Christians must expect to face many enemies on account of their faith. Jesus Christ made it clear that such opposition was the inevitable result of commitment to him. Nevertheless, Christians are called upon to love their enemies. Passages gathered in the Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin H. Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
The arrogant rise against me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, with no regard for You.
I have given them Your word and the world has hated them; for they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Indeed, none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or wrongdoer, or even as a meddler. But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear that name.
Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?' And the King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.'
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
Jesus said to His disciples, "It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" "Who are You, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," He replied.
You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.
Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. "
Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Canaan. This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them. Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine." "Do you intend to reign over us?" his brothers asked. "Will you actually rule us?" So they hated him even more because of his dream and his statements.
For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the members of his own household.
Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.
Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.
Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us responsible for this man's blood."
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
I have written to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not accept our instruction. So if I come, I will call attention to his malicious slander against us. And unsatisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and forbids those who want to do so, even putting them out of the church.
They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him. They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.
And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
If I have rejoiced in my enemy's ruin, or exulted when evil befell him— I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse—
But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up His garments by casting lots.
While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
12 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ' For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.
When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up His garments by casting lots.
On the contrary, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head."
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.
One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" Jesus replied. "How do you read it?" He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " "You have answered correctly," Jesus said. "Do this and you will live." But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus took up this question and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side.
If you encounter your enemy's stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.
Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him.
Then Saul replied, "I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will never harm you again, because today you considered my life precious. I have played the fool and have committed a grave error!"
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
"Where have you come from?" said the LORD to Satan. "From roaming through the earth," he replied, "and walking back and forth in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil." Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing?
But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.
The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world's darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
So I advise the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their households, denying the adversary occasion for slander. For some have already turned aside to follow Satan.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.
The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, 'Destroy him!'
So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely.
And David sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: "The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise against me. Deliver me from workers of iniquity, and save me from men of bloodshed.
In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. In Your justice, rescue and deliver me; incline Your ear and save me. Be my rock of refuge, where I can always go. Give the command to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, "You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague. He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men. Protect me from men of violence, who devise evil in their hearts and stir up war all day long.
Set me free and rescue me from the grasp of foreigners, whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.
For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
'He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,' and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away."