Trinity Church Spokane Valley
Romans 12:19-21
- Good morning. Good to see you this morning. Glad to be here with you. If you are visiting with us, we are glad you are here. And if you have been visiting with us for some time, attending church here for some time, and have not yet joined with us in membership, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Make that decision or find a good place to go to church where you can make that decision. And we'd encourage you that way. And if you are a member and have been a member here at Trinity Church, it's good to see you. I'm glad to be with you looking forward to hanging out with all of you, all of the above at our picnic after service if you can make that. We have been going through Romans chapter 12. Today is the last message, last sermon for our series in Romans chapter 12. We've been encouraging our members. We've been encouraging those who've been with us to memorize Romans chapter 12 throughout the summer. I hope that many of you have undertaken to do just that. You've worked at it. Maybe you've only gotten to verse five or six, but you've worked at memorizing and you will see a prophet by putting God's word into your hearts. Romans chapter 12, I'll tell you this, if as you turn there, please turn Romans chapter 12, we're gonna read the entire chapter here in a moment. But as I've been going through Romans 12, or as we've been listening to the sermons for the summer through Romans 12, hasn't it been really convicting? If it hasn't been convicting, you haven't been paying attention. Romans 12 really hits your square between the eyes. And I said to several people, what if, what if we just focused on trying to live out Romans chapter 12? I mean, I know there's much more. I know there's much more to the Christian life and there's other things we need to be focused on, but Romans chapter 12 is full of transformational truth for us. And really, that's the entire point of Romans 12. Paul has spent 11 chapters in the book of Romans unfolding the mercies of God. He's spent 11 chapters talking about the gospel, the gospel of grace and mercy, God's mercy and kindness towards all sinners. And at the end of that, he starts at Romans chapter 12, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, based on everything I've said, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. This is reasonable of you. What is God owed? God has owed everything. God has owed everything in our life. Worshiping God is not just giving him a few categories of your life, but it is yielding your entire life to him. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. So that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. This is what Romans 12 is all about. It's transformational for us. The apostle Paul wants us to be changed. He wants us to live differently. And that begins with a change of mind. And boy, do we need a change of mind. We are so inundated with lies and half-truths in our culture. We need our minds changed by the word of God. Romans chapter 12 does just that. I'm going to invite you to stand with me for the reading of God's word. Romans chapter 12, our focus today is going to be on verse 19 through 21, but we're gonna read the entire chapter. Now, let me do this. This is gonna throw some of you off. If you've memorized Romans 12, try to say it along with me without looking. See how far you can get. And you don't have to say it out loud. You can say it, mumble it to yourself. But see how far you can get as we read Romans chapter 12. I will read it aloud. You come along with me. Romans 12, verse one. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment each, according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body, we have many members and the members do not all have the same function. So we, though many are one body in Christ and individually members one of another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them if prophecy and proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches and is teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor, do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves. But leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord to the contrary. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by so doing you will keep burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. This is the word of the Lord. Father, we come to you giving thanks to you, praising you for your wonderful, gracious, clear, authoritative, sufficient, life-giving word. It is everything we need. It is everything we need for life and godliness. It is everything we need to live a life that pleases you. And we want to please you. You have saved us, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but by your mercy you've saved us. And so now our lives belong to you in every aspect. Our money is yours, our time is yours, our bodies are yours, our mind and our hearts belong to you. Everything is yours. Our homes belong to you. They should belong to you. Our work belongs to you. Our energies and our emotions, everything we have should be yours and laid down for your worship. I pray that you'd give us grace today to understand what you're giving us here in verse 19 through 21. This is hard for us, truly difficult for us. I pray that you would open our eyes to see the goodness of it, the truth of it, the fact that we can trust you and entrust ourselves to you. I pray that you would help us to see your grace for us as you're beloved, help us to see your kindness towards the ungrateful and the evil and to trust in your final victory, the victory that you have accomplished already and are bringing about in the name of your son, Jesus, by his death on the cross and by his resurrection over the grave, you have ensured victory, help us to live in that victory today, recommit ourselves to this mission to overcome evil with good, to be your people set apart for your glory. We pray all of this for your sake. Amen. You may be seated. Our passage this morning, verse 19 is where it begins. Paul the Apostle begins his instruction for us today with the term beloved. Look at it there, verse 19, beloved. Paul the Apostle uses a term here to bring the original readers, the listeners back to a remembrance of who they are in relationship to God and to the Apostle. Beloved, right in the middle of Paul's instruction he stops and he calls them beloved. Why does he do that? Paul the Apostle wants them to stop for a moment as they're hearing the instruction. He wants them to stop and he wants them to remember who they are in relationship to God. I like the way the King James translates this, dearly beloved, beloved by God. I wanna ask you a question. This is gonna be a divisive question for some of you. Does God love everyone in the world the same way? Is that a trick question? Does God love everyone the same way? Our passage here just the simple point shows us that he does not. Because if he did, there would be no point in calling them beloved by God. You see, those who are in Jesus, those who are in Christ have the privileged status of being called beloved. The ones whom God loves. That is who we are in Christ. That title doesn't belong to everybody, but only to those who are in Jesus. Paul wants to regroup his listeners before diving into this last piece of instruction. It's like taking a pause, it's like taking a listening pause. It's like taking a breath. Before he dives into what he's about to say, he stops and he says, "Beloved, listen, beloved. "Remember who you are. "Remember your relationship to God." This is not a relationship that everyone on earth enjoys. This is not a relationship that everybody on the planet enjoys. But you are God's people. Beloved. Why does he take this break for his listeners? Why does he want to recall them or call them back to remembrance of who they are in relationship to God? Why, because what he's about to give them, what he gives us here in Romans 12 is extremely difficult. What he's about to give them is the hardest piece of instruction to this point in Romans 12. And their ability, the power that they need in order to carry out the instruction he's giving them begins with remembering and understanding who they are in Christ, who they are in relationship to God. If they do not remember who they are with Christ and in their relationship with God, they will not be able to carry this out. It's everything. The apostle wants to challenge their thinking. Remember, that's the whole point. He wants them to be renewed in their thinking, transformed in their life. He wants to challenge their thinking regarding their enemies. Now he's already given similar instruction before. Bless those that persecute you. Bless and do not curse them, he says. He also says verse 17, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable on the side of all. The instruction he's about to give is of the same vein as this previous instruction. And it's all referring to how God's people, you and I, as those who are in Christ, those beloved by God, it's referring to how God's people are to live a life pleasing to God in relationship to those who are God's enemies. So here's the question, how am I supposed to live a life pleasing to God in relationship to those who are enemies of God and his people? How are we as God's beloved chosen people? How are we as God's beloved to live towards those who hate God who work evil with their hands, who plot evil schemes against God and against his people? How are we to live towards them? Is this not a timely message for us? How are we to live towards those who hate God and hate his people? Here's the main idea. Here's the main idea. A life that pleases God leaves justice in his hands while showing the Father's kindness towards the wicked. Knowing that evil has already lost. A life that is pleasing to God leaves justice in his hands while showing the Father's kindness to the wicked, knowing that evil has already lost. (audience murmuring) Let's jump in and look at these three pieces. First, a life that is pleasing to God as it relates to those who are enemies of God, a life that pleases God leaves justice in God's hands. This passage, along with many passages in the New Testament, by the way, assumes the mistreatment of God's people. It assumes that you will be sinned against. Specifically, it's talking here about the mistreatment of God's people. If you look historically, look through the ages, God's people, those who are faithful to God, more often than not, are mistreated. They are hated by the world. Far from being surprised by mistreatment, far from being surprised by the fact that people sin against us, we should anticipate being hated. And why? Well, it goes back to that term, beloved. If we are beloved by God, we will be hated by the world. Why? You know the answer, why? Because the world is at enmity with God. This is why so many passages talk about not being a friend of the world, for friendship with the world is enmity with God. That is the teaching of Scripture. One of the strengths, and if I lose you with this term, just kind of go to sleep for a second and wake back up when I start making sense again. One of the strengths, and I don't go off the rails here, one of the strengths of post-millennialism, and I know some of you don't know what that means, and some of you maybe that's an offensive term, whatever, one of the strengths, and I am not a post-millennial, I want to make that clear, okay? John, John, I want to make that clear, okay? So one of the strengths of post-millennialism is that post-millennialism knows that God has enemies. They are ready to identify those who are enemies of God. Did you know that God has enemies? And the enemies of God are, in fact, our enemies. There are many today who hate God's people. We have enemies. That is the teaching of Scripture. That is the teaching of Scripture. We should not be surprised by this. We should anticipate this. By being aligned with God, we have made ourselves the enemies of the world. And we can anticipate being mistreated, being mocked, being laughed at, being cursed. What this passage also assumes is the inclination of the human heart towards vengeance. Listen, it's true that we should all desire justice and retribution. We should all desire justice to be carried out. We should long for justice. However, just like everything else, sin has warped our use and our sense of justice. No longer do we measure good and evil by God's standards, but by our own. We become the ultimate judge. We become the one who determines who the bad guys are and what their punishment should be. This is the spirit of the age. Comes naturally to us. You see, the spirit of revenge, that's what vengeance is, the spirit of revenge is not difficult to cultivate. It's not something I have to work at. It comes very easily for me. It's natural to us in our sinful nature. See, I have an inner judge. I have this inner judge in me that demands retribution for all that I perceive to be unjust. And wouldn't you know it, that most of my definition of injustice has to do with me. How have you wronged me? How have you undervalued me? How have you disrespected me? That's my whole system of justice. It has to do really with me. And of course, I trust myself. Don't you trust yourself? I trust myself. Of course, I see clearly. Of course, I know what's right and wrong. If people would just listen to me, I mean, I could figure this all out. Here's as simple as this. Have you ever had those conversations? People trust themselves and their judgments. They think they see clearly. And because of this, I justify, I justify the imaginations of my heart as I plot the demise of the wicked, as I dwell on the day of reckoning for all those who have it coming. Have you ever caught yourself in mid thought? Have you ever caught yourself? Kind of musing and dwelling and thinking on. That day, when those who've wronged you, get what's coming to them? Have you ever caught yourself doing that? I've said this before. Sometimes I talk to myself in my truck. I'm driving in my truck. And I'll start having a conversation with somebody who's imaginary. Oh, but they're very real, right? They're real. I'm having the conversation. And I am putting them in their place. Have you ever caught yourself doing that? No, of course not. (sighs) We get caught up and we justify the imaginations of our heart where there's a day where all those who have mistreated me, undervalued me, disrespected me, laughed at me, they will get what's coming to them. That scenario where you finally are proven right and they are all proven wrong. They all have to humble themselves before you. Maybe it's a parent or maybe it's a teacher. Maybe it's a boss at work. The passage also, the passage before us also, assumes that there is some opportunity to exact revenge. Even those who are oppressed, even those who are wrong, they have an opportunity somewhere, some time to exact revenge. (sings in foreign language) If even just for a moment, I gain some advantage or I gain some foothold where I can really teach these people a lesson. I can get my jabs in, right? Passive aggressiveness. We just say that little thing, you know? Get our jabs in for the people that have it coming. Let's put it on the spousal level. Because this principle works on these familial levels. Let's put it on the spousal level for a moment. When a wife is mistreated or hurt by her husband, she hasn't been treated fairly in her mind. Is it not a typical response for the wife to try to gain some control either through physical intimacy, withholding, physical intimacy or maybe emotional manipulation? Or maybe by taking control of the bank account, maybe spending more, try to stick it to her husband. No, none of us would ever fall prey to that type of base, petty behavior, would we? But isn't that the normal fleshly response? Let's put it in the employer level or in that arena, the worker mistreated by his boss. So he feels justified in lying on his time card or with his business expenditures on the trip. They owe me after all the work I've put in, after everything I've done for this company. I'll take a little bit extra. And that's your way of getting back. That's your way of getting vengeance. That's, again, that's how the world works, isn't it? That's normal, that's natural, that's the normal, fleshly response. And this spirit of revenge, this spirit of vengeance is celebrated in our culture. How many films or novels have this story arc, right? Man is mistreated, spit upon, underestimated. But then he rises up and prevails by means of his personal strength and fortitude. Everyone who mistreated him has to watch him on the way by as he climbs the ladder and he's ultimately victorious. And at the end, everybody celebrates while all the people that underestimated him all hang their heads in shame, right? That's the movie and we love it. We celebrate it, why? Because we love, I mean, we love it when the bad guys lose. Again, that's good. We want the bad guys to lose, okay? The bad guys shouldn't win. The problem is that we all have a different definition of who the bad guys are and we all have a different idea of who should get to execute justice and what that should look like. So the spirit of revenge, revengeing ourselves, avenging ourselves, the spirit of revenge comes naturally to us. But look again at what the apostle tells us. He commands us not to be conformed to the spirit of this age, but to be transformed by the renewal of our mind, how? By leaving justice in God's hands. This is not natural to us. This does not feel good. Did you know that God is commanding you to do something here that does not feel good? It doesn't feel right. Beloved, never avenge yourselves. But leave it to the wrath of God. Now I have to give this caveat very quickly. I hate to give caveats. I want to give this very quickly. This does not mean, leaving into the hands of God does not mean that we deny the proper authorities given by God to carry out and administer justice in the here and now, okay? We should long for righteousness to prevail and be genuinely grieved over sin and injustice. We should prosecute criminals. Don't take this too far. We should prosecute criminals. We should practice church discipline. And parents, you should discipline your children. This is all carrying out justice in our proper God-given spheres. But what happens when human authorities fail? What happens when human authorities don't do their job? What happens when all the wrong and injustice goes unnoticed or unaccounted for by human authorities? What if the human authorities are the ones working the injustice or mistreatment of people? But then, Paul says, leave it for the wrath of God. I like this translation better, give place to God's wrath. Put it this way, when you find yourself in the place of being mistreated as God's people, when you are sinned against, step aside and allow God to be God. Put down your inclination for vengeance and allow God to be God. And think about it for a moment. Do you actually believe that your anger against injustice, that your wrath against wrong and evil, do you begin to believe that your anger can even compare, begin to compare with God's anger? Does your anger even begin to compare to God's holy anger? God's holy anger and its intensity, its comprehensiveness, its duration, the duration of God's wrath against sin and against evil. Have you stopped and considered the wrath of God that is coming for those who are evil and those who work evil? Do you begin to think that your wrath, your anger can even begin to compare with His? Who do you think you are? Who do we think we are? You say, well, you don't know what they've done to me. You don't know how I've been hurt. You're right, you're right, I don't. I don't even pretend to. But I want you, this may be revelatory for you. You know what, you don't even know how far you've been hurt either. Do you know that you don't even understand the depths of sin against you? You don't begin to understand the depths of sin that you've worked and the depths of sin of somebody else against you. You don't even begin to understand how grievous sin is. Why? Because you're limited, you're finite, you're not God, God is. You don't even begin to know the depths of it. It's too much for us to fathom. But God sees it all. God sees all of it. All of its depths, all of its grievous nature. He sees it because He is the holy omniscient God. And He is promised. Do you see the promise here in verse 19? Look at it there. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it, leave place for the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Look at that verse. Do you see what God promises? God has promised, the God who sees everything, the holy omniscient God, He has promised to execute perfect justice. That's what He's promised. You see, we have the promises of God's word. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. What does that mean? It means this, very simply. No one, no one is getting away with anything. No one. No one is getting away with anything. And it's not you or I who will call people to account, but the holy eternal God. This goes for those who would treat lightly His grace, those who would treat lightly His grace by claiming His forgiveness and yet going on in their sin, unrepentantly. No one is getting away with anything. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows that he will also reap. This also goes for those who openly mock God and His people. Do you realize, beloved, that the wickedness of the wicked is but for a few days, their wickedness will not go on. Will not last. So how do I know, how do I know if I'm leaving it in God's hands? Well, I would simply ask, do you believe the promise of God's word, that He is the executor of justice, the vengeance is His, He will repay. Or do you live in anger? And what someone else has done to you? Or the fact that someone who's mistreated you hasn't got perfect justice, they haven't paid enough. Do you live in anger? Maybe, and it feels good, right? I just said it feels good. Maybe it's just around the dinner table or around the around the water found at work where we love to speak judgment down on the wicked. It feels good. Letting them have it, doesn't it? You find yourself in that mode sometimes? It feels good letting them have it. But see, those who live in anger this way are showing that they're not leaving justice in God's hands. Do you live in fear of the evil or wicked? Do you live in angst? At the prospect of being hurt or mistreated? Or do you live in angst? That what the wicked might do? Oh, so many times I hear Christians say, "Oh, no, what is it they're going to do next?" Look how bad society's getting. If you live in angst, if you live in fear, that is a sure evidence that you are not leaving it in God's hands. God has not asked you to right all the wrongs. He's taking care of it. Let me ask this, do you live with an inability to move forward in your life because the person who wrongs you or the people who have committed evil haven't paid enough. Do you live, some of us live in little prison cells that we've built for ourselves? Unable to live in freedom, unable to live in joy, unable to live in power because we're still living captive to this person's wrong that they've committed against us. You're demanding justice. I will not be happy until they have paid enough. And you're imprisoned. When you understand what verse 19 is saying, when you understand this, you know what the result is? It is freedom. It's freedom. I can move forward, knowing. First of all, I don't know everything that they've done against me. I'm sure it's far worse than even I know. But I also know that no one's getting away with anything. God is on my side. And I don't have to live in fear or angst. I don't have to live in anger. I don't have to live in bitterness. I don't have to live demanding payment, sucking myself of all the joy that God intends for me. I don't have to live that way because God is God and I am not. And you know that's what it really comes down to. You and I are really good at trying to be God. We are really good at trying to be God. You've been hurt. You've experienced pain and evil. And so you live in fear. And what does fear cause us to do? Fear causes us to try to gain control. We're going to control the situation. I'm going to control every bit of the situation because I will not be hurt again. See, that is you trying to be God. And you're not. Let God be God. Those who live in fear and angst and anger have to wicked and that wickedness done against you. You have a very big view of yourself and a very small view of God. So what Paul is saying is let God be God. Don't take vengeance into your own hands. Leave place for the wrath of God. For he's promised, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. Let God be God and move on. A life that is pleasing to God leaves justice in his hands. Secondly, life that is pleasing to God leaves justice in his hands while showing the kindness of the Father to the wicked. That's a tough one. Not only are we not to take vengeance on the wicked, but we are to show them the Father's kindness. Be kind to the wicked. That's exactly what it says. Again, this passage clearly points out, rightly points out, that there are enemies of God's people. And we've got to be clear. It doesn't say make friends with God's enemies. It doesn't say fellowship with God's enemies in order to win them over. It doesn't say make light of their wickedness because it's no big deal. No, there are enemies of God. But here the apostle is telling us exactly what Jesus himself told us. Do you take as significant the words of Jesus? I'm going to read two passages for you, Matthew 5. Listen to these words. You don't have to turn there. Matthew 5, 44 through 48. Listen. This is what Jesus said in this sermon. "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." This goes back to what Matteo was talking about last week. "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God." How do we know that we are sons of the Father? We live like He does. What does it say? So you may be sons and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes the son to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Do you see that? God's common grace to both the good and the evil. God has been kind. The Father has been kind even to the evil. Matthew goes on to say, "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same. You therefore, you therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." In other words, you need to live like your Father has shown you. Luke 6, 27 through 36. This is a little bit longer. Listen, it's the same vein. Jesus says, "But I say to you, who hear? Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you." That's why I said this is so hard. This is not natural to us. It doesn't seem right. "To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. And from the one who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you. And from one who takes away your goods, do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do also to them." I'm going to continue in this passage in a second. "To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also." People will say, "Well, I've turned the other cheek, but there's a limit, right? I've turned the other cheek, but there's a, I mean, we've got to draw the line somewhere." Where do we draw the line with that? When someone sins against us. Where do we draw the line? Maybe, maybe we're called, as God's beloved, to go where Jesus went. Where did Jesus draw the line? When he was wrong. Where did Jesus draw the line? When they literally smote him on the cheek. Where did Jesus draw the line? He gave his life. And what did Jesus say when they were crucifying him? What did Jesus say when they were crucifying him? "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." That's what Jesus did. And that's what Jesus calls us to as his people. Well, there's a limit, isn't there? No, that's your pride speaking up. That's you trying to be bigger than you are. What an honor and a privilege it is to live like our Savior Jesus lived. Even to the point of death, if needs be. Luke goes on, Jesus goes on in the book of Luke. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lent to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. So he says the sinners know how to live that way, but you're called to live a different way. And he finishes it with this, but love your enemies. Love your enemies. Do good and lend, expecting nothing in return. And your reward will be great. And you, listen, this is a promise. And you will be sons of the most high. For he, that is the Father, the most high, he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Do you believe God's word? That's what it says. He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Every parent, every parent knows what this is like, right? As we pour ourselves out for our children and they are ungrateful or they work evil against one another and against us, we know what this is like, but the Father is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. He responds to them in kindness, common grace. Be merciful even as your Father is merciful. So are you a child of God? Do you claim his forgiveness? Have you been called a son of God due to the work of Jesus on your behalf? Then be like your Father. He's kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Let me say it this way. If God your Father has not withheld the common graces from the evil and ungrateful, then why would we? If God the Father hasn't withheld the common graces, then why would we? Are we greater than God? Are we in his place? Have you forgotten? The kindness that you've been shown? I think some of us have. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior appeared, He saved us. Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy. See, we also were once His enemies. Have you forgotten that? And how did He act towards us? Not according to what we deserved, but according to His mercy. He showed kindness towards us. And there's another promise here in this verse. This is the one that everybody has questions about. Verse 20 to the contrary, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink for, by so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head." There's another promise there. By showing the Father's kindness to the wicked, we heap coals of fire upon their heads. What does this mean? Well, there's three main opinions. Some, and just so you know, if you don't know how this works, when there's three opinions, the one that I share is always the last one to be presented. Okay, so the third. The first two, I don't hold to the first two. But some, first of all, say that our good and our good deeds to the wicked has some good effect on them. They see the coals as giving them warmth, that they then can take back and use for their own fire. We're giving them coals to be used in their own life. Our good to them is working a good effect on them. I do think that you have some biblical principle that agrees with this. Others say, in fact, I would say this is the majority opinion, others say that our good to them are good to the wicked, brings shame and guilt for their mistreatment, and ultimately will lead to their repentance. In other words, I'm good to them so that I heap shame upon them and guilt upon them. I'm good to them so that they can feel bad about how they mistreated me. I think, again, this should lead them to repentance. Neither of those are the view I hold to. I believe that the coals of fire here in Romans 12, the coals of fire, and I think this fits with the Old Testament picture, the coals of fire are a picture of judgment. The good we give to our enemies should lead them to repentance, and you would hope that it has a good effect on them, absolutely. But if it doesn't, then their judgment will be greater. This is in line with the Scripture when it says that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. But what of all those who spurn God's goodness? What of all those who refuse to see God's goodness? Will judgment not be greater? Will judgment not be greater for those who have been shown more good? I think the answer is yes. Now, this is not to be our motivation. This is not given so that we are motivated. Oh, I hope they really get it. So I'm going to be as good as I can to them so they can we can heap a bunch of coals on their head. Now, that would go contrary to what the text is saying. It's not our motivation to hopefully get them to experience more and more judgment. No, it's not our motivation, but it's an assurance. Again, it's this promise. No one's getting away with anything. And when someone mistreats us and we are good to them and we we we don't withhold these common graces to them as bears of God's image. If they refuse to respond, if they continue in their mistreatment, if they are just emboldened in their sin against us, guess what? God is going to take care of it all. I think it goes back to leaving it in God's hands. Don't repay evil for evil, but leave it in God's hands. And that brings us to the final command of this section, which connects to verse 17. Again, don't repay evil for evil. There at the very end, he says, do not be overcome. I think this is a summary of everything he said. He says, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. If our response to evil is itself evil, then what is Christ died for? It doesn't take much work to be evil back, right? The apostle here calls us to overcome evil with good and not to be overcome with evil. A life that is pleasing to God leaves justice in God's hands while showing kindness, the Father's kindness to the wicked, knowing that evil has already lost. Did you know that? Did you know that the wicked man has already lost? Evil has already been defeated. The wicked man has already lost. Evil has already been defeated, but you wouldn't know that by how God's people act. Are we God's people or not? Do we believe the work of the gospel, the work of Jesus on the cross and resurrection? Do we actually believe that? Do you know what the cross accomplished? Do you understand what the cross accomplished? God's kingdom, his rule over creation, in the name of his son, King, Jesus. This has been accomplished. The victory has been accomplished at the cross. The victory, the triumph, has been sealed by the grave. The enemies of God will be subdued under the feet of Jesus, and it is only a matter of time. The cross has accomplished victory over the wicked. The cross has accomplished victory over my wickedness, my wickedness. And the grave has sealed the triumph. Everything now is just the complete working out of the cross and resurrection realities. Everything now is just the working out of the cross and resurrection realities. And the call to you is, are you going to be God's beloved, his people who trust God and entrust yourself to a God who's bringing wrath against evil? Are you going to be the people of God who trust him and leave wrath to him and show his kindness to the wicked, knowing that judgment is coming for them, praying for them, seeing your own wickedness, seeing your own fault and sin and his grace towards you as his enemy? He calls us as his people to live in light of the cross and resurrection. He calls us to live in light of the cross and resurrection. What is our role? We are to overcome evil with good because good has already won. And we are the people of the victory. This is how we live in the victory. We are to live free of the entanglements of evil. Some, I think in their eschatology, they just have in their mind, well, we're just to sit and wait for Jesus to come back and make everything right. No, that's not it either. No, our role now, we have a role in this victory that he has accomplished and he is completing. We have an active role and it's that you and I would overcome evil with good, that you and I would step aside and let God be God, that you and I would show the kindness of the Father to his enemies. This last week, and I'm going to use his name and I actually like this guy a lot, just so you know, okay, little disclaimer there. I really like this guy's writing. Eric Metaxas, everybody know Eric Metaxas? Eric Metaxas is a great writer, researcher. He's written a biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He's written a biography on William Wilberforce. I love William Wilberforce. My son William is named after William Wilberforce. That's about the only thing he has in common with William Wilberforce, but he's written another biography on Martin Luther. I love Eric Metaxas. Eric Metaxas was doing an interview a couple of weeks ago and I was listening to him and I got to tell you, I got to tell you, he was talking a lot about the fault of the pastors. You know, these pastors need to do more to get God's people to get God's people to do something. If we don't do more in our day and age, then we're going to be just like Germany before Hitler. Man, those German pastors failed. German pastors didn't stand up. German pastors were too happy to preach the gospel and not happy enough to undertake political activism. It struck me, whenever I heard that, it struck me for a first time. Why is Hitler always the one that is used? Maybe it's because he's the one in most recent history, right? Hitler. Well, we don't want Hitler, right? As soon as you say that, everybody's like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, of course, we don't want Hitler." I was listening to that and I stopped and I'm like, "Hold on, hold on, hold on. I just got to ask this question." And this is one of those things where I didn't get to ask him because he wasn't there. But did Hitler win? Did Hitler win? Yes or no? Did Hitler win? I'm pretty sure Hitler lost. Can somebody check me on that? Hitler lost. Hitler didn't win. Why? Because evil cannot win. Never has, never will. Did Cain win? Or did Abel win? Who won? Cain lost. Nimrod lost. Pharaoh lost. The kings of Israel and Judah who led God's people astray, guess what? They lost. Herod the Great lost. Nero lost. All the Caesars lost. Every, so Hitler is inevitable. Do you not understand that Hitler is inevitable? There's no preventing Hitler. There's been a Hitler for every generation. Every generation, everyone is had a Hitler and probably multiple and they all have lost. Did Hitler win? No, he lost. Eternally, he lost. Where will Hitler be for the next thousand years and beyond? Have you stopped and thought about that? He hasn't gotten away with anything. He lost and he's eternally lost. God's justice is being executed and will be eternally. Do you get angry when your gay neighbor flies the flag of open hatred against God? Do you get angry at that? I want you to hear this. They are losing and they will be eternally lost. Do you believe that? Does that bring joy to your heart that your gay neighbor is lost and going to be eternally lost? Do you have any compassion in your heart? Do you remember what it is to be an enemy of God and have to be some kindness from God? Do you remember what that's like? Again, I'm not saying embraced wickedness. No, no, no, no, no, no. We need to make clear there are enemies of God. Yes, that's true. I've talked to many people about the Olympic ceremonies and if you, listen, if you boycott of the Olympic ceremonies because of the debacle that happened in the opening ceremony, that's good for you and I applaud that. I think that's your prerogative and I think it's a good one. It's a good impulse. But do you realize the people who mocked Jesus at the Olympic opening ceremonies? Do you understand that the drag queens who openly mocked God? Do you understand that they are lost? Do you understand that they are losing? Do you understand that they are eternally lost? They are not going to win. They've lost already. So why are you so angry? Yes, we want to be genuinely grieved by sin. But is God not God? Does God need your help? Does God need assistance from you somehow? Don't live in angst and fear and anger. Live in compassion. Live in grace. Allow God to be God instead of you offering kindness, the same kind of kindness that the Father has given us in the common graces, treating them as human beings made in God's image, even when they would rather act like beasts, even when they would rather act like beasts, treat them as humans. Does it break your heart when you see people who are so hearted in their rebellion that they are destroying everything in their life? Evil cannot win and they will be lost. I'm going to read this last testimony from Corey Tinboom. You know Corey Tinboom. You probably know this story really well. Corey Tinboom was a young lady. Her and her sister were hiding Jews in their clock shop and their watch shop and they were caught and they were sent off to a concentration camp where Corey's sister, Betsy, died. After the war she would travel and give talks on forgiveness. This is the recounting of one of those talks. She says it was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding, heavy set man, and a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeat Germany with the message of God's forgiveness. It was the truth that needed most to hear in that bitter, that most needed to hear in that bitter, bombed out land and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is near or never far from the Hollander's mind. I like to think that that's where God's cast are forgiven sins. When we confess our sins, I said, God cast them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. You see that? I can't dare to believe that God would forgive them. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence and in silence collected their wraps in silence left the room. And that's when I saw him. Working his way forward against the others, one moment I saw the overcoat in the brown hat, the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. Came back with a rush. The huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I can see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs, sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsy, how thin you were. Betsy and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland. This man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent. Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out. A fine message for a line. How good it is to know that as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea. And I who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course. How could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women? But I remember him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze. You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk, he said. I was a guard in there. No, he did not remember me. But since that time he went on, I had become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there. But I would like to hear it from your lips as well for our line. Again, the hand came out. Will you forgive me? And I stood there. I whose sins had every day to be forgiven and could not. Betsy had died in that place. Could he erase her slow, terrible death simply for the asking? It could not have been many seconds that he stood there hand held out. But to me, it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I'd ever had to do. For I had to do it, I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition that we forgive those who have injured us. If you do not forgive men, their trespasses, Jesus says, "Neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." I knew it only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience, since the end of the war, I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives. No matter what the physical scars, those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that. And still, I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion. I knew that, too. Forgiveness is an act of the will. And the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. Jesus helped me. I prayed silently. I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling. And so, woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started and my shoulder raced down my arms, sprang into our joint hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. "I forgive you, brother," I cried, "with all my heart." For a long moment, we grasped each other's hands. The former guard and the former prisoner. I have never known God's love so intensely as I did then. Are we God's people? Have we experienced God's forgiveness and His grace and His mercy towards us who are and were by nature His enemies? A life that is pleasing to God leaves justice in His hands while showing the Father's kindness to the wicked, knowing, knowing that evil has already lost. Believe that. Live like that. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the truth of forgiveness and the freedom that your forgiveness and your grace and your mercy brings us. We know that there are enemies in the world. We were born in sin. We were born in your enemies. We know that to be true. We do not deserve a place with you. But by your grace and mercy, by the work of Jesus on the cross and in the resurrection, we can now be called your beloved. We have been shown great mercy and grace. Help us do what seems to be impossible. Help us do what feels so wrong to us. Help us to see your grace in your Son Jesus, your victory, your promises, and live in light of those promises. Longing for justice, longing for righteousness to prevail, but not living in anger and bitterness and angst and fear, overcoming evil with good, knowing that evil has already lost. It cannot win the day. We believe that. Help us live like that. I pray. In your name, amen.