Maligned and Marching Forward with Great Joy

“By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true.” 2 Corinthians 6:8

“Rejoice when you are maligned – whoever you are being attacked by is giving someone else a break!” unknown

Jesus promised that all of His true disciples (those really following Him) WILL be hated, maligned, and lied about and completely misrepresented. The love of many is waxing cold (Matthew 24:10-13).

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12

When others reject you due to the completely fictitious rumors spoken about you, you must keep seeking the LORD and not be hindered by that. It’s part of being Christ’s disciple. Paul faced this vicious evil himself (2 Tim. 1:8; 2:9). The apostle was lied about often (2 Cor. 6:8).  Oh well, all you can do is simply keep pressing toward the mark of loving, knowing, worshiping and serving the King! He alone is your Judge! The LORD knows exactly who you are and what you are repented of. From your Maker and Redeemer alone comes your sentence. Memorize Psalms 17:2 today saint.

When you hear something bad about another believer, what should be your response? Brandon Still captures what the response should be out of the life of the one who is truly abiding in Christ:

“A little grace and mercy and forgiveness goes a long way. I’m sure Glad Jesus was patient and forgave me.” Brandon Still

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

What does God’s Word say concerning how we receive reports?

Firstly, it MUST be “by TWO or THREE” actual “WITNESSES” or people who actually saw or heard it. Hello! Time to shake ourselves. Hearsay is not a “witness” folks and so it should be dismissed.

Do YOU want everyone/others to believe about you what one person who is not even a witness says and then starts a rumor?

Deuteronomy 17:6 – “At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses (they saw it), shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.”

The LORD set in place a protective system to guard against false accusation.

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.”

An accusation is not to be concluded as being true until two or three witnesses have come forth – witnesses, not gossipers who are simply repeating something they heard.

Matthew 18:16 – “But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” (This is assuming that person being disciplined had admitted or otherwise been witnessed by others to still be living in some vile sin that he has not yet repented of.)

2 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.”

1 Timothy 5:19 – “Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses (not hear-sayers who don’t really know).”

Divine Pattern

God Himself even gave us three divine witnesses of Himself:

“And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.” 1 John 5:8

What kind of person believes lies about another?

“A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.” Proverbs 17:4

Who gives heed to lies? Read the above verse again.

“He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.” Proverbs 17:9

Protection from Lies and the Condemnation of Mere Men

“Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” Psalms 31:20

Sometimes all you can do is laugh and let the lies fly – after all, how good of a “friend” was someone who would believe a lie about you?

“Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. 22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.”  Job 5:21-22

“Hee hee! This reminds me of a church I was in where one of the youth told me that the rumour was going round about me in the youth group that I was a satanist and a drug addict. I cracked up laughing about this, both to the girl who told …me, and to our Senior Pastor. They were both amazed and were like “why aren’t you fuming with anger? I would be!!” I said “Because they must be pretty bored with their own lives to make up such crazy stories about mine. I hate to disappoint them, but I’m really NOT that interesting! I’m married, and I’ve just had a baby (my son was only a few months old then!” I then showed my arms and asked both of them if they could see any needle tracks, and let them know I’d be willing to have a female escort me to check over the rest of my body for hidden needle tracks. I still laugh about that too! :)” Meg W.

Proverbs 17:17 says “A friend loveth at ALL times …” What kind of friend are you to others? What if those things ARE true about the person being attacked? Did God not forgive your sins? Did the LORD stop forgiving others when they repent/confess? Did the LORD remove 1 John 1:9 from His Word?

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