Do not repay evil for evil. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. Dr. Tony Evans talks about what God expects of us when we've been wronged. Forgiveness is not pretending like it didn't happen.
Forgiveness is the decision to release a debt in spite of how you feel. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Of all the people we can choose to give to, you'd think our enemies would be at the bottom of our list. But in today's message from the archives, Dr. Evans talked about a gift we give our enemies that's actually a gift to ourselves.
Let's listen in as he explains. Romans chapter 12 starts off by the big gift to God. God says when the offering plate passes, you jump in it.
Present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your spiritual service of worship. God wants all of you. But he comes to this final message in Romans chapter 12, and he's going to talk about something that is not going to be comfortable, because now he's going to talk to us about giving to our enemies. Now the reason why this comes last in the chapter is because if you haven't first given to God, you ain't gonna do nothing for nobody who you don't like.
But yet he concludes this chapter with an extensive section that when you are properly related to him, flowing out properly related to others, you can even give the people who you are at odds with. It is in verse 14 that Jesus, through the Apostle Paul, speaks these uncomfortable words. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. This is God's Word, and he says, having given yourself to God, giving yourself properly to yourself, giving yourself to other believers, he now speaks about folk who are trying to take you out, persecuting you, up to no good on toward you.
They are working against you. He says, I want you to bless those who persecute you. Bless, I say, and do not curse.
Now, we know a lot of curse words. We know what it is to feel what goes around comes around, and you gonna get yours. But God, coming from left field, says, even though they're the ones who are wrong persecuting you, he says, I want you to bless them and not curse them, not condemn them, not call down judgment upon them.
Now, that ain't natural. That'll make you want to get up and leave church in the middle of the sermon, because that ain't real. Somebody has wounded your life. Maybe they don't even care.
Maybe it's a joke. Maybe they pretend it didn't even happen, but you are bearing the scars of that reality, and yet God is gonna come, and he's gonna come with some stuff talking about blessing. The word bless here is the Greek word for eulogy, and it means to speak kindly concerning. It is praise rather than condemnation. Now, we shouldn't be surprised that Jesus would say that, because it was Jesus who on the cross said, forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. It was Stephen in Acts 7 who was being stoned to death who said, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Forgiveness is not pretending like it didn't happen. Forgiveness is not acting like it wasn't real and that it doesn't hurt.
That's called lying. If it happened, it happened, and if it hurt, it hurt. But forgiveness is a decision of the will to no longer charge the bill. Forgiveness is the decision, watch this, to release a debt in spite of how you feel. Forgiveness does not start with a feeling. People often ask, how do I know if I've really forgiven? Simple.
You're not continually charging the account. In other words, you're not relating to them based on what they did. Now, there's a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation.
You can forgive people, but it may take a while to reconcile with them. That's different, and we'll explain that difference a little later. But right now, it is the decision of the will to release the debt occurred by the other person.
Why? Because until you release the debt, you're still carrying the charge. He says to the one persecuting you, the one who has harmed you, the one who is coming against you in an unfair way, and perhaps there are people under the sound of my voice, and you have been the perpetrator. You have created the bill. You did the damage.
You were the one who created the problem. He says, outside of what is normal for human beings to feel and think, I want you to do the exact opposite to how you feel, because you're being persecuted. You're being, you know, somebody is coming against you, and I want you to bless them. You say, well, how do I do that?
How do I do that? He's not left you guessing. He says in verse 15, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. He's telling you in verse 15 how to do verse 14. Most people quote verse 15, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
They quote that about people they like, because I don't mind rejoicing with your rejoicing if I like you, and I don't mind crying with your tears if I like you, but if you've been trying to do me in, if you've been trying to mess over me, if you've been trying to hurt me, then I'm gonna get mad if you're happy, and if you're crying, I'm gonna find another reason to get more tears, because I want to see you weep. I want to see weeping become wailing, and yet, he says to the one who has persecuted you, done right by you, I want you to be real practical. If something happens in their life that makes them happy, I want you to join them in their joy, and if something happens in their life that makes them sad, I want you to join them in their sorrow.
Now, you can't do this if you haven't done verse 1 and 2, because if you haven't given yourself to God, ain't no way you gonna give yourself to the enemy. So he comes at the end, and he says, this is a very practical thing, when the person who has wounded you has had something in their life that's positive, and you know about it, I want you to affirm that. If they've had something in their life that's negative, I want you to affirm that by joining them in their sorrow.
This is hard. That's why it's so quiet in here right now, because this ain't normal. This is not how people roll.
People want to see, people want to, you cause me pain, I'm gonna cause you pain. I ain't gonna let you get away with that. It's hard to send a note of congratulations to somebody who hadn't even told you I'm sorry. It's hard to make a phone call and say, I just heard you got that promotion, praise God, to somebody who just stole your job. It's hard to call somebody who's lost a loved one and say, I just heard your loved one died, and I just want to tell you I'm sorry when they've killed something in your life. This is not El Naturale.
This is not normal. And yet, he is speaking in this context about your enemies, about those who have harmed you in some form or fashion, and he says bless, speak kindly of, not curse, condemning of. Now again, he's not saying ignore the reality. He's not saying lie and pretend it didn't happen. He's talking about how you are treating them in spite of how they have treated you.
In fact, he goes deeper. Verse 17, never pay back evil for evil to anyone. So this is deep, uncomfortable, and if the truth be told, unfair. Because in this scenario, I've been the one messed over, not the one doing the messing. What he doesn't want you to do is seek personal retaliation. That's what he's discussing. Personal retaliation. What he's not saying is don't use legal means to deal with the problem.
You know, if somebody stole from you, chapter 13 says that the government exists to deal with wrong. So he's not dealing with the things you've got to deal with legally to address a problem. He's talking about getting even personally. He says don't seek personal retaliation. He goes on to say, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. One of the reasons God may not have dealt with your enemy yet is you might be in the way. Don't seek your own revenge. Leave room for the wrath of God. Translation, God can get them better than you can. But if you seek your own revenge, you've canceled out room for the wrath of God.
Because if you're gonna take care of it, why should he? Because God didn't miss what they did. He didn't miss how they did it, and he didn't miss how it affects you.
He has not missed that. But you must not get in the way of God by your personal retaliation. We'll hear more from Dr. Evans on the perfect illustration of this idea in just a moment. But first, we're living in a time where the cultural and political landscape around us seems to become more polarized with each passing day. The rhetoric grows harsher.
The division grows deeper. Right now, it's crucial to find ways to build bridges of unity and understanding. That's why Dr. Evans has invested his time and knowledge of the scriptures into a new book called Kingdom Kindness, a movement to bring calm to the culture. This work is in part an outgrowth of the lesson we've been hearing today and can help us find ways to bridge the divides between us and show the love of God to those around us. Because we feel this awareness is so important for our culture, we're making available as our gift the Kingdom Kindness book, all nine full-length audio messages from our current audio series, as well as an additional bonus, Tony's popular devotional book on unity among believers called Stronger Together, Weaker Apart. All we ask is that you make a contribution to help us continue this ministry outreach when you request the Returning to God in Unity bundle. You can do that online at tonyevans.org, where you'll see a link for this special offer right on the home page. Once again, that's tonyevans.org, or call us at 1-800-800-3222, where a friendly member of our resource team is ready to help with your request. That's 1-800-800-3222.
I'll repeat that contact information for you after the second part of today's message and this. The threat of global catastrophe looms over us. Earthquakes, fires. It seems like the world is falling into turmoil. Are you ready to face Armageddon? Dr. Tony Evans' latest book, Thy Kingdom Come, emerges as a light amidst the sin-ridden depths of our world, guiding you through the murky waters of uncertainty. Within these insightful pages, wisdom intertwines with revelation. You'll dive deep into the mysteries of enigmatic prophecy, where solace awaits the weary soul. Dr. Tony Evans' unparalleled mastery and deciphering the complexities of Scripture will ensure clarity in the face of confusion and illuminate the path towards hope. Arm yourself against the impending storm, and let not the hour of reckoning catch you unaware. Be prepared for what's to come by picking up your copy of Thy Kingdom Come at tonyevans.org.
Comes with a bonus sermon series staying right with God. Do not be caught off-guard. In football, in basketball, there are officials. Those are the legal representatives of the league to orderly oversee the play on the field of court. If a player fouls another player and the player who's fouled turns around and hits the one who fouled him, he will be judged, too. Wait a minute. He hit me first. He fouled me first. Why are you gonna get mad at me? Because the official is gonna say, that's why I'm here.
If he messes over you, I'm here to take care of him. You are not to take matters into your own hand, so you get penalized, too, or you get put out with him even though he started it. Because there is an official on the court who has been assigned to assess the penalty. But if you take matters into your own hands, because he hit you first, pushed you first, and tripped you first, not only will he get judged, but you'll get judged for being out of order, because there has been a authorized person to address that. He says, do not repay evil for evil.
Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. The gentleman who was sick, he went to the doctor. The doctor checked him out.
He had been bitten by a dog, only to discover he has rabies. He picks out a pad and starts writing on the pad in the doctor's office. The doctor said, oh, no, no, no, no. We can heal you. You don't have to write out your will. We can heal you.
The man said, I wasn't writing out the will. I was just writing out the names of everybody I want to bite. Because we want vengeance. We want we want to get back at the people who have hurt us.
Vengeance is mine. I know how to pay, and I know how to pay back, and I know when to pay. Verse 20, he gets practical again. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If your enemy is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heat burning coals on his head.
The principle of burning coals was an Egyptian habit of putting hot coals on a pan on the head of somebody to burn out wrong thinking. And he says the coals you will put on his head is doing the opposite to what he would expect. The opposite to what she expects. She expects, he expects, for you to do them in. He says, instead of that, you find out he's hungry, cook him a meal. He's thirsty, give him a drink. That's gonna mess up his mind. That's putting hot coals on him.
He won't know what to do with that kind of heat, because that's not what he expects. That's not what she expects. She expects you to go the other way. She expects you to be mad and not speak. He expects, that's what they expect, given the problem. But you throw him a curveball.
Why? He's asking you to change your approach, because verse 21 says that you overcome evil with good. You don't overcome evil by being evil, too. And that's uncomfortable when you're the innocent one.
That's one, that's uncomfortable. But he who knew no sin became sin for us. Those of us who grew up in the civil rights era are well aware there were two dominant forces fighting for rights. There was Martin Luther King and there were the Black Panthers. The Black Panthers' position was, we're gonna fight fire with fire. We're gonna fight back.
We're gonna put our arsenal in, only to discover that their arsenal only created a bigger arsenal over here. And here comes Martin Luther King Jr. preaching this thing called love, marching peacefully, breaking the back of a Jim Crow South. I don't remember any Huey Newton parades or for any of the other Black Panther leaders, but there are Martin Luther King parades all over, because he was able to break the back of evil by being good to bad people. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela, incarcerated for almost thirty years, he comes out and if you've seen the movie Invictus, he comes out and he's in a no-win position because the blacks want revolution, the whites want to maintain segregation, and he comes out with this using a soccer field to bring people together and says we will not live in anger and in animosity. We will overcome this, and as a result of his approach, South Africa achieved in a few years what it hadn't achieved in his whole history, because God knows what he will be involved with and God knows what he won't be involved with. And like it or not, God forgives. Listen to me. Don't burn a bridge over which one day you will need to cross. Somebody may have done something to you and that is terrible, that is wicked, that is evil, I hurt for what they did and its effect on you, but look closely at you. Have you done anything to somebody else that's hurt them? And will you need the mercy that the other person who hurt you need? Don't burn down a bridge.
You may need to cross over yourself. That's why when Jesus talked about forgiveness, he says if you want your Heavenly Father to forgive you, then make sure you have given to others what you are going to need him to do for you. We'll hear more from Dr. Evans in a moment as he wraps up this classic message about giving to your enemy. Today's lesson comes from that special resource package I mentioned earlier and we'd love to send you everything in it as our way of saying thanks when you make a contribution to help keep this broadcast coming to you here each day. The Returning to God in Unity bundle includes all nine full-length audio lessons, Dr. Evans devotional book Stronger Together, Weaker Apart, and his newest release Kingdom Kindness, a movement to bring calm to the culture. To get your copy of this special package just visit tonyevans.org. You'll see a link on the home page for all the information you need for making your request and donation. Again that's tonyevans.org or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night.
That number again 1-800-800-3222. We'll hear more from Dr. Evans in just a moment. The biblical roles of husbands and wives, the source of our authority as believers, understanding the concept of grace, winning spiritual battles, they're all important subjects but seem as different as night and day.
Would it surprise you to know there's a common thread running through all four? You can discover what it is by taking the course on Ephesians in the Tony Evans Training Center. One by one you'll dig into the powerful themes of this book and make new discoveries about what Jesus' death accomplished, how to maintain unity at home and at church, what spiritual armor is all about. The course includes custom content from Tony not available anywhere else.
Work through it at your own pace, collaborate with other students, get your specific questions answered through our online forum. Connect with the Tony Evans Training Center at TonyEvans.org. It's like having a seminary on your smartphone or other device. Start today, TonyEvans.org. There's a group of people on social media known as influencers, but every one of us is called by God to impact our culture with kindness, demonstrating his compassion and love. We'll explore that concept with Dr. Evans tomorrow.
Right now let's listen in as he wraps up today's teaching. I know what I'm saying is not popular because it goes against our nature, but that's why he starts off with giving yourself to God because that allows you to live based on a new nature, based on a new reality. I am not suggesting you skip it, you ignore it, you don't talk to the person about it, you don't seek restoration from it. I am not saying we're going to dismiss wrong. I am saying we are not to let it to control our lives and our decisions, that what that person did to you five years ago ought not be ruining your life today. But if you're still holding on to it and trying to be God, even though you have no power to change it, then you're blocking God from doing what he wants to do for you.
