Preserving Patience - 4/1/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

sure to subscribe, follow, and share

with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

Let's look tonight Matthew chapter 5 and

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

uh

tonight's message and then one more

we'll be I think we'll be through

here with this text and I got a lot of

ground to cover so we're going to jump

right in tonight. Matthew chapter 5

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

verse number 38

be our next statement here uh we'll look

at tonight. Matthew 5:38,

Matthew 5:38

the Bible says, "Ye have heard that it

hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a

tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you

that ye resist not evil. But whosoever

shall smite thee on the right on thy

right cheek, turn to him the other also.

And if any man will sue thee at the law,

and take away thy coat, let him have thy

cloak also. And whosoever shall compel

thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Give to him that askketh thee, and from

him that would borrow of thee, turn that

not thou away. Notice verse 38 again.

Jesus says, "Ye have heard that hath

been said, an eye for an eye, and a

tooth for a tooth." Tonight in this

text, we've considered several messages.

Um I think up to this point there's been

four messages of these this preservation

series. Five messages um so far. And so

um I want to look tonight uh at the

sixth one if we could and consider the

thought preserving patience. Preserving

patience. And last week was tough but

this one's going to be real tough. So

you pray tonight that God would help us

and uh as we deal with this text and

let's let's ask him to help us for just

a moment time. Father, thank you uh God

for this time of Bible study and Lord,

time of preaching. Thank you for these

people that are so faithful and Lord, I

love each one of them so much. God, I

pray they feel that in their heart

tonight. But Lord, more than my love for

them, I pray uh God, that you would let

them know, God, and Lord, as you always

do, that you love them. And uh Lord,

you're you're grateful for them being in

your house tonight. And Lord, I

appreciate it from the bottom of my

heart. But Lord, I could never

appreciate it the way that you do. And

so Lord, I pray God that you would help

us tonight. Lord, I don't want to waste

their time and I don't want to waste

your time. You've given us uh this

opportunity. And so Lord, I pray you'd

help us to have listening ears and

attentive hearts to the word of God. May

we be obedient to the truth that shared

tonight and uh give us strength to do to

obey. And we'll give you praise for what

you do because we ask it in Jesus name.

Amen. This text here particularly of

course Jesus is still speaking here in

the sermon on the mount and the greatest

sermon ever given our Lord gave uh in

this text and I like what he has said in

this chapter. Now he has brought to

light a lot of different subjects and

man I was thinking uh just a little

while ago and a thought just crossed my

mind again. What must it have been to

stand there and to hear him say these

words? Um those men you know there was a

crowd that appreciated what he said.

those disciples that are were around

him, they had a desire to listen to what

he had to say. But you know, even amidst

that, there were the Pharisees there

that were present and they had no desire

to adhere to what Jesus was teaching.

And so, we shouldn't expect any

different in this day and time. And uh

you know, even out of the 12 that were

devoted to him, one of them was the

devil. And so, we ought to make sure uh

that we are giving our best to the Lord

when it comes to our listening as well

as our teaching, what God has us to do.

And so I when I come to this text

tonight, I want to lay three things out

to you uh just like I normally do when

we deal with this. And I want to point

out to you, first of all, the law that

is stated in verse number 38. The Bible

says, "You have heard that it hath been

said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for

a tooth." Now that statement tonight is

more than just a lyric in a country

song. Okay? That is scriptural. All

right? When it comes to this text, this

statement is made in the Old Testament.

This is a repeat of the law that was

given. I'll give you the three

references uh for this text. Give you

the three different uh terms that are

used here for these references. I would

say first of all when you see or the

first mention of this statement, an eye

for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is

found in the book of Exodus chapter

number 21 and verse number 24. And it

has to deal with the death of a baby,

the wrongful death of a baby. it it

speaks there in the text. You could turn

there and read it. I'm not going not

going to take time to deal with all that

tonight. But when you look at that

passage, the context of it is that if

there is a man that for some reason in a

a physical um altercation uh does

something to a lady and out of that the

baby that she's pregnant with is lost,

that means that he is to repay that same

amount that death for that baby. You

say, "Well, the man may not have a

pregnant wife." Well, that's not the

principle. I'll share with you the

principle in just a minute. But in

Exodus 21, it is has to do with the

death of a baby. A woman that's with

child and that baby dies out of a

physical altercation with a man. Second

time it's mentioned in the word of God

is in Leviticus chap 24 and verse number

20. And it has to deal not with the

death of a baby but damage to the body.

It literally talks about a blemish. if a

man cause a blemish in someone else's

body. And so that's also a physical

altercation, a physical injury. And so

there is the death of a baby that's

dealt with in Exodus 21. And then damage

to a person's body in Leviticus 24 and

verse number 19. But the third place

this is seen in the penitute in the law

is in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 19

Deuteronomy 19 · chapter mention

and verse number 21. And it has to do

not with a p not with a physical injury,

but it has to do with a false

accusation. And so I use this

foriteration. It helps me remember it.

If it helps you remember it, praise the

Lord. If it don't, I'm sorry. It's just

what I use to help remember it. But I I

it's not just uh physical, but it has to

do with an accusation. So there's the

distortion of blame that's found in

Deuteronomy 19

down through verse number 21. And you

say, "Well, what does all three of those

have in common?" Well, all three of

these instances have in common the fact

that there was damage inflicted. And

because of the damage that was

inflicted, there must be a repayment

>> of equal value.

>> Right?

>> You say, "What is that?" Well, notice

the verse again in verse 38. You have

heard that it hath been said, what's

your Bible say? An eye for an eye and a

tooth for a tooth. Dwight Pentecost said

this concerning this text. He said, "In

all of these references, God is

protecting the innocent from the

guilty." And let me say this. I don't

care what our country does, what our

government does as far as protecting the

guilty goes in this c in this country.

You need to remember something. God is

watching from heaven above. And he sees

when there's injustice that's dealt. He

sees when a judge deals wrongfully. He

knows every case that goes wrong. Let me

say he's not going to forget a single

one of them. Amen. And so it doesn't

matter how wrong you're done on this

side by a legal system or by a person

morally. God knows and God sees. Amen.

And he's going to iron out every

wrinkle. He's going to straighten out

every uh injustice that's done. And

Jesus gives this truth in this text. And

you say, "Well, preacher, it's a Bible

truth. He says an eye for an eye and a

tooth for truth." Well, here's what you

need to understand. When that was

shared, that was never meant to be

literal.

>> You're right.

>> You say, "What do you mean?" Well, it

was never meant for mutilation.

It was never meant that if somebody else

that that instance in the book of

Leviticus 24 that talks about the

blemish of a person's body even in that

text it does not mean that if a man was

to pluck out someone's eye or to rip off

someone's hand or whatever. It does not

mean that that man would go through the

same same punishment that he dealt to

the other person. But what it means is

that he would pay the cost of what that

person deemed he deserved for his

punishment.

>> Good.

>> And so when we think about an eye for an

eye and a tooth for a tooth, country

boys all throughout the south have used

this as an excuse to get in brawls for

the last four or five decades. But let

me tell you something about that

tonight. A brawling man has no

inheritance in the kingdom of God.

>> He has no right to holiness. He has no

right to grace. A brawler is not a

righteous man. And let me say this to

you as a man or even as a woman in this

day and time. If you're always looking

to pick a fight, there's something wrong

with you. You're

>> right.

>> Amen. You say, "Well, the Bible says an

eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

Well, just remember, you might go a long

ways in life and you might win a few

fights, but you going to come upon one.

One of these days, you ain't going to be

able to win. Somebody say amen right

there. You get a hold of something a

little more than you can handle. Amen.

And maybe that'll give you a taste of

your own medicine, desiring to deal

justice by yourself. And you say, "What

does that have to do?" Well, Jesus has

stated the law in this text. But

remember, what have we noticed in all of

these verses that there has been an

application to the Pharisees because

what are they doing? They're corrupting

the law.

>> And so I say this for the uh

alliteration application since we see

the law in verse number 38. But what we

do not see in the text is the lesion

that is happened to that law by the

Pharisees. Now here's what we know

concerning this text. Jesus is dealing

with this thought. And what this means

is this law the legion here the Jews had

taken this beyond the rule of

governmental law to so to speak that an

eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth

that every man had a right to go beyond

and take the law into his own hands so

to speak. And you know what? That's

dangerous,

>> right?

>> It's very dangerous when men and women

decide that they are going to take the

law into their own hands. This is what

the Jews had done. You say, "Why is

that?" Well, Rome had, of course, their

their government had been dispersed.

There was the chief priests. There were

uh the Pharisees. There was the uh the

Sadducees, the Sanhedrin court, but they

had no governmental status. And you say,

"Well, how do you represent that?" Well,

you think about this. When they were

trying to get Jesus tried, what did they

do? They didn't bring him before the

Jews. But who' they take him to? They

took him to the Romans, didn't they?

Because Rome was the government that was

at hand. And so these Jews, because Rome

would not support their ideas and their

theologies about justice, they decided

that it was okay for them in matters

where Rome wouldn't handle it, they

would take it into their own hands. Let

me say this to you. Just because the

government doesn't handle something

doesn't mean we shouldn't we should take

it into our own hands. Okay.

>> Now, I know our gut justice system is

corrupt, but I'm going to give you a

verse in just a minute that you need to

know and you need to make sure that you

stay well acquainted with it because in

this day and time, people are doing this

left and right. You say, "How is that?"

Well, you look at the social media

world, everybody's incriminating

somebody for something. Everybody's in

in conducting their own investigations.

Everybody's doing their own

incriminating and they're getting their

case together and then they want the

justice system to take it. What do we

have? We have a justice system that's

overloaded and overwhelmed that can't

get anything accomplished.

>> Right?

>> And so in this text here, the lesion of

this commandment is the Jews, they were

in essence taking the law into their own

hands. And let me remind you, the law is

to be dealt by lawgivers, magistrates,

and judges. Listen to what Romans 13

says. If you have a question about this,

I encourage you to put it in your

margin. Romans 13. Really, you could

look all the way from verse number one

to verse number four. But listen to what

he says in verse number three of Romans

13. For rulers are not a terror to good

works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then

not be afraid of the power. Do that

which is good, and thou shalt have

praise of the same. Verse four, for he

is the minister of God to thee for good.

Now he's talking about government here.

Listen what he says. But if thou do that

which is evil, be afraid. For he beareth

not the sword in vain. For he is the

minister of God, a revenger to execute

wrath upon him that doeth evil. And you

say, how does that refer to rulers?

Well, notice verse one of chapter 13.

Let every soul be subject unto the

higher powers. That's government. And so

what that is saying is is that

government has the right to enforce

their laws. And aren't you thankful for

our country, man? We could live

somewhere else.

>> You're right. where the government could

try to kill us for what we're doing.

>> It could be a lot worse than it is. I

know it's bad, but it could be a whole

lot worse than what it is. Amen. And

there's countries tonight where people

are underground worshiping God and and

doing Bible studies and things of that

nature. And you say, "Preacher, well,

they are they going against the

government?" Well, there comes a line.

There comes a time when the line is

drawn,

>> right?

>> We follow the government to an extent.

Amen. But we cannot go with them when

they say you can't you can't worship

your God anymore. Amen. Because he is

the government over their government.

Amen. So we we see the Legion here in

this thought. And and let me say this.

Let me before I get into the message

tonight. Vengeance is never listen to

me. Vengeance is never to be taken into

our own hands.

You should never take it make it your

responsibility to get even with

somebody. And you know, you say,

"Preacher, well, I wish the young people

could hear this." Y' y'all need to hear

it just as much as they do. Amen.

>> Because adults, this is the way they

live. Man, I'm telling you, you look at

the corporate work world today and you

see people, man, they'll take out the

next one if it means they can get

another rung up on the ladder because

they, you know, they got stepped on and

passed because somebody else took

vengeance on them. What I'm saying is

God said, "Vengeance is mine."

>> Right?

>> Amen. It belongs unto him. Deuteronomy

uh chapter number Deuteronomy here

chapter 32:35

he said it belongs unto me Romans 12 and

verse 19 Paul said the vengeance is mine

sayaith the Lord I will repay and so

there is the law and there is the legion

but then let's consider what the Lord

has to say about it amen notice the text

the Bible says in verse number 39 he

said but I say unto you man I'm thankful

for every time there's been a a word of

condemnation. Jesus has got a word of

grace. Amen. Listen to what he says.

Amen. He says, "But I say unto you that

ye resist not evil." Now, this has been

misconstrued many times as much as the

Bible has. And I want to do my best to

try to interpret this rightly tonight.

But let's let's consider what the Lord

says. Now, you say, "What does that mean

when he says, "Resist not evil." Well,

in light of what he has already said, he

says, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for

a truth." What would we say by that?

Well, we would say that there is a a

wrongdoing. Wouldn't that what we would

call that? If somebody has taken out an

eye, that's wrong. Amen. We we would

Okay, somebody's knocked out a tooth.

Amen. Just like on the the middle school

playground. Amen. You know, knocked out

a tooth. That would be a wrongdoing.

That would get you sent to the

principal's office. Isn't that right?

And so, there's been a wrongdoing. But

in spite of their own doing, Jesus says,

rather than bringing retribution,

he says, there's something else you need

to do. Rather than retaliating or taking

vengeance into your own hands, listen to

what he says. He says, "But I say unto

you that you resist not evil." Now, you

say, "Preacher, what does that mean?"

Well, I think it means three things. All

right? And I I'll give you these three

things and get to the message tonight.

Number one, when he says to resist not

evil, number one, it means this is that

we're when we are done evil, when we are

done wrong, we're not to speak our

rights.

You say, "What do you mean?" Well, in

the case of this gentleman that has had

his eye taken out or this lady that's

had her tooth taken out, it means this

that they're not quick to respond.

>> Good. that the first, you know, word

that comes to their mind, you know,

well, you know, you shouldn't have done

that.

We're not quick to respond. I'm going

somewhere. Stay with me. All right. And

he says, he said, by saying you that you

resist, not evil. So, that deals with a

spoken word. We're not to speak our

rights. Now, I'll give you more on that

in just a minute. You say, "Well, Jesus

rebuked uh the chief priest." I'll get

there in just a minute. All right? Hang

with me for a minute, okay? He says to

resist not evil. Number one, that means

we're not to speak our rights. Number

two, it means this. We're not to seek

retribution.

Look what he says again. Resist not

evil. So when that work, when you're

done wrong, that means immediately

you're not to speak, but you also don't

need to act.

>> Let me say this. When you're done wrong,

the worst thing you can do is respond.

That's right.

>> Immediately.

When you are done wrong, you ought to be

silent. But you also ought to be still.

Okay? All right. So, we get the point.

All right. Number one, you're not to

speak your rights. Number two, you're

not to seek retribution. Number three,

all right? And this is where I get to

the message right here. Okay? You're not

to speak you're not to seek retribution,

but you do not need to surrender your

reward. Now, what do I mean by that?

Turn back with me in this chapter to

verse number 11.

Matthew 5 verse number 11. Listen to

what he says.

Blessed are ye when men shall revile you

and persecute you and shall say all

manner of evil against you falsely.

Remember he's talking about being done

wrong, right? For my sake. Verse 12.

Rejoice and be exceeding glad. What's

the next five words, church?

For great is your reward in heaven. for

so persecuted they the prophets which

were before you. So in this matter of

being done wrong, our our first reaction

is to be silent. Okay? When you're done

wrong, you ought to be silent. Number

one, when you're done wrong, not only

you ought to be silent, but you need to

be still. And number three, you need to

be thinking about what's coming ahead.

>> Right?

>> Because how you go forward from this is

going to determine how you walk out of

this situation. All right?

You say, "Preacher, BUT I GOT TO STAND

UP for myself."

Let me ask you, did Jesus stand up for

himself?

You say, "Preacher, well, I'm not going

to let somebody come in and walk over my

wife and walk over my children." No,

that's not what Jesus is asking you to

do. Okay? There comes a limit between

self-preservation

and self-pride. That's

>> right.

>> Okay? If a man comes at you with a gun,

you're not going to stand there and and

and be silent and steal.

Okay, we have common sense. All right,

don't we? But let's be honest. How many

people's How many of us has had somebody

come at us with a gun?

Very few, if any of us. Okay, but let's

be real. How many times have we been

faced with a situation

where somebody was hot? And when I say

hot, I mean full of wrath,

>> mad, upset. We've all been in a

situation where it could have got

physical very quick.

>> Right?

>> So, let's deal with what's more

prevalent. All right? Listen to what he

says in verse 39.

He said, "But I say unto you that you

resist not evil." So, that means this.

When it comes when somebody does you

wrong, and he's going to give three

examples here in the next few verses,

and I'm going to give you those in just

a minute. But in those examples,

however, whatever way they do you wrong,

he uses the physical example. You're not

to resist that. You are not to to stand

your ground and bow up and beat somebody

up. But let me say this. I'm not telling

you to be a doormat. Okay? That's not

what I'm telling you. But I'm telling

you to use common sense because who do

we represent?

>> We represent Christ. Amen. So notice

what he has to say about this tonight.

Okay? You say, "Preacher, I really do

not understand what you're saying."

Well, I'm going to give it to you right

here. Okay, first of all, I would say

this tonight when we consider the

thought Jesus gives three illustrations.

Number one, the first illustration that

he gives is in verse 39 and it has to do

with being physically injured. Now, he's

already mentioned, you know, an eye for

an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That's the

Old Testament law. It meant that if

somebody, you know, if there was a

physical altercation, the party who was

damaged, the party who was injured, they

had to be repaid to the desire of the

lawgiver to of the mediator, they had to

be repaid the amount that was measured

out by the law. But Jesus says in this

text, if a man takes a swing, if you, he

says, if a man smite thee on the right

cheek, look what he says, turn to him

the other also. Now, we don't like this

verse. Okay? But I'm going to tell you

why we don't like it. Because that is

not a fleshly response.

>> And you're not going to do that in the

flesh. You say, "What does that mean?

Does that mean I cower?" No, that means

that you're the bigger person,

>> right?

>> How is that? All right. What this means

is is not that you turn when somebody

smites you. And this is the image we

have. Okay? And this is what I thought.

All right? To be fair, you know, I

thought, you know, Jesus is saying, you

know, in humility that when somebody

slap me in the face that I need to turn

the other cheek and say, "Go ahead, hit

me here."

>> Right?

>> That's not what he means. What does he

mean by that? He means this. He says

when somebody smites you, he said, "You

need to be prepared because if they'll

do it once, they'll probably do it

again."

>> Right?

>> Jesus is not telling you to lay down.

He's telling you just to be aware of

what's coming.

You say, "How is that?" Well, let me say

if somebody will stab you in the back

once, they'll do it twice.

>> Right?

>> And Jesus says, number one, that we're

to patiently take it. Notice that he

says, "Whosoever shall smite thee on the

right cheek." Jesus there's no clause

for retaliation. There's no opportunity

for the hand to come up. And you know,

I've heard people say, I've even heard

some people say it in this church. I

don't know who said it, but I'm I'm not

going to point them out. Okay? But they

said, "After that second one, Jesus

didn't give me no instruction on what to

do." So then I'm going to do what I want

to do. But you know what? That ain't

what Jesus did.

>> That's right.

>> And aren't you thankful that ain't what

he did,

>> right?

>> You say, "What do you mean?" I'm saying

Jesus patiently took his smiding.

Patiently took it. But not only that, he

was prepared for more than one. Why is

that? because he knew that if they would

lay hands on him once, they would do it

twice. Now, you say, "Preacher, I'm not

going to let somebody lay hands on me

more than once." Well, let me just say

this, okay? If you don't respond, if you

don't retaliate, they're going to be so

shocked

they ain't even going to know what to

do.

If somebody smites you on the face, all

right, and they do it again, you know,

and you don't say nothing, you don't

move, you don't do anything, what do you

think they're going to do?

Now, I've seen this before, okay? And

y'all act looking at me like I'm crazy,

but I'm telling the truth, okay? You

know what that does? It inspire, it

provokes fear is what it does. Because

you know what they see? They see that

you are not moved by their input.

Because why did they smite you in the

first place? They wanted you to respond,

>> right?

>> Amen.

>> If somebody smacks you across the face,

they are expecting you to bring

something back.

>> And if you do not respond to that, what

have you done? You have broke their

expectation. You say, "How does this fit

the text? I'm saying when somebody," and

you say, "HOW PREACHER, HOW IS THAT

OKAY? That is abuse. How can I just let

that go?" Here's the thing. And Jesus is

not saying let it go, but he's saying

the law needs to deal with that.

Don't teach your children if somebody

slaps them or hits them that they need

to hit back.

Don't teach your children that. You say,

"Preacher, why? They need to defend

themselves." No. No, they don't. Because

you know what? If they do, they'll end

up having to do it the rest of their

life. I know y'all don't like this

preaching, but I'm going to preach it

anyway. All right.

Look. Okay. Here's what needs to happen.

All right, you say, "Well, somebody hit

my daughter. Somebody hit my son."

Here's what you need to do. That needs

to go to the higher power.

Okay? Your son or your daughter's not in

authority.

All right? You say, "Well, they need to

defend. They need to protect

themselves." If somebody, if it's a

little girl or a little boy and they on

the face, come on.

You really want your kid to do that? You

really want them to be just like the

person

that did it to them. Now, this ain't

popular. Okay, that's the reason why

it's so quiet, but this is right. You

say, "Preacher, how do we deal with

that?" You teach them that when

something happens to them, you know what

they do? They go to the first person

that they know has control over that

other party.

You say, in this case, what do we do? It

has to do with dealing with a higher

power. Jesus says in the text, look what

he says. He says, "Whosoever shall smite

thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the

other also." And it means that you're to

take it patiently, but be prepared. It

will come again.

And you say, "Well, what do I do after

that?" Well, let me give you this truth.

Okay? Jesus, when he was smitten, John

chapter number 18, let's see what Jesus

did. Okay?

And and when you know the best thing you

your child can do when they're in this

situation is they need to leave the

situation. First of all, amen. And you

say, "Well, they're a coward if they

run." No, they're a child. They don't

have to fight for themselves.

Use common sense. John 18 verse 22.

John 18:22

Listen what your Bible says. And when he

had thus spoken, speaking of Jesus, one

of the offers which stood by struck

Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying,

"Answerest thou the high priest?" So,

verse 23, Jesus answered him, "If I have

spoken evil, bear witness of the evil.

But if well, why smiteest thou me? So

Jesus in this text, he doesn't

retaliate. He rebukes him. Rebuke's

fine. And your child, if somebody hits

them, you know what they ought to do?

They ought to tell them, "Why did you do

that? You don't need to do that." But

it's not their place to knock their

block off in return.

Say, "Preacher, I don't like that." It's

Bible.

It's Bible. It is not your job to defend

yourself. You say, "If I walked up there

and smacked you, preacher, would you

stand there and take it?" Well, I'd have

to.

Here's the truth. What we don't like to

admit. The reason why that we don't like

this is because it hurts the least bit

that little bit of pride that we have.

We'll do everything else. We'll submit

to everything else, but we're not going

to allow somebody to hurt us physically.

Well, let me ask you something. What are

you What are you going to do when you

talk to all them martyrs who were burned

at the steak and had their tongue ripped

out and all that other stuff and they

never said anything?

What are you going to do with Jesus?

When Jesus went all the way to the

cross, he was mocked his entire life. He

never laid a finger on anybody. He never

had a wrong thought. And he went all the

way to the cross, died perfect and

sinless, and never had to defend

himself.

>> It's not your job to defend yourself.

Jesus, what did God say? Vengeance is

>> We're to patiently take it. We're to

prepare for two. You say, "Well, that's

Jesus, preacher. That he was perfect. He

was sinless." Well, let me give you

another one. All right. If that's not

good enough, Peter, the Bible says in

the book of First Peter, chapter 5 and

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

verse number 10, listen to what Peter

says. All right? Peter literally talks

about suffering the entirety of his

epistle. And I'm going to get to Paul in

just a minute, but Peter literally says

this at the last chapter of his first

epistle in 1 Peter 5 and verse number

10. But the God of all grace, who hath

called us into his eternal glory by

Christ Jesus, what's that say? After

that ye have suffered a while, make you

perfect, establish, strengthen, and

settle you. Suffering is a part of our

life. Yay. And all that will live godly

in Christ Jesus shall suffer

persecution. Verse number 1 Peter

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 and verse 19. For this is

thankw worthy, if a man for conscience

toward God endure grief, suffering

wrongfully. For what glory is it, if

when you be buffeted for your fault, you

shall take it patiently? But if when you

do well and suffer for it, you take it

patiently, this is acceptable with God.

Verse 21, for even here unto you called,

because Christ also suffered for us,

leaving us an example that you should

follow in his steps. Let me just keep

reading. All right, remind you what this

says. Who did no sin, neither was G

found in his mouth, who when he was

reviled, reviled not again. When he

suffered, he threatened not, but

committed himself to him that judgeth

righteously. Is anybody in the building

who his own self bear our sins in his

own body on the tree, that we being dead

to sins should live unto righteousness,

by whose stripes you were healed. For ye

were as sheep gone astray, but are now

returned in the shepherd and bishop of

your souls. You say, "Preacher, I am not

going to allow somebody to smite me and

not smite them back." Well, you're not

right with God, and you're in sin when

you do it.

>> I know y'all don't like it, but it's

true. Amen. It's true. You say,

"Preacher, why do you take this so

easy?" I had my daddy beat it into me.

My daddy's not perfect, but I had my

daddy beat it into me from the time that

I was just a little feller. That he

didn't care who touched me. He said, "If

I touched him back, he was going to wear

me out when I got home."

>> He said, "If you lay your hand on

anybody," he said, "you just know." He

said, "You going to come get." He said,

"I don't care if they deserve it. You

did it. You're going to get it."

I know I that's not popular, but it's

the truth. Amen. Peter, Paul said in 2

Corinthians 11 23-2, he received 39

stripes. He was spitting. He was beaten

with rods. He was ma he was mangled time

and time and time again. But he took it

all patiently and in silence.

But whosoever shall smite thee on the

right cheek, turn to him the other also.

If you can't do that, you have a problem

with pride.

If you cannot accept the fact that if

somebody was to lay their hands on you

and you can do nothing about it, you've

got a problem with pride.

Notice this. That's really going to get

to where we live. Not only it has to do

with being physically injured, but it

goes from phys being physically injured

to being financially defrauded. Listen

to what the Bible says in verse 40. And

if any man will sue thee at the law and

take away thy coat, let him have thy

cloak also. Now, let me say this. All

right. When you consider this text, all

right, this this truth here, what he's

dealing with this coat, it was given in

the law as somebody could, you know, sue

for personal matters, whatever it is,

you know, I I don't know the the

technical ins and outs of this, but I do

know that in the law, it was a written

in the law that if a man had did

something to another man, he could sue

and be given his coat. But that

undercloak, what he mentions in the

text, that is beyond the law. There was

no law provision given for a man giving

more than his coat. Now let me remind

you of this, okay? It was common for

legal processes to be is it it is common

for legal processes to be made use of

for doing the greatest injuries.

You look at people in the world today

and you see, you know, every and people

will sue over nothing. I mean, and you

know, that's a whole another message in

itself. Amen. But I'll be honest with

you, I don't think I don't know that

there's ever a place in life where you

ought to sue.

You say, "Well, I didn't I I I wasn't

treated right. I wasn't done right."

Well, let me ask you this. Do you think

that's what Jesus would do?

Now, when I consider this text, number

one, I want you to consider the size of

the matter in this text. Notice what

said. All right? We were talking about

just getting smitten in verse 39. And I

don't want to remind you, common sense

comes into play here. And and you know,

y'all are looking at me like I'm saying

your children have no right to defend

themselves. If somebody comes at your

child with a knife or a gun, they ought

to be running. They ought to be

screaming to the top of their lungs. But

if it's just a little

play,

they don't it's there's no need for that

to continue. Okay. But this thought

right here, the size of this matter, it

has to do with a cloak. There's not a

whole farm's not in question here.

They're not talking about the measure of

a man's entire inheritance, but they're

talking about a suit for a cloak. So,

this is obviously something that's

manageable. It's a suit that somebody

could deal with and they could pay it

and it wouldn't really hurt them. And

let me say this, you ought not make a

big deal over small matters. All right?

Let me say this. If somebody comes to

you and and you know and and an example

like this, something that I've dealt

with in the industry that we're in, you

know, our our trucks and things of that

nature will have rocks that fly off of

them at times. And you will never see

somebody get bor more been out of shape

when a rock comes out of a tire or off

the top of a truck and it cracks their

windshield. All right? You would have

thought that you would have stabbed them

to death and shot them after you did it.

And look, I understand. I get that, you

know, things happen on the road, but

there's a sign on the back of it that

says stay back 300 feet for a reason,

okay? But let me say this, all right,

that's a small thing. All right? And

that's like what this is talking about.

And people will get so been out of

shape, but you know what you ought to do

with that? You don't rare back at them.

You don't get mad. You don't get upset.

Jesus says in this text, look what he

says. He says in verse number 40, if any

man will sue thee at the law and take

away thy coat, let him have thy cloak

also. So it goes from not just the size

of the matter, but the suit in the

matter. It has to do with a piece of

clothing. It's something small. And so

if they're requiring of you something

small, all right, and it's beyond the

law and it will make peace, you know

what y'all do? You ought to give it.

Now, that's hard for me to hear because

I've dealt with stuff like this. We all

deal with small things like this and we

think to ourselves, well, they don't

deserve it. They're making a big deal

out of nothing. And here's the thing in

this text. It's not when somebody you've

done somebody wrong, but somebody's done

you wrong and they're expecting you to

pay them for what they did to you.

>> Right?

>> Now, it's a whole lot easier when you

out of mistake have had something happen

and you have to cover your losses. But

it's a whole different story when

somebody else is at fault and they're

expecting you to pick up where they're

messed up at.

>> You say, "What do you mean?" Well, I

hate to use my family again, but it's

the best illustration I know. My dad

many years ago, probably been I don't

know at least 15 16 years ago. He was on

a job in u over in in uh Suriri County

where where I'm from and done several he

done a week's worth of work there. done

a whole lot of stuff. Put a lot of

material, a lot of aggregate down,

different things, a lot of stuff went on

there and uh had a big bill. I mean, it

was, you know, uh five digits on up in

five digits. I mean, it was a large

bill. And this man got to the end of the

job and decided he wasn't going to pay.

Well, starting out, that's pretty tough.

Dad been in business for a little while,

but I mean, even, you know, those hits

when you take a week's worth of work and

you pay four guys to work on a job for a

week and all your materials and all of

that, that adds up a whole lot.

>> But I'll never forget it. Daddy was

pastoring at the time and and he was

trying to get some help on it, trying to

figure out what to do. And and I don't

remember exactly how the story went. I

don't remember if he called a lawyer or

I think it was just a lawyer found out

about it. And uh he called daddy and and

daddy been dealing with this for a month

trying to get this guy to pay his bill

and and uh he he went on to tell he said

he said that lawyer called him and daddy

said I'd already decided God I went to

church. God said just mark it off. Don't

worry about it and cut your losses. You

don't need to lose the sleep. You're

pastoring a church and you'll do fine.

I'll get you through it. And that lawyer

called daddy the next week and daddy

told that lawyer that lawyer looked at

him and said, "You got a good case here.

we can get all your money and probably

some more.

Daddy looked at him and said, "I done

laid that to rest. I'm not going to

bring it up no more." And you know what?

He let that go. Never talked to the man

again. Never got a dime of the money.

But you know what? He could sleep at

night.

Why is that? Because it made peace.

You say, "Well, it didn't make peace

with that man." Well, it made peace for

him.

>> Right? You see in this text the Bible

says there in verse 40 if any man will

sue thee at the law and take away thy

coat let him have thy cloak also what it

means is if it will resolve conflict

it's just a small cost remember who we

represent I mean it and the thing about

it is you know who we represent you're a

Christian you want to sue somebody

oh friend you sue somebody and they get

wind of that you better know they're

going to come after you

know this we don't like this kind of

stuff but it's just the truth

Notice this about this thought and you

say, "Well, how do I handle that? What

where do I draw the line?" You see, this

this matter is small. And you say,

"Well, what what about when it gets up

there out of hand?" Well, you just have

to ask the Lord to help you with that.

But let me say this. When Jesus tells in

this text, he says, Ma Matthew Henry

says this concerning thought. He said,

"If he wants your coat, he said, you

just let him have have your cloak also."

He said this. He said, "It will not cost

thee so much to buy another cloak as it

will cost thee by course of of by course

of law to recover that which you lost."

You know what? There's a lot of things

that if we'll just let go of and go on,

we'll recover it a lot faster instead of

trying to fight with it to get it back.

You know, that's that's the whole

problem with suits because, you know,

you think and and I'm being real

practical tonight, but truth is you pay

a lawyer and you go through all of that

process and you go through all of the

mess to deal with that and everything

that goes along with that and and I

understand there's situations where you

have to get a lawyer involved different

things and you know, every bit of that

is because of sin,

>> right?

>> People dealt properly wouldn't be an

issue, would it?

You say, "How does this how I I don't I

don't like what you're saying." Well,

just remember you you're you're to

silence your rights.

Well, I've got my rights and I'm going

to get retribution. Well, you going to

find out you're going to get a reward

for that, too. And it ain't going to be

a heavenly reward, either. You inherit a

mess. Notice this third, and I'm done

tonight, and I'm going to preach till I

get done on this, okay? Just hang with

me. There's the physically injured fact.

There's the financially defrauded fact

in this text. But then there's also the

fact of our liberty being infringed in

verse 41. Look what he says. And

whosoever shall compel thee to go a

mile, go with him twain. Now, you

remember what I said about the Roman

government being the rule of law at this

time. And what that means is that the

Roman government had made a a a law that

said where a soldier if he was traveling

any distance that and he had armor that

he had to carry, he could get a manu uh

or a a crier of any a courier of any

type uh to come and help him. And the

law said that that man at the request of

that Roman soldier had to carry his

equipment a mile.

You say, "I I what do you mean by that?"

Well, turn with me to the book of

Matthew.

Matthew chapter number 27 here. Want to

find this. Okay.

And uh

Matthew 27. I thought I wrote this down.

Let me look right here. I've got it in

here.

Yeah. Matthew 27:32.

Matthew 27:32

You'll know exactly what this is when I

show it to you. Matthew 27:32

Matthew 27:32

or verse number 31. After that they had

mocked him, they took the robe off from

him and put his own raignment on him and

led him away to crucify him. Verse 32.

And as they came out, they found a man

ofSirene, Simon by name. What you Bible

say? Him they compelled

to bear his cross. Now notice the text

again in verse number 41. Whosoever

shall

compel thee to go a mile, go with him

twain. The only time that word compel is

used in this Bible in that translation

is for that instance and its parallel

accounts in the other gospels. It only

has to do with when Simon ofSirene

helped Jesus carry the cross. And it

literally means that at the request of

that Roman soldier, those who are around

had to be obedient to his request.

Now, what does that express? Well,

expresses this that you understand man

is a free moral agent, but at this point

in time, that Roman guard has overrode

whatever he had going on at that present

time. He had to stop what he was doing

and go on and help with what was going

on. And what does Jesus say? You see,

the Jews felt like they had a right

because they were Pharisees and, you

know, seekers of God and studyers of the

law, you know, that we're exempt from

that. We don't have to obey that. But

Jesus looks him in the face and says,

"Matter of fact, not only should you

obey it, but you ought to do it and be

willing to do it more than anybody

else."

>> Right?

>> Notice it again. Whosoever shall compel

thee to go a mile, go with them twain.

You ever heard the statement to go the

extra mile?

That's what that means. You say, "But

it's wrong. It's it's wrongful." You

say, "Preacher, should I help somebody

that doesn't deserve my help?

Should I help somebody preacher that's

doing wrong?" No. You never should. But

you if somebody asks for your help and

they need it genuinely, you ought to

help them.

Now, what does this mean? And and and so

let me say this. Number one, you you

ought not be hateful about it. Look what

he says. Whosoever shall compel thee to

go a mile, it implies that you need to

go the mile with him. But then he says,

go with him twain. Isn't that

interesting? He says twain. Again,

all of these increments are two. Verse

41, two miles. Verse 40, two coats.

Verse 39, two smidings.

What is the significance of that? It has

to do with the fact Jesus says you need

to do more than what you're asked to

even when you're not in the wrong.

You say, "Why is that, preacher?"

Because that's what Jesus did.

Remember, he was never in the wrong. But

you know what he did? He went all the

way to the cross.

>> Amen. and did everything he was asked to

do and gave us more than we could have

ever got

>> and we are the ones that did him wrong.

>> Let me say this. If we are obligated to

go a mile, don't measure the mile.

Notice it again. You know, you ever been

around some people? Verse 41, whosoever

shall compel thee to go a mile goeth in

plain. You ever been around some people?

And I I've been around some people like

this. You you you do business with them,

spend thousands of dollars, you know,

business work, things of that nature,

and you go to get a cookie as you go out

the door that's 50 cents. You've spent

$10,000 on material, and they won't give

you the 50 cent cookie

because they're too tied to do that.

>> You know, there's a lot of us that live

that way in life. People ask for our

help. You know what? We do what they ask

and nothing else.

And you say, "Preacher, what if it's

wrongful?" And it is in this text. All

of this is wrong. You've been done

wrong.

What do I do? Well, you go on and do it

anyway.

I know that does not fit the narrative

of our flesh, but it's so true. Do not

measure the mile. Don't decide how far

you're going to go. Go until you feel

like you need to stop. Notice this.

Verse 42. Give to him that askketh thee,

and from him that would borrow of thee,

turn not thy way. And he gives two

truths here. Number one, you need to be

generous in your giving. Give to him

that askketh of thee. You ought to give

what he asked, expecting nothing in

return. Jesus said, Luke chapter number

6 and verse 38.

Luke 6 and verse 38. Really the parallel

account to this. He says, "Give and it

shall be given unto you. good measure,

pressed down, shaken together, running

over, shall men give into your bosom.

For with the same measure that you meet

with all shall be measured to you again.

Not only you're to be generous in your

giving, but you're to be gracious in

your lending. Look what he says. Verse

42, give to him that askketh them. For

him that would borrow of thee, turn not

thou away.

Luke 6 and verse 34, Jesus goes into

deeper depths with this. Verse 34. And

if you lend to them of whom you hope to

receive, what think have ye? For sinners

also lend to sinners to receive as much

again. Verse 35. But love your ye your

enemies and do good and lend hoping for

nothing again and your reward shall be

great and you shall be the children of

the highest. For he is kind unto the

unthankful

and to the evil.

You say preacher that's mess that that's

messianic kingdom. This is you know this

is for when we're living in a perfect

society and we operate in a perfect

realm. And the truth is in the immediate

context, yes, that's true. But you

understand it's it's implied. It's

applied to you and I.

We ought to operate the same way. That

we are not to be quick to speak our

rights. That we're not to be quick to

seek retribution. When you're done

wrong, the first thing you ought to do

is is desire to defeat the wicked in

your life. And you say, "So, you're

telling me now that I've got to go and

defeat that other person?" No, they're

not your problem. You know what your

problem is?

When you're done wrong, the first person

you got to defeat is not the person you

were done wrong by, but the one who's

going to do wrong if you allow it to.

And you know how you do that? You

delight in his word. When he says this,

he says, "Whosoever shall smite thee on

the right cheek," you just

don't be looking to smite him back,

but just expect it to come again.

Jesus when he was smitten upon when he

was smitten you think about this when we

are smitten a lot of times we don't

expect it do we Jesus knew his entire

life the suffering that he would go

through on Calvary and you know what he

got to the cross he didn't have a single

word to say he didn't retaliate he

didn't say anything but you know what he

looked on that crowd that was that was

accusing him and rebuking him and

spitting on him and smiting him and what

did he say father forgive them for they

know not what they do.

The truth is tonight we ought to make

sure that we're teaching our children.

You say, "Preacher, you're telling me

that I should let my child be walked

on?" No, it's not what I'm telling you.

I'm telling you you they need to know

that there is a higher power that

protects them.

And the truth is when it comes down to

it in our life, if they didn't have to

live in the situations that they do,

they wouldn't have to worry about it.

It's why Moses said, "Teach them when

you lying down, when you rise up, as you

walk in the way, all about your day. All

of your life you teach your children."

Why? So you can protect them. That

wasn't the public schools and all the

other things wasn't a problem in the

Bible days

>> because the families raised their

children. And that's why he could say,

"Don't you got to be around."

I know that's that's that's hard. It's

tough stuff, but it's still the truth.

We need to teach them that they're not

to retaliate. Amen. Because what'll

happen is we put that in them as as a

young child, what they'll do, they'll

grow up and get married and they'll

retaliate against their spouse.

And then,

Father, thank you for this day. Thank

you for this time. Lord, I know it's

been different tonight. Lord, I hope

that I've said what I I I really do. I

believe I've said what you put on my

heart, what this text says. And uh Lord,

I know that we're not to allow the world

to walk over us. But God, I also know

this. You didn't allow people to control

your reaction. You didn't allow people's

actions to control what you were going

to do. Your plan was going to be

fulfilled regardless of what people did

around you. And Lord, I pray that you

would help us to see that purpose in our

life, God. That we are to walk for you

and toward you in spite of what others

may do around us. and to not seek

vengeance, to not seek retribution, not

even to speak our rights, but God, just

to know that vengeance belongs to you

and that you will judge the wicked and

those that do us wrong. God, help us to

be obedient to that. I pray, Lord, I

love you. Thank you for these people. I

pray you bless them. Let them have a

good rest of their week. And I pray,

Lord, as we go out visiting on Saturday,

God, you'd prepare each heart and life

uh that we will uh knock on their door.

I pray you give us wisdom to do so. and

we love you in Jesus name. Amen. I

>> thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988

Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more

information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.