Sometimes you learn things, experience
things that you just can't forget. Sometimes from yourself and sometimes
from friends. I have a friend who's been with
the Lord for a long time. I think Lindsay and I am both
doing Brother Kenny Beveridge. He was a barber in Richwood,
West Virginia, attended the Riverside Baptist Church there. And when
I was just a young man, just a young pastor, I hadn't known
Kenny very long, he had cancer. And they had to operate on him.
They had to operate on him like I can't imagine being operated
on. Where the cancer was located, they couldn't use any anesthesia.
If they gave him any anesthesia, the muscle would relax and wrap
around the cancer and they couldn't get it out. So they cut on him. And every time he passed out,
they put some ammonia under his nose and woke him up and cut
on him some more. Sadly, the surgeon didn't do
much good. The pain was for nothing. Well,
I'm going to operate on you this morning. No anesthesia. Because if you apply any anesthesia,
things will get relaxed and it won't be of any benefit to you.
Listen carefully. How do you deal with your enemies? I mean your enemies. People who
despise you. People who want to hurt you.
People who abuse you. Abuse your family. People who
curse you. People who speak evil of you.
How do you deal with your enemies? How do you think about them?
How do you act toward them? Far more importantly, how should
you? How should we live with our enemies
in this world? Now, everything I have to say
here, everything spoken in this regard from the word of God,
does not at all apply to nations and societies and political communities
in this world. If you go to war with North Korea,
best thing to do is annihilate them. No need to go into war
otherwise. We're not talking about political
things. We're not talking about civil things. We're talking about
spiritual things. How do you, who are God's people,
deal with your enemies? Turn to Romans chapter 12, and
I'll show you what God has to say about the matter. In the first 13 verses of this
chapter, God the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to
tell us how we're to deal with our brethren, with God's people,
with his church. He tells us that giving our bodies
a living sacrifice to Christ means devoting our lives to God's
people. That's not the easiest thing
in the world. That's contrary to human flesh. That's contrary to our fallen,
depraved nature. But we're talking about sacrifice.
Devoting yourself to Christ. is devoting yourself to his people. But then in verses 14 through
21, the apostle tells us that giving our bodies as a living
sacrifice to Christ means devoting our lives to the temporal and
everlasting benefit of our enemies too. Let's begin in chapter 12,
verse one. I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. Not too much to ask that you
live for Christ, is it? Not too much to ask that you
live for God. Not too much to ask that you devote everything
to the Son of God, your reasonable service. and be not conformed
to this world. Don't let the world mold the
way you think about this, but be you transformed, transformed
from what you are by nature and what the world teaches. By the
renewing of your mind and by this marvelous transformation,
you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will
of God. You're going to find out what
is the good acceptable, perfect will of God. Now that's the basis
of everything Paul says in this chapter. Let's pick up in verse
14. In this part of the chapter, the Spirit of God inspired Paul
to tell us as much as possible to treat our enemies as our brethren. I can't do that, hang on. Treat
your enemies just like you treat God's people. Treat your enemies just like
you treat other believers. Same way, same way. Treat them
as your brethren. After all, some of them are. Some of them are. Those who today
are our enemies, If they are chosen of God, redeemed by the
blood of Christ, shall be called by his spirit, and soon shall
be knit to us heart to heart, and we knit to them as brethren. So always treat your enemies
as your brethren. Look at verse 14. Bless them
which bless you. That's not what it says, is it?
Bless them which persecute you. Bless and curse not. Our Savior fed the multitudes, healed their sick, attended their
weddings, and when invited, even went to their dinner parties,
though he had nothing in common with them except humanity. but we live a separated life. Living a separated life doesn't
mean ignoring men. We don't want part of the world.
Not being part of the world doesn't mean treating folks in the world
mean. Our Lord Jesus, our Savior, is our example in all things.
We read in John chapter one that he came to his own. He came to his own nation and
his own people and his own received him not. He came to many because
he was determined to come to some. And to as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Our Lord
Jesus fed the multitudes, thousands, thousands, Why did he bother
to do that? They didn't care for him. He
fed multitudes who wanted nothing from him except more loaves and
more fish. That's all they wanted. They
were good, modern, Pentecostal, health, wealth, prosperity, religious
folks. As long as you'll give us some
bread and some money and something to drink, we'll be your disciples.
He fed thousands, thousands, thousands of them who had no
interest in him. but he fed the thousands that
he might feed some with the bread of life, that he might cause
some among them to drink the water of life. We read on one
occasion of 10 lepers who came to the Lord Jesus, and the Savior
made all 10 of them perfectly whole. He made the 10 whole,
nine who had no gratitude, no reverence for, no faith in him,
that he might cause one poor leper to come to him and return
to him with faith and gratitude and joy and devotion. We read
of our Lord Jesus as he beheld the city of Jerusalem. Oh, Jerusalem,
Jerusalem. How he wept for them. Wept for
the multitudes. Multitudes who would not weep
for themselves, that he might cause some to weep for him whom
they had pierced. When our Lord hung upon the cursed
tree, he prayed for the men who nailed him to the tree. He said,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He prayed
for them who put him to death. He died for many who were his
executors and his tormentors. In the light of those things,
I have to ask myself, shall I do less? He died for me when I despised
him. He prayed for me when I cursed
him. He provided for me when I blasphemed
him. He protected me when I had no
regard for him. He redeemed me when I wouldn't
have it. He sought me when I refused to
seek him. He called me when I refused to
call upon him. Shall I do less? Our Lord tells
us here, bless them which persecute you. Bless and curse not. Read on, verse 15. Rejoice with
them that do rejoice. and weep with them that weep. I sometimes think, some folks
seem to think that if I can just convince myself that Bobby Estes
is an unbeliever, I can treat him mean and I don't have to
answer for it. They're anxious to, he just doesn't know God,
he's not a believer, and you can treat him any way you want to. Oh no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, with those who weep
and rejoice with those who rejoice. And remember now in this section,
Paul's talking about dealing with folks out yonder in the
world. Don't be a wet blanket on other people's joy. If they
have cause for rejoicing, join in. Help them to sing their songs
of joy and weep with them that weep. Sympathize with folks who
are hurting. Share their burden. I really
believe it's easier to weep with those who weep than it is rejoice
with those who rejoice because our proud nature tends to envy
those who rejoice. But nobody envies folks who are
weeping. So weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who
rejoice. Carry out both commands, verse
16. Be of the same mind, one toward
another. Again, this passage, Paul's not
talking the same as he is in Philippians 2. Here he's talking
about unbelievers. Be of the same mind, one toward
another. What's that talking about? Treat folks just like
you want to be treated. Think about other folks just
like you want to be thought of. Mind not high things. Condescend to
men of lowest age. Be not wise in your own conceits. Now this is what Paul's telling
us. Whenever possible, agree even with the basest of men. No need in fussing with them.
No need in fighting with them. If he wants your coat, give it
to him. If he demands you walk with him a mile, walk with him
two miles. Things that are insignificant, treat them insignificant. Things
that don't matter, treat them like they don't matter. Now I'm
talking to me, and I know I'm talking to you. Folks get in
road rage, because somebody went this way. Somebody took parts
of the property you wanted. Me too. What horrible, horrible,
horrible, horrible, senseless anger. Senseless. What difference
does it make where you park your car? What difference does it
make if a fellow even shoves a buggy into it? It's just a
car. It's just a car. No need to get
upset over those things. Agree whenever possible, even
with the basest of men. I mean by that, be peaceable,
not argumentative. The servant of the Lord must
not strive. I see absolutely no reason for
me to argue with any man who's living on the brink of hell about
politics, science, history, or much else, do you? Lindsay, what good will it do
for you to, let's say you have somebody in your office, I don't
know any of them so I can speak safely, who doesn't know God,
just an absolute reprobate. What good will it do you to convince
him to quit being a Democrat and start being a Republican,
or quit being liberal and start being conservative, or have a
different view of history than what he has now, or a different
view of science, quit believing in evolution and start believing
in creation? What good will it do him? He's going to hell. He's
going to hell. Don't argue about folks about
stuff that doesn't matter. Wouldn't it be wise and good,
rather, to seize every opportunity to talk to them about Christ
and redemption and forgiveness and grace and salvation and eternal
life? Don't seek high things or high
company. Seek to do good. Make it your
business to help to encourage and be free in those other folks
choose to ignore, especially them. How do you do that? Yeah, I'm somebody, I wanna run
with the right crowd. That fella, he's going places,
he's got stuff. Everybody knows her, everybody
wants to be around that person. Stop looking at yourself. as
wise and meaningful above others, as righteous and good above others,
as superior to others, you're not. And if you find it out,
you'll condescend to men of low degree. Verse 70. Recompense
to no man, evil for evil. Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. Did you hear what he said about
you? What you gonna do about that? I believe I'll take him
to dinner. Did you hear what that girl said
about you? How you gonna handle that? I think I'll invite her
for tea. Did you hear what he did to your son? What you gonna
do about that? I believe I'll take your son
to the movies. That's exactly what Paul said. Recompense to
no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. Remember, he said, be not conformed
to this world, but be transformed. Don't act like the world acts,
act like God acts. Don't act like the world acts,
act like Christ acts. Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. Don't ever avenge yourself of
anything. insignificant. I don't mean you
let a man take your life or take the lives of your family or rob
you or take your house. I don't mean that at all. You
know better. But things that don't matter, my solely just
don't matter. Never avenge yourself by word
or deed or influence, but rather be studiously thoughtful. in
seeking to treat people right with care, gentleness, and kindness. Listen, especially the ones that
treat you hard. I've never had any trouble being
nice to Bobby Estes. He's been nice to me ever since
I've known him. I've never had trouble being
nice to his daughter. She's just as nice to me. I've never had any
trouble being nice to you folks, but there are some folks I have
trouble being nice to. I just wanna jack their jaw every
time they open their mouths. Now, I just wanna bust them. Some folks like that. That's
especially the ones I'm talking about. That's especially them.
Verse 18. If it be possible, as much as
lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Do the best you
can to get along with people. even people who are cranky and
disagreeable, even with wicked ungodly men and women who are
cranky and disagreeable. Do what you can, get along. Verse
19, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. Don't get even, don't
retaliate, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written,
vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Leave wrath and
judgment in God's hands. Paul said to the Corinthians,
he said, it's a small thing to me that I'm judged of you. I
don't even judge myself. I'll wait for God to take care
of that. Don't avenge yourselves. Now look at verse 20. Therefore,
if thine enemy hunger feedeth, If he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shalt both
heap, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Now, Paul is
not here undoing everything he taught in the chapter and everything
he teaches throughout the New Testament about kindness and
love and tenderness and generosity. He's not telling us to be nice
to people because that'll make hell hotter for them. That's
not what he's teaching. That's a cruel, cruel thing and
it's not commendable. What then is Paul teaching? Turn
back to that passage we read earlier in Proverbs 25. Paul takes his words here in
our text directly from the passage we read for scripture reading
in Proverbs 25. Here the wise man Solomon, that
man who stood imminently by divine purpose as a type of our Lord
Jesus Christ, teaches us how to live as wise men and women
in godliness. Now, all that I'm talking to
you about this morning, Merle, this is what's called godliness. This is what's called godliness.
Godliness doesn't have a thing on this earth to do with what
kind of clothes you wear, or whether you chew tobacco or smoke
it, or whether you drink alcohol, got nothing to do with it. Godliness
got nothing to do with whether you go to the show or don't go
to the show. Godliness has got nothing to do with dressing like
a hermit. Godliness got nothing to do with
those things. This is godliness. This is godliness. Therefore,
if thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shalt heap
coals of fire on his head. Look here at Proverbs 25, verse
21. If thine enemy be hungry, give
him bread to eat. And if he be thirsty, give him
water to drink. For thou shalt heap coals of
fire upon his head and the Lord shall reward thee. Mr. Hawker, in his typical manner,
speaks of this passage and says, who did this like our Lord Jesus? Whoever did this like you, oh
son of God, what a strange word of wisdom. Feed your enemies,
give water to those who hate you. This doctrine comes not
from below, but from above. This is not the doctrine of man,
but the doctrine of Christ. This is the doctrine of God's
free grace. Heaven's divine formula that
transforms the believer's most implacable enemies into his most
faithful friends and trusted allies is the exact means our
Savior used to conquer you. and make you who were his enemies,
his friends. These coals of fire are not coals
of judgment, but coals of grace. Coals by which the hearts of
our enemies are melted and won over. Our Savior preached this
doctrine. If you wanna go back and read
Matthew 5, 6, and 7, I suggest you read it, those three chapters
at one reading. They're all giving us the Sermon
on the Mount, and Matthew gives us the most detailed account.
But in the midst of that Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus
said, ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy
neighbor and hate thine enemy. Well, that makes sense. That
makes sense, yes sirree. I'll do good to you if you do
good to me. If buddy you hit me, I'm gonna hit you back. That
makes sense, that's the way we think. But I say to you, love
your enemies. Bless them that curse you. And
do good to them that hate you. And pray for them that despitefully
use you and persecute you. Nothing, nothing. Rex, nothing is more contrary
to your nature and mine than that statement. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. And I've rolled that over a while
before I wrote that down. Nothing. Nothing. I rolled it over every time I
woke up last night, all through the night. Nothing. Nothing more
contrary to your nature and mine. but if we would honor our Savior and subdue our enemies and do
them good. We must not resort to the sinful
practice of revenge. We must conquer the hearts of
men the same way Christ conquered our hearts. by relentlessly heaping
the coals of unmerited grace upon their wicked heads. This
is what Paul tells us back here in Romans 12. Bless them that persecute you.
Bless and curse not. Recompense no man evil for evil. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, vengeance
is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger,
feed him. If he thirst, give him drink.
For in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good. A mighty king, a mighty people. may very well assault those who
are their foes and subdue them with force, with power, with
fear, with intimidation. They may even make them part
of the kingdom, part of the nation, but you will never make them
willing servants. You will never get their love. You will never have their hearts
attached to you if you force them to do something for you.
No, no. Willing service, heart commitment,
life loyalty can only be enforced by grace and mercy and love. I have a friend who called me
a few months ago, a few weeks ago, She's broken hearted. Her husband told her, he said,
I'm gonna make your life a living hell. I'm gonna make your life
a living hell. And he's done his best to do
it. Hadn't hit her at all. Just make your life a living
hell. Won't talk to her, mean to her, mean to her. She said,
Brother Don, what am I to do? I said, are you afraid of him?
Is he gonna hurt you? She said, no, no, I don't think he'll do
that. I said, There's only one word
of counsel that I know of in scripture for you. Love him to
death. Just love him to death. Peter
says by the chaste conversation of the wife, maybe she'll win
her husband. If he can't take that, he wants
to leave you, let him go. But as long as he's not endangering
your life, love him to death. Maybe God'll save him. Maybe
God'll save him. That doesn't make any sense.
It doesn't to an unbeliever. It doesn't to a proud, cocky
rebel. I couldn't live like that. I couldn't either for me, but
I might could for God. I couldn't for me. Maybe I could
for Christ. I hope I'm never faced with it.
But this makes sense, doesn't it? Anybody here think it doesn't
make any sense? Anybody? The Lord Jesus doesn't
win sinners to himself with threats of punishment or promises of
reward. He wins sinners by his free grace. He said, he said, I'm going to
pour out my spirit on you. and I'm gonna cause you to look
on me, and I'll open to you a fountain for cleansing, for sin and uncleanness,
and you'll look on me whom you pierced, and you'll just fall in love
with me. That's what he said. He turns bitter enemies into
beloved friends by his grace. He converts hard-hearted adversaries
into faithful disciples by his grace. He causes rebels to willingly
stack arms and surrender their hearts to him, not with brute
force, but with overwhelming mercy, with overwhelming goodness,
with overwhelming, irresistible love, not only Is he the indisputable
master of the universe and the sovereign master of the hearts
of men? He's the master, the master, exemplary coalheaver. With the gospel shoveled in his
hands, he sovereignly heaves coals of covenant mercy. free
grace, eternal love, everlasting redemption unto the heads of
his enemies. And in so doing, he melts their
hearts. So that the stout-hearted rebel
who says, get out of my face, gladly bows and says, come, rule
my heart. It's called grace. No chosen
redeemed sinner can successfully withstand the melting influence
of Calvary's love. When the coals of effectual blood
redemption, free forgiveness, and perfect righteousness begin
to stack up on the sinner's depraved heart, Coal upon coal, ember
upon ember, the heat of Christ, indescribable love, melts the
adamant heart of stone. Twice in scripture we're told,
our Lord says, you've made your foreheads like an adamant stone.
You've made your hearts hard as adamant. An adamant stone,
I really don't know anything about it. Maybe it's just all
legend and theory, I don't know, it doesn't matter. But our Lord
uses the term. And along with that term, Dr. Gill taught me years ago, the
adamant stone was looked upon as something so hard you couldn't
break it. You couldn't split it. You couldn't
scrub it and crumble it. It's hard. Nothing affected it
except one thing, just one thing. If you take the blood of a kid
and pour it on that adamant stone, The stone melted under the blood. Now I got a feeling that's just
all legend, but I'm telling you that's all truth. Nothing but
the blood of Christ crucified touching your heart will melt
it. And the blood of Christ crucified,
oh God, effectually poured on my heart, melting it before you. and let me exemplify that grace. That's what Paul's telling us
to do. Heap on them coals of heart-melting fire, mercy, love,
and grace, kindness, tenderness, and love. Thereby God may peradventure
grant them repentance. Tell them about Christ and his
salvation. Treat them graciously. Seize
every opportunity to tell your most implacable enemy about God's
goodness. The one whose wrath you meet
with heaping coals of grace just might be one of God's elect.
Just might be one of God's elect. If he's not, you won't have lost
anything. If he is, you'll have won a friend
forever. Look at verse 21. Be not overcome
of evil, but overcome evil with good. Overcome the evil actions and
attitudes of wicked men by the goodness and mercy of God you've
experienced. Have you experienced forgiveness?
Be forgiven. It's hard to argue with forgiveness,
isn't it? Well, I'll forgive Celeste if she'll acknowledge
she's wrong. That ain't forgiveness. That ain't forgiveness. How did
God forgive you? I'll forgive Don if he tells
me that he's sorry for what he did. That ain't forgiveness.
How did God forgive you? Before you ever even knew you
needed it. Before you ever thought of seeking
it. Maybe God's goodness and mercy
will bless your goodness and mercy to them and lead them to
repentance as he did you. And the Lord shall reward thee,
the wise man said in that passage in Proverbs 25. The Lord shall
reward thee. What's that talking about? Boy,
if you live like this, you're gonna have a big crown in heaven.
Well, let me tell you something. I'm going to shock you. I'm looking
for a great crown in heaven. What is it? What is our hope? What do I hope to get out of
this life? What do I hope to get? What is our joy? What's the thing that gives you
joy? Your crown. our crown of rejoicing. Now preacher, be honest. Are not even ye in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Oh, I can't tell you how happy,
how joyful, how rejoicing my heart shall be to meet you to
whom I have preached the gospel around the throne of our Redeemer,
rejoicing. That was the joy set before Him. That was the hope for which He
endured the cross. That'll be enough for me, and
that'll be enough for you. Amen.