A Table Before My Enemies
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The Prince of Life, Isa 55:4, R.V. Four times in the New Testament this title is applied to our Lord, and always in connection with His Resurrection.
See Act 3:14-15; Act 5:31; Heb 2:9-10; Heb 12:2, where the words prince, author, and captain, are various translations of the same Greek word. The meaning of the original word is file leader. He leads out of death into life; out of defeat into victory; out of suffering into perfection; out of the sorrow and pain of discipline into the triumph of the sons of light.
God deals with people in specific ways and the Lord gives insight
4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, A leader and commander to the people.
5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, And nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee Because of the Lord thy God, And for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts: And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, And the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither, But watereth the earth, And maketh it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12 For ye shall go out with joy, And be led forth with peace: The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
God teaches us how He deals with people
vs 7
Our ways and our thoughts are interconnected
God deals with people different than we deal with people
We have to be careful about how much humanism is being operated with in our life
Humanism
There is a battle
Doing What God wants
How God wants
Responding to situations and people the way God wants
Vs 8
Speak of the vastness of the universe
God deals with humanity by His Word
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Isa 45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
God has instructed us how to deal with situations in His Word
God’s word is contrary to your nature
Your flesh is antagonistic to God’s Word
God’s Word is divine
God’s Word is Spiritual
God’s Word is powerful
God’s Word sure
God’s Word accounts His ways
God’s Word accounts His Thoughts
God’s Word describes His Will
God’s Word describes His thoughts
God has called us to operate according to His wisdom
5 Get wisdom, get understanding: Forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: Love her, and she shall keep thee.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: And with all thy getting get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: She shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: A crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
Wisdom can be gotten
Understanding
Are we pursuing God’s Wisdom
We have gotten used to operating in the world’s wisdom
Embrace her - you have to let go of everything else
But that’s not logical
We must be learning the ways of God. -It’s vital
Dealing with your enemies
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
An eye for an eye
Love your enemies
bless those that curse
do good
Pray
17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, And let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
Your natural nature
You will have enemies if you serve the Lord with all your heart
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Avenge not
give place
Vengeance is God’s job
20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Be good to those who are bad
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Enemies are put in your life for a reason
Loving, Faithful, Loyal - then they hurt you
Be good to them
Criticism, hatred,
1 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Sitting at rest - fellowship
In that position of resting in my presence
Sitting in a position of humility
rest
Sitting is not being defeated
Sit by me
I will make thine enemies thy footstool
not that we are above them that we are better than them
Our enemies are tools to be able to demonstrate genuine Christianity
They are under us to support our living of the Christian life
1 Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: Where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?
The Lord humbled himself to
The teaching here is that we are to remain humble and help our enemies.
We are called to meekness and humility
The absence of revenge and anger
no retaliation
We are to love and care for our enemies
Jesus knew he would be turned on and crucified
He humbled himself
Our enemies are necessary for rising to the next level in our spiritual growth.
Job had enemies
Satan was an enemy of Job
Satan was Job’s footstool elevating him into the next level of growth in Job’s life.
Job was elevated to a level never before experienced
Joseph had enemies
The enemies that David fought in the fields watching his father’s sheep, (the lion, the bear) were necessary to elevate David to the position of defeating that loud mouth giant Goliath.
Goliath was an enemy that elevated David to the next level
Elevated to the service of King Saul
Saul became an enemy
Judas - one who walked with Christ, in confidence, became an enemy of Christ
Through Judas’ betrayal Jesus was elevated to to the cross to pay for the sins of all mankind, lowered into the grave, and rose to the highest position at God’s right hand ever interceding for the saints.
Adversity and suffering, if they are approached properly, are footstools to elevate us to the next level of development.
Paul
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Paul had to grow to a place of power
Enemies are stepping stones to the next level of growth
I must learn to respond properly so that I can go to that next level of spiritual growth God has for me.
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
The battle that is before me, I can be at peace
There’s a table before me that was prepared - not by accident
God prepared the table, the menu, and the guests invited are all prepared by a loving shepherd - the sovereign hand of God
The enemies need to see the goodness of God in you
God’s Power Needs to Be Seen by God’s Enemies
God set your enemies up so that the power of God could be seen through you
Job - Devil I want to show you something
Joseph - Brother’s, Potifer, Pharoah
Daniel - Princes that envied Daniel, King
Paul - Thorn a minister of Satan to buffet
Jesus - came down to His footstool to serve and be a sacrifice for us
Adversity; adversaries, problems, struggles - God orders these events so His presence can be seen by His enemies
God is setting a table so that the world can see God in you; Working through you in a powerful way
Acting like the world will not demonstrate God’s power
Reacting in the flesh will not show God’s provision
If we are going to win this city for Christ we must act in harmony with the Holy Spirit
14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
Marriages - don’t get offended
Child rearing -
How to treat Christians
no retaliation
no anger
no anxiety
no fretting
You can be quiet because you have peace
You have peace because God will fight for you
You can be quiet because you have peace
When your husband is having a bad day
God set the table
He ordered the menu
Enemies are a part of God’s plan
They elevate you to the next level
Hananiah Misheael Azoriah
My ways are not your ways God says
It’s not about you - It’s about His Glory