A Spiritual Law

Remember the word that I said to you, “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

John 15:20

Sir Isaac Newton published his Three Laws of Motion in 1687. The third law said, “All forces occur in pairs, and these two forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.” That law has been paraphrased into the modern form we know today: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

What the great scientist didn’t include in his 1687 treatise is that his third law of motion applies to the spiritual world as well. If you push in the spiritual realm, you are going to get pushed back. This world system is under the control of Satan (1 John 5:19); when we spread the gospel into his domain, there is going to be strong resistance. Jesus told His original disciples that they would be resisted just as He was—and that applies to you as well. Unless God has prepared the heart of your listener to receive the Word, don’t be discouraged if there is “push back.” It’s a law in both the physical and the spiritual world.

Here’s another spiritual law for those situations: “My word . . . shall not return to Me void” (Isaiah 55:11).

Jesus promised His disciples three things: They would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.

G. K. CHESTERTON