Missing the Mark Series: Malice

Missing the Mark Series: Malice

I'd like to invite your attention to Titus chapter 3 once again this week. We are in the Titus chapter 3 once again, and I'd like to read, beginning in verse 1, this morning. Titus chapter 3, and we will begin the reading there in verse number 1. Titus chapter 3, and we will begin the reading there in verse number 1. Titus chapter 3, and we will begin the reading there in verse number 1. If we are justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Let's mark our Bibles again to this portion of Scripture this week, Titus chapter 3.

Heavenly Father, we do thank you this morning for your word. We pray that we will take seriously the things that we saw in the Sunday school hour this morning, and that we would not only not despise prophesying, but that we would read, hear, and keep the things that are written in this book of prophecy. Help us, Lord, to apply your word to our lives, even that we have read and that we will expound upon today. May the… May the… May the intention of your heart in this passage, and in particular aspects of it especially, be clear to our hearts what you want for us, what your desire is in our lives.

Thank you, Lord, that even though we have not arrived, neither are we already perfect in the sense of full completion, Lord, of all that you want us to be. We pray… We pray that you would just help us to have gratefulness. With grateful hearts, we would really stop and think about how blessed we are to be in Christ, and the fact that we have your word to guide our feet, a lamp to our feet, a light to our path. Help us to take heed to it, Lord, with grateful hearts, knowing that you're the one that's pointing the way in our lives. Knowing that you have a plan for us, you have a purpose, even in the topsy-turvy twists and turns, knowing that you have a plan for us, you have a purpose, even in the topsy-turvy twists and turns, of life, there is a purpose, there is a reason in all of this upon your heart. Nothing happens by accident. Nothing touches our lives by mistake, Lord, because we know that all things do work together for good to them that love you, that are called according to your purpose. Bless us now in these moments as we continue in worship. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

This morning I… As we saw last week, we saw the matter of disobedience and how in our disobedience we were missing the mark because we did not believe nor did we comply with what God told us in his word. What God's will revealed for us was. We were non-compliant, we were unbelieving. And this morning I… I want particularly to look here in this passage at this truth about, well, beginning really with this, in the midst of the verse where it says, we were living in malice and envy. We were hateful and hating one another.

The them in verse number one, just by way of recap here, the them, and I don't think I specifically pointed this out, but last week, in verse number one, it's talking, of course, about the Christians at Crete where Titus was ministering and they were to be put in mind, as he tells him here, of a number of things. Put them in mind. That means to remind them. To remind them of things that they already know, but they need to be reminded of. They need to be put in remembrance. Put them in mind about these things that they are to remember, that they are to take heed to, that they are to obey. If you'll think back with me to Titus, let's look across the page here in verse 12. Paul had already said of the Cretans, he quoted from, what was it, Epimenides, I think it was. Epimenides was one of their own poets and philosophers who had called them liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. These were characteristics of the Cretans. I understand this always liars. They are always liars. They had a reputation for dishonesty. In fact, the transliteration, basically, of the idea of the Greek word that was given to Cretanize was a word in Greek.

It was a Greek that was indelibly associated with Crete, and it meant to be deceptive or to lie. And so, just like when we think of certain places, you know, what is it, Atlantic City, New Jersey, you think of gambling, right? Or at least it used to be associated with, I guess it still is, some gambling there. You think of certain places like Las Vegas. I mean, people call it Sin City, right? Or was it Sin City? Maybe it's the… A place where, you know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas or whatever they say. And all of those things, all of these different places, well, Crete was like that. It was known for its deception. The people didn't think, didn't bat an eye about lying, evidently. They were evil beasts, according to their own, one of their own. This is the idea of wild, savage, ferocious animals driven by base instincts, sometimes cruelty even. This is how… This is how they were. They were also slow bellies by their culture. They were lazy gluttons and they were also idle. They were indulging in drink and food and refusing to work.

Well, that sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it? It sounds kind of like the way our country is getting more and more. Slow bellies. Full of… It sounds like Sodom and Gomorrah even, doesn't it? Full of bread and idleness. Well, in that context, living among those things that characterized the Cretans, he understood that Titus needed to remind the brethren, put them in mind, how are we to live? We used to be lost in our sins. We used to be disobedient, non-compliant, unbelieving, not believing and not taking seriously, what God said. But now we're not lost anymore in our sins. We are children of God and here is how we ought to live.

In fact, this word here for malice that we see this morning, I actually preached on that word last year. I think it was in September of last year. But I'm not going to repeat the message from last year. I want to take a few things from that by way of introduction, and I want to build on that. We notice that this word malice, it is speaking of ill will towards others. Ill will towards others. You know, people may comfort themselves by saying, well, I don't have ill will toward everyone, just certain people. You know, I only have ill will towards certain individuals. Well, congratulations, you're normal. Because the Bible says that if we only… if we only love them that love us, how are we better than everybody else? Everybody, most normal people, love those people that love them. Isn't that normal? I mean, it's without natural affection if you don't love your own family members, your own children from your own womb, that were born in your own home. That would be terribly abnormal. That would be without natural affection even.

But, here we see that we were living… What does it say? What does he say here? We used to be, as we were in that… in sin, we were missing the mark, we were falling short, without hope and without help in Christ, we were living in malice. We were living in malice. But, Noah Webster says that malice is… is a desire to cause pain, injury, or distress to another and implies a deep-seated, often unexplainable desire to see another suffer. All you have to do is visit any… let's say there's been a story about someone who committed some crime and they, you know, they abused another individual and… and… and… there's some very strongly worded words of… I hope that he rots in hell or there's some… the darkest place in hell is reserved for that person. Well, it very well could be that that's going to be the case. But, you know, even the Lord doesn't hope that they rot in hell. That's not his desire. In fact, if it was not… if it was not for God's mercy, all of us would be there. All of us would be… be in that situation.

Now, does that mean that justice shouldn't be served? Oh, it's true that someone can… someone may be going to pay for… even with the death penalty for something they've done wrong, but there's still a desire. Lord, save that soul. May they not… God help them that they may not pass into eternity without experiencing forgiveness and repentance. Repentance and forgiveness in God's grace. Well, they may not ever do that, but that should be our heart. We used to live in malice. We loved those that loved us, but, you know, reciprocated that. But beyond that, we thought it nothing to wish ill on other people who had crossed us. And, you know, not the funny thing, the interesting thing about that is as a person continues in sin, even their patience with people when it comes to things like roadrunners, they'll go to a point where they wish someone ill will who crosses them so bad that they'll get out of their car and go shoot somebody. I mean, that's the point that we're at in malice that people have. They'd be willing willing to harm someone else just because they've been slighted. That's where malice will take an individual.

And yet, let's read that passage I just alluded to in Luke 6, verse 32. Luke 6. Luke 6 and verse 32. You know, there's this thing where we are surrounded by and we breathe in, we experience every day, we hear it, we read it, we see it, the culture and the thinking of the culture. And so, we need to be reminded about these things so that we, by God's grace, don't think that way and we don't talk that way and we don't act that way. We need to be reminded how is it that God wants us to think now? We're, in fact, we're to show forth the praises of Him that called us out of that darkness and called us into His marvelous light. So, let us not, you know, we're in the world, but we're not of the world. Remember in Luke 6, verse 32, what it says there. It says there in verse 32, For if ye love them which love you, what think have ye?

Sinners, for sinners also love those that love them. If ye do good to them which do good to you, what think have ye? For sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what think have ye? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again. Let me just say this. If we are children of God, there ought to be something and there ought to be some things in the way that we think and the way that we think. And the way that we speak and the way that we act towards others that shows that this is not just human charity or something. This is divinely enabled graciousness and love toward others. Not only just not obvious malice toward all men, but that we are divinely, are supernaturally being enabled by God's grace to love one another. To love our neighbor. Not only to not have malice toward them, it will.

I think about even, you know, and there are many atrocities that have happened in the Muslim world because of a lot of things that they teach in their doctrine. And I certainly understand that that we've got to be careful about accepting that into our country. But to just wish that all of them were wiped off of the face of the earth. And I hear even people talking like that. Just wipe them out. That makes no sense from a Christian standpoint. Just wipe them all out. No. We need to pray for their salvation. We need to pray for their souls. We cannot use, and it often happens that we don't even realize it. We could use, we could use sanctified terminology to justify malice towards certain people. We can use, well, they're just wrong, so I wish them ill. No. We should pray for them. We should pray that they get saved or they get right, they're restored, if they're in a bad state, whatever the case may be. Pray that God will get a hold of those people, but don't wish them ill. Don't wish, I hope they get destroyed or I hope they get saved. Don't wish, I hope they get destroyed or I hope they get destroyed or I hope that they get what's coming to them. Well, if we all got what was coming to us, we'd be in a bad place.

We would be in a very bad place today. That is a poison to, in our thinking, it is something that is, is going to harm our view of God unless we obey what he tells us to do, which he says. He says in many ways, what is Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32? He says, 31 and 32, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you. Believers, let it be put away from you with all malice. Obey. Believe that I've saved you with the purpose of putting all that away. Well, put it away. Don't let it, don't let it brew in your thoughts and your life. Put it away from you. And be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Does that mean, oh yes, if, let's say someone murdered a family member of mine, yes, I want them to go to jail for that. I mean, they may even face the death penalty for it, but does that mean that I have malice toward them? No. If, if, if allowed to speak to them, I would hope and pray that God would enable me to, to share the gospel with that person. You don't have to die in your sins. Think about Jesus. Isn't that how the Lord wants us to think? Because think about Jesus when he was on the cross. What did he say?

Father, forgive them. They were literally hanging him on a cross to die. And he said, forgive them for they know not what they do. They don't understand the full implications even of all what they're actually doing here. They were hyped up by religious fanaticism that allowed them to die. They were hyped up by religious fanaticism that allowed these fanatical Jewish leaders to crucify the Lord of Glory by saying he was born of fornication or he was a troublemaker or whatever they said he was. They were able to justify with their religion their malice toward him and their murder of him. Now, we're to lay aside, Peter says, all malice and all guile and so on and so forth. 1 Peter 2.1 We are as, let's look here in Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6 verse 28. What does it say here in this same portion of scripture just a few verses back? Luke 6 verse 28. What does it say there? It says, bless, bless them that curse you and pray for them which despitefully use you bless them and pray for them. Look in Matthew 5.44 there's a few extra words that are given there as well. Matthew 5 verse 44. It is there in that portion that we read but I say unto you love your enemies. That doesn't mean approve of what they do.

That doesn't say celebrate their sin. No. Love your enemies bless them bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. Wasn't it I'm not getting it mixed up I think it was William Tyndale Lord open the king of England's eyes. Lord he was praying for the king of England even as he was being burned or about to be burned. at the stake. Well love your enemies bless rather than curse. Oh this world is full of cursings full of malice and there's something in that sinful human nature that loves that delights to see those who have crossed it suffer in some way. Suffer for all they've done. Well the Lord will see to that. The Lord the judge will do what's right but thankfully I'm not the judge. Thankfully you're not the judge. Thankfully none of us are the judge. Thankfully the Lord is the judge because we wouldn't do what's right. We would at least initially sometimes we would respond in a way that would be dishonoring to God because of the way that we have been maybe something has been done to us that ought not to have been done. And yet we have no right to do the judging ultimately because God is the only one that's without sin. Jesus Christ is without sin.

You remember that woman that we read of in 1 Kings? Let's turn over there 1 Kings chapter 3. I want to give some examples here. 1 Kings chapter 3. It's there in 1 Kings chapter 3 verse 24. I'd like to read there beginning. And verse number 24 says, And the king said, Bring me a sword. This is Solomon, you know. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two and give half to the one and half to the other. Give half to the one and give half to the other. Then spake the woman who's the living child was unto the king for her bowels yearned upon her son. And she said, O my lord, give her the living child and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her that's the first one the living child and in no wise slay it. She is the mother. How did you know it was the mother? Because she loved the child. She did not have ill will toward the child or towards you know, the other mother in this.

You remember the mother who said, Let the child be divided was the one who had lost her child and she she didn't care if something bad happened to the other mother and to the child. She didn't care. In fact, she would have been glad. See, you got what you deserve or you got it back. You know, you got what was coming to you. That was the attitude of that woman but Solomon knew which one was the mother because the mother cared and people should be able to look at us and see that we are children of God because of the the attitude and the response and the words that we have even when we are despitefully used wrongly persecuted and done in a way that should not have been done it doesn't mean that we say I'm so glad that they're acting that way or I'm so glad that they did this. No. But do we wish for them to be dead? No. And to be judged ultimately that should not be our desire. Our desire should be to pray for them. To pray for them.

Without the Lord Jesus Christ we care nothing for the lives of those who can't benefit us in some way we might say. They can't benefit us and that's why we're told that pure religion and undefiled before the Father is this. To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction when they can't do anything for you. You're not going to benefit so to speak they're not going to be able to pay you they're not going to be able to put you in a news story they're not going to be able to do something to prop you up and make you look good. Visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

But we notice that we pray for our children and we should pray. We should pray for our children to be saved. I thought about the sister Barbara Blackstock for years prayed for all the children. Just the sacrifice of the time that she took. She took specifically to pray for all of the children. This was the foundations and what a blessing that was that she prayed. I know even for our children and all the ones that she knew of that even not necessarily just ones in the church but she prayed for them. And we ought to pray not only for our children's salvation but we people that we know neighbors individuals that we've come in contact with and we learn about let's pray for their salvation. Pray for them. Even if they don't like us. Even if you know whatever the case may be.

Remember remember Jonah in chapter in Jonah chapter 4 what it said there in verse number 10. Jonah chapter 4 in verse number 10. We might we talk about the children but you know it could be that there's people that you work with that are not very lovely. There are people that maybe they're trying to I mean I've talked to different ones of you and heard some interesting stories about how you know even as a Christian they may try to keep you down so to speak. Even though you're a good worker they may not give you the promotion. Well you should pray for those people. We notice also Jonah chapter 4 verse 10 says Then said the Lord Thou hast had pity on the gourd. Thou hast had pity on the gourd. Why did you pray for them? Why did Jonah have pity on the gourd? Well the gourd dried up and the gourd was helping Jonah wasn't it? The gourd I think it was said there that it cast shade. But now you've had pity on the gourd for the which thou hast not labored neither made us it grow which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should not I spare Nineveh that great city wherein there are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between the two the right hand their right hand and their left hand and also much cattle. These are eternal souls Jonah.

These souls when they pass into eternity if they are not right with God will spend an eternity in judgment. An eternal separation from God Jonah. And you're worried about a gourd. You're worried about a gourd. Isn't that kind of how trite sometimes the things we worry about or we're concerned over more than the souls eternal souls of men. I think this would be a good a good passage for emphasis on the need of missions. But Jonah Jonah kind of like Habakkuk remember when Habakkuk said his response or what his response was to the Lord when he said to that bitter and hasty nation he would raise up the Chaldeans. It was shock. Lord aren't you of more and I'm paraphrasing of more righteous eyes than to than to allow that to happen. I know we must judge but the Chaldeans I mean this was the Assyrians the Ninevites of all people they're wicked they're godless. Yes they are. And you would be too if you were born there in that land. You would also be part of that number. There's nothing special about you Jonah. Well I'm sure Jonah did not think in his mind I have malice towards these people. But I hope that they get what's coming to them. You know may God help us to learn from Jonah's example that we would not hope that anyone would not get saved and not put their trust in the Lord.

I remember what the Lord says in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 7 I'm sorry Deuteronomy chapter 10 rather Deuteronomy chapter 10 in verse number 18 Deuteronomy 10 verse number 18 it says there He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow and loveth the stranger in giving him food and raiment love ye therefore the stranger for ye were strangers or foreigners you were strangers in the land of Egypt love ye therefore the stranger for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt thou shalt fear the Lord thy God thou shalt him shalt thou serve and to him shalt thou cleave and swear by his name there's no accident that well the fear of the Lord helps us to think rightly about about the strangers even for you were strangers that that example I pulled out before Sunday school hour a few weeks back and I said back from Matthew 18 I was recalling how the man who had received compassion and was frankly forgiven of the debt then how did he treat the fellow servant that owed him a much smaller portion no you're not gonna get you're gonna pay the last little bit of it that's not the attitude the Lord would have us to have

I think of what we read of Obadiah and how he spoke to Edom the Lord through him through Obadiah wasn't it spoke to Edom about how they laughed and aided and abetted in the in the judgment that God was bringing upon his people and they cut him off from the passes and they took advantage of them and laughed at their calamity rather than having compassion upon them and this is also this is this is very much in the spirit of what we see here with this malice toward them there is a lot of malice in the Middle East now isn't there it has been for many many years a lot of hatred a lot of ill will I want nothing more and we see how insane people become in that malice when that's all they can think about I just want the destruction of those people I want the destruction of those people over there and it's all it's all part and parcel of the full scale rejection of Messiah isn't it the rejection of the one who is full of truth and grace the one who came to save his people from their sins I see now the malice toward Jews is that a what do we call it anti-Semitism is that an all time I say all time it's in our country at an all time high in our country people and the Jews they are a their God is science okay their God is science because they've rejected Messiah and until they turn back to the Lord they're going to keep doing what they're doing they're just doing the same thing they were doing 2,000 years ago except they have technology now they have technology and they're doing a lot of things that don't always make it on Fox News there's a lot of atrocities that are happening over there but there's a lot of atrocities happening the other way and there's hatred there's malice between both sides

let's not get caught up in all of that let's not get caught up in thinking I wish you know these people were dead or that and it's affecting it's affecting even professing Christians now churches you know we're these pro-Palestine groups and yet the other side it's become almost a political game now just a political show you know no we are to put away all malice don't get drawn into that don't get drawn into that thing where you where you hate one race or one type of people pray for the salvation pray for them remember that you were as the Lord told Israel you were strange you were foreigners in Egypt remember that you were lost in your sins you were dead in your sins and trespasses even as we see in our text here back in Titus 3 what did we read even last week but it says but after that the kindness in verse 3 and love of God our Savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done were we accepted in the beloved but according to his mercy he saved us according to his mercy God have mercy on souls those that we rub shoulders with those that treat us wrongly those who speak ill of us those who do things that would they would seek our our harm in some way may we desire that God would show mercy upon them let's pray Father we miss the mark when we hold any malice in our hearts toward others forgive forgive us Lord of our of not putting away all malice help us Lord to desire above all that people would be made right with God that people would realize before it's everlasting too late that they are in their rebellion or in their persecution or in their whatever it may be that they're doing in their lives in their sin they are they're on a collision course with judgment and you will judge your long suffering but there is a term limit there is a limit to that amount of time Lord we do not know when that is and we cannot presume how long that is Lord help us to have a greater urgency and desire in our hearts to have a greater to really see people to get right with God we can't make people get right with God but Lord we certainly should put away any and all malice in our hearts before Lord even we're told in your word that you're not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance may that be true of us not only in our words not only in the things we say but also in our very thoughts Lord may it be true that we desire like that woman give her the child to make a sacrifice to give up something with the hope with the desire even the heart that Paul had for his own beloved countrymen he would say if it were possible he would that he could be cut off so that his people could be saved if it would be possible that he would be cut off if it were possible if it were possible Lord that love that we saw this morning that the Galatians had for Paul so much so that if it had been possible to help him they would have plucked out their own eyes and have given them to him may that be the spirit that possesses us may that be the heart that we have towards even those that may despitefully use us or help us and wherever needed Lord may our thinking be corrected on this matter so it may be pleasing in your sight we pray and ask these things in Jesus name Amen