Jeremiah Jasso Blog

Bible Study: On the Ugliness of Suspicion

2/21/2024

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

Introduction
I once heard a story about a Godly man who was loved by his family and adored by his church. A model-Christian of sorts. When he died, his son inherited his Bible. And his son discovered that if he dropped his father's Bible on its spine it would invariably land by opening up to 1 Cor 13. That's because this Godly man spent so much time meditating, studying, and praying over 1 Cor 13 that he left a permanent imprint on the spine of his Bible.

Now I am not saying that you must, as a rule, spend a disproportionate amount of time in 1 Corinthians 13 but I am saying that you will never waste time learning about and applying the love of God to your life. As a matter of fact, without this love, you will only waste time. What is it that you want do? What do you want accomplish? You can ace a test, you can get promoted, get a raise, know all the right doctrine, and win the lottery, but without love it’s all for nothing.

Summary
This case, that without love nothing you do matters, is what’s being made by Paul here in verses 1-3. He even ends with saying that if you laid down your life as a martyr, but didn’t have love, it profits nothing.

So what is love? Paul goes on to describe what it is, it’s not snooty, not a sin sniffer, not envious, not self-centered, it has manners, and, this is what we will focus on today, it is not suspicious. This is the focus of verse 7.
The word for “bear” here means to cover, so it is literally “love covers all things” Meaning love seeks to cover the sin of others. The love of Christ instills in us the instinct to conceal sin, not to get excited about juicy exposé’s or be eager to to catch someone in sin. Now this doesn’t mean that you seek to “cover” someone’s sin by not confronting it when necessary. This is speaking of a disposition in your heart, not a reason to avoid dealing with sin when it’s within your power to do so. There is a big difference between excitedly and loudly grilling someone on their sin and reluctantly and quietly confronting someone on their sin.

In the same way to “believe all things” doesn’t mean that the most gullible person in the room is by default the most loving, no we are to be resolute in the doctrines of scripture, not “driven and tossed by the waves” as James puts it. To “believe all things” is not in regard to doctrine but in regard to other people. So to be loving is to assume the best of other people. Love believes that the motives of others are pure and even in the face of being wronged love holds on to the possibility that the offender didn’t intend to offend. In other words, in order for someone to prove to you that another person has bad motives they must have rock solid evidence.

And even when there is rock hard evidence, love “hopes all things.” Love hopes that, even though it looks bad, it can be clarified. Even though the evidence is really pointing to them being guilty, love hopes it’s not true. This is what we call giving the benefit of the doubt. Paul demonstrates this for us in 1 Cor 11:18, in the face of solid evidence, Paul says he believes it “in part”. He is eager to give the benefit of the doubt.

And when after love has covered, believed, hoped and a person is proven to have been a bad actor. Then, at that point, love endures. Love endures being sinned against gracefully, doesn’t grow bitter, but is long suffering when it comes to being sinned against.

All this means that suspicion is not permitted in the Christian heart. When I say 'suspicion' I’m talking about the tendency to impute bad motives where there is not a preponderance of evidence. For example: “Oh that person doesn’t like me.” “I wonder if they’re talking about me...” “My professor gave me a bad grade because he doesn’t like me.” “I didn’t get that job because the recruiter had bad intentions.” “I didn’t get that promotion because my boss is envious of me!” All of these things are suspicion. Spurgeon once said about suspicion “Suspicion makes a man a torment to himself and a spy towards others. Once you begin to suspect, and causes for distrust will multiply around you, and your very suspiciousness will create the major part of them. Many a friend has been transformed into an enemy by being suspected.”

So we’re going to look at three biblical examples of how suspicion ruins lives and these three examples will illustrate three points:

1. Suspicion makes you blind to sin

2. Suspicion turns friends into enemies

3. Suspicion makes you blind to the Holy Spirit

Eli & Hannah - Suspicion makes you blind to sin.
1 Samuel 1:13-18 "Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. 16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. 17 Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 18 And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad."

Obviously, Eli is the one who is guilty of suspicion here. Hannah is having a hard time, so she does what a Godly woman should do and brings it to the Lord in prayer, and out of nowhere Eli accuses her of being drunk. No benefit of the doubt, no hope, no attempt at looking at her in the best light possible, he just vomits out an accusation. And you might say “well at least he’s willing to call out sin!” Not really! His sons are in the other room taking advantage of women and stealing sacrifices and he's doing nothing about it!

A constant Suspicion of sin makes you blind to sin. A rejection of the love of Christ makes you blind to sin.

But notice how Hannah responds. She could’ve really let him have it, “some pastor you are!” Nope instead she gently defends herself and gives him honor by calling him “Lord” Hannah is exemplifying how love endures all things.

David’s Condolences - Suspicion turns friends into enemies.
2 Sam 10:1-4 "And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. 2 Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. 3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it? 4 Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away."

Here we have a prime example. David is being kind and genuinely trying to comfort the people of Ammon and instead of being grateful the Ammonites make up this crazy story about how the comforters are really just spies and it amounts to: "Who is that David guy anyways? Yes, let’s humiliate his men and send them away that’ll show him." This turns out to be a huge mistake because this series of events culminates in chapter 11 with the Israelites destroying the ammonites in battle.

Suspicion turns friends into enemies.

Ammon could've enjoyed a productive alliance with a powerful king but soured it with their suspicion.

Pentecost - Suspicion makes you blind to the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:11-13 "Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine."

In this passage the Spirit has just descended upon the church and appeared as tongues of fire and they’re performing a miracle by speaking in every nation’s language. And in the midst of all this, some of the people there are scoffing at the whole thing saying, “Oh they’re just drunk!”

Here you have the Holy Spirit right in front of you performing miracle after miracle, and the suspicious man says “Ha! they’re drunk.”

Suspicion makes you blind to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Fortunately in this case those who were originally suspicious later repented and submitted to the Word. That's a glorious reality-- repentance is an option.

Conclusion
So, don’t be suspicious. Be loving. One, because the Bible says so, and two, because living a life of suspicion, as we have seen, is not worth it. It makes you blind. But if you live in the love of Christ, you will be a joy to everyone around you, and a light in a dark, sinful & suspicious age. The temptation is to let the sin that surrounds you become the lens through which you view the world, but the lens through which we view the world should be Jesus Christ and the forgiveness he offers. To peer through the lens of suspicion is to view the world in same way as Satan himself, the accuser of the brethren.

Exhortation: Spend time going over this passage and where you fall short, plead with the Holy Spirit to give you these virtues. And do not rest until He answers your prayer.

Refuse to Sulk

2/2/2024

After David killed Goliath on behalf of the Israelites he rightfully began to gain notoriety and respect in the eyes of Israel. This was good because as we know, and as David knew, he was anointed to be king over Israel one day.

But King Saul didn’t take kindly to this development. He first shows this by chucking a javelin at David. Not once but twice. David somehow escapes and then Saul decides to put him in harms way by putting him in the battlefield, hoping he would get killed. Finally, he sends David on what he thought was a suicide mission to go and kill 100 Phillistines in order to marry one of his daughters. All of this was happening to the one who was anointed to be king over Israel.

Now as David is being hunted, envied and preyed upon it would’ve been tempting for him to doubt the promise of God. David could’ve easily given into thoughts like “How can God’s promise that I’ll be king come true when Saul is trying to kill me?! You know maybe God didn’t mean it, maybe I misunderstood, or maybe God failed.” But David does none of that, instead he clings to the Lord and stays faithful.

And it’s only after all these things happen that we can see how all of Saul’s attacks backfired. Every single plot he threw at David only resulted in David gaining more respect and favor from the Lord. It ended with the Israelites singing that “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands!”

See this is how God works. What we might see as failures and dead-end problems are really being used by God to accomplish what He wants to do. We may not see how or why but we know, by faith, that that’s the case. The trials and tribulations that plague us in no way invalidate what God has said He will do. That includes political corruption, slanderous hit-pieces, trouble at work or with your business, & and struggling with infertility. God wants to bring reform. reconciliation, and fruitfulness. So, take heart and refuse to sulk. For our God is a loving Father and He rewards faithfulness.
This exhortation was given to Christ Church in Moscow Idaho on Jan 21, 2023 AD

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