Amen. Alright, well we're there in Ezekiel chapter 25, and on Wednesday nights we've been studying through the book of Ezekiel, of course, going chapter by chapter, taking one chapter a week.
And we are officially over the halfway mark in Ezekiel. So we've got 48 chapters, and we are now in the 25th chapter, so that's good.
I don't know if that's good, or what that is. Maybe that's encouraging, or maybe that's discouraging, like we're more than halfway there, or we're only halfway there, you know.
I'm not sure how that goes, but anyway, in chapter 25 we actually begin a new section in the book of Ezekiel.
As we've been going through Ezekiel, I've been kind of letting you know the different sections, where there's themes, and up to this point,
Ezekiel has been primarily focused on Judea, and on the children of Israel, but between chapters 25 and 32, he turns his attention towards the nation surrounding the nation of Israel.
So he is going to begin preaching judgment against the nation surrounding the nation of Israel, and in chapter 25 he actually talks about Ammon, and Moab, and Edom, and Philistia, or the Philistines.
And in chapters 26 and 27 he deals with Tyre, in chapter 28 he deals with Zidon, and in chapters 29 through 32 he deals with Egypt.
So this is a section where he's dealing with not Israel anymore, but the nation surrounding Israel, and as we go through this chapter, and as we go through and look at the judgments of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia,
you'll notice that there's a little bit of a theme, and I'll point that out to you, but I want you to notice, and if you're taking notes, and I encourage you to take notes, especially on Wednesday nights for Bible study, as we kind of outline these chapters to help you understand Ezekiel,
the point, you know, if you've been with us through half of the book of Ezekiel, the point of these Wednesday night Bible studies is for you to take notes, is for you to outline the chapter, for you to be able to later on, when you're reading through the book of Ezekiel,
you're not just coming into chapter 25 just not knowing what's going on, but you'll have some notes hopefully, maybe in the margin of your Bible, or if you have a notebook or something you keep, of course there's always the course of the week, on the back of there you've got a place for sermon notes,
but I want you to notice we begin the chapter with the judgment of Ammon, and if you're taking notes, I'd like you to write this down, we see the judgment of Ammon, but if you want to write this in parentheses, or if you want to write kind of colon and write this to the side,
with the judgment of Ammon we see the sin of rejoicing and the destruction of others, what's highlighted in this chapter is the fact that there is a sin and rejoicing in the destruction of other people, notice verse number one there,
Ezekiel 25 and verse one, the Bible says this, the word of the Lord came again unto me saying, son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, so that's who's first up in this list of nations where he's going to judge,
he says set thy face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them, notice verse three, and say unto the Ammonites, hear the word of the Lord God, thus saith the Lord God,
notice what he says, he says because thou saidest aha against my sanctuary when it was profaned and against the land of Israel when it was desolate and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity,
he's saying look, I'm going to bring judgment on you because of the fact that when you saw the sanctuary being destroyed, when you saw the land being profaned, when you saw that I came against the land of Israel and I made it desolate
and I went against the house of Judah and brought them in captivity, you rejoiced over it, you were happy to hear it, in fact look at verse number six, it says for thus saith the Lord God, because thou has clapped thine hands and stamped with thy feet and rejoiced in heart with all thy despites against the land of Israel
and the idea there is kind of, I envision if you go to a ball game or something and people are clapping and they're happy and they're rooting this on, he's saying you watched the destruction of my people and you rejoiced over it, you rejoiced over their destruction
and God is telling us here that it is actually a sin to rejoice over the destruction of others, it's a sin to take pleasure in the calamities of others, in the problems of others, even if you consider them your enemy
and you say well why does it matter or why should I not rejoice, well here's the thing, if you rejoice over the destruction of your enemies, God might turn on you
in fact this is exactly what happens, notice verse three again, it says in saying to the Ammonites, hear the word of the Lord, thus saith the Lord God, because thou set us against my sanctuary when it was profaned and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity
verse four, behold therefore, he says for that reason I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession and they shall set their palaces in thee and make their dwellings in thee, they shall eat thy fruit and they shall drink thy milk
here's what God's saying, God's saying I was dealing with Judah but then I saw you clapping and rejoicing over the judgment and he said now I'm going to turn on you, he said now I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, he says you're going to belong to them, they're going to set their palaces in thee, they're going to make their dwellings in thee, they're going to eat thy fruit and they shall drink thy milk
notice verse five, he says and I will make Rabah, this is a chief city of the Ammonites, he said I will make Rabah a stable for camels and the Ammonites a crouching place for flocks and he shall know that I am the Lord
see God does not take lightly this idea of rejoicing and rejoicing over the judgment and destruction of others, notice verse seven, he says behold therefore
because remember in verse six, he said for thus saith the Lord God because I was clapped thine hands and stamped with thy feet and rejoiced in thy heart with all thy despot against the land of Israel
verse seven, he says behold therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, I will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen and I will cut thee off from the people
and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries, I will destroy thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord
now keep your place there in Ezekiel 25 and let me show this principle to you in other scriptures, go to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 17
if you open your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms, right after Psalms you have the book of Proverbs
and here's what you need to understand, God is upset with the nation of Israel but then he gets upset at the Ammonites for rejoicing over their destruction
and what God is teaching us is that God does not like it when we rejoice over the destruction of our enemies
because the Ammonites and the nation of Israel considered themselves enemies and look, he's saying it doesn't matter if someone's your enemy, it doesn't matter if you don't like someone
if you dislike someone, he's saying if God brings judgment upon that individual, the proper response is for us to just, either for our hearts to be broken for it or to just stay out of it
to stay quiet, but God says when you sit there and you clap and you rejoice and you're happy that God is destroying someone else, God might turn his attention towards you
Proverbs 17, you say well, is this just about Ammon and the nation of Israel? But notice, I want you to notice what the book of Proverbs teaches about this
Proverbs 17 and verse 5, Proverbs 17 5 says this, who so mocketh the poor reproaches his maker, notice the last part of verse 5
and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. God says look, if you're glad when calamities happen, if you're glad when bad things happen to people
if you're glad, you say well, they're my enemy. He says look, you know what, if you're happy and rejoicing when bad things happen to other people, he says you're not going to go unpunished for that
and that's exactly what we see in Ezekiel 25. The Ammonites are rejoicing and happy and glad, they're clapping their hands and stopping their feet
they're saying aha, you know, great, this is wonderful that God is judging the nation of Judah and then God turns his attention and says you know what, I'm gonna take the men of the east while they're already in the neighborhood
I'm gonna take the men of the east and I'm gonna turn them against you. Why? Because he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. Go to Proverbs 24, notice verse number 17
Proverbs 24 verse 16, so here's the application for us, you know what, as Christians and as believers, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the God of the Bible
when it comes to dealing with our enemies and people that we dislike, we need to be good sports
you know, we should not rejoice and be happy and be glad when bad things happen to people that we don't like, Proverbs 24 and verse 17, notice what the Bible says
Proverbs 24 17 says this, rejoice not, look, you say well I don't know that verse you showed us in Proverbs 17, I don't know, don't be glad at calamities, I don't know if that really applies
well notice how clear Proverbs 24 17 is, rejoice not when thine enemy falleth and let not thine heart be glad when he's thumbless
God says don't even allow your heart to be glad, look, the guy you don't like at work and he didn't get that promotion, don't let your heart, well good, I'm glad he didn't get the promotion
God says look, you ought not rejoice when your enemy falleth and let not thine heart be glad when he's thumbless, you say why, verse 18
lest, the word lest means in case that or to avoid the risk of, he says lest the Lord see it and it displease him and he, talking about the Lord, turn away his wrath from him, talking about your enemy
God says look, I might be destroying your enemy, I might be judging your enemy, I might be bringing judgment upon your enemy and then you take a situation that has nothing to do with you
and because you and your heart allowed yourself to be glad, you and your heart rejoiced over the fall of your enemy, now God says you know what, now I'm not even mad at them anymore, I'm just going to turn my attention to you
and what we learn is this from the judgment of Ammon is that there is a sin in rejoicing in the destruction of others, there is a sin and I'm going to make this, I want to make this point and I'll go ahead and state it now
because I feel like whenever we talk about these things we have to make this clear, this is talking about your enemies, my enemies, people that you don't like, people that I don't like, people that don't like you and people that don't like me
this is not a reference to the enemies of God, alright, we're not talking about the enemies of the Lord and I'll prove to you why that is because we just went through Proverbs, right
Proverbs 24 17, rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, notice when thine enemy falleth and let not thine heart be glad when he, thine enemy, stumbleth lest the Lord see it and it displease him and he turn away his wrath from him
He says he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished, Proverbs 17 5 but go to Proverbs chapter 1, Proverbs chapter 1 and you might see something in Proverbs 1 that may seem like a contradiction but it's not a contradiction at all
because you need to understand that there is a difference between how we deal with our enemies, how we deal with our people we don't like, people we dislike and how we deal with the enemies of God and how God deals with the enemies of God
Look, reprobates are the enemies of God and I don't have time to reach through Romans 1 or explain that but those who reject the Lord, who reject God, who refuse to acknowledge God eventually when they reject them long enough God rejects them
He gives them over to a reprobate mind and those are the enemies of the Lord and Proverbs chapter 1 we get a picture of the reprobate doctrine, it's interesting how you can find the reprobate doctrine all throughout scripture
It's not just Romans 1, you know Romans 1 is just where the word reprobate is used but you can find the concept of a reprobate throughout scripture, notice Proverbs 1 24, notice what the Bible says, Proverbs chapter 1 verse 24 says this
Now in Proverbs 1 we have wisdom being personified, alright so it's wisdom talking, it's just a poetic type of literature that's being written here
Of course we know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but we have wisdom talking and here's what wisdom says
It says because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have said at naught, the word naught means nothing, he's saying you have said at naught, you've looked at, he says you have said at naught all my counsel, he said you've looked at my counsel like it was nothing
And would none of my reproof, he said I tried to reproof you and you wouldn't have any of it, you didn't want anything, so look these people had wisdom trying to reach out to them, wisdom called and they refused
Wisdom stretched out her hand and they did not regard, she offered her counsel and they said it at naught, she offered a reproof and they would none of it, notice verse 26
I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh, when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you then shall they call upon me
Look doesn't my will say that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved? But here he says then they shall call upon me but I will not answer, they shall seek me early but they shall not find me
You say what is that talking about? It's talking about a reprobate, it's talking about the fact and you say well don't they get a chance? Yeah they had their chance in verse 24
They refused, they did not regard, they rejected it, they rejected it, they rejected it and eventually God gives them over to a reprobate mind and you know what God says?
You say how does he deal with judgment coming upon wicked reprobates? He says that he laughs at their calamity, he mocks when their fear coming
Look those who hate the Lord should never be our friends, they should never be someone we feel sorry for, they should never be someone
Look if they hate the Lord then they are the enemies of God then we should hate them, that's what the Bible says
The Bible says that we should hate the enemies of God but you know what your enemy? The Bible says you should love your enemy
Now you should not love those who hate the Lord but you know that we have to differentiate the fact that not everyone who dislikes you necessarily dislikes God
They might just dislike you because you're a jerk, they might just dislike you because you say stupid things, they might just dislike you because your people skills are poor
They might just dislike you because you're selfish, there's lots of people who might dislike you but they don't necessarily dislike God
Well when bad things happen to those people you better not rejoice, you better not be happy in your heart, be glad in your heart
Because God might just turn his attention off of them and turn his attention on you
But when God brings judgment upon wicked reprobates, look if some sick disgusting pedophile has his head bashed in prison, praise the Lord
Praise God, an enemy of God, you know what when they die and go to hell, rejoice over that
I will laugh at their calamity, I will mock when their fear coming, if they're haters of God, if they've rejected God
But just some guy you don't like at work, just some lady you don't like at church or whatever
The Bible says when God judges your enemy, make sure that you don't allow your heart to rejoice because God says that that will not go unpunished
Go to Romans chapter 12, keep your place there in Proverbs because we're going to come back to it
Let me see if we're going to come back to it or not, actually I don't think we're coming back to Proverbs
You can lose your place there if you need to, but go to Romans chapter 12 in the New Testament
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, you say well what's the big deal, why does God not allow us or God does not want us to mock or to be glad or to rejoice when our enemy falls
When our enemy stumbles, well here's why, because God has told us exactly how we are to deal with our enemies
Romans chapter 12 and verse 20, notice what the Bible says
Therefore if thine enemy, again notice it's not God's enemy, it's thine enemy
And remember the enemies of God, those who hate God, the Bible says do not I hate them O Lord that hate thee
And do not I not grieve with those that rise up against thee, he said I hate them with a perfect hatred
So we are to hate the enemies of the Lord, but your enemy, here's what the Bible says in Romans 12, 20
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt he calls a fire on his head
Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good
So look, when your enemy loses their job, you're not supposed to be glad that they lost their job, actually you're supposed to feed them
If thine enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink
Jesus taught this in the Gospels, the fact that we have to love our enemies and pray for them that despitefully use us
So what we learn here, and look, you're not going to feed your enemy while you're rejoicing over the fact that they lost their job
Or while you're rejoicing over the fact that they had some calamity happen in their life
Or while you're rejoicing and glad, and look, this is what the Bible is teaching, as Christians we ought to be good sports, we ought not be spiteful
We ought not be these negative, spiteful people, I'm glad that their marriage fell apart
I'm glad that their kids went to prison, I'm glad that they lost their job, I'm glad that bad thing
Look, if it's your enemy, you ought to love them, you ought to pray for them, you ought to try to help them
You ought to learn to not be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good
And just, you need to have discernment to understand the difference between an enemy of the Lord and a personal enemy
So we have the judgment of Ammon, and we learn the sin of rejoicing in the destruction of others
So you know what, and go back to Ezekiel 25, so here's the thing, when judgment comes upon people that are just normal people
I don't have any reason to believe that they're wicked reprobates or whatever, I'm not going to rejoice over that
My heart's going to break over them, I'm going to be concerned for their salvation
When judgment comes upon wicked reprobates and we can see that they're reprobates based off what scripture says, then you know what, I'm not going to shed a tear
It's going to be fine, and you say, well I don't understand how you can do that, because this is what the Bible teaches
You know as Christians we need to just learn to grow up and to realize that God tells us exactly how we ought to think and feel about everything
And you need to just understand that God's way is always right, you're wrong
What Barney taught you and what Mr. Rogers taught you might have been wrong
And God's right, and there is a time to love and there is a time to hate, that's what the Bible says
Ezekiel 25, so we see the judgment of Ammon, what was it? The sin of rejoicing in the misery of others
But then we see the judgment of Moab and Edom, so what's the judgment of Moab and Edom?
The judgment of Moab and Edom, if you'd like to write this down, is the sin of taking revenge upon others
Notice Ezekiel 25 and verse 8
Ezekiel 25 says this, thus saith the Lord God, because here's our next nation in line, Moab
And here's our third nation in line, Seir, and Seir is the mount that is in Edom, so this is talking about the nation of Edom
He says, do say behold the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen, therefore behold I will open the side of Moab
And let me say this, Moab and Seir are looking at Judah and they're saying they're like unto all the heathen
When they saw that they were getting chastised, then they were saying like, oh see they're not special, they're like all the other heathen
And what happens is that God says in verse 9, therefore behold I will open the side of Moab, and he talks about the fact that he's going to judge them
Couple things to just consider there, number one, just because you're a child of God doesn't make you immune from the judgment of God
Now look, God's never going to send you to hell if you're saved, but that doesn't mean he's not going to take his spiritual belt off and spank you
It doesn't mean that he's not going to chastise you and correct you on this earth
So, you know, don't look at someone who's getting chastised and say, oh well they must have never been saved, they're just like the heathen
No, actually you know what, the fact that they're getting chastised by God might be the best proof that they are saved
Because their heavenly Father is treating them and disciplining them like a child
But here they said they're like unto the heathen, they're like everyone else
Then God says, therefore behold I will open the side of Moab from the cities, and from the cities which are unto this frontier
The glory of the country, Beth-jeshemosh, Baal-meon, and Kirathayim, notice verse 10
Unto the men of the east, remember you mentioned that for Moab, with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations
I will execute judgment upon Moab, and they shall know that I am the Lord
Thus saith the Lord God, because that Edom, because remember he's talking about Moab and Edom, he's saying I'm going to bring judgment
You say why is he doing that, why is he bringing judgment, here's why
Because that Edom had dealt against the house of Judah, notice, I want you to notice these words
By taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended and, notice these words, revenged himself upon them
So Moab saw the destruction of God and they rejoiced, right, they were spiteful, they just were glad to see it happen
And then God said you know what, I'm going to punish you now
But Moab and Edom, they took it a step further, they saw the judgment of God coming upon Judah and they took it as an opportunity to get their revenge
They saw that Judah was down, so they proceeded to kick them while they were down
They took vengeance, they couldn't have taken vengeance before, but now that Babylon, the big bully, was in town
Now they took their opportunity and the Bible says there, they shall know that I am the Lord, excuse me, verse 12
Thus saith the Lord God, because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended and revenged himself upon them
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom and will cut off man and beast from it
And I will make it desolate from Teman, and they of Dedan shall fought by the sword, and I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel
Don't miss that, God says you know what, you took vengeance on my people while they were down, but one day they're going to come back and I'm going to use them to take vengeance on you
And they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury, and they shall know my vengeance
Thus saith the Lord God, and here's what God is saying, he's saying when you take revenge upon others, then God will take revenge upon you
I'm not sure if you kept your place in Romans, I meant to ask you to keep your place in Romans, but can you get back to Romans chapter 12?
So we see first of all the sin of rejoicing and the misery of others, but we see secondly the sin of taking revenge upon others
Look, the Bible teaches that we are not looking for opportunities to just get revenge on people and to just have vengeance on people
And obviously if they've broken the law and the law can be used against them, then great, praise the Lord, the Bible teaches that, but you're not to take the law into your own hands
And I don't have time to develop this, but that's actually what Jesus was teaching in the Gospels when he talked about you have heard that it had been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you and he's telling them not to do
Here's the problem, people say see you're not supposed to do an eye for an eye, the problem with that is that the Old Testament law taught an eye for an eye
What Jesus was saying is that the law teaches an eye for an eye, but you're not supposed to just yourself then be the judge and the jury and the executioner and take it upon yourself to do that
Saying allow the law to have its process, allow the law to do what it's supposed to do, but as a personal individual you're not supposed to just want to take revenge upon others and looking for opportunities to take vengeance upon those that have hurt you
Notice what the Bible says, recompense to no man evil for evil, provide things honest on the side for all men
Here's what the Bible says, you're not supposed to, well they hurt me so I'm gonna hurt them, he says recompense to no man evil for evil
Verse 18, if it be possible as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men
Verse 19, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, why? For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, save the Lord
He says look, you don't have to take vengeance upon yourself, if you believe that there is a God in heaven, he will take vengeance
If you've been done wrong, if someone has hurt you, if someone has done something wrong to you and you, the Bible says that you're not supposed to take it upon yourself to just look for opportunities
Now that they're suffering, I'm gonna kick them while they're down, in fact God says, you know what, you need to give place unto wrath
You need to take wrath and put it somewhere, why? Because vengeance is mine, I will repay, save the Lord
And you just have to believe that God in his power is going to make all things right
And you know what, you may not ever even know when that individual gets what's coming to them, but God says I will repay
I will take care of it, he says recompense to no man evil for evil, go to 1 Peter chapter 3
If you start at the end of the book of Revelation towards the end of the New Testament and you head back, you'll go back from Revelation, Jude, 3 John, 2 Peter
And you know what, in every area of life, you need to learn to live your life with this principle, recompense to no man evil for evil
Because people live their lives this way, where it's like somebody says something wrong to me, so then I have to say something wrong to them
And then they say something back, and so then I have to do it, then they did this, and they just live their lives like that
And there's just this negative, spiteful, depressing life, where it's like they're just gonna make sure that, they always get the last word
They're gonna make sure that the record's always set straight, they're gonna make sure, that's a sad way to live your life
And you know, honestly, as a pastor, I mean I have people attack me online, and people are always getting mad at me like, well why don't you fight them
It's like, you know what, I've got better things to do, than to just live my life just trying to correct every, well they said this and that wasn't really accurate
And they said this about me and that wasn't right, you know if you live your life that way, you're gonna live a miserable life
You know, a better way to live your life is just to say, if I've been done wrong, God will deal with it
And when I suffer wrongly, I'm the most like Christ that I'll ever be
When I allow myself to suffer wrongly, and here's the truth of the matter, you know what, we deserve to die and go to hell
You say, well people do you wrong, you know what, when I consider the fact that I'm not gonna spend eternity in hell, I can just live with it
I can live with the fact that God says vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord
And if you just live your life, look, people live their lives like this, at work, in their marriages, with their children, with their parents
Just this constant going back and forth, going back and forth
Look, when Jesus said turn the other cheek, you know what that means, is that at some point someone's gotta say like, we're done
I'm not getting revenge, I'm not continuing this, we're just gonna finish it here, we're just gonna let God deal with it
Vengeance is mine, I will repay
Are they on 1 Peter 3, look at verse 9
Not rendering evil for evil
And look, I'm just showing you a couple passages, we go to Proverbs and see the same thing, we go to all sorts of different places
He says not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, or Facebook post for Facebook post, or YouTube video for YouTube video, whatever
Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, he says but contra wise, he says actually to the contrary, blessing
He says when they do evil to you, when they rail at you, just bless them
That's what he says
He says love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you
Look, this is New Testament Christianity
And this is where the rubber actually meets the road, people like to think like, oh I love New Testament Christianity because I dress right, and I'm all for dressing right
And I preach on dressing right, and I think you ought to dress right, and I think your music ought to be right, I think your standards ought to be right
But if you base your godliness and Christianity off of what you don't watch on TV, or what you don't wear, or what you don't allow your kids to wear, or where you don't allow your kids to go
That's fine, but you know what, that's basics, that's Christianity 101
You want to get to advanced Christianity? Here's advanced Christianity not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contra wise, blessing
When someone hurts you, when they lie about you, when they humiliate you, when they try to make you look bad, you don't sit there and just fight back
You actually just say, you know what, God will deal with it
Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord
Well what do you do? Well you do the contrary, you bless them
Knowing that ye are there unto called, that ye should inherit a blessing
Look, don't miss that, are you looking at it in verse 9? Here's what God says
There is a special blessing, there is a special blessing for those who do not render evil for evil
There is a special blessing for those who do not get involved in these little tit for tat fights
And I'm going to make sure that the story's told right, and I'm going to make sure that everybody knows my side
God says there is a special blessing knowing that ye are there unto called, that ye should inherit a blessing
As a pastor sometimes I have people trying to pull me into fights and I just kind of ignore it or whatever
And you know what's funny? At the end of the day, we end up looking better
We end up looking more mature, we end up being blessed
Because God says look, there is a blessing in not allowing yourself to be pulled into this idea that I have to make everything right
That I have to take every opportunity to seek revenge
That I'm not going to let him, or I'm not going to let her, or I'm not going to let them
There is a blessing, wouldn't you say that Joseph was blessed? But you know, Joseph did not seek vengeance
In fact, when he had the opportunity, and you know what he said to them? He said, you know what, God's going to deal with it
He said, am I in the place of God? Is that what Joseph said?
When he had the opportunity to have vengeance on his brothers, he said, am I in the place of God?
He said he meant it for evil, but God meant it for good
And there was a blessing for those who seek to refuse revenge
Notice verse 11, 1 Peter 3.11
Let him eschew evil and do good
He's avoiding evil and he wants to do good
Let him seek peace and ensue it
The word ensue means to make it happen
He's going to seek peace, but he's going to make peace happen
He's going to seek peace, but he's just going to make the peace
Didn't Jesus say, blessed are the peacemakers?
For they shall inherit the kingdom of God
So we see the judgment of Ammon, and it's the sin of rejoicing and the mystery of others
We see the judgment of Moab and Edom, it's the sin of taking revenge upon others
Keep your place there in 1 Peter, we're going to come back towards that part of scripture
But go back to Ezekiel 25
Let me give you the third one
We see the judgment of the Philistines
What's the judgment of the Philistines?
We saw the sin of rejoicing and the mystery of others
We saw the sin of taking revenge upon others
Here's point number 3, the judgment of the Philistines
This is the sin of having resentful feelings against others
And this is bitterness
Notice verse 15
Thus saith the Lord God, because the Philistines
So here's our fourth nation
Have dealt by revenge, right?
And that's what the previous nations dealt with, Moab and Edom
I want you to notice what God says about the Philistines
And have taken vengeance
So they did the same thing, they took vengeance, they took revenge
But I want you to notice what he says about the Philistines
With a despiteful heart
To destroy it for, I want you to notice these words
For the old hatred
He says the Philistines, it wasn't just that they were enemies
It wasn't just that they had ill feelings
They had a despiteful heart
They had old hatred
Here's what that means
They were carrying around some hatred for a long time
He calls it old hatred
They've been carrying this with them for a while
This bitterness, this resentfulness, this hatred towards the nation of Israel
Notice verse 16
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines
And I will cut off the charitims and destroy the remnant of the sea coast
And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebuke
And they shall know that I am the Lord when I shall lay my vengeance upon them
Why was God mad at them?
Because of the fact that they had a despiteful heart
Because of the fact that they had old hatred
What was it?
They were resentful and they were bitter
If you kept your place in 1 Peter, go to the book of Hebrews
If you go from 1 Peter you've got James and then Hebrews
Hebrews chapter 12
We're going to look at two passages and we'll finish up
Hebrews chapter 12
He's saying, look, there's a sin in being bitter
There's a sin in being bitter
And these things go together
Because why do people get bitter?
They get bitter because there's some sort of injustice done to them
Whether it's legitimate or not
Whether it's a legitimate injustice
I was innocent and they hurt me
Or it might even just be a perceived injustice
Where maybe if you heard the other side of the story you'd get a better understanding
But where someone feels like they've been done wrong
But because they don't have the authority
Or they don't have the law on their side
Or they don't have the ability to be able to get revenge
What happens?
They just get angry
And angry
And they just fixate on it
And they just think about it
And they just allow it to consume it
And they carry this despiteful heart
They carry this old hatred
And look, I'm not minimizing the fact that there's been some people that have been hurt
They've been taken advantage of
They've been violated
And it wasn't their fault
And they were innocent
They didn't ask for it
But the problem with bitterness
Someone said that bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping the other guy will fall over dead
The problem with bitterness is that bitterness will only hurt you
Are you there in Hebrews 12?
Look at verse 15
Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 15 says this looking diligently
Lest any man fail of the grace of God
Lest any
Notice this wording
Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble him
Is that what it says?
Trouble her
Is that what it says?
Trouble your wife
Trouble your husband
Trouble your mom
Trouble your dad
Trouble your stepdad
Trouble your stepmom
Trouble that pastor that hurt you
What does it say?
It says less any root of bitterness springing up trouble you
Why?
Because bitterness will only trouble you
It will only hurt you
See, I'm bitter
You're only hurting yourself
And thereby many be defiled
See, bitterness hurts you and those around you
But never the person you're bitter towards
Go to Ephesians chapter 4
Ephesians chapter 4
If you remember where Romans was or if you had your place in Romans there
You got I, II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians
Ephesians chapter 4
See, here's what you need to understand about bitterness
Is that the idea of letting bitterness go
Does not mean that you let go of the fact that there should be justice
But sometimes, like Joseph
You have to realize that I'm 17 years old
I've been sold into slavery
I'm here at Potiphar's house
I've got no way, I've got nothing to do
I've got no authority, no access, no ability
To make things right
So what do you do?
Well, notice Joseph is a great case study for this
Because what is it that Joseph did in his life?
There's two things
One, he kept busy
If you study the life of Joseph
Everywhere he goes, he's working
Everywhere he goes, he's serving
Everywhere he goes, he's helping
He doesn't lay in bed depressed, angry, upset
If you knew my story
If you knew what happened to me
And look, some people live their lives that way
And look, you might get up here
If you got up here and I gave you the mic
And you told us your story
We probably would agree with you
We'd probably empathize with you
We'd probably say, yeah, that really
Man, that stinks, that's terrible
I can't believe he did that
I can't believe she did that
I can't believe they said that
I can't believe
It may be legit
But bitterness is only hurting you
Say, but if it's a legit wrong
How do I deal with it?
You get busy serving others
And you trust that God will deal with it
Because vengeance is mine
Sayeth the Lord, I will repay
And remember Joseph
He said, am I in the place of God?
See, Joseph just realized that God will deal with it
God will care for it
God will take care of it
And there's no point of being fixated on it
Ephesians chapter 4, look at verse 31
Ephesians 4, 31 says this
Let all bitterness
Now this is just one thing in a list of things here
But I want you to notice bitterness is mentioned
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor
And evil speaking be put away
Those words there, put away
The same words are translated throughout our King James Bible
As to take away, to remove
He says, be put away from you with all malice
Here's what he's saying
Let all bitterness be taken away
Be removed, be put away from you
And as a pastor, I've actually learned
My wife and I have had to learn to just deal with bitterness
Because as a pastor, I've found that sometimes
You give your time to people
You give your energy to people
You give your love to people
You give them, you know, you try to help people
Just to have them turn around and stab you in the back
And you say, pastor, you know
Is there a potential there for you to become bitter?
There is a huge potential there for people to
In fact, you know, honestly
I would say most pastors and pastors' wives in America
Are bitter people
A lot of pastors and pastors' wives
Are just bitter
And you can't blame them
You hear their stories and you're like, yeah, I get it
Say, so what do you do with it?
Here's what you do
Literally, it's not that hard
I'm helping you out
You stop thinking about it
You just stop thinking about it
You just don't sit there and fixate on
I can't believe that guy
And I can't believe she
And they lied and they
You just, you know what?
You just tell yourself
God will deal with it
And you just move on and you stop thinking about it
And you know what?
You just let God deal with them
And you let God
And if you've got authority
If you've got ability
If there's something you can do
To bring justice and do it
But if you're in a place where I've just been hurt
And there's nothing I can do
Then you know what?
You just stop fixating on it
Like Joseph, you get to work
And you let God deal with it
Let all bitterness be put away from you
With all malice
You say, why?
Because the root of bitterness will only trouble you
It'll only hurt you
It'll only affect you
So we see in this chapter
The judgment of amen
The sin of rejoicing
And the misery of others
Look, you've got enemies
People you don't like
Things don't go their way
Don't get glad in your heart
Don't allow yourself to rejoice
Why?
Because God might turn his attention on you
Now we're not talking about the enemies of the Lord
We're talking about your enemies and my enemies
We saw the judgment of Moab and Edom
The sin of taking revenge upon others
And again, an eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth is legit
If you can do it legitimately
Through the right processes
Through the right authority structures
Then do it
But you ought not be taking vengeance upon yourself
God says, my dearly beloved
Avenge not yourselves
And then we see the judgment of the Philistines
The sin of being resentful and bitter
And having old hatred
And carrying that around
Because here's the thing
You're only going to hurt yourself
And at the end of the day
Joseph was on top
And his brothers were at the bottom
And God dealt with it
And it happened
While Joseph led a happy
And productive
And fulfilled
And fruitful life
Why?
Because he did not allow bitterness
To take root in his heart
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your word
Thank you for this chapter
These stories and these applications
That you teach us Lord
I pray that you'd help us
Lord, I realize that
People have been hurt
There have been some messed up situations
There have been some situations
Where a husband or a wife
Or a friend
They were loyal
They were kind
And then they got hurt
And it wasn't their fault
Lord, I pray you'd help them to understand
The wisdom of not allowing bitterness
To take root in their heart
The wisdom of not taking revenge
On ourselves
The wisdom of not rejoicing
In the calamity of others
Lord, that doesn't take away the fact
That vengeance is yours
And you will repay
And Lord, help us to just have faith and believe
That you will make all things right
You will make all things equal
You are the judge of this earth
And you will judge and judge us
And Lord, I pray you'd help us
When we do turn the other cheek
When we are hurt
When we are lied about
When we decide to just
Not render evil for evil
Lord, help us to experience the blessing
That comes with that
The maturity and the spiritual gifts that come with that
Father, we love you
Thank you for this passage
Thank you for these chapters
Thank you for the book of Ezekiel
That is still relevant and applicable today
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray
Amen