Agreeing with Your Adversary

The Signs of the Times and Our True Adversary

1. We have heard the Gospel where the Lord rebukes those who knew how to interpret the appearance of the sky, yet failed to recognize the time of faith and the kingdom of heaven which was at hand. He said this to the Jews, but His words extend even to us. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself began the preaching of His Gospel with these words: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Similarly, John the Baptist, His forerunner, began with the same message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). Now the Lord rebukes those who would not repent when "the kingdom of heaven was at hand."

"The kingdom of heaven," as He Himself says, "will not come with observation" (Luke 17:20). And again He says, "The kingdom of heaven is within you" (Luke 17:21). Let everyone wisely receive the Master's warnings, so as not to miss the season of the Savior's mercy, which is now being offered while the human race is spared. For humanity is spared for this purpose: that people might be converted and not condemned.

Only God knows when the end of the world will come. Nevertheless, now is the time of faith. Whether the end of the world will find any of us here, I don't know—perhaps it won't. Our own personal end is very near to each of us, since we are mortal. We walk amid uncertainties. If we were made of glass, we would have less to fear from chance accidents. What is more fragile than a glass vessel? Yet it endures and lasts for ages. Though we fear it might fall and break, we don't worry about it getting sick or growing old. We are more fragile and weaker than glass. We live in constant dread of accidents that can happen at any moment, and even if these accidents don't occur, time still passes.

A person might avoid one kind of blow—but can they avoid their end? They may avoid accidents that happen from outside, but can they drive away the decay that grows from within? Again, now our internal organs develop diseases, or some other illness suddenly attacks. Lastly, even if a person is spared for a very long time, when old age finally arrives, there's no way to postpone it.

2. So let us listen to the Lord. Let us apply within ourselves what He has commanded. Let's determine who that adversary is that He has warned us about when He said: "When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort on the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you shall not depart from there until you have paid the very last penny" (Luke 12:58-59).

Who is this "adversary"? If it's the devil, we have already been delivered from him. What a price was paid for our redemption! The Apostle speaks of this redemption saying, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love" (Colossians 1:13). We have been redeemed; we have renounced the devil. How then can we "make every effort to settle with him" so that he doesn't make us his captives again through sin? But this is not the "adversary" the Lord is warning us about.

In another place, another Gospel writer has expressed this differently. If we put both expressions together and compare them, we'll soon understand who this adversary is. What did Luke say here? "When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort on the way to settle with him." But the other Gospel writer expressed this same idea with these words: "Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him" (Matthew 5:25).

All the rest is similar: "Lest perhaps the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be thrown into prison." Both Gospel writers have explained this in the same way. One said, "Make every effort on the way to settle with him," and the other said, "Agree with him." You won't be able to "settle with him" unless you "agree with him." Would you like to "settle with him"? Then "agree with him." But what? Is the devil someone with whom a Christian ought to "agree"?

3. Let's identify this "adversary" with whom we should "agree, lest he deliver us to the judge, and the judge to the officer." Let's find him and come to terms with him. If you sin, the word of God is your adversary.

For example, perhaps you enjoy getting drunk. The word of God says to you, "Do not do it." Perhaps you enjoy attending spectacles and other amusements. It says to you, "Do not do it." Perhaps you enjoy committing adultery. The word of God says to you, "Do not do it." In whatever sins you wish to do your own will, it says to you, "Do not do it."

It is the adversary of your sinful will until it becomes the architect of your salvation. How good and useful an "adversary"! It doesn't seek to fulfill our selfish desires but to secure our true benefit. It is our "adversary" as long as we are our own adversaries. As long as you are your own enemy, you have the word of God as your enemy. Become your own friend, and you'll be in agreement with it.

"You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13)—listen to this, and you have "agreed" with it. "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15)—listen, and you have "agreed" with it. "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14)—listen, and you have "agreed" with it. "You shall not bear false witness" (Exodus 20:16)—listen, and you have "agreed" with it. "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife" (Exodus 20:17)—listen, and you have "agreed" with it. "You shall not covet your neighbor's goods" (Exodus 20:17)—listen, and you have "agreed" with it.

In all these things, you have come to terms with your "adversary." What have you lost by doing this? Not only have you lost nothing, but you have even found yourself—you who had been lost. "The way" refers to this life. If we "agree with the adversary" and come to terms with him, when "the way" is finished, we will not fear the judge, the officer, or the prison.

4. When is "the way" finished? It doesn't end at the same hour for everyone. Each person has their own time when they will finish their "way." This life is called "the way." When you finish this life, you have finished "the way."

We are moving forward, and life itself is advancing. Don't imagine that time advances while we stand still! This isn't how it works. As time advances, we advance with it. Years don't come to us—they go away from us.

People are greatly mistaken when they say, "This young person lacks good sense now, but years will come to him, and he will grow wise." Consider what you're saying. "Will come to him," you claim. I will show that they actually "go away," though you say they "come."

Here's how easily I can prove it. Let's say we know how many years he has lived since birth. For instance (wishing him well), he has eighty years to live and will reach old age. Write down "eighty years." After one year, how many remain of the total? Eighty? No—subtract one. He has lived ten years; seventy remain. He has lived twenty; sixty remain.

But surely, someone will object, those years "did come." What does this mean? Our years come only to depart. They come, I say, only to pass through us. They don't come to stay with us, but as they pass, they wear us out and make us less and less strong.

This is "the way" on which we have set out. What then should we do with that "adversary," that is, with the word of God? "Agree with him." You don't know when "the way" may end. When "the way" ends, what remains are "the judge," "the officer," and "the prison."

But if you maintain goodwill toward "your adversary" and "agree with him," instead of a "judge," you will find a father. Instead of a cruel "officer," you will find an angel who will carry you to Abraham's bosom. Instead of a "prison," you will find paradise. How quickly everything changes "on the way" when you have "agreed with your adversary"!