WEBVTT 00:00:09.449 --> 00:00:14.310 Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is 00:00:14.310 --> 00:00:16.609 an international church in Bangkok, Thailand, 00:00:16.769 --> 00:00:19.829 with dozens of nationalities worshiping together. 00:00:20.129 --> 00:00:23.010 We invite you to connect with us from wherever 00:00:23.010 --> 00:00:27.230 you are through our website ecb .asia or our 00:00:27.230 --> 00:00:31.109 mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed 00:00:31.109 --> 00:00:37.630 by this week's sermon. Good morning, my brothers. 00:00:38.350 --> 00:00:42.950 My sisters, so glad to be in here with you, worshiping 00:00:42.950 --> 00:00:46.649 our Lord and coming to his word. We're in a series 00:00:46.649 --> 00:00:51.429 called oxygen, I may call forgiveness, the oxygen 00:00:51.429 --> 00:00:54.509 of the kingdom. Now, in case of an emergency, 00:00:54.850 --> 00:00:58.170 there will be oxygen masks that drop down above 00:00:58.170 --> 00:01:02.109 you. And please put your mask on first before 00:01:02.109 --> 00:01:04.569 trying to put the mask on of the person sitting 00:01:04.569 --> 00:01:07.099 next to you. Everyone got that? How many times 00:01:07.099 --> 00:01:09.340 have you heard that announcement before? Every 00:01:09.340 --> 00:01:12.540 time you fly, right? It's interesting because 00:01:12.540 --> 00:01:15.700 they tell you, don't try to put on the mask, 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:18.420 the oxygen mask of your child sitting next to 00:01:18.420 --> 00:01:20.540 you or your elderly parents sitting next to you 00:01:20.540 --> 00:01:24.060 first. You put your oxygen mask on and then you 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:28.859 help others to put their oxygen mask on. You 00:01:28.859 --> 00:01:30.319 know, it's interesting because when we think 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:35.290 about forgiveness, What we think about is oftentimes 00:01:35.290 --> 00:01:38.409 that we need to forgive someone for their sake. 00:01:39.189 --> 00:01:41.109 But what we're going to learn this morning is 00:01:41.109 --> 00:01:44.129 that actually we need to forgive others for our 00:01:44.129 --> 00:01:48.329 sake as well. You see, we might think that we 00:01:48.329 --> 00:01:52.390 only forgive someone if they repent, that we 00:01:52.390 --> 00:01:55.129 only forgive someone if they're a believer in 00:01:55.129 --> 00:01:58.250 Jesus Christ, but that's not what the Bible teaches. 00:01:58.269 --> 00:02:00.769 The Bible teaches us that we are to forgive everyone. 00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:03.680 And what we're going to learn this morning is 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:07.760 that we forgive because God wants us to be set 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:14.740 free. And so forgiveness sets us free. Now, as 00:02:14.740 --> 00:02:17.139 we think about this, I want you to listen to 00:02:17.139 --> 00:02:19.500 this quote from D .A. Carson in a book called 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:22.199 Love in Hard Places. He said, Christians are 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:26.120 called to abandon bitterness, to be forbearing, 00:02:26.180 --> 00:02:28.840 to have a forgiving stance, meaning to stand 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:33.360 in forgiveness. Even where the repentance of 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.599 the offending party is conspicuous by its absence, 00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:40.500 meaning no one's asked you to forgive them, and 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:42.939 maybe you forgive them and they don't even know 00:02:42.939 --> 00:02:46.340 that you've forgiven them. On the other hand, 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:48.759 their God -centered passion for justice, their 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:51.919 concern for God's glory, ensure that the awful 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:56.550 odium of sin is not glossed over. You see, forgiveness 00:02:56.550 --> 00:02:59.389 is not simply taking what someone has done against 00:02:59.389 --> 00:03:03.509 us and sweeping it under the rug. We serve a 00:03:03.509 --> 00:03:09.349 holy God. We serve a just God. And we know that 00:03:09.349 --> 00:03:16.870 sin does not go unpunished. In fact, it's the 00:03:16.870 --> 00:03:20.569 reason why Jesus, God himself, came to this earth, 00:03:20.710 --> 00:03:25.080 became a man. And was crucified on the cross 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:31.500 because sin cannot go unpunished. And we're going 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:35.599 to look to Jesus this morning as we understand 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:40.139 that forgiveness sets us free. Now, it's interesting 00:03:40.139 --> 00:03:42.319 because you might say from last week, you might 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:45.520 say, well, you know, it says, well, if you rebuke 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:47.340 your brother or your sister and they repent, 00:03:47.659 --> 00:03:53.819 then forgive them. Does that mean that we only 00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:56.560 forgive if someone repents? Well, it's interesting 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:58.939 from the context of that passage. It says that 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:02.939 even if they repent seven times because you continually 00:04:02.939 --> 00:04:07.460 tell them how they've sinned against you and 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:10.199 they repent, but then they do it again. And then 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:12.020 you confront them and they repent and then they 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:14.159 do it again and you confront them and they repent. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:16.800 Seven times a day, every day, you're still supposed 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:21.250 to forgive them. But you might think, well, what 00:04:21.250 --> 00:04:23.230 if that person is not a believer? Well, here 00:04:23.230 --> 00:04:26.149 in Hebrews 12, 14 through 15, it says, make every 00:04:26.149 --> 00:04:29.730 effort to live in peace with everyone. Not just 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:32.930 some people, not just the people who repent, 00:04:33.589 --> 00:04:36.810 not just the people who are believers, but actually 00:04:36.810 --> 00:04:39.649 with everyone and to be holy. Because without 00:04:39.649 --> 00:04:43.129 holiness, no one will see the Lord. See to it 00:04:43.129 --> 00:04:45.689 that no one falls short of the grace of God and 00:04:45.689 --> 00:04:54.720 that no bitter root grows up. You see, we're 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:57.079 supposed to make every effort to live in peace 00:04:57.079 --> 00:05:03.439 with everyone. Now, in each one of our hearts, 00:05:03.459 --> 00:05:05.639 I want to tell you that you might have a facility 00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:10.279 that you didn't know that you have. And it's 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:13.180 not a facility that God made, but it's actually 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:18.089 a facility in your heart that comes because We 00:05:18.089 --> 00:05:20.730 are, even though we are believers, we are simultaneously 00:05:20.730 --> 00:05:26.730 saint and sinner. Meaning that when you trusted 00:05:26.730 --> 00:05:30.910 Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you still 00:05:30.910 --> 00:05:34.149 struggle with sin. Sure, God took some sin and 00:05:34.149 --> 00:05:35.290 he just said, you know what, I'm going to wipe 00:05:35.290 --> 00:05:36.629 that out and you don't have to struggle with 00:05:36.629 --> 00:05:38.569 that anymore. But there are sins that all of 00:05:38.569 --> 00:05:40.470 us still struggle with. We are simultaneously 00:05:40.470 --> 00:05:44.990 saint and sinner. And we have this jail cell 00:05:44.990 --> 00:05:48.220 that is within our hearts. that we lock people 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:51.860 up in. I can remember when I was a kid seeing 00:05:51.860 --> 00:05:54.759 old movies because I'm old. All right, I'm going 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:57.680 to be 57 in three weeks. And I can remember like 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:01.639 50 years ago watching movies. Believe it or not, 00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:04.079 television wasn't even in color in my house. 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:06.360 So I was watching black and white. But I remember 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:08.980 watching movies and watching television shows 00:06:08.980 --> 00:06:12.759 where the town drunk or someone that did something 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:16.779 wrong would get locked up in a jail cell. And 00:06:16.779 --> 00:06:19.040 they would be locked up in this old movie, and 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:20.560 they'd be locked up in the jail cell, and they'd 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.360 have maybe their cup in their tin cup where they 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:25.740 would drink water out of, and they'd be clanging 00:06:25.740 --> 00:06:29.839 it on the bars, just making an awful noise, just 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.279 causing disruption to the point where the jailer's 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:35.600 just going, and you can just see the frustration 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:39.889 on the jailer's face. You see, the problem is 00:06:39.889 --> 00:06:42.250 that when we lock people up within our hearts 00:06:42.250 --> 00:06:45.410 because we choose not to forgive them, we choose 00:06:45.410 --> 00:06:47.750 not to release them, what happens is they're 00:06:47.750 --> 00:06:51.449 right in there clanging on the bars, waking us 00:06:51.449 --> 00:06:54.550 up at night, making us think over and over again 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:56.750 about what that person said or what that person 00:06:56.750 --> 00:07:00.490 did, and they may not even know that we have 00:07:00.490 --> 00:07:05.810 them within the jail cells of our hearts. So 00:07:05.810 --> 00:07:07.750 who's really getting punished here? Who's really 00:07:07.750 --> 00:07:12.980 locked? up. You see, the truth is, here's the 00:07:12.980 --> 00:07:15.759 truth of the bondage of bitterness, that when 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:19.959 you lock them up, it actually chains you down. 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:25.660 It chains me down. Now, I got to give credit 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:27.740 where credit's due. There was a person who helped 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:30.860 me create this cartoon -like image, and her name 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:36.100 is A. Her last name is I. And it's kind of amazing. 00:07:40.440 --> 00:07:45.779 this image that she created. But it brings us 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:49.040 to this next passage before we get into our main 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:50.860 passage, because you still may say, you know, 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:54.920 I don't know if I should forgive everyone. What 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:56.579 if that person doesn't repent? I don't think 00:07:56.579 --> 00:07:58.240 I should forgive them. What if that person's 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:00.160 not a Christian? I don't think I should forgive 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:04.139 them. But in Mark 11, 25, Jesus said, he said, 00:08:04.180 --> 00:08:07.370 when you stand praying, or when you kneel praying, 00:08:07.569 --> 00:08:10.290 or when you're praying, if you hold anything 00:08:10.290 --> 00:08:14.970 against anyone, forgive them so that your Father 00:08:14.970 --> 00:08:18.730 in heaven may forgive your sins. Now, what does 00:08:18.730 --> 00:08:20.410 it mean to be praying? Well, it means in your 00:08:20.410 --> 00:08:23.629 relationship with God, as you're talking with 00:08:23.629 --> 00:08:25.850 God, realize that the reason why you're able 00:08:25.850 --> 00:08:28.430 to talk with God is because of who you are in 00:08:28.430 --> 00:08:32.419 Christ, that you are a sinner. who was saved 00:08:32.419 --> 00:08:35.259 by grace, that I am a sinner who was saved by 00:08:35.259 --> 00:08:37.720 grace, that while we were still enemies, that 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:41.279 Christ died for us. So when we're having this 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:43.700 relationship with God in which we have the privilege 00:08:43.700 --> 00:08:46.860 to talk to God, the God and creator of the universe, 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:52.340 if we hold anything against anyone, whether they're 00:08:52.340 --> 00:08:54.120 Christian or whether they're non -Christian, 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.039 whether they've repented or whether they haven't 00:08:56.039 --> 00:09:00.370 repented, we are to do what? Let's say it out 00:09:00.370 --> 00:09:04.230 loud. What are we to do? Forgive them. So that 00:09:04.230 --> 00:09:06.710 your Father in heaven may forgive your sins. 00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:10.649 And you think, well, is that conditional? The 00:09:10.649 --> 00:09:12.769 point isn't that every time you forgive them, 00:09:12.809 --> 00:09:14.750 then God forgives you. It's not a conditional 00:09:14.750 --> 00:09:18.289 forgiveness. It's unconditional. But what it 00:09:18.289 --> 00:09:22.429 means is, is that you actually understand that 00:09:22.429 --> 00:09:25.070 your Father in heaven has forgiven your sins 00:09:25.070 --> 00:09:29.259 and therefore... You can forgive others, but 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:32.519 it also is understanding that God has a heart 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:34.860 for every single one of his children and he doesn't 00:09:34.860 --> 00:09:38.480 want us to be tormented by actually locking ourselves 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:41.259 up in our own jail cell because we can't stop 00:09:41.259 --> 00:09:43.820 thinking about the person who's offended us. 00:09:45.580 --> 00:09:48.159 In fact, in 1 Peter 4, 8, it says, above all, 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:50.899 love each other deeply because love covers over 00:09:50.899 --> 00:09:52.960 a multitude of sins. There are a lot of things 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:57.009 that people have said to you. A hurtful comment 00:09:57.009 --> 00:10:03.049 here. A sharp, biting comment there. And maybe 00:10:03.049 --> 00:10:05.610 you find yourself, you know, going, well, you 00:10:05.610 --> 00:10:07.490 know, usually this person doesn't say stuff like 00:10:07.490 --> 00:10:09.490 that, but they said this to me, and boy, I just, 00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:13.230 you know, it just keeps bouncing around in my 00:10:13.230 --> 00:10:19.289 mind. Think about this verse. Love covers over 00:10:19.289 --> 00:10:22.539 a multitude of sins. We don't need to be people 00:10:22.539 --> 00:10:25.320 who every time someone does anything to us that 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:27.399 we have to confront them and rebuke them. That's 00:10:27.399 --> 00:10:30.139 not what the Scripture teaches. But there are 00:10:30.139 --> 00:10:33.779 times when we can just forgive someone and say, 00:10:33.820 --> 00:10:35.899 you know what, that's not usually their behavior. 00:10:36.519 --> 00:10:39.360 They don't usually make sarcastic comments to 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.059 me that hurt my feelings, and I'm just going 00:10:41.059 --> 00:10:45.519 to forgive them. But there are times when someone 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:47.820 maybe is making a sarcastic comment towards you 00:10:47.820 --> 00:10:50.299 over and over and over again. Maybe it's a person 00:10:50.299 --> 00:10:53.919 you're married to. And you need to talk with 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:55.639 them because you're having a hard time forgiving 00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:58.500 them. And out of love for them and out of love 00:10:58.500 --> 00:11:01.120 for yourself, that relationship needs to be restored. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:02.820 Or maybe it's someone in the church. Or maybe 00:11:02.820 --> 00:11:07.700 it's a co -worker. Maybe it's even someone who 00:11:07.700 --> 00:11:10.460 doesn't even know Christ. But they have no idea 00:11:10.460 --> 00:11:13.360 how they're affecting others. in the office or 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:18.200 how they're affecting others at the school. So 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:21.820 let me say what forgiveness is not before we 00:11:21.820 --> 00:11:23.620 look at what forgiveness is. And then before 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:25.299 we look at the main passage we're going to be 00:11:25.299 --> 00:11:27.460 looking at, which is in Romans 12, as we talk 00:11:27.460 --> 00:11:29.940 about being set free from the bondage of bitterness. 00:11:31.539 --> 00:11:34.139 Forgiveness is not condoning the offender's behavior. 00:11:34.580 --> 00:11:36.820 Remember, we've just sang a bunch of songs about 00:11:36.820 --> 00:11:41.080 God's holiness. God is a holy and a just God. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:45.460 And so When we forgive, we're not condoning the 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:49.679 offender's behavior. Whether it's something small 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:55.820 or whether it's a very serious offense. Let me 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:58.480 tell you what also forgiveness is not. Forgiveness 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:05.179 is not continuing in an abusive situation. God 00:12:05.179 --> 00:12:09.830 calls us to forgive anyone and everyone. But 00:12:09.830 --> 00:12:11.730 it doesn't mean that we need to remain in an 00:12:11.730 --> 00:12:15.950 abusive situation. You know, the truth is is 00:12:15.950 --> 00:12:19.909 that God's word speaks against abusive situations. 00:12:19.990 --> 00:12:24.590 Let's, for instance, take marriage. What happens 00:12:24.590 --> 00:12:32.549 when a wife is abused by her husband? Her husband 00:12:32.549 --> 00:12:37.879 abuses his wife. I can remember Early on in my 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:39.960 ministry, and I served as a senior pastor, as 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:43.820 a lead pastor for 20 years before becoming a 00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:46.779 missionary with Nexus International and focusing 00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:48.980 on making disciple -making youth ministries. 00:12:51.059 --> 00:12:54.059 In my early years, there was a woman who came 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:57.539 to me. She was in her late 30s. Her husband was 00:12:57.539 --> 00:13:01.659 in his early 40s. He was 41. She said, my husband 00:13:01.659 --> 00:13:07.090 is hitting me. He's abusing me. And he's also 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:10.669 calling me all kinds of names. And I feel about 00:13:10.669 --> 00:13:17.870 this small. And I don't know what to do. And 00:13:17.870 --> 00:13:23.250 I said, you know, I said, God sees you. And God 00:13:23.250 --> 00:13:26.570 doesn't condone this behavior. In fact, he hates 00:13:26.570 --> 00:13:30.799 this behavior. And I shared with her a passage 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.279 from the book of Malachi where it says that God 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:36.580 hates the man who covers his garment in violence. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:44.080 What does that mean? Well, in many countries 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.600 today, they use wedding rings to symbolize that 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:48.539 a person's married. But in the Jewish culture 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:51.940 at the time, and remember Malachi is the book 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:54.960 right before the New Testament. It's the last 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:58.120 book in the Old Testament. In the Jewish times, 00:13:58.179 --> 00:14:00.519 what a man would do during the wedding ceremony 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:05.440 is he would place a garment around his bride. 00:14:06.779 --> 00:14:09.500 And that garment was to symbolize two things. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:12.720 One, provision, that he was making a promise 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:18.340 to provide for her. But the second was protection, 00:14:18.659 --> 00:14:24.379 that he was promising to protect her. And God 00:14:24.379 --> 00:14:27.679 says that when a man covers his garment in violence, 00:14:27.779 --> 00:14:34.559 that God hates that man. God hates the act of 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:37.279 a man that promises that he is going to protect 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:41.539 and provide his wife, but instead creates a situation 00:14:41.539 --> 00:14:44.580 where he covers those promises in violence and 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:48.039 abuses his wife. And by the way, it's also not 00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:50.500 okay for a wife to abuse her husband because 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:56.149 I've seen that happen too. I went and I talked 00:14:56.149 --> 00:15:00.230 with that 41 -year -old man. I won't share with 00:15:00.230 --> 00:15:03.789 you his name, but when I talked with him, I said, 00:15:03.830 --> 00:15:08.169 look, I know what you're doing to your wife because 00:15:08.169 --> 00:15:11.809 she shared it with me. And it's wrong, and here's 00:15:11.809 --> 00:15:18.049 what God's word says. And he didn't change. He 00:15:18.049 --> 00:15:19.990 claimed to know the Lord Jesus Christ, but he 00:15:19.990 --> 00:15:23.509 didn't change. He kept abusing her. He kept hitting 00:15:23.509 --> 00:15:26.389 her. He kept calling her names that he should 00:15:26.389 --> 00:15:29.029 not have even allowed come out of his mouth. 00:15:30.669 --> 00:15:35.289 So you can't tell me that God doesn't care about 00:15:35.289 --> 00:15:39.149 a man's promise to protect and provide for his 00:15:39.149 --> 00:15:47.769 wife. God does not call us to continue in abusive 00:15:47.769 --> 00:15:50.049 situations. Now sure, are there times when we 00:15:50.049 --> 00:15:52.960 do? Yes, I can give you examples in the scripture 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:57.940 where the Apostle Paul was abused, wrongly put 00:15:57.940 --> 00:16:04.200 in prison, beaten as a Roman citizen. But he 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:06.600 did say, you know, I just want to let you know 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:09.019 I'm a Roman citizen. And they're like, uh -oh, 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:12.259 we've done something wrong. There were times 00:16:12.259 --> 00:16:15.539 when Joseph was wrongly imprisoned for something 00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:22.600 that he didn't do because His boss's wife said 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:26.919 that he raped her when he did no such thing and 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.580 he was put in prison for two years. But God had 00:16:30.580 --> 00:16:32.639 plans for him. God had plans that he would become 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:40.720 second in Egypt. You see, if you find yourself 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:45.279 in an abusive situation, realize that God sympathizes 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:48.580 with you and he does not call you to... to continue 00:16:48.580 --> 00:16:51.519 in that abusive relationship, that that abuse 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:56.779 needs to either go away or that relationship 00:16:56.779 --> 00:17:00.019 needs to be dealt with. If you find yourself 00:17:00.019 --> 00:17:02.639 in that situation, maybe as a man, and you say, 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:04.640 you know what? I don't want to do this, but I 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.839 do this. Or if you find yourself in a situation 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:10.940 as a woman where you're like, this is happening 00:17:10.940 --> 00:17:16.240 to me. Or even as a man, this is happening to 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:23.839 me. There is help. In fact, you can email counseling 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:31.660 at ecb .asia. And this church has a passion for 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:33.880 helping couples. We have a marriage workshop 00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:38.920 that's coming up. But please understand that 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.180 forgiveness is not continuing in an abusive relationship, 00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:47.549 but we're always called to forgive. for our own 00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:51.509 sakes. And that doesn't mean forgetting. You 00:17:51.509 --> 00:17:54.910 see, it's not forgetting what happened and remaining 00:17:54.910 --> 00:17:58.869 silent. Some people think in the church that 00:17:58.869 --> 00:18:01.549 if someone does something wrong, that we'll just 00:18:01.549 --> 00:18:03.630 handle it in -house, but there are some things 00:18:03.630 --> 00:18:07.150 that aren't handled in -house. I know in my country, 00:18:07.170 --> 00:18:11.089 as a pastor, if I hear of abuse of a child, it's 00:18:11.089 --> 00:18:14.289 mandatory reporting, meaning I have to report 00:18:14.289 --> 00:18:18.890 it. That's the law. There are churches that you've 00:18:18.890 --> 00:18:22.609 seen throughout history that have had even their 00:18:22.609 --> 00:18:26.410 leaders abusing children. And people have just, 00:18:26.509 --> 00:18:30.930 the church has kept it silent. But that's not 00:18:30.930 --> 00:18:34.470 to happen. You see, we know in the context of 00:18:34.470 --> 00:18:36.190 the passage we're going to be looking at in Romans 00:18:36.190 --> 00:18:38.609 12, that right after Romans 12 is Romans 13, 00:18:38.769 --> 00:18:41.990 talking about governing authorities. And it says 00:18:41.990 --> 00:18:45.450 that if someone's committing a crime, that government 00:18:45.450 --> 00:18:48.619 authorities, don't bear the sword for nothing. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:54.559 They're there because of God's ordained will 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:59.420 to help keep order in society and to make sure 00:18:59.420 --> 00:19:05.039 things like this don't happen. You see, it's 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.579 not forgetting what happened and remaining silent, 00:19:07.660 --> 00:19:11.180 but it's also not turning a blind eye to justice 00:19:11.180 --> 00:19:15.660 because we serve a holy God. who is a just God, 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:18.160 who has chosen to pay for our sins through the 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:21.680 person of his Son, so that rather than seeing 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.779 our sin, he sees his perfect Son for every person 00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:28.140 who believes in him and trusts in him. But God 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:31.559 also calls us to holiness, and he calls us to 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:34.220 be transformed as we behold the glory of the 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:38.259 Lord as seen in the face of Jesus. But I can 00:19:38.259 --> 00:19:41.380 tell you that forgiveness is also not this. It's 00:19:41.380 --> 00:19:49.000 also not easy. And there is hope for not only 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.440 releasing people from the bondage of bitterness 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:56.180 in this jail cell that we've locked them up in 00:19:56.180 --> 00:20:01.519 in our hearts, but also releasing ourselves when 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:04.759 we release them and when we trust God to deal 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:06.200 with them. And we're going to be talking about 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:10.500 that. So what is forgiveness? Well, Phil shared 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:13.150 with you a definition. During the first week, 00:20:13.190 --> 00:20:15.869 and I reiterated that definition last week, but 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:18.049 forgiveness is this. Biblical forgiveness is 00:20:18.049 --> 00:20:21.269 the grace -enabled decision to release someone 00:20:21.269 --> 00:20:24.670 from my personal right to collect the debt they 00:20:24.670 --> 00:20:27.569 owe me because God, through the substitutionary 00:20:27.569 --> 00:20:30.549 suffering and payment of Jesus Christ, has released 00:20:30.549 --> 00:20:35.009 me from my debt. Why do we love? Because God 00:20:35.009 --> 00:20:37.890 first loved us. Why do we forgive? Because God 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:41.109 has forgiven us. And if we can't forgive someone 00:20:41.109 --> 00:20:45.289 else, then you have to question, do I really 00:20:45.289 --> 00:20:47.990 understand God's forgiveness of me and am I really 00:20:47.990 --> 00:20:51.349 trusting in him? Do I really see my own sin? 00:20:52.170 --> 00:20:54.490 And do I see that while I was still an enemy, 00:20:54.630 --> 00:20:58.609 that Christ died for me? You see, forgiveness 00:20:58.609 --> 00:21:01.990 gives us both the emotional humility and the 00:21:01.990 --> 00:21:05.509 emotional wealth to rise above the bitterness 00:21:05.509 --> 00:21:09.710 that so easily entangles us. and weighs us down 00:21:09.710 --> 00:21:12.349 by providing us power to overcome the revenge 00:21:12.349 --> 00:21:17.710 culture that plagues our fallen world. You know, 00:21:17.730 --> 00:21:20.710 there was a code a long time ago called Hammurabi's 00:21:20.710 --> 00:21:24.170 Code. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, 00:21:24.289 --> 00:21:30.970 and that's how many people operated. And yet, 00:21:31.049 --> 00:21:33.109 there was a very famous person by the name of 00:21:33.109 --> 00:21:35.170 Gandhi who said, an eye for an eye and the whole 00:21:35.170 --> 00:21:41.779 world goes blind. And whether you're a Christian 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:46.420 or not, you can see that revenge and an eye for 00:21:46.420 --> 00:21:55.079 an eye is not ever helpful. Because it's a culture, 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.640 this revenge culture that plagues our fallen 00:21:57.640 --> 00:22:00.200 world. And so God calls us to forgive. And when 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:03.059 we forgive, it gives us both emotional humility 00:22:03.059 --> 00:22:06.460 and it gives us emotional wealth. It gives us 00:22:06.460 --> 00:22:08.759 emotional humility in the sense that we realize 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:11.319 that We all have sinned and fall short of the 00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:14.200 glory of God. And in fact, in the Greek, Romans 00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:17.039 3 .23 says, we all have sinned and keep on falling 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:20.900 short of the glory of God. And in chapter 6, 00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:23.039 for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:25.579 of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. And what 00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:28.720 we see is that we are simultaneously saint and 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:32.180 sinner. Paul said, what I want to do, I don't 00:22:32.180 --> 00:22:35.420 do. And what I don't want to do, I do. He called 00:22:35.420 --> 00:22:38.779 himself the chief of sinners. And if Paul calls 00:22:38.779 --> 00:22:42.119 himself the chief of sinners, can't we have the 00:22:42.119 --> 00:22:45.400 emotional humility to see how much God has forgiven 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:49.319 us so that we can forgive others? That doesn't 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:52.740 mean there isn't going to be consequences. When 00:22:52.740 --> 00:22:55.740 it's a serious sin, there needs to be consequences. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:00.200 But forgiveness gives us emotional humility, 00:23:00.299 --> 00:23:03.099 but it also gives us emotional wealth. Now let 00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:05.779 me explain that because when I realize who I 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:07.900 am in Christ and when you realize who you are 00:23:07.900 --> 00:23:11.880 in Christ, it gives incredible emotional wealth 00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:15.980 because it empowers us to forgive by helping 00:23:15.980 --> 00:23:18.779 us to understand that we are completely known 00:23:18.779 --> 00:23:24.599 by God. In fact, God knows every thought that 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:26.700 you think through your head. Every thought you've 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:29.059 ever thought, every thought you think now, and 00:23:29.059 --> 00:23:30.779 every thought you're going to think in the future, 00:23:30.859 --> 00:23:33.079 God knows every thought and he knows everything 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:35.680 you do. He sees everything you do. Every time 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:40.519 you've sinned against God, every time you've 00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:44.259 cheated and thought that no one else saw, every 00:23:44.259 --> 00:23:46.680 time you've been dishonest and you think, well, 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:50.660 I don't think anyone will figure it out, God 00:23:50.660 --> 00:23:54.750 saw it. And God knows. Every time you've gossiped 00:23:54.750 --> 00:24:01.369 about someone, God knows. We are completely known. 00:24:01.950 --> 00:24:04.990 He knows our fears. He knows our anxieties. He 00:24:04.990 --> 00:24:09.309 knows everything about us. We are completely 00:24:09.309 --> 00:24:15.609 known. But we are also, in Christ, fully loved. 00:24:17.750 --> 00:24:25.579 You see, that's real. That's real love. Because 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:27.859 if we were not completely known, but we were 00:24:27.859 --> 00:24:29.779 fully loved by God, that would just be superficial. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:34.319 Or if we were completely known by God, but we 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.180 weren't fully loved, that would be the scariest 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:41.420 thing on earth. But because we're completely 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:46.160 known and fully loved, it means that God has 00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:48.619 forgiven us in the person of Jesus Christ to 00:24:48.619 --> 00:24:51.299 the point where if we really understand that 00:24:51.299 --> 00:24:55.519 and we have that kind of emotional wealth, that 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:59.859 we can forgive others. Now, forgiveness sets 00:24:59.859 --> 00:25:04.140 you free. That sounds a lot like something else. 00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:08.859 It sounds like Red Bull gives you wings. And 00:25:08.859 --> 00:25:11.420 so I asked my friend A, create for me an image, 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:13.240 and I told her what image I'd like her to create, 00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:17.319 and she created this. Forgiveness gives you wings. 00:25:19.309 --> 00:25:22.609 Red Bull, to rise above revenge. Actually, red 00:25:22.609 --> 00:25:26.930 blood of Jesus Christ gives us forgiveness that 00:25:26.930 --> 00:25:30.650 allows us to forgive. And when we forgive, it 00:25:30.650 --> 00:25:37.569 gives us wings to rise above revenge. Now, in 00:25:37.569 --> 00:25:39.529 today's message, we're going to be focusing on 00:25:39.529 --> 00:25:43.269 Romans 12, verses 17 through 21. And God is actually 00:25:43.269 --> 00:25:46.369 going to teach us. In this passage, how to rise 00:25:46.369 --> 00:25:49.529 above revenge and be set free from the bondage 00:25:49.529 --> 00:25:53.569 of bitterness. As we forgive those who have sinned 00:25:53.569 --> 00:25:56.170 against us by learning how to transfer our offenders 00:25:56.170 --> 00:25:58.589 from our system of justice to God's system of 00:25:58.589 --> 00:26:03.430 justice in Jesus. You see, you may think that 00:26:03.430 --> 00:26:05.230 there's no other option, that that person has 00:26:05.230 --> 00:26:07.650 to get locked up within that jail cell of your 00:26:07.650 --> 00:26:11.150 heart. And so you are on call and on duty 24 00:26:11.150 --> 00:26:15.579 hours a day. Seven days a week, 365 days a year, 00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:17.619 because if you don't take care of them, then 00:26:17.619 --> 00:26:20.339 who is going to take care of them? If you don't 00:26:20.339 --> 00:26:22.460 keep them locked up, who is going to keep them 00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:26.680 locked up? But when we understand that we can 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:29.519 transfer a person from our system of justice, 00:26:29.740 --> 00:26:32.119 from the jail cell within our hearts, and transfer 00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:35.700 them to God's system of justice, it actually 00:26:35.700 --> 00:26:42.000 gives us the power to forgive. Because we understand 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:44.039 that we're transferring them to the system of 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:50.079 justice of a holy and perfect, just God. And 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:51.940 by understanding the principle that we're going 00:26:51.940 --> 00:26:53.920 to be looking at in this particular passage, 00:26:54.019 --> 00:26:58.539 we are going to be empowered to forgive in ways 00:26:58.539 --> 00:27:00.799 that maybe we haven't been able to forgive in 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:04.680 the past. So how can forgiveness set us free 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:09.559 from the bondage of bitterness? Well, number 00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:16.059 one, Never return evil for evil. We're going 00:27:16.059 --> 00:27:20.539 to see that in this passage that if we are simultaneously 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:23.420 saint and sinner, that we can never return evil 00:27:23.420 --> 00:27:25.700 for evil. But you know who doesn't ever return 00:27:25.700 --> 00:27:30.859 evil for evil? God. You see, the truth is, is 00:27:30.859 --> 00:27:33.819 as a person who is simultaneously saint and sinner, 00:27:33.900 --> 00:27:35.660 many times I do return evil for evil. I'll be 00:27:35.660 --> 00:27:37.880 honest with you. Someone gossips against me, 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:40.720 I'm going to make sure I gossip against them. 00:27:42.410 --> 00:27:45.710 Someone hurts me, I'm going to hurt someone worse. 00:27:48.809 --> 00:27:51.609 And what God says to me is, Craig, that's not 00:27:51.609 --> 00:27:56.190 right. That's not what followers of Jesus do. 00:27:56.690 --> 00:27:59.430 Because followers of Jesus never return evil 00:27:59.430 --> 00:28:01.930 for evil, even though oftentimes they do. So 00:28:01.930 --> 00:28:07.329 I can't, I can't not return evil for evil. Because 00:28:07.329 --> 00:28:09.970 there's still part of me that, like Paul said, 00:28:10.460 --> 00:28:14.319 wants to do right but does wrong. And the wrong 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:18.500 that I don't want to do, I wind up doing. And 00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:20.500 I think probably you feel the same way and you 00:28:20.500 --> 00:28:22.400 look and say, how in the world could I never 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:27.140 return evil for evil? You know, the passage says 00:28:27.140 --> 00:28:30.559 in Romans 12, 17, do not repay anyone evil for 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:34.380 evil. This isn't rocket science. The scriptures 00:28:34.380 --> 00:28:37.440 say that when Jesus was on the cross, they cast 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:39.960 insults on him, but when they reviled him and 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:44.019 cast insults on him, he did not return insults. 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:48.359 When they did evil to Jesus by crucifying the 00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:52.279 creator of this world, who did nothing but love 00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:57.140 people, who did nothing but heal people, who 00:28:57.140 --> 00:29:02.519 did nothing but say yes to God and no to sin, 00:29:08.450 --> 00:29:12.450 Jesus never repaid evil for evil. He could have 00:29:12.450 --> 00:29:14.329 come off that cross and he could have destroyed 00:29:14.329 --> 00:29:16.869 the whole world and it wouldn't have been evil. 00:29:18.170 --> 00:29:20.730 Because in his justice, he could have done that. 00:29:20.789 --> 00:29:23.089 But he actually chose, even in his justice, to 00:29:23.089 --> 00:29:28.630 pay for our sins by inwardly absorbing our sin 00:29:28.630 --> 00:29:31.289 into himself and upon himself when he was being 00:29:31.289 --> 00:29:37.190 crucified on the cross. Number two, always do 00:29:37.190 --> 00:29:42.559 what is right. You think, always do what is right. 00:29:42.619 --> 00:29:44.460 That seems impossible. And yet the scripture 00:29:44.460 --> 00:29:47.440 tells us and Paul teaches us, be careful to do 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:52.660 what is right in the eyes of everyone. Do you 00:29:52.660 --> 00:29:55.059 realize that not only God is always watching, 00:29:55.160 --> 00:29:59.920 but did you know that someone else is always 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:03.140 watching you? Do you know that there are cameras 00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:08.900 all over this world? And they're always watching 00:30:08.900 --> 00:30:12.420 you. And I don't think we even recognize that. 00:30:13.019 --> 00:30:15.160 I'll give you an example. I lost my phone here 00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:18.079 in Thailand. And I knew where I lost it. And 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:20.640 I went to the police department and I said, yeah, 00:30:20.660 --> 00:30:24.160 I lost my phone here. And they actually pulled 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:28.380 up on the screen the time that I lost it, the 00:30:28.380 --> 00:30:30.339 place that I lost it. I had no idea there were 00:30:30.339 --> 00:30:33.500 cameras. And all of a sudden they go, yep, that's 00:30:33.500 --> 00:30:35.140 your phone. You lost it because you put it on 00:30:35.140 --> 00:30:37.319 your motorbike seat and it fell off when you 00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:40.240 got on your motorbike. And then someone came 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:42.259 along and they picked it up and here's their 00:30:42.259 --> 00:30:45.500 license plate number. And the Thai police called 00:30:45.500 --> 00:30:49.440 that person and got my phone back. That's how 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:53.720 amazing the Thai police are. But it just goes 00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:59.099 to show you, you're being watched. And thank 00:30:59.099 --> 00:31:04.779 God Thailand uses that for good. But I want to 00:31:04.779 --> 00:31:07.119 tell you that others are watching you as well. 00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:10.720 Your children are watching you. Your parents 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:14.039 are watching you. Your non -believing friends 00:31:14.039 --> 00:31:17.140 are watching you. Those who are younger in the 00:31:17.140 --> 00:31:20.940 faith are watching you. We need to be careful 00:31:20.940 --> 00:31:23.220 to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:27.259 Because Jesus said, they will know you are my 00:31:27.259 --> 00:31:30.119 disciples if you what? If you love one another. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:37.119 And when we have an unforgiving spirit, it's 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:39.990 very evident. When we come into contact with 00:31:39.990 --> 00:31:43.549 that person, we might find ourselves not being 00:31:43.549 --> 00:31:45.589 able to engage in what we're supposed to be engaged 00:31:45.589 --> 00:31:47.650 with because we're always thinking about someone 00:31:47.650 --> 00:31:50.890 who hurt us or something that happened to us. 00:31:52.769 --> 00:31:54.829 But we need to be careful to do what is right 00:31:54.829 --> 00:31:58.089 in the eyes of everyone. And yet we don't, but 00:31:58.089 --> 00:32:01.450 there's one who did. Jesus always said yes to 00:32:01.450 --> 00:32:06.240 God and always said no to sin. And he did that 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:09.000 because oftentimes we say no to God and say yes 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:15.000 to sin. Jesus died for not just the sins that 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:17.019 we committed in the past, but the sins that you 00:32:17.019 --> 00:32:18.779 will commit today and the sins that you will 00:32:18.779 --> 00:32:21.480 commit in the future. Not because you want to 00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:25.279 commit those sins, but because Jesus had to die 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:28.339 for every single one of our sins in order for 00:32:28.339 --> 00:32:32.059 us to be saved. Now, number three, live at peace 00:32:32.059 --> 00:32:35.380 with everyone. It's interesting, we already looked 00:32:35.380 --> 00:32:38.099 at Hebrews 12, 14 and 15 that says make every 00:32:38.099 --> 00:32:42.299 effort to live in peace with everyone. So this 00:32:42.299 --> 00:32:45.200 isn't the only time that this is said. In fact, 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.059 it's said many times throughout the scriptures 00:32:47.059 --> 00:32:51.319 and we think about peace and we think about Romans 00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:54.220 12, 18 that says if it is possible, as far as 00:32:54.220 --> 00:32:56.119 it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 00:32:56.259 --> 00:32:58.440 Now we know that sometimes that's not possible 00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:01.880 because a person absolutely refuses to live at 00:33:01.880 --> 00:33:06.990 peace with us. And yet, the scripture teaches 00:33:06.990 --> 00:33:10.450 us, if it is possible, in your context, in your 00:33:10.450 --> 00:33:14.369 situation, as far as it depends on you, live 00:33:14.369 --> 00:33:20.670 at peace with everyone. That's a tall order. 00:33:22.170 --> 00:33:28.250 And yet, who is the prince of peace? It's Jesus 00:33:28.250 --> 00:33:32.549 Christ. And he came to this world and did what 00:33:32.549 --> 00:33:34.549 he did. He lived a perfect life that you and 00:33:34.549 --> 00:33:38.490 I could never live in order to give us his righteousness, 00:33:38.650 --> 00:33:40.670 in order to every time he said yes to God and 00:33:40.670 --> 00:33:43.450 no to sin, to give that righteousness to us and 00:33:43.450 --> 00:33:47.109 put that righteousness upon us for every person 00:33:47.109 --> 00:33:54.410 who trusts in him. But he came to die for our 00:33:54.410 --> 00:33:56.589 sins so that we could actually be at peace with 00:33:56.589 --> 00:34:01.779 God. And so if he has enabled us to be at peace 00:34:01.779 --> 00:34:04.259 with God because of what Christ did, then I'd 00:34:04.259 --> 00:34:07.480 read this passage and say if it is possible, 00:34:07.579 --> 00:34:09.659 as far as it depends on you, live at peace with 00:34:09.659 --> 00:34:13.659 everyone. When we see what Jesus has done for 00:34:13.659 --> 00:34:16.519 us so that we can be at peace with God, is there 00:34:16.519 --> 00:34:21.159 anyone that we ourselves cannot be at peace with 00:34:21.159 --> 00:34:25.420 as far as it depends on us? But what if they're 00:34:25.420 --> 00:34:27.019 our enemy? What if they're doing things that 00:34:27.019 --> 00:34:31.070 are constantly hurting us? Well, while we were 00:34:31.070 --> 00:34:37.250 still enemies, Christ died for us. Maybe in God's 00:34:37.250 --> 00:34:40.309 sovereignty, he wants us to love our enemies 00:34:40.309 --> 00:34:43.909 and pray for those who persecute us because they 00:34:43.909 --> 00:34:47.110 will see our love and see the peace that we have 00:34:47.110 --> 00:34:49.090 with God that we've extended to them and that 00:34:49.090 --> 00:34:51.929 God will somehow open their eyes to the beauty 00:34:51.929 --> 00:34:57.010 of Jesus and they'll be transformed. Number four, 00:34:57.070 --> 00:35:01.519 never avenge yourself. We don't have the right 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:04.659 to avenge anyone because we ourselves are sinners. 00:35:04.780 --> 00:35:07.340 And if we think we have the right to avenge someone, 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:09.460 it's because we think that somehow we're not 00:35:09.460 --> 00:35:13.659 as bad as they are. But in Romans 12, 19 through 00:35:13.659 --> 00:35:16.139 20, it says, Do not take revenge, my friends, 00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:18.380 but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, 00:35:18.460 --> 00:35:21.559 it is mine to avenge. I will repay, says the 00:35:21.559 --> 00:35:26.639 Lord. It's interesting because when we look at 00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:29.000 this passage, do not take revenge, my friends, 00:35:29.099 --> 00:35:31.840 but leave room for God's wrath. If God avenges, 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:35.300 he has every right to avenge because he is a 00:35:35.300 --> 00:35:39.219 holy and a just God and he is without sin. We 00:35:39.219 --> 00:35:42.699 don't have any right to avenge. But here's what's 00:35:42.699 --> 00:35:46.239 so beautiful that sets us free. When we understand 00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:49.699 God's system of justice that I don't have the 00:35:49.699 --> 00:35:51.840 right to lock people up within the jail cell 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:54.429 of my heart. But when I transfer that person 00:35:54.429 --> 00:35:57.550 from my system of justice to a holy God and a 00:35:57.550 --> 00:36:03.849 just God who he has the right to avenge, then 00:36:03.849 --> 00:36:05.710 all of a sudden that makes forgiveness a little 00:36:05.710 --> 00:36:07.849 bit easier because I realize that I don't have 00:36:07.849 --> 00:36:12.670 to keep that person under my watch 24 hours a 00:36:12.670 --> 00:36:18.179 day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Instead, 00:36:18.179 --> 00:36:20.420 I can say, you know what, God? You're a holy, 00:36:20.519 --> 00:36:22.760 you're a just God. You know far better than me. 00:36:22.940 --> 00:36:25.780 And so I'm going to transfer and I'm going to 00:36:25.780 --> 00:36:27.440 take them out of my jail and I'm going to put 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:32.559 them in Jesus' jail. But you know what I'm going 00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:36.039 to do? I'm actually going to pray. I'm going 00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:37.940 to love my enemies and I'm going to pray for 00:36:37.940 --> 00:36:41.139 those who persecute me so that they might come 00:36:41.139 --> 00:36:43.539 to know the same forgiveness in Christ and the 00:36:43.539 --> 00:36:45.860 same transformation in Christ that I've experienced 00:36:45.860 --> 00:36:50.179 in my own life. That's what God calls us to do. 00:36:50.840 --> 00:36:54.460 But if they don't, you don't have to worry because 00:36:54.460 --> 00:36:57.219 God is a holy and just God and if they don't 00:36:57.219 --> 00:36:59.639 allow Jesus to pay for their sins and to transform 00:36:59.639 --> 00:37:04.079 their lives, then guess what? God will avenge 00:37:04.079 --> 00:37:09.380 you. Leave room for God's wrath. Because if you 00:37:09.380 --> 00:37:11.639 try to exercise wrath, we learned last week, 00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:13.219 what's it gonna do? Like a wreath, it's gonna 00:37:13.219 --> 00:37:16.760 twist you. Like a wraith, it's gonna haunt you. 00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:21.099 And they're not the ones who are gonna be punished. 00:37:21.199 --> 00:37:23.820 It's actually gonna be you because of your own 00:37:23.820 --> 00:37:29.400 sin of unforgiveness. But when we forgive, it 00:37:29.400 --> 00:37:32.980 sets us free. It gives us wings to love our enemies 00:37:32.980 --> 00:37:37.400 and to pray for those who persecute us. And then 00:37:37.400 --> 00:37:42.360 there's the final command that God gives us through 00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:45.380 the Apostle Paul in Romans 12, 21, overcome evil 00:37:45.380 --> 00:37:49.179 with good. And we think, isn't that what Jesus 00:37:49.179 --> 00:37:52.159 did on the cross? Didn't he overcome evil with 00:37:52.159 --> 00:37:58.659 good? It says, do not be overcome by evil, but 00:37:58.659 --> 00:38:04.719 overcome evil with good. How do we do good? Well, 00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:06.659 in the verse right before that, you saw up on 00:38:06.659 --> 00:38:09.340 the screen, verse 20, it says, on the contrary, 00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:11.360 if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And if he's 00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:13.659 thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing 00:38:13.659 --> 00:38:15.599 this, you'll heap burning coals on his head. 00:38:18.340 --> 00:38:19.960 I don't know if you've ever experienced this 00:38:19.960 --> 00:38:21.800 before, but I've had people just be nasty to 00:38:21.800 --> 00:38:26.639 me. Even some Christians being nasty to me. I 00:38:26.639 --> 00:38:29.599 mean, where all of a sudden I'm just being peaceful 00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:33.059 and they're just coming at me. Maybe it's over 00:38:33.059 --> 00:38:38.380 the discussion of the Bible. And I just go, you 00:38:38.380 --> 00:38:42.420 know what? Jesus doesn't want me to insult someone 00:38:42.420 --> 00:38:45.260 even if they're insulting me. In fact, he's called 00:38:45.260 --> 00:38:46.800 me to the opposite. And you know what happens 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:51.480 every single time? If I keep my calm and I'm 00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:55.219 respectful towards them, every single time, for 00:38:55.219 --> 00:38:57.199 some reason, one day later, two days later, they 00:38:57.199 --> 00:38:58.840 come back and say, you know, I'm so sorry. I 00:38:58.840 --> 00:39:04.750 was so disrespectful to you. But every single 00:39:04.750 --> 00:39:06.690 time that when they've shoved me, I've shoved 00:39:06.690 --> 00:39:09.909 them, or when they've been insulting to me, I've 00:39:09.909 --> 00:39:12.710 insulted them. Every single time, guess what? 00:39:12.769 --> 00:39:14.829 I'm the one that has to go back to them and say, 00:39:14.889 --> 00:39:20.630 I'm so sorry. I reacted in an unholy and ungodly 00:39:20.630 --> 00:39:23.630 way and I should have been loving and kind and 00:39:23.630 --> 00:39:25.630 I should have been peaceful and patient and gentle 00:39:25.630 --> 00:39:32.170 rather than being harsh and I'm sorry. And sometimes, 00:39:32.860 --> 00:39:34.500 they look at you and they just say, well, yeah, 00:39:34.500 --> 00:39:39.119 you should be sorry. And you're just like, okay. 00:39:41.059 --> 00:39:44.340 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil 00:39:44.340 --> 00:39:46.280 with good. And that's what Jesus did on the cross. 00:39:49.219 --> 00:39:53.980 He died on the cross for our sins. He lived a 00:39:53.980 --> 00:39:58.000 perfect life for our righteousness. So that... 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:01.559 When God looks at us, rather than seeing our 00:40:01.559 --> 00:40:06.539 sin, he sees his perfect son. You see, forgiveness 00:40:06.539 --> 00:40:08.519 can set us free from the bondage of bitterness 00:40:08.519 --> 00:40:10.440 when we transfer those who have sinned against 00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:12.960 us from our system of justice to God's system 00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:15.159 of justice. When we realize that God is a holy 00:40:15.159 --> 00:40:17.519 and just God, and you know what? He will take 00:40:17.519 --> 00:40:22.659 care of unrepentant people. He will take care 00:40:22.659 --> 00:40:26.380 of people who we look at and say, how can I forgive 00:40:26.380 --> 00:40:31.000 those people? And when we see and we think about 00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:32.960 that, we say, you know what, I've got to love 00:40:32.960 --> 00:40:35.340 my enemy. I have to pray for those who persecute 00:40:35.340 --> 00:40:38.960 me because I wouldn't want, I want them to experience 00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:42.739 what I've experienced, forgiveness. I don't want 00:40:42.739 --> 00:40:45.460 them to have to pay the penalty for all of their 00:40:45.460 --> 00:40:56.519 sins. Can we fast forward the slide? Let me see 00:40:56.519 --> 00:40:59.590 here. Did it go backward? Okay. You see, that's 00:40:59.590 --> 00:41:01.809 the bondage of bitterness. When I lock them up, 00:41:01.829 --> 00:41:12.909 it chains me down. Again. Next slide. Therefore, 00:41:12.989 --> 00:41:15.650 I must release my offenders from the jail cell 00:41:15.650 --> 00:41:18.789 within my heart and transfer my offenders to 00:41:18.789 --> 00:41:21.909 the justice system of Jesus. And what happens 00:41:21.909 --> 00:41:24.389 when I do this? I got a final graphic for you 00:41:24.389 --> 00:41:30.760 here. Can you advance the slide? And here's the 00:41:30.760 --> 00:41:34.800 picture that I want you to see. That when we 00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:37.519 release someone from our system of justice and 00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:40.260 we transfer them to God's system of justice in 00:41:40.260 --> 00:41:42.400 Jesus, when we actually love our enemies and 00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:47.699 pray for those who persecute us, we want for 00:41:47.699 --> 00:41:52.739 them what Jesus has done for us. That they would 00:41:52.739 --> 00:41:55.059 trust in Jesus and that he would welcome them 00:41:55.059 --> 00:41:59.360 into his arms and have a relationship with him. 00:41:59.929 --> 00:42:02.510 that is so powerful that it transforms their 00:42:02.510 --> 00:42:07.010 life to the point where we can actually walk 00:42:07.010 --> 00:42:10.469 together as fellow believers, as brothers and 00:42:10.469 --> 00:42:15.289 sisters in Christ, in a way in which we can love 00:42:15.289 --> 00:42:18.650 each other in the way that Christ has loved us. 00:42:20.289 --> 00:42:23.969 You see, forgiveness doesn't mean ignoring justice. 00:42:25.630 --> 00:42:29.559 It entrusts it. to the one who can actually do 00:42:29.559 --> 00:42:34.219 it right. We are incapable of doing justice right. 00:42:36.019 --> 00:42:40.460 But God is perfectly capable with the things 00:42:40.460 --> 00:42:46.039 that we experience in our imperfections. So the 00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:48.300 forgiveness of Jesus, well, it gives us wings. 00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:54.119 It really does. It helps us to rise above revenge. 00:42:55.760 --> 00:42:58.800 The forgiveness of Jesus sets us free to love 00:42:58.800 --> 00:43:05.280 others like Jesus has loved us. Let's pray. Heavenly 00:43:05.280 --> 00:43:07.480 Father, we come before you and we thank you for 00:43:07.480 --> 00:43:11.340 loving us so intensely that you are willing to 00:43:11.340 --> 00:43:17.679 send your only begotten son to experience this 00:43:17.679 --> 00:43:23.480 world that is marred by sin. To live a perfect 00:43:23.480 --> 00:43:28.530 life. on our behalf to say yes to God every single 00:43:28.530 --> 00:43:34.349 time and say no to sin. So that he could place 00:43:34.349 --> 00:43:37.289 upon us his righteousness so that when you look 00:43:37.289 --> 00:43:39.429 at us rather than seeing our sin you see your 00:43:39.429 --> 00:43:45.269 perfect son. But he also died on the cross in 00:43:45.269 --> 00:43:48.650 order to forgive us so that all of our sins could 00:43:48.650 --> 00:43:53.469 be piled upon him. And that while we were still 00:43:53.469 --> 00:43:57.170 enemies, that Christ died for us so that we could 00:43:57.170 --> 00:44:00.630 experience the forgiveness of God and we could 00:44:00.630 --> 00:44:06.750 be set free from the penalty of our own sin by 00:44:06.750 --> 00:44:11.050 allowing God himself to pay the price for justice 00:44:11.050 --> 00:44:18.829 and to pay the price for our wrongdoing. We thank 00:44:18.829 --> 00:44:25.190 you. We thank you. for setting us free. Please 00:44:25.190 --> 00:44:30.230 help us in our hearts to set others free, knowing 00:44:30.230 --> 00:44:36.489 that you will do it right, that if they trust 00:44:36.489 --> 00:44:38.690 you, their lives can be transformed. And I pray 00:44:38.690 --> 00:44:40.210 that if there's someone here this morning that 00:44:40.210 --> 00:44:44.889 doesn't know Jesus, that they would turn to you 00:44:44.889 --> 00:44:50.159 and they would say, I want to know more. Please 00:44:50.159 --> 00:44:52.920 reveal to me who this Jesus is because I want 00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:56.579 to trust him. I want to receive him as the forgiver 00:44:56.579 --> 00:45:02.480 of my sins and the leader of my life. I pray 00:45:02.480 --> 00:45:05.179 that all of us would experience this love and 00:45:05.179 --> 00:45:09.739 this grace that only Jesus can give. And I pray 00:45:09.739 --> 00:45:14.940 that you would allow us to forgive. so that we 00:45:14.940 --> 00:45:17.659 can be set free to love others like Jesus has 00:45:17.659 --> 00:45:20.480 loved us. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:45:43.519 --> 00:45:46.320 If God is calling you to support our ministries, 00:45:46.360 --> 00:45:49.039 you will find giving options on our website. 00:45:49.840 --> 00:45:53.280 And remember to join us next week. God bless 00:45:53.280 --> 00:45:53.519 you.