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Jack Hyles on Justice

by Dr. Jack Hyles

Electronic Printing by FFEP

Part Two of Two

Chapter Eleven

JUSTICE AND WITNESSES

"One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. I/ a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. And thine eye shall not pity; but life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." Deuteronomy 1 9:15-2 1

Let me begin with an illustration. I will give you ten statements concerning a young man who comes to attend Hyles-Anderson College. This can be applied to any ministry.

(1) When he first arrives at college, he is in awe of Dr. Wendell Evans, the President of Hyles-Anderson College. He sees Dr.Evans as a hero and has great respect and admiration for him.

(2) Because of this young man's hard work and humility, he is hired to work at Hyles-Anderson College.

(3) The young man does a good job for a while and keeps his regard for Dr. Evans as his hero. He continues to look up to him with great respect and admiration.

(4) The young man begins to get more self respect as he begins to grow. Suddenly he also begins to have problems as he begins to measure himself improperly. He starts thinking he is bigger than he actually is.

(5) This young man's ego is being built by students who were given to him. He personally had nothing to do with drawing them to the school. Not one of these students came because of him.

This can happen in any given situation where someone is in a new area of growth. There is no one who knows so little as someone who knows a little! There is no one who thinks he knows as much as someone who knows a little!

(6) This young man fails to realize that his hero, Dr. Evans, has been growing too. He thinks that he is growing to Dr. Evans' level until suddenly he thinks that he knows more than Dr. Evans. He even begins to sit in judgment of Dr. Evans.

(7) The young man is still as far behind Dr. Evans as he was in the first place. Dr. Evans is still as much his superior as he was the first time he met him because Dr. Evans has also continued to grow.

(8) The young man does not realize that his hero is still as superior to him as he always was. Tragically the young man deprives himself of his hero.

I still feel the same awe toward Dr. Lee Roberson as I did the first time I met him. The fact is that Dr. Roberson has grown even as I have grown. I do not assume that I have caught up to him, so he is still my hero!

I was with Dr. John Rice for many years, and I knew he had feet of clay. I could have found his weaknesses if I had wanted to, but I did not want to because I wanted Dr. Rice to remain as my hero. In fact, I tried to avoid seeing his faults. I feel sorry for people who think they have grown to the level of their heroes. If you ever lose your heroes, you lose your security.

(9) The young man begins to judge the judge. When that happens, he loses his chance to grow. When you catch up with the person above you, there is no one left to pull you up. You will not learn any more because you think you know all which that person knows. When you know all your teacher knows, you will not learn more.

(10) The young man immaturely uses some verses that he does not understand to prove his point.

This illustration can be applied to any ministry and in any place. In most of the places where I find a disloyal assistant pastor, he is almost always young. Rarely do I find a 50-year-old assistant pastor who is being disloyal. It is usually the young man who does not know enough to know he does not know much. Invariably these disloyal young men are fueling their mutiny with some scriptural misapplication. Let me show you two of the passages often used in these situations.

1. II Corinthians 13:1, "This is the third time lam coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."

These young theologians like to use the logic that this means anytime two people say they saw something, we are supposed to believe it. That is not at all what the Scripture is saying!

Let's use for an example a man who is a school teacher. Suppose he fails two young ladies in his class, and then they get together and decide to get revenge. They claim he made sexual advances toward them, and they begin to spread it around. Most preachers would have fired that man simply because those two girls accused him. This situation actually happened in one of our schools, and eventually one girl admitted that she and the other girl had lied to get back at him for failing them.

What if you were the one being falsely accused by two "witnesses"? What if that one being accused were your husband? Would you want people to take the word of two false witnesses? What if it were somebody else's husband who was being falsely accused?

Is God saying here that we are to accept the accusations of two homosexuals who have decided to destroy the ministry of a preacher by accusing him of committing homosexual acts? What about two sex perverts or two prison inmates? If two of these people falsely accuse a person, are we to accept their accusations as truth? Absolutely not! Yet, that is exactly what most Christians do. In fact, most people do not even require one witness. We just believe it because "someone" said it.

In immaturity, someone grabs this verse and uses it to defend, believing something against someone simply because two people say they saw him do it. People have criticized me because they think I do not punish the way they think I should punish; yet, they do not know the facts that I know. I am not going to punish someone whom I do not know to be guilty. I do not have a quick-trigger finger, and I am not going to believe irresponsible witnesses!

2. I Timothy 5:19, 20, "Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." The key word in this passage is the word "receive." These verses do not say not to "believe"; they say not to "receive." The Supreme Court of the United States makes two decisions concerning a case. The first decision is whether or not to take the case. The second decision is how to judge the case. The word "receive" is the same word that describes that first decision the Supreme Court makes. We are not even to consider a case against an elder unless there are at least two witnesses. This does not means he is guilty; it only means that we will at least consider it. The guilt is not to be presumed, and if there are not at least two witnesses, we are not even to receive the accusation for consideration. We are never to receive gossip or hearsay. Refuse to accept it! Far too many people know too much gossip that goes around our churches.

I will receive the case only if there are at least two witnesses and then only if it is in my jurisdiction or area of judgment. In law they call this "probable cause," which means they investigate it, but it does not mean the person is guilty! Do not assume guilt, even if there are a hundred witnesses. If there are two or more witnesses, and if the matter is in your area, receive the case, consider the possibility and investigate it carefully.

Immature Christians use this Scripture to defend publicly rebuking people before the entire church. That is ridiculous! Everyone sins from Sunday to Sunday, so every Sunday everyone would have to be rebuked publicly. Yet that is how these young, immature "theologians" think. In fact, there are only a few sins they personally have selected for which they want public rebuke. They do not want to rebuke all sin. What most of them want to rebuke is sexual immorality; yet that is only one of the ten commandments and not even the first one mentioned. For example, have you seen anything lately that you wished was yours? If so, you need to be publicly rebuked for coveting!

What is this Scripture teaching? There is only one sin mentioned here, and that is the sin of being a false witness. God is teaching us in His Word that false accusers should be rebuked before everybody. The New Testament is built on the foundation of the Old Testament, and this passage comes from an Old Testament passage, Deuteronomy 19:25-21.

A false witness in the Bible is not a talebearer but is someone who claims he saw something that he really did not see. If a person is found to be a false witness, notice what the Bible says is to be done to him. He is to be punished with the same punishment that goes with the crime he falsely accused another of committing. The same punishment that would have been inflicted on the accused was to be inflicted on the accuser! Murder was a capital crime, punishable by death. If a man falsely accused someone of murder, the accuser was to be sentenced to death, according to the Scripture. Why was this the case? The Bible says it was done to put away the evil. What evil? The evil of falsely accusing someone in an attempt to destroy that person's life.

The sin discussed in I Timothy 5:19 is not the sin of the accused but the sin of the one doing the accusing. Both of these passages state the same reason for this. I Timothy 5:20 says, '...that others also may fear." Deuteronomy 19:20 says, "And those which remain shall hear, and fear...." In both cases, the Bible is speaking of false accusations and the rebuking of those who falsely accuse. So, we are taught to deal harshly with false accusers.

There are very few things any worse than falsely accusing someone. Imagine a person falsely accusing someone just so that person will be wrongly punished. That is a terrible thing! By the

way, just because you have a gut feeling about someone does not give you the right to accuse him. That would never stand up in court. God forbids this type of accusation and treats it as the most severe crime!

Your life is not going to be rich if you lose your heroes. That is what is wrong with America. America was great when America had heroes. When you lose your heroes, you lose your security and forfeit your chance to grow. When you lose your heroes, you cannot be taught more. The best preacher will be the one with a hero. The best musician will be the one with a hero.

Years ago when our Sunday school attendance surpassed Dr. Roberson's Sunday school attendance, I personally did not surpass Dr. Roberson! He is still my hero because even though I have grown, I have not outgrown him! I feel sorry for people who think they know as much as those who were once their heroes. None of us have "arrived." There are many people in this world who know more than we know. Do not deprive yourself of having heroes to whom you can look.

Colleges and seminaries all across this nation are training "knowit-all" preachers. It is easy for the hero of some not to have any heroes. It is easy for the hero to think that he has arrived. In many cases, the hero has never really built anything on his own; yet he begins to think he knows more than the one who built the area where he became a hero. So, he takes verses like these and begins to show his true level of ignorance.

Chapter Twelve

AN EXAMPLE OF JUSTICE

"It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judge already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." I Corinthians 5:1-5

Several people had brought to Paul's attention that there was an act of fornication being committed by a man in the church of Corinth. To make it even worse, it was being committed with the man's own stepmother. Notice how Paul reacted to these accusations.

Paul never mentions the man's name. In I Corinthians 5:1 he refers to the man as "one." In verse 2 he merely uses the pronoun, "he," and again inverse 3, the pronoun, "him." Inverse 4 he refers to the man as "such an one." Not once did Paul refer to the man by his name. I believe that Paul did not know who the man was because Paul was not responding to gossip that he had heard about somebody. Paul was responding to a situation.

When I was preaching out of town once, a man wrote me a note asking me how he should handle a situation in his church. A man had been stealing money out of the offering plate at his church, and he wanted to know how to handle the situation. I met with him and told him what I thought he should do. I did not ask him the man's name because I did not need to know his name. I was not interested in judging the person. I was interested only in judging the situation. Many years ago I established a policy of how to handle this situation.

Likewise, Paul did not hear an accusation about a person, but about a situation. He was wise and experienced and had faced almost any possible situation, so he had already judged the situation without even knowing the person involved. Paul was not trying this individual, but was applying his principles and policies as he had at other times when he faced similar situations.

Paul's writings taught against gossip and slander. Do not take Bible doctrine from an example or illustration. Take doctrine from Bible teaching. If you are not careful, you will begin to think that Bible characters were perfect. You cannot always do everything like Paul did. For example, Paul once had his head shaved and took a Jewish vow, even though twice he spoke against those very things in Scripture. Paul did wrong!

Esther married a heathen king. That king had a drunken party and asked his wife, Vashti, to strip and display her body to all those at the party. Vashti refused to do it; yet Esther agreed to marry him. Yes, Esther was a courageous woman. Once she had made her mistake, she did save Israel, but Esther still should not have married that king. Do not take Bible doctrine from illustration. The Bible teaches not to marry the heathen, so Esther should not have married that heathen king. God often uses people who make mistakes to do something great.

Daniel made a horrible mistake. When the Jews had been in captivity for 70 years, everyone who wished to do so was allowed to return to rebuild the temple and later to rebuild the wall. Daniel did not return perhaps because he was influenced by the heathen university which he had attended in Babylon. It was not right that Daniel did not return; yet God still chose to use him. It is important that we not look for our doctrine in the illustrations of the Bible, for many of them reveal God's working in spite of men's disobedience.

I have heard many preachers use I Corinthians 5:1-5 as basis for revealing an individual's sin and telling people to deliver that individual to the Devil so that the Devil could kill him. That is not what Paul said; nor is it God's form of justice! If God wants someone killed, you do not need to do it. Paul was not speaking here of punitive or destructive judgment. This was remedial judgment. He was talking about allowing the Devil to have him for a little while to shake him up a bit.

When the Israelites had neglected God, God called Nebuchadnezzar "His servant." This wicked vile king was called God's servant so that God could deliver His people to him for a little while to allow him to rough them up to destroy their fleshliness so that they would get right with God. Paul is speaking of the same thing here. He is instructing them to deliver the man to the Devil to rough him up and teach him that sin does not pay. Why? So that his spirit could be saved.

I Timothy 1:20, "Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." Why did Paul deliver Hymemeus and Alexander to Satan? He did not do it to kill them, but to teach them not to blaspheme. That is synonymous with I Corinthians 5:5. Paul is not speaking of allowing Satan to destroy the man's body, but of destroying the man's carnality by delivering him to the Devil so that he could punish him. God has a chain on the Devil. The entire purpose is remedial, not punitive.

Too many Christians like to reject sinners and watch them suffer and die. That is NOT New Testament Christianity! God never tells us to deliver anyone to death. He is a corrective God. Hebrews 12:6a, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."

Paul did not end his lesson there. In his second letter to the church at Corinth he mentions the situation again. II Corinthians 2:1-8, "But I determined this with myself that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.

Paul grieved over this man's sin, but only in part. He did not lose his joy. I understand how Paul felt. I carry an immense amount of grief and heartbreak, but I sorrow only in part, for my name is written in Heaven, and I am still God's child! That is what God is speaking of in I Corinthians 2:5b when He says, '...that I may not overcharge you all." Paul did not want to burden the people and to pull them down, so he tempered his grief.

Paul went on to tell them to leave the man alone who had committed fornication with his stepmother because he had been punished enough already. When the sentence is over, we are to accept people back, and we are not to leave a stigma on them. Paul told them that he had been punished sufficiently.

Tragically, most of us are not like that. We keep on punishing people for what they did in the past. This man committed a horrible sin of committing fornication with his stepmother; yet, Paul told them that they had punished him enough already. Most Christians would never speak to him again.

Paul told them that they should forgive him. I have received many letters in my ministry because of the way I handle sinners. Imagine the letters that would have gone to and about Paul for telling the people in Corinth to forgive this man who had committed fornication with his stepmother. He even told them to comfort the man, using the same word for "comfort" used to describe the Holy Spirit as our Comforter. He was telling them to pick him up, strengthen him and to get him back on his feet so that he could be used of God again. Paul wanted to correct and restore him.

Every sermon preached about sin ought to be corrective, not punitive! Every single action taken in the church concerning sin ought also to be corrective, not punitive!

A great artist once said that anytime someone paints a picture of a forest, he ought to paint a pathway out because people who look at that painting will be stifled if they see no way out. Anytime we discipline a sinner, we ought to provide a pathway out, a way back!

Paul did not wish for this man to live a life of grief and sorrow. He instructed them not to make him live sorrowfully the rest of his life for the sins he committed. He even commands them to confirm their love toward that man. The word "confirm" means to "underline it" or "emphasize it." Paul wanted them to make certain that the man knew they loved him.

Let me give you ten principles we learn from the way Paul dealt with this situation.

1. People did not tell Paul the man's name. If you want to spread juicy gossip, why don't you leave out the individual's name? I will tell you why you don't! It is because you tell it to hurt somebody. Slanderers do not have fun by telling their story, but by destroying somebody.

2. Paul already had a principle by which he judged, and he judged the principle, not the person. The course of action was not the main thing. The result was the main thing.

3. Paul gave his advice because he had been asked for it. It is not our job to give our opinion on how others should do things unless we are asked.

4. Paul did not accept an accusation against a specific individual in this passage.

5. Paul sent them a policy in his reply.

6. Paul never said that he believed the accusations. He said that it was "commonly reported," but not that it was true.

7. Paul did not punish to hurt but to salvage.

8. Paul taught that punishment is to have an end, not to go on indefinitely.

9. Paul taught them not to allow the sins of people to take their joy away.

10. Paul showed us that the type of punishment is not the main thing. Correction is the main thing!

Chapter Thirteen

"TWO WITNESSES"

DOES NOT CONVICT

"Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine." I Timothy 5.17

I have heard preachers say for many years that two witnesses upheld a conviction in a Jewish court. That is not true. Two witnesses made a cause worthy of investigation, but it did not convict a person as guilty. Any time two or more people accused someone of being guilty of something, it simply meant that they would investigate the matter to find out if the person was truly guilty. It does not mean that they were automatically assumed guilty. In this chapter I am going to use several passages of Scripture to prove that to be true.

II Corinthians 13:1, "This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." The word, "established," means "strengthened." It is not saying that in the mouth of two or three witnesses something is true. If one person makes an accusation, that is weak; but if two or three say it happened, the case is strengthened, and an investigation follows.

No one should be considered guilty until it has been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that that individual has done what he was accused of doing. I would rather allow ten guilty people to go free than to convict one innocent person. As long as God gives me breath, I refuse to declare anyone guilty unless there is positive proof that the person is guilty. I refuse to declare recklessly that someone is guilty just because it appears that way.

I believe that it is wrong to have the appearance of evil. However, if a person has the appearance of evil, that is the wrong; it is not proof of the evil actually being committed. The Bible says that the appearance of evil is to be avoided, so the sin actually committed is appearing to be evil. We must not automatically assume that another evil was committed.

If two people witness something, that means it is strong enough to take into consideration the possibility of it being true, but it does not mean that it is automatically true.

Deuteronomy 19:15, "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." The word, "established," used in this passage is the same word we found in I Timothy 5:17. Here again the Bible is saying that if only one person rises up as a witness against somebody, we are not even to consider it or investigate it. I am amazed at the way people believe things because one person says it's true. Even if you say that you saw it with your own eyes, I am not to believe it or even investigate it, according to the Bible.

I am not surprised when the pastor of a soul-winning church is accused of terrible things, for the Devil is not going to ignore a great ministry. I trembled right before I announced to our church that we were going to have a big Pentecost Sunday and try to have more than 3,000 people saved. In some ways I did not want to do it because I knew that all havoc would break loose! I knew Satan was not going to overlook that!

Right after Pentecost in the book of Acts, persecution began. Later, when 5,000 people got saved, things got even worse. The Devil will not ignore a church that means business and is trying to get souls saved. Jesus came to earth, lived, died and rose again to get people saved, so anytime a person, a preacher or a church give themselves to what Jesus died to do, persecution is going to follow quickly!

Stephen did incredible things for Christ, and then trouble came. Acts 6:8-15, 'And Stephen, full offaith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they subomed men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel."

The key word in this passage is the word, "then," at the beginning of verse 9. Stephen did great things for Christ; then false accusations came. The word, "suborned," in verse 11 means "to secure a person to take a false oath." These men, under oath, claimed that they heard Stephen speak blasphemous words. Did Stephen speak blasphemous words? NO! Yet, these witnesses said that he did, and they even claimed under oath to have heard it with their own ears! They were lying!

Stephen was wrongly stoned because those people judging him were like many Christians today who take as fact the accusations of two false witnesses and condemn an individual as being guilty. You can reject this, or you can wake up and accept what God says in His Word!

Matthew 26:57,59-61, "And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders were assembled. Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days."

There were at least two false witnesses who accused Jesus of blasphemy for saying that He could destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days. Jesus was talking about His body; yet these false witnesses were accusing Him. If two witnesses convict a person, then Jesus was guilty, deserved to be tried and deserved to die. Yet we know that He was falsely and wrongly accused, tried and convicted!

The Bible does not teach that an accusation is true just because two witnesses say it is true; it merely means that that makes it solid enough to look into it further.

In I Kings 21 we have the story of Ahab, the king who was married to Jezebel. Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard, but it was sacred to Naboth because he had inherited it from his father. Naboth refused to sell it or to trade it to Ahab. Ahab was so angry that he went home, went to his room, laid on his bed and pouted, refusing to eat anything.

Jezebel came to Ahab and asked him what was wrong. Ahab told her what had happened. When Jezebel heard the story, she promised Ahab that she would get him Naboth's vineyard.

People who will spread slander and lies have no conscience! Jezebel wrote letters sealing them with Ahab's seal! She had Naboth put on trial for blaspheming God and the king, and she secured two sons of Belial to witness falsely against him. Naboth did not blaspheme. All he did was to refuse to sell his vineyard to the king because it was sacred to him.

Ahab was the king. He had the entire kingdom; yet, he wanted one small vineyard that he could not have! Naboth was guilty of nothing, but because of two false witnesses, he was stoned to death. Was that just? Did that mean that Naboth was guilty? After all, they did have two witnesses. No, he was not guilty! Each one who convicted Naboth was guilty of being unjust! Every time a Christian mentally convicts someone today merely because two people say something happened, they also are guilty of being unjust!

God made sure that the same penalty which Jezebel caused to be inflicted on Naboth was later inflicted on Jezebel.

All three of these cases involved situations where two or more witnesses accused someone who was innocent. That is not justice. Stephen was wrongly stoned because of two witnesses; Jesus was wrongly tried because of two witnesses; and Naboth was wrongly tried because of two witnesses.

Tragically most Christians do not even need two witnesses to believe an accusation is true. They only need someone to tell them that he heard something, and they accept it as truth. It is wicked to take an individual's reputation in your hand because of something you heard! The Bible teaches that you are not to even investigate it without two or more witnesses, and you are not to believe it until it has been proven to be true. Nothing is more tragic than for someone to ruin another individual's reputation because of hearsay.

Deuteronomy 19:18, 19, "And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you." The Bible teaches that whatever the punishment would be for the crime an individual is falsely accused of committing, that same punishment should be inflicted instead upon those who accused him and sought his hurt. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Daniel 6:24, "And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den." Daniel was falsely accused and thrown into the lion's den. God protected him from harm, but notice what happened to those who falsely accused him! They were cast into the lion's den as were their wives and children! The king was obeying the law by punishing the false accusers in the same fashion they intended for Daniel to be punished when they falsely accused him.

Esther 9:25, "But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows." Haman falsely accused Mordecai and conspired to have him put to death. He persuaded the king to build gallows upon which he could hang Mordecai. One night the king was reading and came upon a story about a certain man who had saved his life. He discovered that it was Mordecai, the man he was about to hang. As a result, Mordecai's life was spared, and because Haman falsely accused Mordecai, Haman was hanged on those gallows! Again we see God's law being enacted.

It is time for Christians to give people a fair chance. It is time for all to quit delighting in hearing bad about someone. The Bible says that love believes good reports, not bad ones. It is time for us to give our neighbors, our families and our Christian brethren the benefit of the doubt. It is time we decided to be just!

Chapter Fourteen

DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Evil is not the same as sin in the Bible. Evil is always sin, but sin is not always evil. The two words are never the same and are not interchangeable. "Sin" means "to miss the mark." "Evil" is "to use sin to injure." Sin is an individual act of doing wrong. Evil is an alliance to bring harm upon another individual.

Smoking a cigarette is sin, but the involvement of promoting or selling cigarettes is evil because it is a system that brings harm to someone else. If you drink liquor, it is a sin; but if you sell liquor, it is evil.

Sin is what destroys you. Evil is when you join someone to destroy someone else. Sin is what injures you. Evil is when you join some one to injure another. No Christian should ever desire to injure anybody. We should never enter into an alliance of people with the purpose of injuring someone else.

Sin is criticizing someone. Evil is joining in an alliance to slander or hurt someone. Let's look at some examples in the Bible.

Nehemiah 6:12-14, "And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me. My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear."

God's people were back in Jerusalem rebuilding the wall around the city. Two men, Tobiah and Sanballat, decided to hinder their progress, so they formed a system of opposition. That was evil because they formed an alliance to damage the people of God. They used every method they could to discourage the building of the wall. It is evil when people campaign to destroy anyone for any reason. Evil is worse than sin!

Genesis 37:1,2, "And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

Genesis 37:17-19, "And the man said, They are departed hence;for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. And when they saw him afar off even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer comet h."

Joseph's brothers conspired against him to kill him. The Bible calls that an evil report. It is bad to drink liquor, but it is worse to sell it. It's a horrible sin to give yourself to an alliance that is committed to injuring anyone.

Acts 14:1, 2 'And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.

Here again we see a conspiracy to injure someone. The unbelieving Jews formed an alliance to hurt Paul and the others who were preaching the Gospel. The Bible calls it evil whenever we join in an effort to injure someone for any reason. Our job is not to tear down, but to build up, even if someone is trying to tear us down. It is wrong to try to tear down someone, even if you know bad about him. The Lord told us to pray that God would "deliver us from evil." He was instructing us to pray that God would prevent us from seeking to hurt someone else. God never wants His children to be involved in evil or in attempts to hurt others.

The Bible says that in the end-time there would be an increase in evil. II Timothy 3:12, 13, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."

All of those who attempt to live godly lives will suffer conspiratorial persecution at the hands of evil men. Never in my entire ministry have I seen that to be more true than it is right now. Soul-winning pastors all across America are under vicious attacks by people trying to destroy them and their ministries. It is always done to soul-winning preachers. The Bible tells us that it shall happen. All across America the Devil is forming alliances of evil people who are committed to the destruction of godly Christians who do good.

During the greatest days of soul winning in the history of First Baptist Church the Devil launched the most vicious attacks on our church and people. One of our people can be falsely accused of something, and it is spread all across America; yet, we saw 5,000 people saved on one Sunday, and hardly anyone talked about it! Why? Because evil men "wax worse and worse." James 3:8, "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." The Bible does not call the tongue sinful. The Bible calls the tongue "evil, full of poison." When a person decides to join a conspiracy to hurt someone, he is doing evil. Are you using your tongue for evil? Evil men always do their work in groups so they can hide behind the group to spread their poison. They rise up to judge someone who, they feel, is doing something wrong; yet the Bible tells us that we are to lift up the fallen, not conspire against them!

Sin happens to all of us. We fall into sin and do damage to Ourselves. Evil is planned and carefully constructed. Evil people purposely damage others.

What are we to do to avoid joining an evil alliance? Proverbs 4:14, "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men." The Bible says that we are not to even associate with them. That means we should totally avoid those who are seeking to injure another individual, even if they do not do it in your presence. Do not be with them!

I was driving down the street in a city in Maryland one day and was moved by something I saw at the side of the road. There were two would-be houses side by side. One had obviously once been a home, but had been destroyed by fire. The other was a mere foundation of a house that had never been finished. I saw a beautiful lesson in that sight. The house that had been burned once fulfilled the purpose for which it was created. Yes, it has burned and was no longer useful, but at least for a while it had served its intended purpose. The foundation of the other had never been burned and scarred by fire; yet, it also had never enjoyed a moment of usefulness. I would rather be a house that was useful for a little while than to be a house that was never useful.

Too many Christians who have never done much for God are critical of those who fell from a life of usefulness into a life of sin. Most evildoers are self-righteous critics of people who at least tried to serve God. Why don't we help our fallen rather than participate in their destruction? Christians ought never to criticize another Christian for any reason. Let's form alliances to lift the fallen, not to criticize them. Stay away from people who seek to destroy others.

Jesus was a friend of sinners, but rebuked those who accused others. That is what all of us should do. We should lift up the fallen sinner and flee from those who seek to do damage to anyone.

What does the Bible say to do if someone is trying to do evil to us? Romans 12:21, 'Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Just keep doing good! Stay on the course of doing good just like Jesus did. The best defense against evil accusations is to keep on serving the Lord and helping others. I have never helped myself by answering the accusations of my critics, but my ministry of doing good has been my defense. God has kept on blessing my efforts to reach the lost and help the hurting. That will be your best defense as well!

When evil men conspire to hurt you, just keep doing good. Do not allow them to draw you into the wrong fight. Just overcome their evil with good. Do not seek revenge. Seek the lost. Fallen sinners do not know your hurt. They just need someone who will help them and love them. They do not care what people are saying about you; they need your help!

Nehemiah just kept on doing good. Joseph just kept on doing good and even provided food for his brothers. The Apostle Paul just kept on doing good in spreading the Gospel of salvation. That is what this hurting world needs us to do. Just keep on doing good. Let others do their evil. Do not join them even to fight them. Overcome their evil with good.

Chapter Fifteen

THE MOST COMMON

METHOD OF INJUSTICE

"And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end. Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, Jam able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living god, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the son of God." Matthew 26:57-63

The most important attribute of God is His justice. God will not be unjust. We are to be like Jesus, so if justice is God's most important attribute, then it is also to be our most important attribute. Justice should be the most important thing to God's People. Justice is rightness. It is doing the right thing. This is why this chapter is so important. I am going to list the twelve most common ways Christians are not just. It is just as wrong for us to be wrong in our areas of judgment as it is for a judge who sits on the bench in a courtroom.

1. Not liking someone. That is judging! God shows no favorites. We are to become conformed to the image of His Son. If you do not like someone, it is usually because you are prejudging them. This is what prejudice is. When you decide that you do not like something about someone, you have stepped outside of God's plan for justice because you are judging outside your area of responsibility.

John 15:25, "But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause." They hated Jesus without a cause. We have no right to dislike anyone. That is not just!

2. Listening to one witness. If a person tells you he saw someone drinking liquor, you are not to accept it as truth. In fact, you ought to try to avoid listening to it. Never accept an accusation without two witnesses. I am not saying that you should call the person a liar, but the Bible says not to receive the accusation. The philosophy I live by is never to receive any accusation against someone if it is not in my area of responsibility.

If one person comes accusing a person, do not listen unless he is an eyewitness and has a second eyewitness with him. If someone comes to you and tells you something bad he heard about someone, you are disobedient if you listen to it! If two witnesses come to you, and if it is inside your jurisdiction, you must then investigate it. These two witnesses should come to you together and present their account together.

We are not to read accusations against individuals in magazines or newspapers. We are not to listen to them on the radio or television.

I was with Dr. John Rice in a restaurant in Claremont, California. Dr. Rice was reading in the sports page about Richie Allen, a controversial baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Sox. Dr. Rice said,

 "Dr. Hyles, isn't Richie Allen awful?"

I said, "How do you know, Dr. Rice?"

He said, "Well, haven't you read what the papers say about him?"

I said, "Dr. Rice, have you read what the papers say about you?"

Dr. Rice looked up at me over his glasses and said, "You are preaching to me, son!"

That is the way we all are. We read an article by a liberal writer who is paid to dig up smut and garbage against people, and then we believe what he says simply because he said it. That is not right!

3. Listening to two people who are not witnesses. You are not to receive two accusers who heard something. The Bible says not to receive it unless there are two or more witnesses, but still, you should not receive it as truth. Receive it like the Supreme Court would receive a case. Receive it to be reviewed in order to hand down a decision based on all of the evidence presented, but do not receive the case if two people come to you who are not eyewitnesses!

4. Telling others what one witness told you. God in Heaven is holding us accountable for what we say about people. This destroys more churches than all the dope and liquor combined. You are not to "pass on" stuff that is bad.

5. Having an opinion because of what one witness says.

6. Believing two witnesses. Just because two witnesses say they saw something does not give us the right to believe it is true. It allows me only to receive it and investigate it. Most of the time we want to believe it. In fact, if two witnesses make something true, Jesus was guilty because He had two witnesses accusing Him. The fact that two people say something does not make it true. I have seen situations where people lied about what they saw. I've seen other situations where the individual was really not sure about what he saw!

7. Investigating without two witnesses. Often a person will come to me to tell me something he saw, and I will tell him that I refuse to receive it unless he has another witness. It is wrong to investigate something you heard if it did not come from two or more Witnesses. In our investigating, we end up spreading the garbage. Wouldn't you rather spread the message that Jesus died for sinners? If we preachers across America spent as much time spreading the message of Christ as we do trying to destroy each other, we could win this world to Christ. Often the same preacher who will spread slander will also criticize the church that is trying to aggressively spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to sinners.

8. Seeking witnesses or seeking a second witness. If you hear gossip or slander, it is wrong for you to begin an investigation to see if you can find a witness or witnesses. It is wicked and unscriptural, for in doing so, you begin to spread the accusations. The Bible says they are to come to you, not that you are to seek them.

We live in a world of investigation. One of the greatest tragedies of our day is investigative journalism. The average reporter is nothing more than a second-class detective. The press is not interested in the facts unless they contain something bad. Say, don't criticize the press if you are doing the very same thing!

9. Making the decision and then seeking for proof. Matthew 26:4, 'And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him." This is what happened to Jesus. They had already decided to kill Him, so they had to find some way to do it legally. They had already made their decision as to what they were going to do. They were interested only in finding a reason to do what they were going to do anyway. That is wrong!

I always pull for innocence. I always hope that the accused individuals are not guilty. They are fellow human beings, and I do not want to have them guilty of the things they were accused of doing.

Do you pull for innocence or guilt? In every case of accusation, you ought to pull for innocence — not the guilty to be acquitted, but for the accused to be innocent! Always pull for innocence, not guilt. If a judge in a courtroom pulled for guilt, we would say that was unjust; yet, that is no different than when we pull for guilt. We prejudge and then we investigate to prove what we have already decided!

Luke 19:47, 'And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him." They "sought to destroy" Jesus. The word, "sought," means, "a plot by inquiry from His worst enemies."

There are people all over America who have sought to destroy preachers. They are not trying to find the truth. They have already decided that they would consign them to guilt. Whom do they question? Loyal friends? Staff? No! They question enemies and those who hate them the most!

Many of us are guilty of doing the same thing; however, the sentence is to be handed down after the trial, not before!

10. Seeking only the negative. John 11:47, "Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles." The enemies of Jesus got together to form a plot seeking only the negative against Him. They hoped it would divert the attention of the people away from all the good things He had done. It is wicked if we do the same thing!

11. Wanting to find guilt.

12. Seeking only one side. Those who accused Jesus could have called for the blind man Jesus healed in John 9. They could have called for Bartimaeus, whose sight Jesus restored in Mark 10, or the man whose son was healed in Matthew 17, and gotten their opinion of Jesus. They were not seeking the truth. They wanted only to find something for which they could accuse Him!

What do you do when you are standing in line at the grocery store and you see a smut magazine with some awful accusation against a famous person? Do you sneak it into your groceries so you can read it later? We need to reach a point where it is not fun to hear bad!

The mob that tried Jesus reasoned the same way most of us do, but we are not to judge the way that mob judged Jesus. This applies to your friends and neighbors also. It is time for God's people to stop being crooked judges; yet, we often do these twelve unjust things! Sadly, there is more unjust judging going on in churches than in the courthouses of most of our cities.

Do you understand why they judged Jesus unjustly and why they sought to kill Him? The Bible says that they did it because of envy. That is also why we judge people unjustly. It is because we envy someone who is doing more than we are doing or someone who has more than we have.

I was preaching in a church in Virginia where I had preached before, but which then had a new pastor. When I arrived, the new preacher said, "Brother Hyles, I know you have probably heard all kinds of bad things about the former pastor. I want to tell you the truth of what really happened."

I said, "No, you're not!"

He said, "I need to tell you the truth."

I said, "No, you don't!"

He said, "Dr. Hyles, I am going to tell you."

I started to get out of his car and go back to the airport. He said, "What are you doing?"

I said, "I did not come to hear bad news. I came to spread good news." For the three days I was there, no one told me a negative word because I decided I would not listen to it!

Later I was in North Carolina, and that former preacher drove up to see me. In tears he told me that he heard I had refused to listen to any "talk" about him. He said, "Brother Hyles, you are the best friend I have." I spent several hours counseling him, trying to help him get back on his feet and serving God again. He had not done anything to forfeit his right to be in the ministry, and a couple of years later he was back in the ministry. Now God is using him more than ever!

Let's be just! Let's pull for the innocence of people, not for their guilt. Try it! You'll like it!

Chapter Sixteen

GOOD AND EVIL

"The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on thy journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well." III John 1, 5, 6

"I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, whom loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Demetrius hath good report of all men...." III John 9-12

There are several words which are used for sin in the Greek, but not one of them is ever translated as "evil." Likewise, the words for evil are never translated "sin." It is very plain that the words "sin" and "evil" are not the same. Evil and sin are not Synonymous! Evil is always sin, but sin is not always evil.

"Sin" is "missing the mark." "Evil" is a sin which injures another person. Losing one's temper is sin. Taking a drink of liquor is sin. Committing an immoral act is sin. However, selling or making liquor is evil. Gossip or slander is evil. Distributing pornography is evil. Evil is the sin of bringing harm to others when you sin.

Evil is a conspiratorial type of sin. It is usually an alliance of people trying to injure someone, or a conspiracy to bring harm to an individual.

Psalm 51 deals with David's confession of his sin against Bathsheba and against Uriah, her husband. In Psalm 51:4a he says, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned." David was referring to his act of adultery with Bathsheba. David goes on to say, '... and done this evil in thy sight." The evil David confesses is his conspiracy to have Uriah killed. David's sin was his passionate act of adultery with Bathsheba. His evil was his planned act of having Uriah killed. It was worse for David to conspire to kill Uriah than it was for him to fall into adultery. Both were terrible sins, but the evil was the most wicked offense.

Evil is the worst of sins.

Thirty-four times in the Bible you will find the words, "good" and "evil," mentioned side by side. Every time they are mentioned together, the word, "good," has a beneficiary. It is speaking of doing good to someone. It does not mean being a good person but doing good deeds, such as feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, encouraging the discouraged, or winning the lost. It is used in these cases as an act of benevolence toward someone.

In this chapter I am going to give you seven truths concerning this matter of evil and good.

1. Evil is worse than other sin. Even if a person deserves to be hurt, we are never justified in hurting him. Vengeance belongs to God, not to man. When you try to hurt someone, that is evil and is the worst type of sin. Gossip is worse than cursing because it has the intent of injuring someone. We have our own sets of standards by which we define right and wrong, but God has a different set of standards. God does not want us plotting or conspiring to hurt or injure anyone. That is the worst type of sin, and God calls it evil.

We are not to treat people who sin in the same way we treat people who do evil. I often preach about salvaging people who have gone into the depths of such sin as alcoholism, drug addiction, fornication or adultery. Jesus was a friend to people like these, but He was not a friend of evil people. He was a friend of sinners, but in no place in God's Word do we find Him associating with evil people. In fact, He rebuked them. He spoke very harshly to the scribes and Pharisees because they were evil and conspired to hurt others. It is evil to conspire to hurt anyone. So bad are those who do evil that we are to avoid them totally. Romans 16:17, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."

There are three men mentioned in III John. Gaius and Demetrius were good men, but Diotrephes was an evil man. John said that Diotrephes "prated" against him which means "to bring false accusations." Even the beloved John had someone in the church who was maliciously accusing him. Every church has its good men like Gaius and Demetrius, but every church also has evil men like Diotrephes who try to destroy others with their evil and malicious words and works.

John, under the authority of the Holy Spirit, instructed the rest of the people as to how they were to respond. "Beloved, follow not that which is evil." (III John ha) Diotrephes was evil because he was the one who was falsely accusing the others. He was trying to injure other Christians. John warned them not to follow him.

Do not follow accusers! You are much safer following the accused than you are following the accusers. We are never to follow the accusers. We are to avoid them entirely. In fact, we are to mark them and avoid them.

So, whom are we to follow? The Bible tells us to follow those who are doing good to others. Often, those are the ones who are being attacked. You are not to follow those you like the most. You are to follow those who are living their lives doing things that are beneficial to others. Follow people like Gaius and Demetrius, not those who maliciously accuse people, as did Diotrephes.

2. Evil comes because of good. The most criticized people in the world are people who are doing something. Our media is dedicated to the tearing down of individuals who seem to be having a positive influence on the lives of others. Show me a church busy reaching the lost and fallen, and I will show you scandals. Evil people plot against those who are doing the most good. Romans 7:21 says, "I find then a law, that, when I would do good; evil is present with me."

Evil always follows good — not just being good, but the actions of doing good. The connection is always there. Evil comes because of good and is an organized plot to stop it. The Devil is behind it all. He does not want people to be helped. The prophet Jeremiah bemoaned the fact that even though he gave himself to the doing of good, evil was recompensed to him. Jeremiah 18:20a, "Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul."

Many evil people do not realize that it is the Devil who is inspiring them. They naively are being used to attack good works. The Devil is much more vicious toward doing good than he is toward being good. Why? Being good affects only you. Doing good affects many others. That is why soul-winning churches are under such vicious attack, but "deeper life" churches are not. They are not getting anyone out of Hell. They are just sitting there being good. They don't run buses or have Sunday school campaigns. Evil does not attack the "be-gooders." It attacks the "do-gooders."

3. Good is what overcomes evil. Good is both the cause and the cure for evil. Evildoers attack those who are doing good, yet the greatest weapon against evil is more good. Romans 12:21, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

If someone conspires to do evil against you, you are commanded by God's Word to overcome it with good. You can have victory over evil only by doing more good. Do not attack the evil. Do not organize a warfare against the evildoer. If you do, you have joined them in their sin. I Peter 3:8, 9a, "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous; not rendering evil for evil." I Thessalonians 5:l5a, "See that none render evil for evil unto any man."

The Devil is trying to destroy you. Evil men cannot destroy you unless they can cause you to begin doing the same thing they are doing. Do not render evil for evil, hurt for hurt, or conspiracy for conspiracy! Keep on doing good. Keep on helping the needy and reaching the lost. That is the only way to conquer evil.

4. More good causes more evil. The more good you do the more evil will come. Do not be surprised when people try to destroy you. Evil will come to those who are doing good, and more evil will come to those who overcome evil with more good.

5. Doing good will always overcome evil, but evil cannot overcome doing good.

6. Evil can be the motivation for doing good. Evildoers force us to do more good just so we can continue to overcome them. The more people have attacked First Baptist Church the greater the work of reaching the lost has become. We have done more good because of the evildoers. That is Biblical. It is warfare! When one side escalates its efforts, the other side automatically escalates its efforts. God always means for His people to turn evil into good. That is exactly what Joseph did. Genesis 50:19, 20, "And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good; to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

7. Evil can make you or break you; it is up to you. Evil can be the best thing that ever happened to you, or it can cause you to self destruct. It is up to you. Evil people can destroy you or help you. They can lead you to greater good or to evil, destroying the good you are doing. I Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation take you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

God will never allow you to be tested more than you are able to bear. I am able to bear the evil that is against me because God enables me. I may choose not to bear it, but I am able. God never allows more evil to come to you than you can bear. God will not allow evildoers to hurt you more than you can take.

How can you bear the evil that comes from doing good? Go out and do more good. Do not cry or seek for pity. You don't overcome evil with sympathy or pity. You overcome evil with good! Do not resort to evil to overcome evil because it will never work, and you will become evil in the process. You will hurt only yourself. Overcome evil with good.

Good causes evil. Good overcomes evil which causes more evil which causes more good. The more good you do, the more evil will attack you. The measure of good most of us do will in large measure be a result of the evil that is done to us.

Chapter Seventeen

THE SUBCONSCIOUS —

OUR COMPUTER

"When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat. Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee." Proverbs 23:1-7

The conscious is the mind. The subconscious is the heart. The mind is like a computer. The subconscious mind is like that which is programmed into a computer. When you type something into a computer, it shows up on the screen. There is a key you can press that will delete that material and thus prevent it from being stored in the computer's memory. The typing of that material is similar to our conscious minds. Sometimes you cannot stop something from being entered onto the screen of the computer, but you can keep it from being stored in the memory of the computer. There is a way you can delete it!

I have tried for many years always to keep my mind on what is fair and right. I want to share with you some of the things I have used to keep unjust or judgmental thoughts from being stored in the subconscious memory of my mind and heart.

When a thought enters your minds, it can either be stored in your heart or deleted before it gets there. That is why the Bible says, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." No one actually thinks with the heart, but the heart is the subconscious mind. How can you protect your heart in this area of justice?

1. Get a reputation for not listening to bad things. It is better not to allow something onto the screen of the computer that you do not want stored inside the memory of the computer. There are people who do not listen to bad, and those people are two steps away from thinking about things that they should not. It's not in their mind because they refuse to listen to it. There are very few Christians who live this way.

Years ago, Dr. Curtis Hutson was experiencing a rebellion at The Sword of the Lord. Some people were trying to get him removed as editor. Dr. Hutson called me and told me that he was in trouble if I did not come and help him. I flew there to fight for him, and we were able to overcome the rebellion. I met with some of those who were against Dr. Huts on, but who were still my good and loyal friends. I asked them why they did not come to me for advice before they rebelled. They told me that it was because they already knew where I would stand. They knew I would defend God's man! Because of my reputation, the bad things they were saying about Dr. Hutson never got on the screen of my mind. If you get that kind of reputation, people will seldom bring gossip and slander to you. This will help you the rest of your life.

2. Stop people in their conversation if you see bad coming. I want to keep bad things from getting to my subconscious mind. If I cannot keep it off the screen of my mind, before all of it gets put there, I am going to try to stop it from being finished. I am going to avoid as much of it as I can. Often people will ask me if I heard the news about someone. I ask them if it is good or bad. If it's bad, I stop them from telling me any more. I do not want to hear it. If it is in my area of judgment, and if there are two witnesses, I must listen. Otherwise I try to stop it when I see it coming.

If you cannot stop it and it gets on the screen of your mind, immediately say, "It isn't true!" or "I don't believe it!" Then the next time you see that person or think of him, you will have those

words entered right beside the accusation. If you do think of the accusation in your subconscious mind, it will be accompanied by the fact you do not believe it and that it is not true! You must come to the place in your life where you do not want bad to get into your mind, or you will soon have an evil subconscious mind. Protect your heart, or you will become evil as well. You must fight to prevent evil thoughts from being stored in the computer of your mind.

3. If you have heard it, immediately talk about something else. Before those words are allowed to be stored, change the subject to get your mind off the evil and on something good. Before the thought lodges in your heart, you must quickly shoot it back out. The best way to do that is with another thought. The best way to get another thought is to say something else. If you want to change your thought process, start talking! Talking occupies your mind more than just thinking. Talking aloud will change the way you think. It is difficult to think of one thing when talking about something else.

Every place I go I have things planned to talk about because almost everywhere I go somebody wants to tell me something bad. Sometimes I even take along some notes so I am prepared to change the subject if someone begins to tell me bad. I would rather be rude than to allow my mind to be filled with garbage.

Your subconscious mind will judge a person to be guilty if you allow the accusation against that person to enter your subconscious. The most effective way to destroy someone is to bombard people with lies about them. Every time the bad enters their minds, it will by association cause people to condemn the individual. Tragically it gets into the subconscious mind of most people, and the subconscious mind convicts the accused.

4. Do not allow your mind to picture it. You can put pictures in your mind, or you can keep them out of your mind. If you do not keep that picture out of your mind, your subconscious will have stored a picture of someone doing something bad that they have been accused of doing, even if they did not do it. You must not let that happen! You cannot serve God with that type of mind. Eventually that is what you will become.

5. Do not read about it. Anytime you read something, it is programmed in the subconscious mind, and you cannot get it out of your mind. Avoid reading materials that will tell you things that you do not want stored in your subconscious mind.

6. Do not think about it a second time. The second time you think about something it is in the subconscious mind. Control your mind. Paul tells us to think on certain things. Why? To keep control of your mind and to avoid the polluting of your subconscious. You would be amazed how much becomes stored in your subconscious mind, including the negative. It is there, and you will never get it out, but you can fix your mind on the right thoughts so that the bad thoughts will not enter your mind. 

7. Do not believe it, and do not disbelieve it. When something is said, do not make any judgment whatsoever! That is called "no decision." It is the third position: (1) guilty, (2) not guilty, and (3) no decision. There is a place in your mind that allows you not to make a judgment of guilty or not guilty. Let me tell you when you should use this concept of "no decision."

(1) Any time it is something that is not in your area of responsibility. If you hear something bad about someone who is not in your area, you are to make no judgment. Fundamentalism is infested with negativism. We have come to the place where we seem to like garbage. We hunt for it. We relish in it.

(2) When it is information that someone heard.

(3) When there is only one witness.

(4) When there are two witnesses and I still cannot prove it to be true.

You have one mind, and you can either fill it with evil or you can protect it from evil. If you fill your heart with evil, you will become evil. Fill your mind with good reports of people instead of bad reports. The reason why I have been a happy person is because every day of my life I protect my mind. I refuse to allow my mind to be a garbage dump!

Chapter Eighteen

AN EXAMPLE OF EVIL

"And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, heput forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron." II Samuel 15:1-7

For 40 years Absalom spread his rebelliousness to the people one person at a time! For 40 years he undermined the authority of his own father, David!

This is a Biblical example of evil. We will see some characteristics that almost always accompany evil. I am not speaking of sin; I am speaking of evil! I am speaking of some type of conspiracy between people to hurt somebody else. The example is the sad story of a son, Absalom, and his father, David. There are twelve things that usually accompany evil.

1. Evil is usually committed by attractive people. II Samuel 14.25, "But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him." The Devil knows that if he is going to try to destroy people, he will need people with charisma to be used in that destruction.

2. Usually the evil is caused by hurt feelings from a long time ago. II Samuel 14:28, "So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face."

Absalom's brother, Amnon, had raped his sister, Tamar, so Absalom plotted to have Amnon killed. For two years David would not allow Absalom to come before his throne. Forty-two years later, Absalom culminated his revolt against his father!

In almost every person trying to do evil, I can find something in the distant past for which they were offended. That is why it is important not to allow your hurt feelings to linger. Get it out immediately before it leads you to do evil.

3. Evil is usually a lifelong task. When David told Absalom that he could not come before his throne for two years, it festered in the heart of Absalom. For 40 years he went from person to person to spread his vicious lies concerning David. He did it one man at a time for 40 years, just like most bitter people do.

4. Evil usually begins with private conversations. So often the person who wants to injure someone else starts his campaign with one or two individuals. He may even make them feel that he is confiding in them.

5. Evil is usually against someone who helped to build the one who is telling the lies and spreading the tales. Absalom was the king's son. It was David who fed him, clothed him, trained him, loved him and educated him. Absalom got another man named Ahithophel on his side against David. Ahithophel had been a childhood friend of David. David had taken him from being a "nobody" to being his top advisor and a famous man in the land. Yet, Ahithophel turned on David — the very man who had made him what he was! Even worse than that is the story of Mephibosheth, the crippled son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul. David sent his servant, Ziba, to Lo-debar to bring Mephibosheth back to the palace in honor of Saul and Jonathan. David adopted him as his own son, let him live in the palace, let him sit at the king's table and made him an heir of all that David had. Yet, Mephibosheth turned on David and conspired to do him evil!

Every pastor will tell you that the ones who turn on you are usually the ones for whom you have done the most. These evil ones will hurt you with people they would not have known without you. We have hired young men at Hyles-Anderson College who were not known outside of their own dormitory rooms. Eventually we have allowed them to speak in front of the nation at Pastors' School or Youth Conference and literally helped make the young men famous. Then they have tried to hurt us with the fame they would never have known without us. We lifted them up, so that they could kick us down!

6. It is usually against someone who has helped you in the past. Several years ago a man came to me who was experiencing serious financial problems. I helped him by making his car payment for five years; yet, that man turned on me. I could tell you story after story of people throughout my ministry whom I have helped, yet who have turned against me and who have tried to do evil to me. I am not bitter because it is what God has called me to do, but it has been that way throughout my ministry.

7. It is usually against a former hero. The very person who was the object of his admiration becomes the focal point of his evil intent.

8. Usually it is their evil that brought the conspirators of evil together. Their common cause is destruction. Wouldn't it be tragic to spend your life with a group of people with a common goal of doing nothing but destroying someone? I am thankful that the causes of my life and of those around me are to keep people from going to Hell, lift up the fallen, reclaim those who have fallen away and bring back those who have gone away!

II Samuel 15:12, "And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacnfices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with A bsalom." It was their common desire to do evil to David that brought Absalom and A hit hop hel together.

9. They usually do it again. Folks are not evil because they do evil; they do evil because they are evil. When you get into the habit of doing evil, you will do it again and again. That is why it is important that you keep on doing good when someone does evil to you. The Devil would like nothing more than for you to join his crowd of evildoers. He wants you to start fighting back. You may have to defend yourself, but you can defend yourself without attacking somebody else. When evil comes your way, overcome the evil with more good!

When they do it again, they usually do it to each other! I have seen churches all over America where the pastor was attacked by some evildoers who caused the church to split. They start a new church, and within a few years, the very group that split off into another church had split again! Why? Because they are church splitters. They are evildoers!

10. Usually you will hear very little about them again. Ahithophel is not spoken of in the Bible again, nor is Mephibosheth. After Korah's rebellion he was not mentioned in the Bible anymore. Even after Barnabas left Paul, nothing he did was ever mentioned again.

You had better check and see what happened to the last batch before you ship out. In the history of Hyles-Anderson College we have had several people who were totally unknown before they came to work here. They left as nationally known people, but almost no one knows where they are now!

Before you sit down and listen to evildoers or become one yourself, you better check on what has happened to others before you. Look at what happened to Absalom. Absalom died by getting his hair caught in a tree.

11. They usually think they have outgrown their leader. A student comes to a college and sits at the feet of a great Christian leader who teaches him. He admires and respects that leader. He looks to him as a hero. Then that student gets to the place where he thinks he knows more than his teacher knows. What happened? The student failed to realize that while he was growing and learning, so was that teacher! That teacher still knows far more than the student!

I am never going to outgrow the people who got me where I am. Neither will you. You will never feel as lonely as you will feel that first night you go to bed after you have tried to destroy your leader. You will have lost a security that you will never understand until you lose it. Every person needs somebody to whom they look. If you stick with that person, you will go farther under him than you will ever go by yourself without him. You will become a greater person.

I know men who were once great "second men" in America and were known nationwide. They came to a point where they thought they had outgrown their leader and even did evil to their leader. They have gone out thinking they were going to build a great ministry, but have totally disappeared from the scene!

Many years ago I decided never to betray those who have made me what I am. I never betrayed my mother. I never betrayed my pastor. I never betrayed those who helped to put me where I am!

12. It is usually those who have built nothing on their own. So often a person thinks that if he tears down someone else, it will make him taller. However, that never works! So the person who has built nothing on his own now trys to tear down what another has successfully built.

You will not have a full, rich life by doing evil to people. You will have a full, rich life only by doing good. I could list the names of godly, good, soul-winning men who were viciously attacked and then rendered evil for evil. It destroyed their ministry. It is hard not to do. However if you will just keep on doing good, the evildoers will not cause you to lose the blessings of God by also becoming an evildoer.

There is no way you can live above sin, but you can live above evil. In the Lord's prayer, it does not say, "deliver us from sin," but from "evil." You cannot be delivered from sin, but you can be delivered from evil!

Chapter Nineteen

STOP THE SIN BEFORE

IT BECOMES EVIL

"Let no man say when he is tempted, Jam tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:13-15

There is a space of time between when a person sins and the time a person does evil. During that time we can stop ourselves from the doing of evil. We cannot live above sin, but we can prevent it from becoming evil. Let me give you six statements concerning the process of sin becoming evil.

1. Sinful people can administer justice; evil people cannot administer justice. A sinful man can get forgiveness for his sin and then properly administer justice. A man who is part of a conspiracy, who plans to do evil, who is bent toward doing evil, and plots and prepares to do evil is so torn up by prejudice that he will not be able to administer justice. You cannot be just if you are evil. You can be just if you are sinful.

2. Evil is sin when it is finished. A preacher who once followed me in a pastorate became very bitter at me because the people kept comparing everything he did to the way I had done things. I could understand his feelings of anger and why he would be upset with me. His anger was sin, but I could understand how that could happen. Then the man decided that he was going to try to destroy me. It was sin when he became angry at me, but it was evil when he decided to try to destroy me.

The Bible says that "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." That pastor did not die physically, but he was soon forced to leave the church which led to the death of a great ministry. It brought forth the death of his marriage as he and his wife divorced. It brought forth the death of his ministry because he was forced to leave the ministry. It all happened because he allowed sin to become evil.

When you lose your temper, that is sin; yet, it will not destroy you. When that anger turns into a plot to hurt someone, that becomes evil and will bring forth death to your joy, your testimony, your effectiveness and your blessings. All of this happens when sin becomes evil.

3. Sin left alone will eventually become evil. The minute you realize that you've sinned, you ought to run to your prayer closet, ask God to forgive you, and then forsake that sin. If you leave that sin unconfessed, it will fester and will eventually lead you to evil. That is what happened to Absalom after 40 years.

4. You have a period of time after you sin before you become evil. There is a time between your initial anger at a person and the time you want to hurt him. If you lose your temper and hit somebody, that is sin, but it is not evil. Evil is plotted or planned. Evil will sooner or later come if you do not get that sin forgiven. God allows you a certain amount of time between the act of sin and the time that sin progresses to becoming evil sin. Let us look at some examples.

Saul

I Samuel 18:6-11, "And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have

ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice."

The young David fought and killed Goliath. King Saul should have done so because he was the king and was head and shoulders above the people. When the women began to sing greater praises to David than to Saul, he became angry, which was sin. Finally an evil spirit came upon Saul.

Instead of repenting of his sin, Saul became angry, began to eye David carefully, and finally decided to kill him. Saul developed a plan to kill David, and as a result, he lost not only the spirit of God, but also his kingdom, his power and eventually, his life. It did not have to happen. If Saul would have corrected his sin before it became evil, it could have been avoided. Instead, it brought forth death to his power, his kingdom, and his usefulness to God. All of this happened because Saul let sin become evil.

Sin in one's life will fester until it becomes evil. Go to your prayer closet, fall on your face, ask for forgiveness, and forsake it before it becomes evil and brings forth death.

Absalom

II Samuel 15:4-7, "Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the kingfor judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. And it came to pass afterforty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron."

Absalom began by committing the sin of covetousness. He wanted his father's kingdom; his father's throne; his father's sceptre, and his father's crown. He coveted until he reached a point when he I decided that he would plot to get it. That is when it became evil. Covetousness may seem insignificant, but like every sin, if it is left I unconfessed, it will eventually become evil. In the end, it brought forth death to Absalom.

David

Psalm 51:4, 'Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest."

David stayed home one day and saw Bathsheba bathing. In a moment of passion and lust, David committed adultery. When he found out that Bathsheba was pregnant, he realized he had to do something. To cover his sin, he arranged for Uriah to come home to sleep with his wife, Bathsheba. Uriah refused to enjoy his wife while his fellow soldiers were dying on the battlefield, so David plotted Uriah's death. Suddenly, David's sin had become evil. David realizing this, not only confessed his sin of adultery but also his evil against Uriah. Whatever sin you let lie will eventually lead to evil and then death.

Joseph's Brothers

Joseph's brothers committed the sin of hatred and envy. They did not confess it, and so they began to hate him even more. Sin will always grow if you do not confess it. Their hatred intensified until they envied him and even plotted to kill him. That which started out as sin became evil. There was time to stop it before it happened, but they allowed it go to unconfessed. Tragically, it is almost impossible to stop it once it becomes evil.

5. Justice and evil are alike in one respect. They are both deliberate. True justice is deliberate because it requires careful study and contemplation of what is right. True evil is the same way because it also requires the contemplation of a plot to carry it out.

6. You can live above evil. Someone has said that you cannot stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can stop it from building a nest there. You are going to stumble into sin, but you do not have to wallow in evil. You can be delivered from evil if you want to. Psalm 121:7, "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul." The Bible does not say that the Lord will preserve you from all sin. You do not have the power never to do wrong, but you do have the ability within God's power to be delivered from evil.

John 17:15, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He asked the Father to keep His people from evil. He knew that in our passion and impulsiveness we were going to sin, so He did not pray that we would not sin. He prayed that we would be kept from evil. We do not have to allow sin to lie dormant in our lives and become evil. You can be delivered out of evil, but by that time you will have already done harm to people and hurt them.

II Thessalonians 3:3, "But the Lord isfaithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil." The Bible does not say that God will keep us from sin, but it does promise that He will keep us from evil. Gossip comes from an evil heart because it is planned. It comes about because of an unconfessed sin.

How to Stop Sin from Becoming Evil

1. Ask God to give you His love. I Corinthians 13:5, "Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." Love does not think evil. Love does not plot. You can love someone and get angry at him. That is sin. You cannot love someone and plot against him. Sin usually is not thought out when it is started. It is usually passionate. When it is finished, it is plotted and planned. To keep away from evil, we must ask God to give us His love because love thinketh no evil.

I have become angry at people, yet wanted no evil to come to them, because I have asked God to give me His love. If the love of Christ indwells my heart, I will not do evil, although I will sin.

2. Pray. In the Lord's Prayer it says, "...deliver us from evil...." The lesson is that as soon as you know you have sinned, you should pray and ask God to keep it from becoming evil.

I realize that there are many people in this world who hate me and who would like to destroy me, but I have no desire in my hear to hurt any of them because I beg God not to allow my sin to germinate into evil. I beg Him to protect my heart from evil.

3. Do not be around evil people. Psalm 140:1, "Deliver me, 0 LORD, from the evil man...." You cannot associate with somebody who is plotting to hurt someone else and not be affected. You are not to fellowship with evil people. You are not to allow them to preach for you nor are you to preach with or for them. Proverbs 2:12 "To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things."

The men who come to our Rescue Mission are not evil men. They are sinful men. Those who sold them the liquor are evil men, because they willfully conspired to hurt someone else and to do them evil. You are to avoid that evil person totally. To be in fellowship with evil people is to be disobedient to God!

There are men who claim to love me; yet they refuse to disassociate themselves from others who are trying to do me evil, although I never ask them to do so. I know that eventually they are going to be affected because God specifically warned them to stay away from evil men.

Proverbs 4:14-16, "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except that they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall." God is crystal clear here that we are to avoid evil men. They are trying to do mischief to someone, and we are to avoid them totally. Do not travel with evil men. Run from them. If you do not want to become evil, do not get around evil men. The Bible does not say to avoid sinful men. It tells us to lift them up, but no place in the Bible does it tell us to lift up an evil man. Even if you think you can help evil men, you are to avoid them. Evil men will affect you long before you could ever change them!

4. Run with the crowd that is not evil. Hebrews 3:12 13, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." God is telling us to take heed to our own hearts, lest we become evil. To do that we must be with those who are not evil. As soon as an evil person tries to spread his evil to you, find someone who is not evil to exhort you. Do not spread the evil to this one, but seek his good.

5. Ask a friend to help you when he sees sin lingering. Choose a good Christian friend and ask him to come to you and lovingly exhort you if he sees a sin lingering in your life. Be careful that you do not volunteer to do that for everybody else!

I have seen it happen over and over again in my ministry. There is a look in the face of a person that is not a sinful look but an evil one. Sin has festered, and an evil spirit has come upon him. He ought to go ahead and leave the church at that moment because he has gone too far! Sin is finished! Evil is come! Death is near!

Check the end of evil people, and you will see how tragic their end was. You will never hurt anyone as much by trying to hurt him as you will hurt yourself!

Chapter Twenty

THE WAR BETWEEN

GOOD AND EVIL

'Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 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 not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12.1