No Revenge for Evil Done

Transcript

GR 1469
05/01/11
No Revenge for Evil Done
Romans 12:17-21
Gil Rugh

We're in Romans 12 in your Bibles. After unfolding the marvelous gospel of Jesus Christ, the provision that God has made for our salvation through the death and resurrection of His Son, Paul moves to talk about beginning in Romans 12 some of the practical outworkings of our salvation. How do we live in light of the fact we are now new creatures in Christ. He began in Romans 12:1 with that exhortation that we present our bodies as a sacrifice to God, sacrifice that is holy, living and pleasing to Him. That means we will conduct ourselves in ways different from the world, different from what we used to be and to do. He started out by talking about the area of spiritual gifts which enable us to function together as a harmonious unit, as the body of Christ in this place or wherever God has established a local church. And then he moved into some of the areas of personal conduct. Verse 9 sort of gives us an overall statement—let love be without hypocrisy. A genuine love is to characterize us. This marks us off as God's children, the love we have for one another. And then the love that we are enabled by the grace of God to demonstrate to unbelievers. This means, verse 9, that we abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. And you'll note the chapter ends on that note as well. Verse 21, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. So we abhor evil, we don't allow ourselves to be overcome by evil. But we cling to what is good and in doing so we overcome evil with good. So our lives are characterized by God's character in the practical areas of life.

He has focused primarily thus far in chapter 12 on our relationships among believers, how we function together as God's people. We are the family of God, God's household, as Paul wrote to Timothy. And so we ought to be demonstrating clearly the love of God, our love for one another as we relate together. But we also have a responsibility to the world outside the family of God's people. He just touched on this in verse 14. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. So we have a responsibility toward those who make life difficult for us as God's people. In whatever way that may be, their harsh treatment, their persecution, we bless them. In effect we pray for them, we desire that they might experience the grace of God in their lives and come to know their salvation through faith in the Savior. So we bless them, we don't curse them.

But then he went on to talk about personal matters. But with verse 17 he's going to pick up on this subject again of our relationship with unbelievers and the unfair treatment that we may experience from them. And this is a very difficult area to put into practice. It's addressed a number of times in scripture, it's an area we all battle with. When somebody wrongs you, perhaps intentionally, perhaps someone who makes it their purpose in life to make your life unpleasant and difficult. They do mean things, mean-spirited things. Could be someone very close to you, someone you work with or for, a neighbor, whatever. But they are in a place to make your life difficult, to do wrong things to you. How do I react to them? How do I respond?

It's natural as a fallen being, even a redeemed fallen being to begin to seethe, to become bitter, to begin to think of ways to get back at that person. We sometimes hold that up as an admirable characteristic in the world. You'll hear people that will brag—you do something to me, you will get it back. No one gets away with doing that to me. And they think that is something to be proud of. But the response of a genuine child of God is something totally different. The wrongs that are done to us do not evoke that kind of response. And that's what Paul wants to address and address in some detail.

Now keep in mind we're talking about how a genuine believer in Jesus Christ responds to these wrongs. And we're talking about how a genuine believer in Jesus Christ must respond to these wrongs because God has changed him within, made him a new creature. The old things have passed away, new things have come. Romans 6 developed this in some detail.

So he can pick up in verse 17 and say, never pay back evil to anyone. We sometimes talk that in Greek as in other languages, you can rearrange the wording to get certain emphases. And in the Greek, the way Paul wrote this here, to anyone appears first and he does that to give it strong emphasis. When you come to this you would read, to anyone, never pay back evil for evil, emphasizing the fact there are no exceptions here. No one ever does anything to me that means now I have a right or I am justified to pay back evil to them for the evil they did to me. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. That runs contrary to the grain of what we are apart from the gracious work of God in our lives. There is that desire to get even and it's my right. Now we're not talking about governmental responsibility here, we'll get to that in Romans 13. We're talking about personal actions here of believers and how they respond and react in given situations where someone has done evil to you. It's evil, it was wrong, it was wicked, it was intentional. They desired to hurt you. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.

Turn over to I Thessalonians 5. We're going to be looking at a variety of verses together today. The Thessalonian church was a church that suffered trials, persecution, serious wrongs were done to them by unbelievers. And in I Thessalonians 5:15, see that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. You'll note this of course has to be the way we relate to one another as believers. I mean, that's foundational. We never repay one another evil for evil, we always seek the good for another believer. We're not keeping a register of wrongs or what we didn't like about what they did or how they did it, whatever. No. But this is expanded and for all people we don't repay evil for evil. We always seek that which is good for fellow believers and for all people.

Turn over to I Peter 3. You know we as God's people talk about the salvation God brings to a life, the transformation that takes place, that He cleanses us from our sin. We are totally forgiven, we are made new, we are now the children of God. We are lights in the midst of darkness. That ought to be evident in the way we react to certain treatment and mistreatment that comes to us in the world. In I Peter 3, and interestingly this follows a section on husbands and wives. Sometimes it has to be implemented in a very close situation. A wife may be married to an unbelieving husband and vice versa. We still implement this. He's going to sum up after that, verse 8, what he's been saying. To sum up, all of you, and this includes not only what he has said about husbands and wives but will back up into chapter 2 about masters and slaves, government, and so on. To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind hearted, humble in spirit. Note, not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead. For you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. What did God call us to Himself for that we might inherit all the blessing and all the good things that He has prepared and promised for those who love Him? So we desire God's great blessings for those who have not entered into the wonder of His salvation. So we manifest we are those greatly blessed of God. Is it not natural that we would be people desirous of blessing for others? We are giving a blessing, we are blessing them, we are praying and desiring God's blessing upon them because we have been recipients of His grace in blessing us. So we don't return evil for evil or insult for insult. That would be contrary to what we are in Christ.

Back up to I Peter 2, and we'll talk about our responsibility to government and governing authorities in Romans 13. He talks about this in I Peter 2:13 where you submit yourselves to human government and organization, no matter what kind it is. You function, verse 16, as free men, even though you may be slaves. Verse 17, you honor all people, you love the brotherhood, you fear God, you honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle but to those who are unreasonable, or literally perverse, evil. I mean, you're going to treat them with respect and honor. Why? This finds favor if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience. But if you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. This is pleasing to God. For you have been called for this purpose. Note this, so that we can demonstrate the character of the God who saved us by handling unfair, unjust treatment in a way that is consistent with His character. You have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you, leaving for you an example to follow in His steps. Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth. And while being reviled He did not revile in return, while suffering He uttered no threats. But kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. And that very point is where Paul is going in a few moments in Romans 12. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds we are healed. We like sheep, straying away, we were the enemies of God, we were rebellious against Him, spiteful, hateful. And what did He do? He showed mercy and grace and kindness toward us. We are manifesting the character of our God. The conduct of our Savior who suffered the most vile, grossest mistreatment at the hands of sinful men, but He didn't revile them back, He didn't utter threats against them. He submitted Himself to the will of God. We are to manifest His character.

Come back to I Corinthians 10. You know it's imperative that we as believers conduct ourselves in the world in a way that does not discredit the gospel that we claim to believe and proclaim. We all know something of the embarrassment of those who profess to be Christians, believers in Christ, who bring dishonor on Christ by their actions. They do things that bring shame to the testimony of Christ. I Corinthians 10, let's pick up with verse 31. Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, in all the activities of your life, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God. Not to unbelieving Jews, not to unbelieving non-Jews and not to believers, the church of God. You want to live your life without offense. Now obviously this will be balanced, we'll say something about that in a moment. Our identification with Christ is offensive, our preaching of the gospel is offensive. That's not what he is talking about. In our day-to-day life we ought to do all we can to be non-offensive in our conduct. Some people do things that are a travesty, claiming to be Christians and just doing what they can to create an offense. But we are not to give offense if at all possible.

Paul said just as I also please all men in all things. Paul was a man-pleaser, but not in the wrong sense. He never compromised his relationship with Jesus Christ, he never compromised the purity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he never compromised the truth that had been entrusted to him from God. But wherever possible he was willing to yield and do what he could to do what was viewed as proper and right in the sight of others. The goal always was their salvation. That will come up in Romans 12 as well.

Turn over to II Corinthians 4. Paul talks about the ministry that has been entrusted to him. Then in verse 2 he says, we do not lose heart but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame. Not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. There you see he handles the truth faithfully and accurately, he is commending himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God that they would realize he is functioning honorably, admirably and in a way worthy of respect. That ought to be our desire. There oughtn't to be any questions about our behavior, even though people may hate us for our faith, they hate us for the gospel that we present. There ought to be no areas of our lives that cause offense outside those bounds.

Come over to II Corinthians 8:21, for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord but in the sight of men. You know you hear Christians sometimes say, as long as I am comfortable before the Lord it doesn't matter to me what other people think. It ought to matter to you what other people think because that's a concern to God. We think we are being spiritual—as long as I am comfortable before the Lord I don't care what you think, I don't care what they think. Where did you get the idea that's a biblical attitude? That's an ungodly attitude, that's an unbiblical attitude. Rather we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord but in the sight of all men. That ought to cause us concern, why does that bother you, why is that an offense to you. What can I do that would take care of that. That doesn't mean you run around and every individual who has a complaint about you, you spend your whole life trying to satisfy this person and that person. There are some people who could take your whole life over because they always have something that bothers. That's not what he's talking about obviously. We need to be honorable in the sight of all men, respectable.

Come back to Romans 12. Never pay back, verse 17, evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men, _________________ alike. Verse 18, if possible so far as depends on you, and you can see he is almost laboring to make this clear. If possible so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. That's why I say we cannot sacrifice the gospel, we cannot sacrifice the truth.

Come back to Matthew 10. You know we have to be very careful. People get into trouble because they pull verses out of scripture and they misuse the context. Like the verse we are reading, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. And they apply that to the church when there is doctrinal conflict. Well, look, we can have peace and so we dissolve the doctrine and just wash out the doctrine so we can have peace. That's not what Romans 12 is talking about. Not talking about people will like me more if I never let on that I belong to Christ, I'm a Christian or I never tell them the gospel. That's not what he's talking about. Look at Matthew 10, pick up with verse 34. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. As much as is possible, as is in our control, we want to live at peace with all men but we follow a Savior, a leader who did not come to bring peace on the earth. So there may be times when peace is out of our hands because as followers of Christ we are proclaimers of the message of Christ. And that is a conflict causing message.

I did not come to bring peace but a sword. I came to set 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. That's all right, my allegiance to Christ supersedes my allegiance to my wife, to my children, to my grandchildren, to my parents. We deny what we claim to believe when we put our kids, our grandkids, our family, those close to us above faithfulness to Christ. That is an unacceptable cost to peace, that is not possible to me. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. So as much as possible, as much as depends on you, you live at peace with all men. But I never compromise my absolute commitment to Jesus Christ above everything, above everyone. That's a given. But then there are a lot of areas where we can yield. It's not what I want, it's not the way I would do it, it's not what I like. But I can make the adjustment, and that includes unbelievers whether in my family, in the neighborhood, at work. I'm willing to do it. That's what he's talking about.

Come back to Romans 12. So believers are doing all they can within the framework of being obedient to Jesus Christ to live at peace with all men. Verse 19, never take your own revenge, beloved. He puts that warm word there, beloved, loved ones because Paul understands how difficult it can be when you are being mistreated, when you are being treated wrongly, unfairly, unjustly, maybe cruelly. And it can cause great difficulty for you personally, for your family, for the church to become bitter. And you have an opportunity to get back at them, to do something that will hurt them. Justly so. You know what happens, you are at work and you have a boss that just is mean. And so you gather with other people and pretty soon these people are talking about this person. Now you have the opportunity to insert something with someone that may hurt them. Now they'll get a taste of their own medicine. Wait a minute, I have to stop. I can't function like those people. I have to be careful I don't even get caught up in the drift of their conversation. That doesn't mean I have to stand up and lie on the other side and say, he's one of the best bosses I've ever had. I may have to agree, I don't think he's always fair either, but he is the boss and my responsibility is to do the best I can in the job he is requiring of me. What else can I do? It's my responsibility. Easy to get caught up. And then when personal things come, is this an opportunity? Well maybe the Lord has opened the door for me here, the Lord has given me an opportunity to get back at him. No, the Lord has given me an opportunity to manifest His character in not getting back at him when I had the opportunity. He doesn't say, never take your own revenge unless it's a good, clear shot because then we can call it an open door for the Lord. No, certain things of scripture are made clear, that's not an open door for the Lord. The devil may be opening the door for me to get some revenge because it will be an act of rebellion against my Lord. Never take your own revenge. And I say this because I love you, you're loved ones to me. He's not saying it's easy for them to take the wrong.

But leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Now I see the seriousness of it. I claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ, a child of God. We started out Romans 12 with our basic responsibility is to present our bodies as a sacrifice to Him. I have done that. So all I do with this body, now, is done in obedience to Him, to honor Him. But you know what I do if I take my own revenge? I insert myself into an area which God has reserved for Himself. I am demonstrating rebellion against God. I am to leave room for the wrath of God. That's God's realm. He said so. Vengeance is Mine. So when I try to mete out vengeance by myself, I have taken a prerogative that God says is His. Now the problem is not with the person who has wronged me, now I have a serious problem with God. I am in rebellion, I have taken to myself the prerogative that He reserves for Himself.

This is not new material. Come back to Deuteronomy, which Paul is quoting here. Deuteronomy 32:3, for I proclaim the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God, the rock. His work is perfect, for all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He. Then you come down toward the end of the chapter, verse 35. Vengeance is Mine and retribution. You see we tell people about our God, His character and then we take to ourselves something that He clearly says belongs to Him alone. All His ways are just, He is righteous and upright, He is a God of faithfulness without injustice. Vengeance is Mine in retribution. And what do I do when I try to take vengeance? But the wrong was done to me and everyone knows I have a right to have it corrected. Now again, we're not into the realm of government or laws, we'll get to that in Romans 13. But my personal actions in dealing with people, it's not my right. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

Come back to Leviticus 19:17, you shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart. You may surely reprove your neighbor, but you shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people. But you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Be careful. Doesn't mean I can't go to someone and say, I think you have wronged me here. If there is something between us, I'd like to make it right, settle it. What do we need to do? What do I need to do? If that's possible. You can't take vengeance. Nor can you go on to bear a grudge. All right, I won't do anything but in my heart I'm churning. I've gotten back at him a number of times in my heart and mind. And I still bear a grudge against him. Wait, you can't bear a grudge, either. You see this all gets into God's realm. I haven't let it go. You know, I see these people walking their dogs and they have these windup leashes that you can let more out. It's like we have God on a leash, we're letting Him out, we're giving Him more time to mete out the vengeance. But we're waiting, we're watching, and we're thinking of all the different ways He can do it, in case He wants to read our minds. But wait a minute, I'm to let it go. That's in God's realm. I'm not to be planning God's plans for Him. So I have to let it go. I'm not bearing a grudge over it, either.

Come over to Proverbs 20:9, who can say, I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin? Verse 22, do not say, I will repay evil. Wait for the Lord and He will save you. So you see you don't take it on yourself. You say, I leave it with the Lord. He'll do what is right for me. You know, it becomes a matter, do I trust Him. I'm wound up tight as a drum, just can't get over it, you don't know what they've done to me. We want to rehearse all the wrongs they have done. It's not just that they did it to me once, they did it again. Like Peter, Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother? Seven times? I mean, that's a lot. No, seventy times seven. Just get on with it, the final outcome is in the Lord's hands. Do you believe Proverbs 20:24? Man's steps are ordained by the Lord. How then can man understand His ways? We say we believe God is in sovereign control, that's where this will all come together as Paul ties it together.

Proverbs 24:29, do not say, thus I shall do to him as he has done to me. I will render to the man according to his work. Don't say you're going to get back at him. No, not at all. You don't say you'll render to every man according to his work. That's what God says, He will render to every man according to his work. You don't say it, I don't say it. So get it out of my mind. Believers are sometimes sitting, just waiting for what bad things are going to happen to the person who did bad to us. It's left there.

Come back to Romans 12. We come to a passage that has proven to be a great difficulty and is understood differently than I am going to explain it to you today. In verse 19 you have a statement, never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Then he supports that with a quote from the book of Proverbs. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink. For in doing so you will heap burning coals on his head. What are we talking about here? The problem comes with heaping burning coals on his head. And what does that mean? Well the first part is easy to understand. If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. In other words you treat your enemy good, you bless him, you do good to him, you do good to those who persecute you, who treat you wrongly. So whatever the need, he uses food and drink because that is basic, easily grasped. But basically we would say, you do good to him, whatever his need would be, however you could help him. You love your enemy. So you do good to him.

So if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink. For in doing so you will heap burning coals on his head. Two basic ways this is understood, just to keep it simple. One is that the heaping burning coals on his head is bringing shame on him and thus by the grace of God through your doing good to someone who consistently does evil to you, they realize that they are being evil and they are ashamed of what they do. And that may be used of the Lord to bring them to salvation. Now that is true, that can happen at times. The scripture would indicate sometimes the Lord would use that in a person's life.

I don't think that's what is being talked about here. Some try to support it with something from Egyptian writings, but that is really pretty slim, a stretch, where supposedly Egyptian writing supported the idea that this is indicative of repentance. But I think we go to the scriptures to find the meaning for this. This is quoted from the Old Testament and consistently in the Old Testament when you talk about fire and coals of fire, you're talking about judgment of God being brought upon a person.

First come back to Proverbs 25, just to see this in Proverbs. Come down to verse 21. I hope you read Proverbs. Proverbs in one sense is the most practical book in all the Bible because it is giving you God's wisdom and how to function in life in all kinds of areas. So sometimes we say, read a chapter a day and it will take you through the book of Proverbs in a month. We ought to fill our minds with the wisdom of Proverbs. Look at verse 21, if your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For you will heap burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you. So two aspects to the Lord's meting out what is due—He will give what is due to the enemy who never repents, and He'll give to you who has functioned in a godly way. So you see God is the One here who has reserved judgment to Himself.

Turn back to Psalm 140:10, and he's talking about those who again are his enemies, the enemies of the psalmist here, David. They surround him, verse 9, the mischief of their lips to cause him harm, to do him wrong. May burning coals fall upon them. May they be cast into the fire, into the deep pits from which they cannot rise. May the slander not be established in the earth, may evil hunt the violent man. So you see the judgment of God. And when you talk about the burning coals of fire falling on him, he's talking about God's judgment. And that's consistent through the Old Testament.

Come back to Psalm 11:4, the Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked. The one who loves violence, his soul hates. We talked about earlier in Romans, not God just hates the sin, He hates the sinner. The one who loves violence, his soul hates. Upon the wicked He will reign snares. You may have in the margin of your Bible, or coals of fire. Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness. The upright will behold His face. So you see the contrast between the upright and the wicked. And what will God do with the wicked? He'll reign coals of fire, the fires of His judgment, the fires of hell will come upon them. Revelation 20, they'll be cast into the lake of fire, with the coals of fire. So it's representative of judgment.

Come back to Romans 12. If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink. That's parallel to verse 14, you bless those who persecute you, you pray for their well-being, you do good to them. You don't do evil to them. Verse 19, you never take your own revenge. You leave room for the wrath of God, verse 19. so verse 20 is quoted in supporting what he just said in verse 19 which includes you don't take your own revenge. Rather, you do good to your enemy. And in doing so you will heap burning coals on his head. Leave room for the wrath of God. The wrath of God are the burning coals poured out upon him. The fires of judgment. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay. You have a condensed statement here like you have in the Proverbs, they are pithy kind of statements, short, concise and to the point.

And so here, if your enemy is hunger, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. Well inserted then is if he doesn't repent, you will heap burning coals on his head. Because obviously we were all enemies of God and if we repented we are not going to judgment. He just gives the two sides here, what you do and what will happen to an unrepentant enemy. This was already covered in Romans.

Come back to Romans 2. And a warning about passing judgment. Chapter 2 opens up, because again judgment is God's responsibility as chapter 2 will go on. Verse 4, do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? That's how God is dealing with His enemies today. God is longsuffering, He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance as Peter wrote. So you see what we are to do to our enemies—manifest how God is dealing with His enemies even today. Have the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, desirous that God would be using us as an instrument to bring them to experience His saving kindness and grace. But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. And then he goes on to talk about God's sifting judgment of the righteous and the unrighteous. And verse 11 reminds us, there is no partiality with God.

So you see the same thing happening here. God is dealing with His enemies in rich kindness and tolerance and patience. The purpose of this kindness is to lead the enemies to repentance and salvation. What is the purpose of our not retaliating and bringing out vengeance against our enemies and those who mistreat us and hate us and so on? That we would be instruments that God would use to ultimately bring them to salvation. But if they don't repent, then even our kindness and patient, which is the kindness and patience of God being manifest through us. The God who is light has made us lights in the world, is producing in us His character, His kindness, His tolerance, His patience. But if they continue in stubbornness and unrepentant hearts, they are storing up greater wrath for themselves because greater light brings greater judgment in the day of judgment.

That's what Paul is saying in Romans 12. So you see we leave it in the hands of God to do all things well. Paul is an example of this. We don't have time, but if you read II Corinthians 11 as we often have, Paul lists all the abuse and mistreatment he has received primarily at the hand of the Jews. And yet we have studied Romans 9-11 and what does he say? I wish the Jews would get everything they deserve. No. Oh, for the salvation of Israel. I would experience hell. Vengeance? No. Salvation? Yes. Am I looking to get back at them? No, I'm enduring all this because perhaps God in mercy and grace will save them. That's the purpose.

So we come back to Romans 12 and really we are saying, we serve the living God, the righteous God, the God who will judge all men righteously without partiality. How can you accept such treatment? You know how he is treating you is not right, it's unfair, it's unjust. You deserve better. I know I don't deserve any better. That's what I was.

Come back to Titus 3:1, remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice, evil, envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior, His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy. And this all was poured out upon us richly through Christ our Savior. Verse 7, so that being declared righteous by His grace, we would be made heirs of the hope of eternal life. No, we respond to our enemies.......... I received the mercy of God, I was a much more hateful person toward God than you've been toward me. My actions toward God were much worse than anyone's actions toward me have ever been. And now by the grace of God I have experienced His forgiveness, and He has given me new life that enables me to treat those who mistreat me with His grace.

Come to II Thessalonians 1:3, we ought to always give thanks to God for you, brethren, and then he talks about their conduct. Verse 4, their perseverance in faith in the midst of all your persecution and afflictions which you endure. In the Thessalonian church things were going hard and they were being mistreated and abused. This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering. You know God has promised you His eternal kingdom and glory in that kingdom and you are just revealing His righteousness in you. And after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well. I keep waiting but the Lord hasn't done anything to them; I keep waiting but the Lord hasn't delivered me. Keep waiting. This will happen when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day. You know we claim to believe this, we tell people about it and then we deny it because I can't put up with this any longer. I have to get back at them. Wait a minute, what do you mean, you can't? God is still patiently enduring and putting up with unbelievers, but I can't do it. Wait a minute, if you really can't do it, you need to come to the salvation that is found in Jesus Christ. He'll make you new, He'll change your life. I can't forgive them for what they did to me, I can't forget, just not human. No, but it is divine and that's what God does with us. He makes us totally new, totally different. So if you can't do it, that's understandable. You have to have the saving grace of God change your life and make you new so now empowered by the Spirit you can do what only God can do. It is His grace that will enable you. If you are a believer, it's not a matter you can't, it's a matter you don't want to because there is a certain pleasure in thinking about what could happen to them, what God could do to them, how they deserve to know some suffering like I've had suffering. Their life could be a little bit miserable like they've made my life miserable. Wait a minute, now I've lost my focus totally. I forget I was once just like them. It was the grace of God that changed me. My desire is the grace of God would change them, too. If it doesn't, then some day they will experience the devastating judgment of God. So if they get saved I will praise God and rejoice with them through all eternity that we both received God's glory and our sufferings of this present time were nothing. If they don't come to believe the Savior, they will miss the blessing of His salvation and God will deal with them righteously.

So we can end Romans 12, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Same thing he said in verse 9, abhor what is evil. Hate it, stay away from it. Cling, be glued to what is good. Verse 21, do not be overcome by evil. How would you be overcome by evil? Because you let the wrong that people do to you be an occasion for you to do wrong. Now I've let evil overcome me and I've practice evil because of the evil someone else has done. Rather overcome evil with good. They may be doing evil, my course is set and I must only do good and the reward from God will come in its time.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Thank you for your salvation. Lord, only you can make a person new, only you can change what we are on the inside. Lord, what a struggle it is for a person to try to live a godly life, to try to be a godly person and never experience the transformation of your salvation. Lord, I pray for those who are here today that do not know you, may this be a day of salvation for them. May they respond to your kindness, patience and grace by placing their faith in Jesus Christ, the One who loved them and died for them. Lord, for us as your children, Lord, it is so easy for us to slip into the old way, to justify ourselves. Lord, may we rest in the freedom that we have in Christ to leave these matters in your hands, knowing you are the God who will judge all things righteously, that all that comes into our lives is controlled by you, nothing is out of control. We can receive even difficulty and trial and wrong as part of your purpose in refining us and demonstrating the marvelous work you have done in our lives in Christ. We give you praise in Christ's name, amen.