Verse 21 of Romans 12, be not
overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Now this is what
Charles Spurgeon called the Christian proverb. Be not overcome of evil,
but overcome evil with good. And I don't know of anything
that runs more contrary to our nature. So I requests that you
will pray for me as I try to deal with this subject, that
I would first of all preach the gospel. I don't want to just
give a bunch of platitudes. I want to preach the gospel.
And I want to enter into what this passage of scripture is
saying. It's beautiful. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good. Now, he says in verse 19, dearly
beloved, Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath,
for it's written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the
Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger,
feed him. If he thirst, give him to drink. For in so doing, thou shalt heap
coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil. but overcome evil with good. It is a given that we will have
enemies. People who actually have ill
will toward us and wish ill upon us. And it may be because of
the gospel. You've made an enemy because
of something you said to someone concerning the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. and they do not wish you well
because of it. It may be because of pure maliciousness
on their part, kind of like Haman felt toward Mordecai. It may
be that you've made an enemy because of how you've treated
someone. It may be because of some misunderstanding. It really
could be. It could be because of some misunderstanding.
People are at odds with one another, but it's a given. You're going
to have enemies. We're living in a fallen world,
and you and I will have enemies. I don't suppose there's anybody
alive who hadn't been mistreated, abused, misunderstood, misrepresented,
and treated bad as an enemy would treat someone who they believed
to be their enemy. Now, what does Paul say to do
with regard to those who are our enemies? And everybody has
enemies, people that just don't like you for whatever reason.
I mean, I know people who don't know me that I can tell they
despise me. I mean, and you do, too. We have
enemies. And we're living in a fallen world, and there are
enemies. Now, what does the Bible say
to do? Verse 19, Dearly beloved. I love the way Paul says that.
Avenge not yourself. Don't get even. Avenge not yourself. Do not pay back. Do not try and
vindicate yourself. Don't try to stand up for your
rights. but give place to wrath." Now, that's the way of the gospel.
That's the way of Christ, and it goes clean contrary to the
flesh, doesn't it? The first thing I want to do when someone
does me wrong is I want to retaliate. That is the way of the flesh.
And yet, Paul says, avenge not yourselves. Why? Because, I love this, It is written. Aren't you thankful for those
three words? It is written. Settles everything. It is written. Vengeance is mine. This is God speaking. Vengeance is mine. I will repay,
saith the Lord. Now, vengeance comes from the
justice of God. God is absolutely just, immutably
just, perfectly just. and he will punish all sin. There's not one sin that's ever
been committed that he's not going to punish, either in you
or in your substitute. But all sin, his eyes behold
and try the children of men. He sees everything that takes
place and all sin will be punished. God is just. perfectly righteous,
perfectly fair, perfectly equitable. There is no respect of persons
with him. You're not going to get by with
a thing with him because of some respect of persons he has toward
you. That's not who God is. God is just and vengeance is
a part of God's justice. And I'm so thankful he's that
way. He's a just God. Yes, he's a savior. Yes, he saves
by his grace, but he is a just God, and everyone will get exactly
what they deserve. Vengeance is mine. I will repay,
saith the Lord. Now, whatever it is anyone's
done to you that you feel like is wrong, the Lord's gonna take
care of it. Vengeance is mine. I will repay,
saith the Lord. Now, we're born into this world
with an intuitive sense of justice, aren't we? What's one of the
first things a little kid learns to say? That's not fair. That's not fair. We feel we've been treated wrongly. We have this sense of justice
that causes us to say, that's not fair. I shouldn't have been
treated that way. Now this sense of right and wrong
is something we're born with. Romans 2.16 speaks of the work
of the law written in our heart. And this is, I think this is
important to bring out. I have heard preachers say so
much about we're supposed to, what we need to do is teach people
how to live. Yeah, I want to preach whatever the Bible has
to say regarding anything. That's why I preach verse by
verse through the Scriptures, because I want to deal with anything
God's Word says. But people already know how to live. They really
do. Everybody knows it's wrong to
lie. Everybody knows it's wrong to steal. It's wrong to murder.
I could go on and on. Everybody has the law already
written in their heart, the Scripture says. Well, let me verify that. You're in Romans, turn to Romans
2. Verse 14, for when the Gentiles,
which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in
the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves,
which show the work of the law written in their hearts. It's
already there. Their consciences also bearing
witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile either accusing or
else excusing one another. That's what men do with this
knowledge they have. They either have a guilty, accusing
conscience or they're making an excuse trying to vindicate
and justify themselves. Now, Everybody knows God is just. I love what Abraham said when
he was asking the Lord to have mercy on Sodom. He said, what
if there are ten righteous people there? Ten righteous people.
That's not the way of you to destroy the righteous with the
wicked. If there's ten righteous people there, are you going to
destroy that place? And the Lord said, no. And Abraham's argument
was, shall not the judge of the earth do right? Well, that's
a blessed thought to think about, isn't it? The judge of the earth
is going to do right. And whatever he does is right.
I don't know how this sounds, but I'm so okay with anything
he does. It's right. It's right. Whatever he does,
I don't argue with what he's saying in the word. Whatever
he does is right, just, holy, and true. God is just. This is where this vengeance
comes from. Turn to Psalm 11. You know, people say, how can
a loving God let this happen? How can God let that happen?
God's just. And whatever he does is right.
And by his grace, I want to just bow to that. Look here in Psalm
11, beginning in verse 4. The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyelids behold. His eyelids
try the children of men. He sees everything. The Lord
trieth the righteous, but the wicked and him that loveth violence,
his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain
snares, fire and brimstone, and horrible tempests. This shall
be the portion of their cup. For the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness. That's why our vengeance is with
the Lord. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness, his countenance. doth always behold the upright. Now, when we talk about the gospel,
we're talking about primarily, first, the justice of God, the
righteousness of God. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel, for it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein
in the gospel is the, anybody know the next word? Righteousness
of God. revealed. We see the love of
God, we see the mercy of God, we see the grace of God in the
gospel, don't we? Thank the Lord for that. But what does Paul
say is revealed primarily in the gospel? The righteousness
of God. The gospel is about how he has
made a way to be just and yet justify somebody like me. And that is music to my soul. You know I want to hear that
every time I hear the gospel. I really do. That doesn't get
old to me. It doesn't. As a matter of fact, every time
I hear it, it's more thrilling to me. The gospel always comes
as news, doesn't it? Good news. It's news. This is
what I need. God can be just, absolutely,
immutably just, and yet justify and make me not just as if I've
never sinned. He makes me for I've never sinned.
Then I'm without guilt before him by the work of Christ on
the cross. What a just thing that is. Vengeance
belongs to God because God is absolutely just. All sin is going
to be punished, either in the substitute or in the person themself. Now, how righteous, what glory
this is to God. Listen to this statement. The
very same justice that demands the punishment of the wicked.
demands the salvation of every single believer. Isn't that wonderful? That's glorious. That's glorious. God is just. And this vengeance is mine is
also quoted in Hebrews 10. Turn with me there. Now this is where my confidence
is. If I didn't believe this, I'd think God will end up getting
me. He'll end up doing something
to me. He'll end up cutting me off. But it's the justice of
God that demands my salvation. God is just. In Hebrews chapter
10, beginning in verse 26. For if we sin willfully, After
that we've received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins. Now, I don't, this is one of
those scriptures used to absolutely scare me to death. Willful sin. Willful sin. Well, in the context,
what's he talking about? Every time you sin, your will's
involved. It's not like the devil made you do it, you didn't want
to do it, and the devil forced you to do it. No, anytime you sin, you
did so because you wanted to. But the passage of Scripture
in its context is if we sin willfully after having received the knowledge
of the truth. The knowledge of how God saves
sinners by his grace. The knowledge of the complete
salvation that's in Christ Jesus. Everything he'd been talking
about up to that point in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10,
what a chapter. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Where the remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin. There, excuse me, sins
and iniquities, I'll remember no more. Now, after hearing that,
we go back to works. we sin willfully. After having
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses. Of how much sore punishment,
suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith
he was sanctified, an unholy thing. And that word unholy is
the word that's generally translated common. That which is peculiar
to all as opposed to that which is special to the few. All you've got to do is deny
a particular redemption and you're guilty of doing that. That's
all it takes. Verse 30, For we know him that
it says, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith
the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge
his people. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. Now, if vengeance belongs to
him, you know what that means? That means it doesn't belong
to me and you. We have absolutely no right to
ever seek vengeance. Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will repent, saith the Lord. Now for us to not seek to revenge
or to seek retaliation, it's just the right thing to do. And
I love thinking about this. Not seeking vengeance is the
product of faith. You see, we really believe that
God controls our enemies. We really believe that. Whoever
my enemy is, God told him to be my enemy. For my good and
his glory. And everything that the Lord
sends my way, including my enemies, is working for me. And God is
using it for his glory and for my good. I love it when Shemi
is cursing David and Abishai said, you want me to go take
his head off? David said, no. The Lord said, curse David. The
Lord told him to do it. Samuel comes up to Eli and says,
both your boys are going to get killed. The Lord's going to kill
them. And Eli said, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth
him good. We really believe that the Lord
is in control of everybody and everything. Exodus 14, 14 says,
hold thy peace. The Lord will fight for you. Isn't that a wonderful verse? Hold thy peace. Don't reply,
don't retaliate. Don't seek revenge. The Lord
will fight for thee. Those very enemies and their
deeds are being employed by God to work together for your good
and his glory. Therefore, seek not vengeance. Don't seek to vindicate yourself. Don't seek to maintain your rights. The Lord is the only one who
has the right to do that. And regarding everything, I'm
just looking to the Lord to please my cause. I'm looking for the
Lord to take me. Whatever, take care of me. May
God give me grace to do that. Don't you want to be this way?
To never retaliate because of the faith you have in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Wouldn't it be a blessing? Wouldn't
it be a blessing if I never sought to vindicate myself? Turn to
James chapter four. Verse 11. Speak not evil one
another, brethren, He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judges
his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judges the law.
But if you judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but
a judge. There is one lawgiver, and it
ain't you. One lawgiver, and it is not you. One lawgiver who is able to save
and destroy, who are you to judge another? And like I said, wouldn't
it be a blessing to never seek to retaliate again, really believing
everything and everybody is in the Lord's hands and we simply
rest in that. Now this is beautiful. This is
beautiful. Oh, I love the Lord's ways. Verse 20 of our text, Romans
chapter 12. Not only does he say not to avenge
ourselves, but he quotes a proverb. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger,
feed him. If he thirsts, give him to drink.
For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Now,
not only are we called upon to not avenge ourselves, we're called
upon to treat our enemies with positive kindness and graciousness
and goodwill. Now, once again, that's not the
way of the flesh, is it? It's just not the way of the
flesh, but that's what we're called upon to do. If he's hungry,
feed him. If he's thirsty, give him to
drink. Disarm them with kindness and acts of goodwill. Turn with
me to Matthew chapter 5. Verse 43. You've heard that it's been said
that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy. That's what
the law says. Love your neighbor, hate your enemy. But I say unto
you, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do
good to them that hate you. And pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your
Father which is in heaven. That's gonna make you like your
father. You'll be like your father in doing that. For he maketh
his son to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain
on the just and the unjust. For if you love them which love
you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the
same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more
than others? Do not even the publicans do so? Be ye therefore
perfect, even as your father is perfect. And does that mean
When we give our enemies food when they're hungry and drink
when they're thirsty and we're heaping coals of fire on their
head, does that mean, okay, I'm going to give him a drink of
water to make sure he'll burn in hell that much hotter? I mean, he's going
to really get it for this. I mean, that's the way that sounds
on the surface, isn't it? If I do my enemy this way, this
is going to heap coals of fire on his head. Here's a glass of
water. Here's another cold. No, I'm
certain that's not what that means, although it does sound
like it on the surface. But it's talking about disarming
your enemy with goodness and graciousness and kindness. Now, here's the explanation of
that in verse 21. And like I said, this is what
Charles Spurgeon called the Christian proverb. Be not overcome of evil,
Romans 12, 21. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good. Now, this is certainly something
that I wish I would think about and have in my mind instantly
as soon as someone insults me or as soon as I'm offended by
somebody. You know, really, when it comes
right down to it, most of that kind of stuff ought to just be overlooked. It ought to just be overlooked
and forgotten. You don't need to confront anybody
about it, just let it go past you. Remember he said, give place
to wrath. Give place to it. Don't overcome evil with good. Now with regard to how we should
proceed to conduct ourselves with regard to personal injury,
like a lot of other things, don't be overcome with evil, but overcome
evil with good. Now evil, we are either overcome
by it or we overcome it. Now let me repeat that. Evil. We're either overcome by it or
we overcome it. With regard to personal injuries
to us, it's natural for us to seek to overcome evil with evil. That's just the way of the natural
man. You didn't see that in infants.
They get mad and they fall and get mad at the floor, start bashing
the floor. You know, I mean, it's just the way of the way.
It's the way of the natural man. An infant gets so angry if he
feels like or she feels like they've been done wrong and they're
going to be so upset. You see that in your own children.
But remember, the Lord said he shall have justice without mercy. Who showed no mercy. And mercy. Rejoice it. against judgment. Now, getting even is certainly
easy. If you decide to make a rule
to get back at anybody who ever insults you or offends you, you
don't even have to pray to ask the Lord to enable you to do
it. You'll do just fine. You'll just do fine. It's easy.
That's the natural way to act. Some would even suggest that
it's not manly to be turning the other cheek and to not seeking
to retaliate. Well, The man Christ Jesus turned
his cheek, didn't he? The man of all men conducted
himself this way. And you know, whenever you get
back at somebody that really didn't succeed, somebody loses
their temper, and you retaliate in a like manner, real success.
Real success. That really was helpful. Don't
be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. Now, this is
the very spirit of the gospel. It's part of that high, heavenly,
holy calling that we have to be not overcome with evil, but
to overcome evil with good. And this is more than passive
non-resistance, but positive acts of kindness and goodwill
toward our enemies. You bless them. That means more
than you just stay out of the way. It means you seek to be
kind, acts of graciousness and kindness to them. And actually,
this is the tenor of the gospel. Now, let me show you that. This
is the tenor of the gospel. Like I said, in bringing this
message, I want to preach the gospel. I don't want to just
talk about not getting mad at people and they get mad at me
and just turn the other cheek. That's a good thing, but I want to preach
the gospel. This is actually the very tenor of the gospel.
When Moses said, I beseech you, show me your glory. How did God
answer? I'll make all my goodness to
pass before thee, and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before thee,
and I will be gracious, to whom I will be gracious, and I will
show mercy. Now here's God's goodness is
his capacity to have mercy on and to be gracious on a bunch
of people like the Israelites who just made a golden calf and
worshipped it and said, forget Jehovah, forget God, these be
thy gods, O Israel, that brought you up out of Egypt. God's goodness
is his capacity to have mercy. Now he has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. It's sovereign mercy, but just the fact that he would
have mercy on any of that bunch is amazing. This goes on with
the tenor of the gospel. God not retaliating in wrath,
but having mercy and grace. Romans chapter 2 verse 4 says,
it's the goodness of God that leads thee to repentance. Now
that doesn't mean that you observe the goodness of God toward you.
and your heart just melts, that doesn't happen. Your heart will
be just as hard when you see the goodness of God to you, but
it's His goodness, it's His goodness that causes you to repent. You would never repent, you would
remain hard-hearted, you'd not believe the gospel unless His
goodness caused you to. It's the goodness of God that
leads to the repentance, and you know that, don't you? You
know that if you've ever truly experienced this change of mind,
you know it's because God caused it to happen. Think of the sacrifice of Christ.
what he did for his enemies. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. This
is the way our Lord did on Calvary's tree. And let me ask you a question. What if the Lord dealt with you
right now in the way you dealt with him? Where would you be? I love that
scripture in Psalm 103. He hath not dealt with us after
our iniquities, nor rewarded us according to our sins. But
as the heaven is higher than the earth, so great is his mercy
toward him that fear him." Aren't you thankful that the Lord doesn't
retaliate and deal with you the way you've been dealt with him?
Oh, I'm so thankful and grateful for that. And think about this,
in the gospel, We read several times in the book of Hebrews,
and this is so glorious. He says, their sins and their
iniquities, I will remember no more. God does not remember my sins. He's not going to retaliate in
anger and vengeance and wrath. He has promised regarding the
sins of everybody that Christ died for, their sins and their
iniquities, I will remember no more. Now, I can't imagine being
in heaven and not remembering my sins. Can you? I can't imagine. I can't even fantasize about
it. I can't imagine that, but that's the way it'll be. I won't
remember being a sinner. I won't remember what it's like
to have evil thoughts. I won't remember what it's like
to have evil actions. I won't remember any of that
stuff. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have
become new. I won't even remember what it's like to be a sinner.
Now that's a glorious thing, but let me tell you something
that's even better than that. God won't remember that I was
ever a sinner. He really won't. He'll never
treat me like, well, I remember what he did. No, because my sin
has been put away completely. Wow. That's all you can say to
that, how amazing that is. Our Lord, He overcame our evil
by His goodness. Now you have to admit, this is
beautiful. And this is the way I want to
be, by His grace. And oh, this is against the way
of the flesh, but how beautiful it is to be not overcome with
evil and resentment and vengeance and wanting to pay back and all
that kind of stuff, but overcoming evil with good by treating people
with graciousness, kindness, When they're hungry, give them
something to eat. And when they're thirsty, give them something
to drink. This is what our Lord said when he said, do unto others as you would have them do to
you, even your enemies, even your enemies. How do you want
to be treated? That's the way you treat your
enemies. And thank God for the gospel
to declare such a beautiful, beautiful way to be. May the
Lord enable us to be that way in light of the gospel. Now,
what I'm worried about right now is, well, the Lord's going
to give me an opportunity to see if I can put this into practice. Well, he
will. He will. May he give me grace
to be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Let's
pray together. Lord, how we thank you for the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you that vengeance
is yours. Lord, how we thank you that you
took vengeance for our sins in the person of thy dear son. And
now there's no vengeance left for us. How we thank you for
the great, justifying work of Christ on the cross. Lord, how
we thank you for your kind providence that sends enemies our way. and
the blessing that is found in that. Lord, give us the grace
to not be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good. Lord,
as we prepare to observe our table, we ask that you would
give us grace to do this in remembrance of thy dear son. Oh Lord, how
we thank you for his broken body that put away our sin. how we thank you for his shed
blood that makes us clean before you. And Lord, enable us by your
grace, by your spirit, to meditate upon the complete salvation that's
in him, that even though we're so, so very, very sinful, Lord,
and we don't even know a millionth of it, even right now as we speak,
the blood of thy dear son cleanses us from all sin, and for this
we give thanks. Give us grace to love you more
and love one another more. And Lord, give us the grace to
be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. In Christ's
name we pray.