time she had the ball, even if her friend was there in a wide open area where she could pass it to her very well and where she could score a point, she wouldn't pass it to her. She would wait, she would bounce the ball, she would turn around, she would look for somebody else.
Do anything but pass it to that one who was just a little too good.
Well, naturally that was noticed and it had its effect on the team. And finally the girl that was a good player went home to her father and said, dad, what am I going to do? How do I handle this? She's my friend, but no, she doesn't like me. And I'm not trying to do anything wrong, but I just, I'm just playing my best.
Her father gave her some wise advice, she said. Her father said you know what you do? Every time you get the chance, you pass the ball to her. Every time she's in the clear and you have the chance, you pass the ball to her as often as you can.
Well, she apparently went out on the court at the next game, and of course the opportunity presented itself and the conflict in her heart was something else.
There was the opening, there was the chance, and she kept hesitating, and finally her father shouted at her from the bleachers, past the ball to her.
And she did.
And she did it repeatedly, and she recorded afterward. It worked, it worked. Her friend started to score a few points, her friend started to get the claps, her friends started to get the cheers. And lo and behold, without any asking, without any fanfare, her friends started to pass the ball to her again. And the friendship was rekindled and the team was doing better.
Things got well.
That was a worldly illustration, but for you and for me, it has some wisdom in it because it's the wisdom of the word of God. Overcome evil with good. You know, it tells us out in this world.
That we are.
Not to get mad. The world has a saying, don't get mad, get even. Have you heard that one? I think you have. Don't get mad, get even. And I remember a father, a worldly father one time boasting to me. He said my daughter doesn't.
Nearly get mad, she gets mad and gets even. She does both as if, boy, she's she's, she's got to give somebody a double whammy as we would say no, no, the word of God says let none render evil to evil unto any man.
Overcome evil with good.
You and I can afford to overcome evil with good because we have something the world doesn't have. And if I look at every man and woman in this world who isn't saved as someone who's on the way to a lost eternity, it will enable me to do them good.
Even if it brings me down and I suffer loss as a result of it. Why? Because it gives me a chance to tell them about Christ. It gives me a chance to tell them about Christ. I ought not to be the friend of the world in the sense that I will be an enemy with God.
John's epistle tells us that. But I ought to be, in one other sense, the world's best friend, because if someone in the world needs help, the Christian ought to be the first one there. And I've told this story before, but it happened in India about 15 years ago, where there was a terrible earthquake up in the state of Gujarat in northwest India. And who rallied to their defense and helped all the believers from all over India, including some who were gathered to the Lord's name. They ran up there.
Food and clean water and shelter and blankets and help to dig people out of the rubble and help them get reestablished. It had a tremendous effect because people said, look at that, the government here tells us how bad these Christians are and that we need to get rid of them. But when the chips are down and we really need help, who comes to our help? The Christians? And it had a tremendous effect and many, I believe, were brought to Christ through it.
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Overcome evil with good.
But may I touch on something sensitive?
Does it have a place?
Among the Lord's people and in the assembly. Overcoming evil with good.
We sometimes hear the defense, but we have to do what's right before the Lord.
I can remember many years ago having a discussion with a sister whom I knew well.
And there were problems and difficulties in the assembly where she was.
And I knew her well enough to know that her attitude was not what it should have been.
And when we talked a little bit, because I knew her well and there was no bad feeling between us, I can still hear her response over and over again. But we have to do what's right before the Lord. We have to do what's right before the Lord. We have to do what's right before the Lord.
I wouldn't take away from that for one moment.
But it's interesting, isn't it, that if we were to go to Galatians chapter 5 and read about the fruits of the Spirit, it's interesting that righteousness is not one of them.
Does that mean the believer is not to be righteous? Of course not. But why does it not say that righteousness is a fruit of the Spirit? Oh, because I believe, if I could say it this way, that Paul, he doesn't need to say that righteousness should undergird everything, but there is the danger of righteousness overtaking that which is of supreme importance.
Lovejoy.
Peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
All of those things.
No, the Pharisees stood for righteousness too, and the Lord had to accuse them of neglecting the weightier matters of the law.
May I suggest to my own heart more than any other, that there is a danger.
Among ourselves of not doing that, the danger of neglecting those weightier matters, the fruits of the Spirit.
Yes, we should not neglect righteousness. That goes without saying. Absolutely not. But the one who exhibits the fruits of the Spirit in grace will never stoop to compromising what is right, because those fruits cannot be born in an atmosphere of unrighteousness. It cannot be.
But righteousness can be emphasized at the expense of those fruits, and it reminds me of what an old brother said many years ago in writing on the subject. He said it is not righteousness that reigns among the people of God.
But rather, according to Romans 5, grace reigns through righteousness. There is a big difference. Overcome evil with good, and when I overcome evil with good. Oh, that is the spirit of the blessed Lord and Master who marked out the path before us. And He did. The Lord Jesus did not merely have the negative side of not being overcome of evil.
But he overcame evil with good.
No, I don't want to be misunderstood. Is there room for a rebuke At times, yes, there is. Is there room for correction at times? Yes, there is.
But I thought it was good the way our brother Steve mentioned the woman at the well. Did she need a bit of a rebuke? Yes, she did. She wanted to talk religion while she was living a sinful life. But the Lord didn't have to review her openly, did he? He simply quietly exposed her lifestyle, and her conscience did the rest.
But then did she say, as perhaps many people would say, well, I don't want to be around this man. He knows too much. He knows all about me. I don't want to be around him too long.
No, what? Why did she not run away and say, OK Sir, you got your drink, we'll see you maybe later. No. Oh, there was something in the approach of that beloved master, the Lord Jesus the captivated her heart and his brother Steve said She started asking questions and she got answers. May you and me overcome evil with good to the point.
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That not only this world, but our dear beloved brethren.
Will want to know more, will want us to be a help to them, and maybe they be a help to us too in overcoming evil with good.