Romans 12. We're not going to start all the way back at verse one this morning. I've done that several times. We're not going all the way back there today. But we learn in the first 11 chapters, detailed exegesis of the doctrine of salvation.

Paul made sure that those he was writing in Rome understood what salvation was and how they might receive it through faith in Jesus Christ. We get to Romans 12 and now Paul begins a section on what do we do now. Once the matter of salvation is settled, once we have become the children of God, once we've been redeemed and justified in Jesus Christ, what's next? Well, there's a lot that is next. God expects a lot of his children.

God has given us his spirit to help us as his children to live for him, to bring glory to his name, to enjoy the blessings on earth as we will even more one day in heaven as his children. So we discusses that beginning in verse one and down through the chapter of Romans 12. We are now in verse 14. Verse 14. Bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not.

Also, want to look here begin with at Hebrews twelve fourteen. It says, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. We as God's children have been called to be peacemakers. We have been called to peace. We have peace with God through Jesus Christ our savior, but we are also called to make peace, to be peacemakers in this world.

And so we're gonna look at that here today. Let's begin with a word of prayer. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for this wonderful day you've given us. Thank you for the honor of proclaiming your good news today. We pray, Lord, as we look into your word that the holy spirit might use use it to conform us into the image of your son.

Lord, that you would work mightily in our hearts to draw us closer to you and if there be one here today that is yet to receive you today as Lord and savior, we pray this might be their day of salvation. In Jesus' name, we do pray. Amen. As we get down later in the passage, we'll read in just a few minutes. God says, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.

God is the judge, God is the jury, God is the ex executor. We are not. We're the messengers. We're the ambassadors. We have a wonderful privilege in Jesus Christ.

But we have to remind ourselves and sometimes be reminded that vengeance is not our place, That is God's. We are not called to set everyone straight. We are called to be the messengers to give them the truth, but we are not here to set everybody straight, particularly about everything. There is one judge and that's who? God that will set all things straight.

We are not called to get our way. We all like to get our way, be honest. However, we're not here to get our way. We're not lords. We are not masters.

We are servants. We're here to do his will. We are not called to hold grudges. That is a human thing to hold grudges. It sadly comes natural to us, but we who are in Christ have a new nature, we have a divine nature dwelling within us and we are not called to hold grudges.

We are not called to be scorekeepers, to remember everything everybody does. We'll leave that to who? We'll leave that to God. And we are not called to get even. We are not called to take vengeance to be the executioners.

It is God who executes his will, his blessing, his punishment that is in his court. So we are told not to take vengeance, to seek revenge. Justice is the Lord's prerogative. As we already observed in chapter 12 of Romans, God has expectations of his church, his children, those whose matter of salvation is settled among which is love. And what does love lead to?

Love leads to compassion upon those that are hurting and fallen and struggling. Love leads to mercy on those who have failed and sometimes have hurt us. Love leads to grace, to giving to others beyond what they deserve. Love leads the love of Christ to compassion, mercy, and grace toward our fellow human beings, not vengeance. We cannot possibly be all that we should be as God's children, bringing glory to his name if we respond to personal attacks as the rest of the world often does.

We are called to be peacemakers. Look if you would, again in verse 14, bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not. Verse 17, recompense to no man evil for evil or wrong for wrong. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it'd be possible as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves but rather give place under wrath. That would be God's 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. That is what we are called to do. That is what Jesus has done for us. He has overcome evil with good.

He has brought to us salvation by his grace, mercy, righteousness, goodness, and love. It says in John three sixteen, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Verse 17, for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be what? Saved. Why did Christ come the first time?

He came to die, he came to save. He came not seeking vengeance, he came seeking our salvation and deliverance from the enemy. And he did it through his sacrifice, his example on the cross. There is a considerable amount of instruction in scripture concerning revenge. Why?

Because it is a strong human drive which must be brought under the control of the spirit, of the word, and of the will of God. We naturally, in our sinful state, want to get back at others for the wrongs they do to us. But that is not the way of Christ. That is not what we as Christians have been called to. There is a better way, a better way.

How many movies are built on the theme of vengeance? Scores and scores of them. Why are they popular? Because it makes us feel good when the person who was wrong gets their revenge. But does it really?

Does it really fix the problem? No. The Bible says, be ye angry and sin not. It is not a sin to be angry, it is a sin to stay angry. It is a sin to hold grudges and become bitter.

It is a sin to lose your temper and lash out. It is a sin to seek revenge, to get even, to curse others. The Bible has called us not to do unto others as they have done to us. The Bible calls us to do unto others as we would have them to do unto us. We are told as we would want others to do to us, that's what we need to do to them.

Not what they do, but what we would want them to do. It may be natural to want revenge but it is not of God. He has not given us the responsibility. He has reserved vengeance that is righteous consequences for himself. Why?

Because we make big mistakes. We let our emotions, anger, and other things cloud our judgment. Does God? The answer is no. He does not make mistakes with his judgment.

It's just at the right time, at the right place. He sees the whole picture and he is truly the righteous one who made us. We must learn to control ourselves and trust who? And trust God. I mean, is that what living the Christian life is about?

It's learning to do what? It's learning to trust God in each area of our life. We need to learn to trust him. When we jump in and get revenge, we complicate the situation. We don't make it better.

When we seek revenge, we are taking the place of who? We are taking the place of God and other God ordained authorities. When we seek revenge, when we seek to get back, we are showing a lack of trust in the judge the judgment, the justice, and the care of God. It says here, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. Do not seek vengeance.

Do not get revenge for yourself. Do not retaliate, vindicate. No. But rather give place or give room unto unto wrath. The wrath of who?

The wrath of God. The righteous wrath of God. For it is written vengeance, retribution, punishment is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Do you believe him?

Do you believe God is going to take care of it? Do you believe that God who is a just God will bring justice? If you do, then you won't take his place. You'll give him room. You'll trust him.

You'll let him deal with the vengeance, with the judgment. In Psalm Proverbs 20 verse 22, it says, say not thou, I will recompense evil, but wait on the Lord and he shall save thee. Don't say, okay, I'm gonna jump in there and I'm gonna tell them, I'm gonna show them this. No. Let God take care of it.

Let God take care of it. Number one, if God takes care of it, I know it'll be taken care of right. Number two, if I learn to let God take care of it, then also I free myself up from that obligation. Now I don't have to stay angry and I don't have to devise a way to get back at them. I don't have to to to spend my time and my emotions and my mind on that.

I'll just let God take care. Now again, that's not human nature, that's divine nature. But as we get closer to God, should we not be becoming more like him? Yes, we should. Deuteronomy thirty two thirty five, to me belongeth vengeance and recompense.

Their foot shall slide in due time for the day of their calamity is at hand and the things that shall come upon them make haste. God says, they'll slip. If they continue on the path they're on, they it'll come. Their day will come. Let God see to that day and not us.

When we seek to take the place of God or his duly ordained servants, Romans 13, that would be government, we get in the way. Jesus told us, we read in Matthew five to turn the other what? To turn the other cheek. Now he's not turning to turn the other cheek to someone who is about to take your life. The idea is somebody slaps you on the cheek, turn them the other one.

The point is they're not a threat to your life. They may be a threat to your pride, but don't get back at them. If the Roman soldier in Jesus' day walked up to the Jew in Israel and demanded that he carry his armor and weapons for a mile, according to Roman law, the person had to do so. Do you think oftentimes that the oppressed were happy when a Roman soldier came up and said, you gotta carry my stuff for the next mile. I don't think so.

But what did Jesus say? He didn't say, demand your rights, stand your ground. Tell them to get lost. He said, don't just carry it one mile, carry it what? Two.

Back to verse 14 of Romans 12, it says it doesn't say just not to curse. It says to bless. Bless them which persecute you. Don't just not do something bad, instead do something what? Good.

Why? Well, it's unexpected because it isn't human nature. Be like Jesus Christ. What he did was unexpected. The God of heaven became a man and died on a cross for an unruly creation to buy us back.

We display a lack of self control and a lack of trust in God when we seek to avenge ourselves. In our jealous rage, we often make unforgivable mistakes especially when we do not have all the facts. And a lot of times, we don't have all the facts. We see things only from our what? Perspective.

We don't see what's going on in the life of that person who wronged us or we don't see what's going on in their heart. And you know, God may use us to profoundly change their life if we bless them rather than what? Curse them. But if we curse them instead, we'll never know. We don't see the whole picture.

God does. God has them all and will not make any knows them all and will not make any mistakes in the judgment he meets out. So let him do his job. Let him do his job. That person that treated you poorly at work, you do not have to treat them poorly back.

That neighbor who threw his stuff on your side of the fence, you don't have to throw stuff back on his side of the fence. That person that ignored you, you don't have to go around with your nose in the air ignoring them. Don't do that. Treat them like Christ would. Bless them.

And then let God do his job. Let God do his work. As it says in verse 20, therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink for in so doing thou shalt what? Heat coals of fire on his head.

That sounds bad, know? Heaping coals of fire on that doesn't sound good. What is Paul saying here? Do the opposite of what they expect. When they're mean, be kind.

If you're kind, it is going to put the ball in their court. It's going to remind them that as human beings made in the image of God, they should be kind, what? Also. And let God use that to make them feel guilty, to convict them of their wrong, and to show them that there is a better way, a better way. So number one, don't take the place of God and other ordained authorities.

Let God take care of that. When we jump in, we make a bigger mess. Number two, if we get back at them, we are sinning ourselves. When we do wrong to others who have done wrong to us, we are still doing what? We're still doing wrong.

If somebody slaps me and walks away and I run up and I slap them, okay, I'm not talking about somebody who has beaten you in a corner, but if if somebody just curses you and walks away and you curse them back, what did you just do? You sinned. You do not have to curse back. Cursing is still what? Cursing is still wrong.

And so now, have you made things better or have you made things worse? Now has one person sinned or two people sinned? The answer is two. God sees both. And because somebody does us wrong does not give us the right to do them wrong.

Now, again, human nature, somebody cusses at you, people often do what? They cuss back. Why? Because they think it gives them the right to do the same thing to them. Human nature.

Kids do that all the time. They well, she did it first, he did it first, so therefore I'm in the right and they're in the wrong. No. You're both wrong. But that's kinda hard to convince kids of sometimes, but we're not kids anymore.

We are the children of God. We are supposed to be maturing and growing in our faith. The Bible says here, recompense no man evil for evil, wrong for wrong, harm for harm. Instead, positively provide things honest that is good or virtuous in the sight of all men. Rather than dishing it back, dish something good back.

That'll get their attention. But also you will be bringing glory to God who has changed your heart and can change theirs too. It says in first Thessalonians five fifteen, see that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good both among yourselves and to all men. In Proverbs 24, it says, be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause, deceive not with thy lips. Say not, I will do to him as he hath done to me.

I will render to the man according to his work. Bible also tells us to serve and to work not as unto men, but as unto who? God. Because I do not answer, will not answer in eternity to men, I answer to God. And even though others may excuse my behavior, and others may say I am justified in my behavior, it is God that matters.

It is Jesus who died for me to change me. Vengeance is no excuse to obey the disobey the Lord's commands whether it be in speech or in action, sin is still insult someone who has done the same to you. It's wrong to gossip about someone who has gossiped about you. It's wrong to lie about someone who has lied about you. It's wrong to wish evil on someone who has wished evil on you.

It's wrong to destroy the reputation of someone who has destroyed yours. It's wrong to do harm both physical or emotional to someone who has harmed you simply to get back at them or make them feel your pain. It simply is wrong. Just do right. It's never right to do wrong to do right.

That's an interesting saying. It's never right to do wrong in an effort to do right. In the end, you're not doing right because you did what? Because you did wrong. That's called pragmatism.

There are places in life for pragmatism and there are places not for pragmatism and this is one of them. Do what's right. Don't excuse your bad behavior. I have a little booklet at home, it's called Your Reactions Are Showing. Your Reactions Are Showing.

And I really like that little booklet when I got it back in college sometime and read it. But it reminds reminds us this of this. It's not your actions that reveal who you really are in here. It is often your reactions. You see, our actions are kind of planned.

So we kind of formulate our actions and we have time, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. And generally, hopefully as a Christian, your actions are planned out to do right. But our reactions that happen what? More spontaneously really reveal who we are where? Inside.

Jesus said to the Pharisees, it's not the things you put in that defy you, it's the things that what? Come out. The things that we say and do that reveal who we are, who we really are inside. And if we are in the habit of cursing those who curse us and gossiping about those who gossip about us, doing them harm who have done harm to us. If that's the way we live, we're not living like who?

We're not living like Jesus Christ. We're just following the dictates of the world. Jesus said in Matthew five, even the publicans, the tax collectors, the traders, they love them that love them and they do good to others that do good to them. They don't do the opposite. You do the opposite.

You do good to them. Be kind to them. Be like Jesus. The Bible tells us a sad story of a man named Absalom, the son of David. Absalom was one of David's sons.

He had sons and daughters by several different wives, failing of David early on in his life. And one of his sons, Amnon, took advantage of one of his daughters. The daughter was the full sister of Absalom. And when Absalom heard about it, Absalom sought to get revenge on his brother Amnon. Not only did he seek to get revenge on Amnon, he also became very angry and bitter toward his dad because he he expected his dad to treat it more seriously evidently than his dad did.

He devised a way in which to kill his brother, which he did. He was banished from the kingdom which only made him more angry at his father. He then craftily wiggled weaseled his way back in and began to turn the hearts of the people away from his father. He gathered an army in secret against his dad. He marched on the palace and what his brother Amnon did to his sister, he did to several of David's concubines on the roof in public as he ran his father out of the palace.

He became the sin that he despised because his heart was full of bitterness and vengeance. And though he thought at first what he was doing was right, it turned him into the very thing that he hated. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, say the Lord. When we take vengeance on others, we become the very thing that we despise and that he does too. And then thirdly, this morning, vengeance escalates things.

It only makes them what? Worse. It only makes the problem worse. It only escalates things. We are not called to escalate.

We are called to be peacemakers. We are not called to to take revenge. We are called to bring peace. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with what? With good.

As much as lieth in you, it says here, which verse is that? As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with what? With all men. If it'd be possible, verse 18, as much as lieth in you, peaceably with all men. That phrase as much as lieth in you doesn't mean give it your best shot.

No. That means as for your part, you do the things to make for peace. Now, can you control the other person? Sometimes they'll respond, sometimes they won't. That is not your problem.

Your problem is you. We take care of what we do. We make sure we do the right thing. We let God work on the rest. As much as lieth in you means as much as is on your part that you can, do what you can to live at peace with others, not to be at war with them.

Says in first Peter three, we have that up here. First Peter three eight nine finally, be all of one mind having compassion one of another. Love his brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing or con but contrawise blessing. Knowing that ye are there unto called that ye should inherit a blessing. This is our joy.

We don't have to walk around full of hate, bitterness, and anger trying to figure out how to get back or how to take our anger out on those that have wronged us. Because we have a God in heaven who's got who can take care of that. I don't have to do that. That brings me great freedom in Christ and it makes me a peacemaker on earth. I think of David again, but this time of David and Saul.

Saul was the king. David, the man who slew the shepherd boy who who slew Goliath. But one I think early on that Saul figured out was a threat to his power. And Saul began to be angry and violent even towards David. And David had to run and David had to leave, But Saul didn't give up, he went after David.

And on two occasions, David having to be on the run all the time because king Saul was trying to take him out, on two occasions David had God put this situation together where David could easily have taken out his enemy. Once in a cave, once during the night on a hill that David walked right into the camp while everybody was asleep. But David didn't do it. And he was asked why. Said I am not going to touch God's anointed.

Why? God put him here essentially. And when God wants to remove him, God will do so that is not what? That is not my job. And you know, that brought David great freedom because David didn't have to take care of Saul.

David had to take care of David and his relationship with God so that he didn't become Saul. Follow that which is good. Trust in God. Have a merciful and forgiving spirit. Fight fire with fire of a different kind.

Deescalate the situation by fighting hate with what? Love. By fighting pride with humility. By fighting hostility with kindness, bitterness with forgiveness. And you will be demonstrating yourselves to be the children of God, the redeemed in Jesus Christ.

Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for the opportunity you've given us in this world to show the light of Christ, to shine your light brightly. Lord, but so many things get in our way. Lord, the world and the flesh and the devil, They distract us, pull us in many different directions. Lord, forgive us of our weakness.

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and empower us by your spirit to be more like Jesus Christ our savior. Help to help us to surrender our pride to you and trust you to take care of our enemies and to bless and curse not, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.