1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,440 Speaker: Well, students, it's the last night, and, uh, we are here to talk about 2 00:00:05,870 --> 00:00:12,260 how we respond to God's justice, how we live in light of God's justice, right? 3 00:00:12,260 --> 00:00:13,339 So I hope you've got your Bibles. 4 00:00:13,750 --> 00:00:16,360 Uh, we're gonna be in Romans chapter 12, okay? 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:17,459 Romans chapter 12. 6 00:00:17,729 --> 00:00:22,709 But first, um, while you're making your way there, I wanna show you a verse 7 00:00:22,719 --> 00:00:24,750 from the Gospel of Matthew, all right? 8 00:00:24,750 --> 00:00:29,600 Before we're in Romans 12, I wanna show you something from the Gospel of Matthew. 9 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:31,969 In Matthew chapter six, here's what Jesus says. 10 00:00:32,950 --> 00:00:37,829 He says, "If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly 11 00:00:37,829 --> 00:00:39,260 Father will also forgive you. 12 00:00:40,369 --> 00:00:48,419 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses," right, their sins, "neither 13 00:00:48,500 --> 00:00:52,110 will your Father forgive your trespasses." 14 00:00:53,979 --> 00:00:56,629 Maybe you read this before, right, Sermon on the Mount, you know what this is. 15 00:00:56,950 --> 00:00:59,789 You don't think this is too crazy of a statement, but I want 16 00:00:59,789 --> 00:01:01,720 you to, to think about this. 17 00:01:02,169 --> 00:01:08,350 Your willingness to forgive other people, when, when someone sins against you, 18 00:01:08,350 --> 00:01:13,630 right, someone, someone does something wrong against you, someone hurts you, your 19 00:01:13,630 --> 00:01:20,609 willingness to forgive them, what Jesus is saying, says a lot about your heart. 20 00:01:21,899 --> 00:01:26,679 In fact, your willingness to forgive them is so important, it reveals 21 00:01:26,679 --> 00:01:28,860 whether you're right with God 22 00:01:31,974 --> 00:01:36,634 If you're unwilling to forgive someone, Jesus is saying there's no way 23 00:01:37,113 --> 00:01:38,884 you've experienced God's forgiveness. 24 00:01:39,173 --> 00:01:39,704 No way. 25 00:01:39,934 --> 00:01:40,173 Not a chance. 26 00:01:42,454 --> 00:01:45,503 Doesn't say, "Oh, well, sometimes if you forgive people, then God will 27 00:01:47,654 --> 00:01:47,874 forgive you." 28 00:01:47,874 --> 00:01:50,033 Doesn't say, "Well, every once in a while, if it's not that big of a deal and you 29 00:01:50,033 --> 00:01:53,953 forgive them for small things, but for big things, it's okay not to forgive someone." 30 00:01:55,513 --> 00:01:59,613 What Jesus is saying is that if you are unwilling to forgive other 31 00:01:59,613 --> 00:02:02,314 people, you will not go to heaven. 32 00:02:03,794 --> 00:02:08,964 That's crazy because as you probably feel, maybe even some of you this 33 00:02:08,964 --> 00:02:12,404 week have felt, when someone wrongs you, you want to get back at them. 34 00:02:13,224 --> 00:02:14,233 You want justice. 35 00:02:14,264 --> 00:02:15,723 You want a response. 36 00:02:16,503 --> 00:02:19,643 You wanna do something to, to get even, right? 37 00:02:19,643 --> 00:02:22,513 You, you need some- something to happen to fix it 38 00:02:25,172 --> 00:02:28,312 But what Jesus is saying is if you are unwilling to forgive other people, 39 00:02:28,312 --> 00:02:30,112 your sins will not be forgiven. 40 00:02:31,362 --> 00:02:35,041 The God of judgment will hold your sins against you. 41 00:02:36,241 --> 00:02:41,930 So your willingness to forgive other people really is a matter of faith, right? 42 00:02:43,572 --> 00:02:45,332 Do you trust God or do you not? 43 00:02:47,691 --> 00:02:50,772 If it's hard for you to forgive other people, I, I would want you 44 00:02:50,772 --> 00:02:55,422 to consider tonight, have I really experienced the forgiveness of God? 45 00:02:56,791 --> 00:02:59,502 If it's hard for you, if you're someone who holds grudges, who gets bitter a 46 00:02:59,502 --> 00:03:03,371 lot, who it, it's easier for you to, to just lash out and get back at other 47 00:03:03,451 --> 00:03:08,051 people, I want you to ask yourself, "Do I really know God's forgiveness?" 48 00:03:11,206 --> 00:03:12,276 Because that's what Jesus is saying. 49 00:03:12,276 --> 00:03:17,196 Jesus is saying is that your forgiveness of others says a lot about whether 50 00:03:17,196 --> 00:03:19,446 you, in fact, have been forgiven. 51 00:03:20,526 --> 00:03:22,136 So we're gonna be in Romans 12 tonight. 52 00:03:22,136 --> 00:03:25,625 Romans 12, we're gonna start in verse 17. 53 00:03:26,066 --> 00:03:28,636 All right, Romans 12:17. 54 00:03:28,745 --> 00:03:29,896 I'll put it up on the screen for you. 55 00:03:31,805 --> 00:03:37,405 The Apostle Paul says, "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do 56 00:03:37,405 --> 00:03:40,936 what is honorable in the sight of all. 57 00:03:42,216 --> 00:03:46,365 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." 58 00:03:46,915 --> 00:03:47,606 And we'll start there. 59 00:03:47,945 --> 00:03:50,565 So what he's saying is if someone does something evil to you, if someone 60 00:03:50,566 --> 00:03:55,025 hurts you, if someone sins against you, don't pay them back, right? 61 00:03:55,026 --> 00:03:56,025 Don't, don't get back with them. 62 00:03:57,035 --> 00:04:00,425 Instead, what he says, he, he gives a different command. 63 00:04:00,436 --> 00:04:03,936 He says, "But instead, give thought to do what's honorable," right? 64 00:04:03,936 --> 00:04:06,396 What, what other people should think is, is good, right? 65 00:04:06,555 --> 00:04:09,396 Treat them well when they treat you poorly. 66 00:04:10,765 --> 00:04:13,695 And then verse eighteen, "If possible, as far as it depends on you," right? 67 00:04:13,715 --> 00:04:17,956 Do everything you can to live at peace with other people 68 00:04:20,368 --> 00:04:24,308 What's happening here is, is normally we think, "Oh, when 69 00:04:24,308 --> 00:04:25,838 something bad happens to me, right? 70 00:04:25,838 --> 00:04:29,468 Someone's wronged me, someone's hurt me, my job is to get back at them, right? 71 00:04:30,068 --> 00:04:31,647 I need to, I need to make things even. 72 00:04:31,648 --> 00:04:34,408 I, I need to, to, to figure out how to right this situation." 73 00:04:35,748 --> 00:04:37,017 What Paul's saying is that's not your job. 74 00:04:38,108 --> 00:04:38,628 Not your job. 75 00:04:38,817 --> 00:04:41,198 Your job is not to worry about how do I fix this? 76 00:04:41,198 --> 00:04:42,827 How do I make them feel what I'm feeling? 77 00:04:42,827 --> 00:04:44,007 How do I get even with them? 78 00:04:44,147 --> 00:04:45,427 How do I fix the situation? 79 00:04:45,428 --> 00:04:46,368 That's not your job. 80 00:04:46,928 --> 00:04:52,468 What Paul's saying your job is, is to, to live peaceably with them. 81 00:04:52,617 --> 00:04:55,057 To, to have peace, forgiveness, right? 82 00:04:55,058 --> 00:04:57,457 Restoration, love, those type of things. 83 00:04:57,468 --> 00:04:58,177 That's your job. 84 00:05:00,137 --> 00:05:03,857 And so that's counterintuitive to everything that, that you and I 85 00:05:03,878 --> 00:05:05,437 probably feel initially, right? 86 00:05:05,437 --> 00:05:07,967 When someone wrongs you, you feel like the number one priority is, 87 00:05:08,487 --> 00:05:10,278 "I gotta fix, fix that," right? 88 00:05:10,387 --> 00:05:12,748 When you feel like injustice has been done, right? 89 00:05:12,748 --> 00:05:17,107 Maybe you feel like the wrong team won revival or maybe you feel like 90 00:05:17,108 --> 00:05:20,608 someone cheated in the games or maybe you feel like someone hurt you. 91 00:05:21,367 --> 00:05:24,318 Your-- Normally, your first priority is, "I need to fix it. 92 00:05:24,947 --> 00:05:26,928 Something's ba- something has to be done about that." 93 00:05:28,157 --> 00:05:32,137 What we're seeing here in our passage is what has to be done is you need 94 00:05:32,148 --> 00:05:38,967 to take responsibility for being at peace with them, not getting justice. 95 00:05:38,968 --> 00:05:42,597 So our first point tonight, nice and simple, take responsibility 96 00:05:42,957 --> 00:05:44,387 for peaceful living. 97 00:05:45,617 --> 00:05:46,968 Take responsibility 98 00:05:49,058 --> 00:05:49,228 Right? 99 00:05:49,548 --> 00:05:53,448 Your job when someone sins against you, and people will. 100 00:05:53,468 --> 00:05:54,738 People have sinned against you this week. 101 00:05:54,908 --> 00:05:56,508 People will sin against you maybe even tonight. 102 00:05:56,768 --> 00:05:58,618 People might sin against you when you're trying to go to sleep. 103 00:05:58,658 --> 00:06:01,048 People might sin against you when you wake up tomorrow morning. 104 00:06:01,048 --> 00:06:03,107 People might sin against you in the car ride on the way home. 105 00:06:03,998 --> 00:06:05,668 Your job is not to get back at them. 106 00:06:06,777 --> 00:06:10,487 Your job is to live peacefully with them. 107 00:06:11,658 --> 00:06:12,867 That's your job 108 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,360 I was listening to Tom Brady talk about how he became such a 109 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,430 great quarterback, and he said it actually started in college. 110 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:25,550 He said what made him such a great quarterback actually started 111 00:06:25,550 --> 00:06:29,640 when he was at the University of Michigan, and he was on the bench. 112 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,670 He was like the third-string, fourth-string quarterback at, in college, 113 00:06:32,670 --> 00:06:34,220 and he was like, "I was pretty bad." 114 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,190 Uh, but he said, "What was worse than my football skills was my attitude." 115 00:06:38,969 --> 00:06:42,850 So he went to the sports psychologist that they had at the university and, 116 00:06:42,979 --> 00:06:46,069 and what happened was the sports psychologist, which I was impressed 117 00:06:46,069 --> 00:06:49,440 because normally this isn't something you get at the psychologist, the psychologist 118 00:06:49,450 --> 00:06:51,450 told him, "Your attitude stinks 119 00:06:53,957 --> 00:06:56,498 You're, you're worrying about, "Oh, well, I'm, I'm so much 120 00:06:56,498 --> 00:06:57,418 better than the other players. 121 00:06:57,448 --> 00:06:58,478 Why do they get more playing time? 122 00:06:58,718 --> 00:07:00,088 Why do they get more practice time? 123 00:07:00,238 --> 00:07:02,758 Oh, I have to play with the backup receivers 'cause I'm a backup. 124 00:07:02,807 --> 00:07:05,558 If they put me out there with the starters, I would look so much better." 125 00:07:05,807 --> 00:07:05,967 Right? 126 00:07:05,978 --> 00:07:08,258 It was, "Oh, the coaches, they don't call the right plays for me." 127 00:07:08,267 --> 00:07:09,618 He was blaming everyone else. 128 00:07:10,507 --> 00:07:12,578 Oh, it was the coach's fault, it was the receiver's fault. 129 00:07:12,718 --> 00:07:14,788 It was, uh, it was everyone else's fault but him. 130 00:07:14,788 --> 00:07:18,357 And the psychologist, what he told him is, "You need to do 131 00:07:18,417 --> 00:07:21,657 your best with every rep you get. 132 00:07:22,087 --> 00:07:25,097 Maybe you only get five, five tries at practice. 133 00:07:25,587 --> 00:07:29,207 You know, maybe you only get to try out for third string receivers, but you 134 00:07:29,207 --> 00:07:31,887 have to do your best with what you have. 135 00:07:32,528 --> 00:07:33,858 That's what you're responsible for." 136 00:07:34,447 --> 00:07:34,517 Right? 137 00:07:34,528 --> 00:07:36,218 You can't control what the coach does. 138 00:07:36,228 --> 00:07:37,617 You can't control what the receivers do. 139 00:07:37,728 --> 00:07:40,738 You can't even control whether they catch the pass or not, Tom Brady, right? 140 00:07:41,537 --> 00:07:46,107 And what he told him is, "You need to take responsibility for what you can control." 141 00:07:46,938 --> 00:07:49,447 And I do think that's a really helpful picture of what the Apostle 142 00:07:49,447 --> 00:07:50,837 Paul wants this to do here, right? 143 00:07:52,417 --> 00:07:54,247 You can't control whether people sin against you. 144 00:07:55,357 --> 00:07:58,667 You can't control whether, whether someone wrongs you. 145 00:07:59,687 --> 00:08:04,247 But what you do control is how you respond to that situation, and that's 146 00:08:04,248 --> 00:08:06,578 what you're responsible for, right? 147 00:08:06,587 --> 00:08:09,937 Your number one priority in a situation where someone sins 148 00:08:09,937 --> 00:08:14,968 against you is, "How am I going to honor the Lord in this situation? 149 00:08:15,278 --> 00:08:16,367 What am I going to do? 150 00:08:16,367 --> 00:08:18,757 What does God want me to do right now?" 151 00:08:18,928 --> 00:08:23,198 And what He wants you to do is to live at peace with this person. 152 00:08:24,457 --> 00:08:28,557 He wants you to, to respond in a way that is, is peaceful, right? 153 00:08:28,557 --> 00:08:33,557 Not, not angry, not harsh, not unkind, but loving 154 00:08:37,124 --> 00:08:40,203 And when you think about this, this is even in, in our verse, right? 155 00:08:40,203 --> 00:08:42,443 He says, "Give thought to it." 156 00:08:43,644 --> 00:08:45,204 And he says, "As far as it depends on you." 157 00:08:45,204 --> 00:08:49,743 It's almost like you can feel the, the stress it takes to do this, right? 158 00:08:49,744 --> 00:08:50,394 This is hard. 159 00:08:51,674 --> 00:08:55,544 This is really hard because it's counterintuitive to 160 00:08:55,544 --> 00:08:56,893 the way you and I are wired. 161 00:08:56,924 --> 00:08:58,244 We're wired to look out for me. 162 00:08:58,723 --> 00:09:02,103 We're wired to look out for what I want, what I feel. 163 00:09:03,774 --> 00:09:07,693 This type of response, to respond, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna 164 00:09:07,713 --> 00:09:08,873 be at peace with this person. 165 00:09:08,873 --> 00:09:09,694 I'm gonna forgive them. 166 00:09:09,704 --> 00:09:13,043 I'm gonna love them," that type of response, it doesn't come naturally. 167 00:09:13,134 --> 00:09:16,323 It comes supernaturally, right? 168 00:09:16,704 --> 00:09:21,463 It comes from God working in you to give you God's love. 169 00:09:21,824 --> 00:09:25,423 Like, that's how God responds when people sin, right? 170 00:09:25,423 --> 00:09:30,114 If you think about it, imagine if God treated you the way you 171 00:09:30,114 --> 00:09:31,303 treat the people who wrong you. 172 00:09:32,993 --> 00:09:38,553 What if God treated you how you treated that person you got really angry at? 173 00:09:40,686 --> 00:09:44,386 What if God was as impatient with you as you are with your siblings? 174 00:09:45,716 --> 00:09:48,216 What if God said the things about you that you say about 175 00:09:48,216 --> 00:09:49,546 your parents behind their back? 176 00:09:50,785 --> 00:09:54,386 What if God talked about you the way you talk about your teachers? 177 00:09:55,165 --> 00:10:00,415 What if God treated you the way you treat the people you really don't like? 178 00:10:02,035 --> 00:10:04,215 And you say, "Well, it's fine 'cause they wronged me. 179 00:10:04,216 --> 00:10:04,846 They hurt me. 180 00:10:04,846 --> 00:10:05,996 You don't understand, Lewis. 181 00:10:06,705 --> 00:10:07,896 You don't know what they've said about me. 182 00:10:07,896 --> 00:10:08,906 You don't know what they've done to me. 183 00:10:08,906 --> 00:10:09,735 You don't know how they've hurt me." 184 00:10:09,855 --> 00:10:10,376 Well, guess what? 185 00:10:10,396 --> 00:10:14,395 We've talked about this already, but think about what your sin has done to God. 186 00:10:15,635 --> 00:10:15,775 Right? 187 00:10:15,795 --> 00:10:20,425 Our sin, my sin is so bad that God had to kill His Son to take it away 188 00:10:24,764 --> 00:10:29,764 Our responsibility is not to say, "Well, it's their fault," or, 189 00:10:29,784 --> 00:10:31,054 "Oh, well, they, they hurt me. 190 00:10:31,184 --> 00:10:32,234 They made me look bad." 191 00:10:33,024 --> 00:10:37,824 Our responsibility is to say, "God's honor is more important in this situation 192 00:10:40,194 --> 00:10:44,474 Your goal in life is not to look out to, to, to right the wrongs against you 193 00:10:47,216 --> 00:10:52,165 When you became a Christian, if you're someone who says, "I follow Jesus," when 194 00:10:52,165 --> 00:10:57,856 you signed up to follow Jesus, you made that your main responsibility in life. 195 00:10:58,765 --> 00:11:01,336 You-- If you call yourself a Christian, your main responsibility 196 00:11:01,336 --> 00:11:02,906 in life is to follow Jesus. 197 00:11:03,356 --> 00:11:04,775 It's not to look out for you. 198 00:11:05,376 --> 00:11:05,536 Right? 199 00:11:05,536 --> 00:11:09,536 When I signed up to be a Christian, when I said, "God, I confess my sin. 200 00:11:09,585 --> 00:11:11,405 I trust you with my life. 201 00:11:11,796 --> 00:11:18,015 I need you to save me," I had a, I, I had a new job description for my life. 202 00:11:18,015 --> 00:11:19,986 And, and you see that right here in Matthew sixteen. 203 00:11:19,986 --> 00:11:25,125 Jesus told His disciples, "If any would come after me, let him deny himself 204 00:11:26,215 --> 00:11:29,166 and take up his cross and follow me." 205 00:11:32,770 --> 00:11:38,530 If you're a Christian, following Jesus means I'm not in this world, I'm not 206 00:11:38,540 --> 00:11:40,320 in this life to look after my rights. 207 00:11:41,230 --> 00:11:42,020 Have you ever thought about that? 208 00:11:43,389 --> 00:11:46,880 You've given up the right to fight for your reputation. 209 00:11:48,139 --> 00:11:48,460 It's gone. 210 00:11:49,419 --> 00:11:50,020 It doesn't matter anymore. 211 00:11:51,050 --> 00:11:52,189 That's not your responsibility. 212 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:54,490 Your responsibility is not your reputation. 213 00:11:54,490 --> 00:11:57,249 Your responsibility is God's reputation 214 00:12:00,771 --> 00:12:03,502 He says, "If anyone would save his life, he'll lose it. 215 00:12:03,771 --> 00:12:06,882 But whoever would lose his life for my sake will find it." 216 00:12:08,262 --> 00:12:08,382 Right? 217 00:12:08,401 --> 00:12:11,241 Losing your life is a very unpleasant process. 218 00:12:12,452 --> 00:12:12,592 All right? 219 00:12:12,592 --> 00:12:16,332 This isn't a very rainbows and butterflies and unicorns 220 00:12:16,921 --> 00:12:18,431 mission statement from Jesus here 221 00:12:20,742 --> 00:12:25,041 There's something about following Jesus that is really undoing yourself. 222 00:12:26,852 --> 00:12:31,132 Following Jesus is antithetical, the opposite of being selfish. 223 00:12:32,972 --> 00:12:35,062 Following Jesus means you die. 224 00:12:36,591 --> 00:12:41,151 Your rights, your reputation, your honor, your dignity. 225 00:12:42,461 --> 00:12:44,712 When you sign up to follow Jesus, you say, "I'm done with that. 226 00:12:46,151 --> 00:12:47,371 I'm not looking out for me anymore. 227 00:12:48,242 --> 00:12:49,341 God will take care of me. 228 00:12:50,312 --> 00:12:51,671 My job is to follow Jesus 229 00:12:55,334 --> 00:12:59,854 And so when we're angry in response to sin, it's usually 230 00:12:59,854 --> 00:13:01,194 because we're looking out for us. 231 00:13:02,284 --> 00:13:02,914 Think about it. 232 00:13:03,174 --> 00:13:05,514 Most of the time when we're angry, it's because we're trying 233 00:13:05,514 --> 00:13:07,154 to build our kingdom, right? 234 00:13:07,614 --> 00:13:09,934 It's because, well, they hurt me. 235 00:13:10,564 --> 00:13:12,283 They made me feel this way. 236 00:13:12,914 --> 00:13:14,903 I need to do something about that. 237 00:13:16,783 --> 00:13:17,784 It's always about us. 238 00:13:19,574 --> 00:13:23,004 And what Jesus is saying is, is you need to put th- that to death. 239 00:13:23,014 --> 00:13:24,574 You're not building that kingdom anymore. 240 00:13:25,064 --> 00:13:26,453 You're building God's kingdom 241 00:13:29,094 --> 00:13:31,494 So your job description has changed 242 00:13:34,990 --> 00:13:38,480 My wife works really hard, and she crushes it at her job. 243 00:13:38,970 --> 00:13:41,660 And her manager has absolutely no idea what she does. 244 00:13:41,660 --> 00:13:45,029 So her manager said, "I need you to make a job description of what you 245 00:13:45,030 --> 00:13:46,160 do, because I don't know what you do." 246 00:13:46,820 --> 00:13:48,030 Which, great managing, right? 247 00:13:48,249 --> 00:13:50,889 But so she made this job description, and I thought it was fun, because 248 00:13:50,890 --> 00:13:52,880 I got to learn all about what she does every day and everything. 249 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,969 But, um, it made me think about it, what if you made a 250 00:13:55,970 --> 00:13:57,660 job description for your life? 251 00:13:58,759 --> 00:14:02,610 What if you made a job description for what do I think are my most 252 00:14:02,610 --> 00:14:03,780 important things I do every day? 253 00:14:05,009 --> 00:14:09,049 What are my most impor-important priorities this week? 254 00:14:09,770 --> 00:14:10,319 What were your… 255 00:14:10,330 --> 00:14:13,970 What, what was your job description for summer camp that you had in your mind? 256 00:14:14,049 --> 00:14:15,159 Maybe you didn't write one out. 257 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:16,860 Was it to have fun? 258 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:19,629 Was it to enjoy yourself? 259 00:14:19,770 --> 00:14:21,529 Was it to make friends? 260 00:14:22,060 --> 00:14:26,199 Was it to win all the games? 261 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:26,799 What, what, you know… 262 00:14:27,029 --> 00:14:30,130 You had a, you had an idea of what you thought was most 263 00:14:30,130 --> 00:14:31,189 important to you this week. 264 00:14:31,959 --> 00:14:33,929 Or think about h- maybe at, at school. 265 00:14:34,649 --> 00:14:36,379 You have an idea, a job description. 266 00:14:36,839 --> 00:14:38,399 You're like, "Here's what I'm doing at school. 267 00:14:39,259 --> 00:14:40,869 I'm getting good grades. 268 00:14:41,639 --> 00:14:42,870 I'm hanging out with my friends. 269 00:14:43,100 --> 00:14:44,440 These are the things I do at school." 270 00:14:46,702 --> 00:14:53,062 Well, what about when you follow Jesus, your job description is no 271 00:14:53,062 --> 00:14:58,852 longer, "Well, I need to get what is best for me out of my life." 272 00:14:59,301 --> 00:15:01,692 You see all the first person pronouns I used there, right? 273 00:15:01,892 --> 00:15:03,181 I, me, my. 274 00:15:04,262 --> 00:15:07,321 When you follow Jesus, those, those go out the window. 275 00:15:08,152 --> 00:15:10,922 It's He, right? 276 00:15:10,922 --> 00:15:11,792 It's Jesus. 277 00:15:12,422 --> 00:15:15,152 It's His honor, His name, His glory. 278 00:15:15,242 --> 00:15:16,511 What is His plan for me? 279 00:15:16,652 --> 00:15:17,891 What does He want from me? 280 00:15:19,651 --> 00:15:21,692 So your job description changes. 281 00:15:21,692 --> 00:15:24,922 And here's the thing, is that the thing that, that Tom Brady learned, and the 282 00:15:24,922 --> 00:15:29,502 thing that I hope you learn, is that you and I are responsible for our response. 283 00:15:30,272 --> 00:15:32,431 When someone wrongs you, they don't force you to sin. 284 00:15:34,928 --> 00:15:38,828 My mom, she, she used to, to really to, to nail me on this every time. 285 00:15:38,828 --> 00:15:42,868 Whenever I said, "They made me angry," she'd be like, "No, they didn't. 286 00:15:44,108 --> 00:15:45,038 You chose to be angry 287 00:15:48,430 --> 00:15:50,540 No one forces you to sin. 288 00:15:52,260 --> 00:15:53,470 Doesn't matter what they do to you. 289 00:15:55,150 --> 00:15:57,040 Sure, they can make it easier for you to sin. 290 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:57,740 Absolutely. 291 00:15:58,069 --> 00:15:59,280 They can make it really hard for you not to sin. 292 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,939 But no one forces you to sin. 293 00:16:03,550 --> 00:16:07,980 No one forces you to say unkind words or to think angry thoughts. 294 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:10,589 You and I do those things on our own. 295 00:16:10,769 --> 00:16:15,309 We're responsible for those things, right? 296 00:16:15,310 --> 00:16:17,749 So you and I, what we need to do is we need to stop blame-shifting. 297 00:16:18,620 --> 00:16:22,969 We need to stop saying, "Well, they did this to me, so I just, I just happened. 298 00:16:22,969 --> 00:16:23,639 It just came out." 299 00:16:25,059 --> 00:16:27,969 Well, those thoughts, those words, those feelings, they come from somewhere. 300 00:16:29,079 --> 00:16:30,899 They don't come from outside, they come from inside. 301 00:16:31,890 --> 00:16:35,619 They come from our hearts because we're looking out for us. 302 00:16:35,660 --> 00:16:38,269 We're saying, "I need to get back at this person. 303 00:16:38,719 --> 00:16:40,160 I need to fix this. 304 00:16:40,579 --> 00:16:42,820 I need to do something about it." 305 00:16:42,820 --> 00:16:46,540 What we're doing there is we're saying, "Well, my job is to look out 306 00:16:46,540 --> 00:16:49,529 for me, not to look out for God." 307 00:16:51,654 --> 00:16:53,714 And really the root of this problem, right? 308 00:16:53,714 --> 00:16:56,774 The root of the problem is that we're selfish, right? 309 00:16:56,864 --> 00:17:01,074 We, when we're angry, it's usually because we want to do something for us 310 00:17:03,939 --> 00:17:09,219 And so what really this, like, this whole umbrella of unforgiveness shows is 311 00:17:09,219 --> 00:17:12,598 that my biggest concern is me, not God. 312 00:17:13,009 --> 00:17:16,638 When you don't wanna forgive someone, it's because you care more about 313 00:17:16,858 --> 00:17:18,638 what you want than what God wants. 314 00:17:18,699 --> 00:17:19,608 That's really what it is 315 00:17:23,108 --> 00:17:25,569 And so what a lot of us need to do when this happens is we 316 00:17:25,569 --> 00:17:26,959 need to fight with our feelings. 317 00:17:27,199 --> 00:17:29,899 You need to, you need to really just, just have a fight with how 318 00:17:29,899 --> 00:17:31,530 you feel in that moment, right? 319 00:17:31,550 --> 00:17:33,969 Someone sins against you and you, you get upset. 320 00:17:33,979 --> 00:17:34,669 What do you do? 321 00:17:36,389 --> 00:17:36,679 You need to… 322 00:17:36,740 --> 00:17:40,020 That's, that's a, that's a battle that you just stepped into, right? 323 00:17:40,020 --> 00:17:42,119 That's not just like a, "Oh, I didn't know this was gonna happen. 324 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:43,540 I didn't think anyone would sin against me today." 325 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:45,550 Right? 326 00:17:45,550 --> 00:17:48,959 You just stepped into a battlefield, and you need to fight, right? 327 00:17:48,959 --> 00:17:51,399 You need to fight your feelings of, of, "Well, I, I just need to 328 00:17:51,409 --> 00:17:53,179 get back at them, and I need to do something about it right now." 329 00:17:54,169 --> 00:17:57,209 Maybe you need to, maybe you need to do something really practical like, like 330 00:17:57,220 --> 00:17:59,049 take a deep breath or count to 10, right? 331 00:18:00,199 --> 00:18:00,739 But there… 332 00:18:00,779 --> 00:18:01,589 Anyone can do that. 333 00:18:01,599 --> 00:18:02,620 An atheist can do that. 334 00:18:04,049 --> 00:18:05,569 You need to fight your feelings and say, "You know what?" 335 00:18:07,822 --> 00:18:09,552 I wanna care about what God cares about. 336 00:18:09,932 --> 00:18:12,672 What is God's job description for me in this situation? 337 00:18:14,391 --> 00:18:16,651 Well, it's to, to live at peace with this person. 338 00:18:18,151 --> 00:18:22,281 And me fighting fire with fire is not gonna add peace to the situation. 339 00:18:22,671 --> 00:18:24,631 It's gonna make it much worse 340 00:18:28,070 --> 00:18:31,840 And the more concerned you are about yourself, the harder it 341 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,050 is to, to be a peaceful person. 342 00:18:36,639 --> 00:18:40,540 The more concerned you are about yourself, the harder it is to be a peaceful person. 343 00:18:41,919 --> 00:18:44,609 Because if you're concerned about yourself, when something happens 344 00:18:44,609 --> 00:18:47,639 to you that puts you down, you've got to fight to climb back up 345 00:18:50,070 --> 00:18:52,320 And what Jesus is saying, and what Paul is saying in the book 346 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,240 of Romans is when someone puts you down, that doesn't matter. 347 00:18:57,260 --> 00:18:59,829 What matters is God's glory, God's honor. 348 00:19:00,709 --> 00:19:02,300 And so yeah, I can deny myself. 349 00:19:02,300 --> 00:19:03,649 I can let myself be put down. 350 00:19:03,810 --> 00:19:05,239 I can let myself be made fun of. 351 00:19:05,260 --> 00:19:07,710 I can let myself be hurt by someone. 352 00:19:08,490 --> 00:19:11,649 I can let them get away with something that maybe people think 353 00:19:11,660 --> 00:19:12,999 they look great and I look bad. 354 00:19:14,759 --> 00:19:16,190 Because I don't need to worry about me. 355 00:19:17,230 --> 00:19:19,399 I'm not trying to make myself look great anymore. 356 00:19:19,709 --> 00:19:20,280 Doesn't matter. 357 00:19:21,580 --> 00:19:22,899 I'm gonna try to make God look great. 358 00:19:24,260 --> 00:19:29,030 So when that person keeps making comments about you or making fun of you, you 359 00:19:29,030 --> 00:19:30,209 don't need to fire back because you… 360 00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:30,969 Well, whatever. 361 00:19:32,069 --> 00:19:36,419 So what if people think I'm, I'm lame or, or people believe 362 00:19:36,449 --> 00:19:37,619 something that's not true about me? 363 00:19:39,339 --> 00:19:42,080 Not that important, because I'm not that important. 364 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:43,929 God's the one who's important 365 00:19:47,878 --> 00:19:53,868 And so when someone wrongs you, what you're responsible for is how you respond. 366 00:19:53,898 --> 00:19:54,977 That's way more important. 367 00:19:56,707 --> 00:20:00,068 Way more important is for you to be loving and forgiving and kind 368 00:20:00,068 --> 00:20:04,668 and gentle than for you to fight back and, and fight for yourself. 369 00:20:06,007 --> 00:20:07,388 And that's what God cares way more about. 370 00:20:07,417 --> 00:20:10,887 He cares way more about your attitude, your heart posture, your 371 00:20:10,888 --> 00:20:16,017 words, your tone, your emotions than you getting even with them 372 00:20:18,467 --> 00:20:25,227 And the reason that we can let this go, the reason you can do this is because 373 00:20:25,447 --> 00:20:27,237 of what Paul says next in verse 19. 374 00:20:27,297 --> 00:20:28,697 Look at verse 19, chapter 12. 375 00:20:30,037 --> 00:20:36,287 He says, "Beloved, never, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath 376 00:20:36,348 --> 00:20:44,207 of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." 377 00:20:47,833 --> 00:20:51,714 Verse 19 starts with that word beloved, which I think is interesting, right? 378 00:20:51,714 --> 00:20:54,313 We're talking about justice, we're talking about anger, we're talking about 379 00:20:54,413 --> 00:20:56,033 vengeance, and he starts with beloved. 380 00:20:56,033 --> 00:20:58,103 And I think part of this is he's saying, "Look, God loves you. 381 00:20:58,103 --> 00:21:00,423 If you're in Christ, God loves you. 382 00:21:01,413 --> 00:21:06,623 Why do you need to worry so much about fighting for your reputation? 383 00:21:07,623 --> 00:21:12,454 The King of the universe, the God of all creation loves you 384 00:21:14,669 --> 00:21:18,830 He loves you Why, why does it matter what other people think about you? 385 00:21:21,669 --> 00:21:24,709 But then he goes on to, to, to say a promise, right? 386 00:21:24,709 --> 00:21:26,789 "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath 387 00:21:26,789 --> 00:21:28,800 of God, for it is written." 388 00:21:29,769 --> 00:21:32,449 What gives you the ability to say, "You know what? 389 00:21:32,459 --> 00:21:34,009 I don't need to fight for myself right now. 390 00:21:34,199 --> 00:21:37,110 I'm gonna take responsibility to, to love this person who's hurting me," 391 00:21:38,059 --> 00:21:40,969 is you can trust God for justice. 392 00:21:41,879 --> 00:21:44,029 You can trust God to exact vengeance. 393 00:21:44,139 --> 00:21:44,939 You don't need to worry about it. 394 00:21:44,949 --> 00:21:45,659 Not your job. 395 00:21:45,989 --> 00:21:47,119 Your job is to live at peace. 396 00:21:47,429 --> 00:21:49,370 God's job is to be the judge. 397 00:21:49,370 --> 00:21:52,099 So point two, leave vengeance to God. 398 00:21:53,219 --> 00:21:54,209 Leave vengeance to God 399 00:22:01,926 --> 00:22:04,226 This is pretty much a, a blanket statement, right? 400 00:22:04,946 --> 00:22:07,366 Never avenge yourselves. 401 00:22:07,616 --> 00:22:07,946 Never. 402 00:22:08,696 --> 00:22:09,406 Nice and simple. 403 00:22:09,616 --> 00:22:11,116 Black and white, right? 404 00:22:11,846 --> 00:22:15,966 I, so I know some people, they love, they love nuance, they love the exceptions, 405 00:22:15,966 --> 00:22:18,586 they love the, "Well, you know, sometimes you don't have to do that, 406 00:22:18,596 --> 00:22:19,656 sometimes you don't have to do this." 407 00:22:20,125 --> 00:22:25,055 Well, pretty much this passage says it's never appropriate 408 00:22:25,295 --> 00:22:26,446 for you to avenge yourself. 409 00:22:28,045 --> 00:22:28,935 That's all it says, right? 410 00:22:29,076 --> 00:22:31,406 So you never have to worry about getting even. 411 00:22:31,936 --> 00:22:35,555 You never have to worry about fighting for justice for yourself. 412 00:22:37,406 --> 00:22:38,116 Blanket statement. 413 00:22:38,676 --> 00:22:40,125 That's God's job 414 00:22:42,149 --> 00:22:46,229 And so really what this is about is you don't wanna steal God's job, right? 415 00:22:46,229 --> 00:22:47,509 Your job is point one. 416 00:22:47,979 --> 00:22:51,060 I'm supposed to live at peace with this person as best as I can. 417 00:22:51,070 --> 00:22:55,099 My job is, is to love this person, be kind to them, be gentle to them. 418 00:22:56,429 --> 00:22:57,090 That's my job. 419 00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,529 God's job is to be the judge. 420 00:23:00,399 --> 00:23:03,689 And quite frankly, you'd rather God do it than you, right? 421 00:23:05,139 --> 00:23:09,379 Who would you rather exact justice for you? 422 00:23:09,570 --> 00:23:11,229 You or God? 423 00:23:13,381 --> 00:23:18,292 You would much rather have God judge that person anyway, right? 424 00:23:18,971 --> 00:23:20,121 When someone sins against you 425 00:23:22,406 --> 00:23:23,806 You want something bad to happen to them. 426 00:23:24,456 --> 00:23:26,456 Well, would you want you to do it or would you want God to do it? 427 00:23:27,576 --> 00:23:29,326 I'd rather have God do it. 428 00:23:29,646 --> 00:23:29,876 Right? 429 00:23:29,876 --> 00:23:31,396 Think about God's judgment. 430 00:23:31,896 --> 00:23:33,406 Well, we- all we've learned about this week. 431 00:23:34,265 --> 00:23:35,416 God knows everything. 432 00:23:35,416 --> 00:23:36,485 He saw everything. 433 00:23:37,106 --> 00:23:40,095 God actually knows what happened better than you do, because he 434 00:23:40,096 --> 00:23:42,635 doesn't just know your heart and your head and your feelings, he 435 00:23:42,636 --> 00:23:43,985 knows their heart, their motives. 436 00:23:44,136 --> 00:23:45,875 He knows how long they spent thinking about it. 437 00:23:45,886 --> 00:23:47,315 He knows how they felt about it. 438 00:23:47,326 --> 00:23:52,265 He knows exactly how sinful it was, better than you do. 439 00:23:53,355 --> 00:23:55,225 God will judge it perfectly 440 00:23:57,616 --> 00:24:00,026 He won't under- under-judge them. 441 00:24:00,096 --> 00:24:01,076 He won't over-judge them. 442 00:24:01,656 --> 00:24:03,466 He will judge them perfectly. 443 00:24:04,476 --> 00:24:06,866 And so we can say, "God, I want you to judge them." 444 00:24:09,623 --> 00:24:11,193 Leave it to God 445 00:24:13,476 --> 00:24:16,285 He'll do it better anyway, and you can trust Him to do that, right? 446 00:24:16,295 --> 00:24:17,005 You might forget. 447 00:24:17,156 --> 00:24:18,235 You might not do it perfectly. 448 00:24:18,235 --> 00:24:21,275 You might not do it exactly the way you want it to. 449 00:24:21,275 --> 00:24:23,765 But God will do it the best way. 450 00:24:25,505 --> 00:24:25,686 All right? 451 00:24:25,686 --> 00:24:29,446 When we take revenge, really what that's saying is, "I want to be God. 452 00:24:30,846 --> 00:24:31,716 I wanna be the judge." 453 00:24:33,775 --> 00:24:37,956 When you try to get back at someone who sinned against you, you're 454 00:24:37,956 --> 00:24:39,466 essentially saying, "God, I got this. 455 00:24:40,456 --> 00:24:41,055 Let me do it." 456 00:24:42,575 --> 00:24:42,726 All right? 457 00:24:42,726 --> 00:24:45,075 We're saying, "God, I want to be you 458 00:24:48,101 --> 00:24:52,052 So what does it look like to, to give vengeance to God, to leave 459 00:24:52,052 --> 00:24:53,911 something to the wrath of God? 460 00:24:53,911 --> 00:24:56,461 Well, first it, it means you have to actually believe that who-- 461 00:24:56,461 --> 00:24:57,512 he is who he says he is, right? 462 00:24:57,792 --> 00:24:58,861 "Vengeance is mine. 463 00:24:59,101 --> 00:25:01,471 I will repay," says the Lord. 464 00:25:01,921 --> 00:25:02,371 He said it. 465 00:25:03,341 --> 00:25:04,851 You have to believe him that he's gonna do it. 466 00:25:06,401 --> 00:25:11,211 And so partly forgiving other people is, again, an expression of your trust in God. 467 00:25:12,262 --> 00:25:14,611 Do you trust God enough to say, "You know what? 468 00:25:15,532 --> 00:25:16,791 I don't have to get back at them. 469 00:25:17,101 --> 00:25:17,772 I'll let God handle it." 470 00:25:20,749 --> 00:25:20,819 Right? 471 00:25:20,870 --> 00:25:23,600 Some of our games, I was at the, in the Team Olympics, I was at 472 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:25,909 this, this pool noodle game out here with the Frisbee, right? 473 00:25:26,509 --> 00:25:30,350 And it was funny to see different teams because on every team there's a couple 474 00:25:30,350 --> 00:25:33,719 like coaches, you know, that are like, "No, no, no, you gotta do it like this." 475 00:25:34,129 --> 00:25:34,379 Right? 476 00:25:34,579 --> 00:25:36,469 Like, "Make sure you're holding it here," and there are people screaming 477 00:25:36,469 --> 00:25:39,289 out directions and, and it was really funny to see that because 478 00:25:39,289 --> 00:25:40,589 the, the different responses, right? 479 00:25:40,589 --> 00:25:44,179 I remember, uh, one of, one of the teams, I can't- forget who it was, but, um, 480 00:25:44,179 --> 00:25:48,309 someone was giving them instructions and they were just like, "I got it." 481 00:25:49,110 --> 00:25:49,419 Right? 482 00:25:49,559 --> 00:25:53,199 No one wants to be micromanaged, right? 483 00:25:53,229 --> 00:25:56,209 No one wants to, someone to be like, "No, no, no, you gotta do it this way. 484 00:25:56,209 --> 00:25:56,690 You gotta do it this way. 485 00:25:56,690 --> 00:25:57,240 You gotta do it that way." 486 00:25:57,979 --> 00:26:01,759 'Cause sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes what that, what 487 00:26:01,759 --> 00:26:04,990 micromanaging and, and helicoptering shows is I don't trust you 488 00:26:08,788 --> 00:26:11,187 Man, as I don't think you're gonna do it right, so I need to give you like 489 00:26:11,187 --> 00:26:12,838 ten million instructions to do this 490 00:26:15,681 --> 00:26:15,911 Right? 491 00:26:16,042 --> 00:26:17,331 Don't micromanage the author 492 00:26:19,406 --> 00:26:21,996 Don't, don't tell God, "Well, you know, God, you really need 493 00:26:21,996 --> 00:26:22,636 to get back at this person. 494 00:26:22,646 --> 00:26:23,336 You don't know what they've done. 495 00:26:23,336 --> 00:26:23,936 You don't understand. 496 00:26:23,936 --> 00:26:24,646 You don't know what they said." 497 00:26:24,646 --> 00:26:26,451 It's like, God knows. 498 00:26:26,451 --> 00:26:28,566 God knows exactly what they said. 499 00:26:30,436 --> 00:26:32,996 God knows exactly how they felt when they said it. 500 00:26:34,425 --> 00:26:36,676 God knows exactly what they meant by what they said. 501 00:26:38,216 --> 00:26:39,585 You can trust God to handle it. 502 00:26:40,116 --> 00:26:42,185 He's got it. 503 00:26:42,186 --> 00:26:45,576 And that's such a great thing because it, it's really, really freeing to do that. 504 00:26:46,055 --> 00:26:47,365 It's so freeing to say, "You know what? 505 00:26:47,395 --> 00:26:52,095 I don't need to, to worry about getting even." 506 00:26:52,096 --> 00:26:54,885 Imagine if you tried to get even with every single person who wronged 507 00:26:54,886 --> 00:26:59,665 you, but also not to get, like, over even, but just, like, exactly even. 508 00:26:59,675 --> 00:27:00,635 That would be exhausting. 509 00:27:01,846 --> 00:27:04,015 About all the people that have ever wronged you. 510 00:27:04,015 --> 00:27:04,495 You can't do it. 511 00:27:05,405 --> 00:27:06,226 So you say, "You know what, God? 512 00:27:06,366 --> 00:27:07,055 I'll let you do it." 513 00:27:08,116 --> 00:27:09,775 And then you can focus on, "You know what? 514 00:27:09,816 --> 00:27:14,355 I'm gonna focus on loving this person, and I'll let God deal with the consequences." 515 00:27:17,093 --> 00:27:20,994 If you wanna look at an example of what it looks like to give your justice to 516 00:27:20,994 --> 00:27:24,673 God, your desire for vengeance to God, you can go to sa- uh, any of the Psalms we've 517 00:27:24,673 --> 00:27:26,264 been reading this week in the DVR, right? 518 00:27:26,264 --> 00:27:28,323 But Psalm 35 is a great one. 519 00:27:28,833 --> 00:27:29,693 You can write that down 520 00:27:31,898 --> 00:27:34,798 And honestly, I would even encourage you, if, if you feel like you've 521 00:27:34,798 --> 00:27:39,068 been wronged you should pray through one of these psalms. 522 00:27:40,017 --> 00:27:44,028 Use the psalm as a template for your prayer and pray this psalm out to God. 523 00:27:44,197 --> 00:27:46,667 That's why God gave us so many of them. 524 00:27:46,667 --> 00:27:48,098 That's why there's 150 of them 525 00:27:50,681 --> 00:27:54,391 What this psalmist, what David is feeling in this moment is these 526 00:27:54,391 --> 00:27:56,572 people have wronged me, right? 527 00:27:56,591 --> 00:28:00,721 Verse one of Psalm 35, "Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me." 528 00:28:00,861 --> 00:28:02,312 There's people who are fighting me, God. 529 00:28:02,572 --> 00:28:04,121 Please fight back. 530 00:28:05,361 --> 00:28:07,552 Now, David knows my job isn't to fight back. 531 00:28:07,931 --> 00:28:09,181 God's job is to fight back. 532 00:28:10,481 --> 00:28:12,062 So he says, "God, please do that. 533 00:28:12,331 --> 00:28:14,581 Fight against those who fight against me. 534 00:28:14,812 --> 00:28:17,091 Take up your weapons," in verse two and verse three. 535 00:28:19,141 --> 00:28:22,861 And then he asks God in verses four through six to do something about 536 00:28:22,862 --> 00:28:26,051 it, to exact vengeance for him 537 00:28:28,262 --> 00:28:29,142 And that's fine. 538 00:28:29,152 --> 00:28:29,782 You can trust… 539 00:28:29,782 --> 00:28:31,402 That's an act of trusting God. 540 00:28:32,252 --> 00:28:32,312 All right? 541 00:28:32,322 --> 00:28:35,272 You pray to God and say, "God, please do this. 542 00:28:36,682 --> 00:28:38,361 Please be who you say you are 543 00:28:41,997 --> 00:28:44,618 And sometimes what that looks like is you need to talk to yourself and 544 00:28:44,618 --> 00:28:48,507 tell yourself, "God will do this, and I'm gonna trust the Lord to do that." 545 00:28:52,805 --> 00:28:55,456 And again, all of this comes down to, do you really believe 546 00:28:55,915 --> 00:28:57,245 that God is who He says He is? 547 00:28:58,265 --> 00:29:05,456 Do you really believe that God is a just judge and that He will fight for you 548 00:29:07,654 --> 00:29:10,294 If you don't trust God, you're not gonna do it, 'cause you're g- you're the one 549 00:29:10,294 --> 00:29:14,064 who's looking out for your kingdom and your desires and your reputation, and so 550 00:29:14,074 --> 00:29:18,884 you have to fight for yourself because you've got your hands on the wheel 551 00:29:26,022 --> 00:29:29,581 So if you're someone who, who really struggles with that it's really hard 552 00:29:29,581 --> 00:29:33,371 for you to let things go, you always have to look out for yourself ask 553 00:29:33,371 --> 00:29:38,551 yourself, do I really trust God to be who He says He is to take care of the 554 00:29:38,562 --> 00:29:41,141 things He says He will take care of? 555 00:29:45,552 --> 00:29:53,252 And the reason God wants us to let Him be the judge is because of what's at stake. 556 00:29:53,802 --> 00:29:54,581 What's at stake here? 557 00:29:54,581 --> 00:29:57,671 Look at verses 20 and 21 here 558 00:30:01,658 --> 00:30:05,128 So instead of avenging yourself, to the contrary, verse twenty, "If 559 00:30:05,138 --> 00:30:07,158 your enemy is hungry, feed him. 560 00:30:07,587 --> 00:30:09,908 If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. 561 00:30:10,337 --> 00:30:15,327 For by doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. 562 00:30:16,247 --> 00:30:22,128 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." 563 00:30:23,207 --> 00:30:26,317 And that's our third point tonight, overcome evil with good. 564 00:30:27,658 --> 00:30:31,027 There's a battle going on whenever you are sinning against 565 00:30:35,002 --> 00:30:38,502 Whenever someone wrongs you, there's an opportunity for 566 00:30:38,502 --> 00:30:40,372 evil to win or for good to win 567 00:30:42,734 --> 00:30:45,664 And you are responsible for how that goes 568 00:30:49,446 --> 00:30:55,166 You are responsible for whether evil wins or whether good wins 569 00:30:57,350 --> 00:31:01,010 See, if someone sins against you and you sin back 570 00:31:03,565 --> 00:31:08,666 Now evil has won because evil has conquered you. 571 00:31:09,775 --> 00:31:11,395 You've fallen for the trap, right? 572 00:31:11,416 --> 00:31:11,855 Think about this. 573 00:31:12,395 --> 00:31:19,575 If Satan knows, "Oh, they're gonna sin if I just get someone to, to sin against 574 00:31:19,575 --> 00:31:21,295 them," what do you think he's gonna do? 575 00:31:22,405 --> 00:31:24,055 Get someone to sin against you, right? 576 00:31:24,165 --> 00:31:27,165 If Satan knows, "Oh yeah, I'm just gonna give them a really annoying younger 577 00:31:27,165 --> 00:31:31,265 sibling, and they're gonna sin all the time," guess what he's gonna do? 578 00:31:32,115 --> 00:31:34,835 Give you a really annoying younger sibling, and guess whose fault it 579 00:31:34,835 --> 00:31:35,945 is that you're sinning against them? 580 00:31:36,335 --> 00:31:36,845 Yours. 581 00:31:38,345 --> 00:31:39,095 It's not their fault. 582 00:31:39,095 --> 00:31:41,715 It's not your parents' fault. 583 00:31:42,235 --> 00:31:42,725 It's your fault. 584 00:31:43,835 --> 00:31:45,466 Because Satan knows that you're vulnerable. 585 00:31:45,615 --> 00:31:48,765 Satan knows that you're the type of person who's gonna say, "I'm 586 00:31:48,765 --> 00:31:51,695 more important than God, and I need to get even, and I need to-" 587 00:31:55,654 --> 00:31:58,674 So if, if that's you, maybe that is you, maybe you're the person with the, with the 588 00:31:58,674 --> 00:32:03,794 annoying younger sibling and, and you're always fighting back at them, right? 589 00:32:06,116 --> 00:32:07,276 Neither of you are winning. 590 00:32:07,476 --> 00:32:08,436 Satan is winning. 591 00:32:09,856 --> 00:32:11,606 Satan might be winning in your home. 592 00:32:12,046 --> 00:32:15,005 Satan might be winning in one of these bunk rooms if you're sinning 593 00:32:15,006 --> 00:32:16,726 against each other and fighting back. 594 00:32:18,466 --> 00:32:23,796 There's a real battle going on, good versus evil, right? 595 00:32:23,796 --> 00:32:27,816 And if, if Satan can get you to sin just by getting someone 596 00:32:27,816 --> 00:32:30,875 to annoy you, that's easy. 597 00:32:32,475 --> 00:32:34,835 You're just, you're just giving him what he wants 598 00:32:36,934 --> 00:32:41,774 And if you claim to be a Christian, you are making Jesus' name look really bad 599 00:32:44,166 --> 00:32:47,196 Because we're saying God is patient and God is merciful and 600 00:32:47,196 --> 00:32:49,626 God is forgiving and you're not 601 00:32:53,444 --> 00:32:56,374 And you're making it really hard for people to believe in that God 602 00:32:59,462 --> 00:33:00,782 Because think about it this way. 603 00:33:02,622 --> 00:33:06,622 If you're a non-believer and you're sinning against someone and they're 604 00:33:06,622 --> 00:33:11,481 fighting right back, what are they gonna think about when they sin against God? 605 00:33:12,402 --> 00:33:14,711 Oh, God's just gonna fight right back and he's not gonna want me 606 00:33:16,805 --> 00:33:20,206 So there's, there's a, there's a lot at stake here, right? 607 00:33:20,245 --> 00:33:23,456 Overcome evil with good. 608 00:33:25,425 --> 00:33:28,666 Like, you're not just-- W- when you don't retaliate, right, you're not 609 00:33:28,666 --> 00:33:31,035 just fighting for, for God, right? 610 00:33:31,035 --> 00:33:33,376 You're, you're fighting for the team, right? 611 00:33:33,376 --> 00:33:35,785 You're fighting for the name of Jesus 612 00:33:38,021 --> 00:33:40,741 The, whenever, if you ever watch football, you know that the 613 00:33:40,741 --> 00:33:43,731 announcers, they always talk about this with the, when, when there's a 614 00:33:43,731 --> 00:33:45,651 retaliation sort of penalty, right? 615 00:33:45,731 --> 00:33:48,161 It's always the second guy that gets in trouble, right? 616 00:33:48,161 --> 00:33:50,791 Maybe someone's trash-talking, and then the guy gets mad 617 00:33:50,981 --> 00:33:52,811 and, and he pushes him, right? 618 00:33:52,971 --> 00:33:53,731 Who gets in trouble? 619 00:33:54,071 --> 00:33:56,282 The second guy, not the first guy, right? 620 00:33:56,511 --> 00:34:00,191 It's always-- In any sport, it's always maybe, maybe in, in soccer or whatever, 621 00:34:00,211 --> 00:34:03,081 someone does something that's a little, a little rough, and then the other 622 00:34:03,081 --> 00:34:05,971 person comes in and lays him out and oh, second guy's gonna get in trouble. 623 00:34:06,131 --> 00:34:07,151 It's always the second person 624 00:34:09,350 --> 00:34:10,759 It's kinda like that in life sometimes, right? 625 00:34:10,759 --> 00:34:15,159 But the point is, the person who gets the, the penalty, it isn't just 626 00:34:15,170 --> 00:34:16,699 they fought for themselves, right? 627 00:34:16,699 --> 00:34:19,079 They said, "I'm gonna get back at this person," but 628 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:20,900 they let the team down, right? 629 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,230 They lost 15 yards for their team, or they got thrown out of the game, and now 630 00:34:24,230 --> 00:34:25,719 their, their team is down a player, right? 631 00:34:27,509 --> 00:34:30,518 When you lash out in anger against someone, you're 632 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:33,039 letting the team down, right? 633 00:34:33,039 --> 00:34:34,539 Jesus' name is at stake. 634 00:34:34,539 --> 00:34:38,609 His honor, His glory, and His reputation, and you and I decide to be selfish 635 00:34:38,610 --> 00:34:39,909 and say, "But I need to fight for me." 636 00:34:42,630 --> 00:34:45,270 The name on the back of my jersey became more important than the name 637 00:34:45,270 --> 00:34:46,449 on the front of my jersey, right? 638 00:34:51,782 --> 00:34:53,882 And this all comes down to who am I concerned about? 639 00:34:54,752 --> 00:34:57,622 Am I concerned about me or am I concerned about God? 640 00:34:59,718 --> 00:35:01,278 But it's not just not retaliating. 641 00:35:02,278 --> 00:35:05,048 He doesn't just say, "Don't do anything." 642 00:35:05,058 --> 00:35:05,238 Right? 643 00:35:05,238 --> 00:35:07,928 You ever heard if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it? 644 00:35:09,228 --> 00:35:09,887 That's not in the Bible though. 645 00:35:11,088 --> 00:35:13,848 What is in the Bible is love your enemies 646 00:35:17,146 --> 00:35:22,156 Verse 20, if you look back at that, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him. 647 00:35:22,666 --> 00:35:25,336 If he's thirsty, give him something to drink." 648 00:35:26,496 --> 00:35:28,256 Maybe you're wondering what the burning coals are. 649 00:35:28,816 --> 00:35:30,316 There's two, two options there. 650 00:35:30,555 --> 00:35:33,896 One of them is you're making your enemy feel more guilty, right? 651 00:35:33,896 --> 00:35:36,626 Because you're, you're killing them with kindness, because you're 652 00:35:36,626 --> 00:35:40,285 loving them, a- and they're, they're feeling more guilty 'cause they're 653 00:35:40,286 --> 00:35:41,525 like, "Oh, I've hurt this person. 654 00:35:41,526 --> 00:35:42,306 They're so nice to me. 655 00:35:42,306 --> 00:35:43,155 I just can't do it anymore." 656 00:35:44,765 --> 00:35:45,505 That's one option. 657 00:35:45,645 --> 00:35:48,766 The other thing is they're even more guilty before God now. 658 00:35:49,885 --> 00:35:52,276 You're actually heaping up more of God's wrath for them. 659 00:35:52,326 --> 00:35:53,955 That's the other way to look at it. 660 00:35:54,466 --> 00:35:56,695 But either way, not a good situation for them. 661 00:35:57,205 --> 00:36:04,085 But the point is that we're supposed to love our enemies if we're Christians, 662 00:36:04,085 --> 00:36:06,606 because that's what God did for us. 663 00:36:07,986 --> 00:36:10,845 I want you to turn in your Bible to Luke chapter 6, okay? 664 00:36:10,845 --> 00:36:12,265 Everyone, get in your Bibles. 665 00:36:12,265 --> 00:36:14,325 Turn over to Luke chapter 6 666 00:36:18,210 --> 00:36:22,250 I wanna take a moment and really dive into what it looks like to love our enemy 667 00:36:29,734 --> 00:36:35,324 'Cause being nice to people is different than Christ-like love for our enemies. 668 00:36:36,544 --> 00:36:39,114 So we're gonna start in verse 27. 669 00:36:40,594 --> 00:36:41,384 Luke chapter 6. 670 00:36:41,413 --> 00:36:42,154 To the left, right? 671 00:36:42,154 --> 00:36:43,004 Over, I hear all the pages. 672 00:36:43,004 --> 00:36:44,283 This is, I ha- I miss this sound. 673 00:36:44,384 --> 00:36:47,293 The, the pages turning and it's a good sound. 674 00:36:47,584 --> 00:36:48,003 I love it. 675 00:36:48,644 --> 00:36:50,603 I'll stall for a bit till you get there. 676 00:36:50,603 --> 00:36:51,203 Luke chapter 6. 677 00:36:51,203 --> 00:36:54,833 I want everyone's eyeballs on Luke chapter 6, all right? 678 00:36:58,310 --> 00:37:03,570 So Jesus, he's-- what he's doing in this whole section here is he's talking about 679 00:37:04,130 --> 00:37:08,400 the difference between just keeping the surface level commands of God 680 00:37:09,100 --> 00:37:10,790 and really loving God from the heart. 681 00:37:11,609 --> 00:37:14,089 That's what he's doing in this section of Luke. 682 00:37:14,090 --> 00:37:17,029 And so in verse twenty-seven, he says, "I say to you," Luke six 683 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:18,969 twenty-seven, "love your enemies. 684 00:37:19,060 --> 00:37:20,839 Do good to those who hate you. 685 00:37:21,029 --> 00:37:22,519 Bless those who curse you. 686 00:37:22,519 --> 00:37:24,809 Pray for those who abuse you. 687 00:37:25,339 --> 00:37:28,719 To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. 688 00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:32,890 And from one who takes away your cloak, don't withhold your tunic either," right? 689 00:37:32,890 --> 00:37:33,689 Give him your shirt. 690 00:37:34,490 --> 00:37:37,669 "Give to everyone who begs from you, and from the one who takes away 691 00:37:37,670 --> 00:37:39,419 your goods, don't ask for them back. 692 00:37:40,159 --> 00:37:44,369 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them." 693 00:37:44,380 --> 00:37:45,969 Maybe you've heard that before. 694 00:37:49,099 --> 00:37:53,069 This is totally the opposite of how normal people work. 695 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:55,459 Normal people do not do this. 696 00:37:56,999 --> 00:37:57,209 Right? 697 00:37:57,209 --> 00:38:00,019 Go to the, go to the four-year-old class on your church on Sunday 698 00:38:00,949 --> 00:38:03,749 and watch what-- One four-year-old hits another four-year-old. 699 00:38:03,749 --> 00:38:04,069 What happens? 700 00:38:04,759 --> 00:38:07,449 Bam, they're right back or they're crying, right? 701 00:38:07,679 --> 00:38:08,259 One of the two. 702 00:38:10,089 --> 00:38:12,809 This is counterintuitive, right? 703 00:38:12,810 --> 00:38:17,550 No normal human being when they get hurt says, "I love you. 704 00:38:19,069 --> 00:38:19,930 I care about you. 705 00:38:19,979 --> 00:38:21,199 Can I pray for you right now?" 706 00:38:22,179 --> 00:38:22,939 That's not normal. 707 00:38:24,670 --> 00:38:28,829 No normal people don't do that, and that's because normal people are selfish. 708 00:38:29,319 --> 00:38:32,879 Normal people care about themselves more than they care about God 709 00:38:35,558 --> 00:38:38,238 So the standard is not just, "Well, I'm not gonna retaliate." 710 00:38:38,288 --> 00:38:42,648 The standard, the responsibility that you and I have as Christians is to love 711 00:38:42,688 --> 00:38:45,598 our enemies, just like God loved us. 712 00:38:47,288 --> 00:38:48,098 Look at verse thirty-two. 713 00:38:48,148 --> 00:38:49,928 This is, I think, the best part of this whole section. 714 00:38:49,928 --> 00:38:54,807 Verse thirty-two: "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? 715 00:38:55,277 --> 00:38:58,438 For even sinners love those who love them." 716 00:39:00,688 --> 00:39:03,578 Verse 33: "And if you do good to those who do good to you, 717 00:39:03,578 --> 00:39:04,798 what benefit is that to you? 718 00:39:05,028 --> 00:39:07,628 For even sinners do the same." 719 00:39:11,352 --> 00:39:13,012 Atheists love people that love them back 720 00:39:17,042 --> 00:39:24,802 Gnostics, agnostics, Muslims, Hindus, everyone loves people that love them back 721 00:39:25,942 --> 00:39:29,762 because everyone loves themselves, so they love people that love them, right? 722 00:39:30,052 --> 00:39:34,681 Loving someone that loves you isn't really that loving. 723 00:39:35,002 --> 00:39:37,332 It's actually kinda selfish, right? 724 00:39:37,332 --> 00:39:40,492 If the only reason you love people is because they love you in return, 725 00:39:40,662 --> 00:39:43,642 or the only reason you do nice things to people is because you want 726 00:39:43,652 --> 00:39:47,601 something from them, that's called using people, not loving people. 727 00:39:49,062 --> 00:39:51,241 'Cause what you're saying is, "Really, I just want this person 728 00:39:51,731 --> 00:39:53,391 so that they give me something." 729 00:39:56,420 --> 00:39:57,960 What God does, right? 730 00:39:57,960 --> 00:39:59,180 'Cause think about this with God's love. 731 00:39:59,350 --> 00:40:01,240 Does God need anything from you and I? 732 00:40:02,260 --> 00:40:02,370 No. 733 00:40:03,590 --> 00:40:04,890 God doesn't need us to love Him. 734 00:40:05,250 --> 00:40:06,839 God doesn't need us to sing worship songs to Him. 735 00:40:07,319 --> 00:40:08,720 God doesn't need us to obey Him. 736 00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:10,530 He doesn't need us to do anything for Him. 737 00:40:11,810 --> 00:40:13,420 But He loves us because He does. 738 00:40:14,189 --> 00:40:17,610 God is love, and so He overflows with love, and that's what He does. 739 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:18,219 He, He loves. 740 00:40:19,839 --> 00:40:22,050 He's not trying to get something back from us. 741 00:40:23,050 --> 00:40:23,819 He didn't say, "You know what? 742 00:40:23,839 --> 00:40:26,830 I'm gonna save Lewis because I really need Lewis to preach 743 00:40:26,830 --> 00:40:28,479 two sermons at Revival 26." 744 00:40:29,809 --> 00:40:30,459 God doesn't need anything 745 00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:35,910 He says, "I'm gonna love Louis because I love him. 746 00:40:36,610 --> 00:40:36,820 That's who I am 747 00:40:40,078 --> 00:40:45,528 When we love our enemies, it shows everyone that we don't just love 748 00:40:45,538 --> 00:40:47,458 people when it works out well for us. 749 00:40:48,728 --> 00:40:50,298 We don't just love people when it's convenient. 750 00:40:51,038 --> 00:40:53,247 We don't just love people when we benefit from it. 751 00:40:53,387 --> 00:40:59,077 We love people because God's love has been poured into us, and so it overflows 752 00:41:01,288 --> 00:41:02,797 into other people. 753 00:41:02,917 --> 00:41:06,217 We love them then, even people that hurt us 754 00:41:08,780 --> 00:41:12,990 The only way you can do this is if you have experienced God's love for you. 755 00:41:14,550 --> 00:41:16,710 Because God loved His enemy 756 00:41:19,344 --> 00:41:21,914 God loves enemies like me 757 00:41:25,318 --> 00:41:28,318 If God only loved his friends, we wouldn't be here 758 00:41:30,702 --> 00:41:34,682 Romans 5, "While we were sinners, Christ died for us." 759 00:41:35,212 --> 00:41:38,272 God loved you before you loved Him back. 760 00:41:38,682 --> 00:41:42,081 And God didn't love you so that you would love Him back 'cause He 761 00:41:42,082 --> 00:41:43,712 doesn't need you to love Him back 762 00:41:45,958 --> 00:41:49,958 And so if you're someone who only loves people who love you back 763 00:41:53,062 --> 00:41:54,992 You're not showing Christ-like love. 764 00:41:54,992 --> 00:41:59,412 If you only love the people that, that you like to hang out with or that you feel 765 00:41:59,412 --> 00:42:03,102 like are in your friend group or, or have the same hobbies as you or, or do the same 766 00:42:03,102 --> 00:42:08,072 things as you, or if you only love the people that look like you or are from the 767 00:42:08,072 --> 00:42:12,282 same background as you, that's selfish. 768 00:42:13,382 --> 00:42:16,631 And so what I want you all to think about is when it's hard for me to love someone 769 00:42:19,088 --> 00:42:21,508 Who am I doing this for? 770 00:42:23,238 --> 00:42:25,598 When it's easy for me to love someone, who am I doing this for? 771 00:42:27,217 --> 00:42:32,968 Because the only way for us to love our enemies is to have God's love for us. 772 00:42:34,067 --> 00:42:39,988 And so the best way you can overcome evil with good is to start with God, because 773 00:42:40,037 --> 00:42:41,937 this is a, this is really a gospel issue. 774 00:42:42,998 --> 00:42:45,868 The-- Not just intellectually, right? 775 00:42:46,148 --> 00:42:48,048 If, but if you-- Your lack of understanding of the 776 00:42:48,048 --> 00:42:49,378 gospel is gonna impact this. 777 00:42:50,207 --> 00:42:52,337 Not just mentally, "Oh, I could explain the gospel to my leader. 778 00:42:52,337 --> 00:42:54,628 I could pass the go- gospel test and partners," or whatever. 779 00:42:55,407 --> 00:42:57,997 But do you feel it? 780 00:43:00,047 --> 00:43:03,658 When it's hard for you to forgive people, it's because you don't really feel the 781 00:43:03,658 --> 00:43:04,637 weight of God's forgiveness for you. 782 00:43:05,837 --> 00:43:08,527 You don't really feel the weight of God's love for you. 783 00:43:09,317 --> 00:43:11,127 So it all starts there. 784 00:43:11,127 --> 00:43:11,707 It starts with the gospel. 785 00:43:12,537 --> 00:43:12,717 Right? 786 00:43:12,717 --> 00:43:16,297 The best way to overcome evil with good is to start with, with you and God. 787 00:43:16,587 --> 00:43:24,357 God's love for me, and that motivates my love for others, and it also motivates my 788 00:43:24,357 --> 00:43:33,197 lack of self-concern because God's love is incredible, and God is not just a God of 789 00:43:33,197 --> 00:43:34,757 justice like we've talked about all week. 790 00:43:34,847 --> 00:43:36,758 He's a God of love 791 00:43:38,894 --> 00:43:43,194 And one of the reasons that we love is because we know that God will handle the 792 00:43:43,194 --> 00:43:46,514 justice, and so I can love other people. 793 00:43:47,234 --> 00:43:49,093 So let's pray together, and we'll talk about that more 794 00:43:55,430 --> 00:43:57,850 Father, we are amazed 795 00:44:02,370 --> 00:44:05,890 Your love is really the greatest thing 796 00:44:11,792 --> 00:44:12,762 Not for your love. 797 00:44:13,762 --> 00:44:14,562 We wouldn't know you. 798 00:44:16,232 --> 00:44:16,642 You wouldn't 799 00:44:26,886 --> 00:44:30,906 So I pray that you help all of us to have a deeper understanding 800 00:44:39,932 --> 00:44:39,992 Break for 801 00:44:48,332 --> 00:44:49,272 So taking up their 802 00:44:52,476 --> 00:44:52,906 Living for your honor 803 00:44:55,740 --> 00:44:56,260 Experience your love 804 00:44:59,260 --> 00:45:03,270 Way that maybe they've never thought about it or felt it before, and that you 805 00:45:03,270 --> 00:45:08,430 would help them to, like the psalmist says in Psalm 90, be satisfied by your 806 00:45:08,430 --> 00:45:12,429 steadfast love, that your love would be better than life, that they would 807 00:45:12,430 --> 00:45:14,260 rather be loved by you than sail- 808 00:45:18,258 --> 00:45:18,378 Pray for the 809 00:45:21,538 --> 00:45:22,078 That you love him 810 00:45:28,806 --> 00:45:30,876 Your love is what 811 00:45:37,504 --> 00:45:39,154 That your love is not conditional. 812 00:45:39,504 --> 00:45:42,104 Your love is not based on how good we, we are. 813 00:45:43,124 --> 00:45:46,374 Your love is not even based on who we are. 814 00:45:47,794 --> 00:45:48,754 In fact, you made us 815 00:45:51,452 --> 00:45:52,932 Pray for students who have a hard time believing 816 00:45:58,684 --> 00:46:00,914 Say you are and that you invented love 817 00:46:07,430 --> 00:46:09,760 faith and receive it rather than trying to work for it. 818 00:46:10,980 --> 00:46:15,240 And I pray for the students here who don't care, who just wish this 819 00:46:15,240 --> 00:46:17,090 was over and they could go have fun. 820 00:46:18,220 --> 00:46:21,470 I pray that you help them to see that one day they will stand before you, 821 00:46:22,229 --> 00:46:27,189 the Almighty God, the Judge of the universe, and, and they will be utterly 822 00:46:27,340 --> 00:46:33,649 embarrassed and ashamed, and they will experience the worst day of their life. 823 00:46:34,170 --> 00:46:38,679 And I pray that you help them to, to, to sense the reality of your judgment 824 00:46:42,384 --> 00:46:44,414 how great it is that they can have 825 00:46:50,792 --> 00:46:50,962 yours. 826 00:46:52,152 --> 00:46:52,982 So thank you for this time. 827 00:46:53,052 --> 00:46:53,812 Thank you for this week. 828 00:46:53,812 --> 00:46:56,732 I pray that you help us to be changed by what we've