Vengeance is The Lord's ~ Romans 12:19-20

[Music] Romans chapter 12 I don't know about you but I know about me I have loved our journey in Romans chapter 12 I have loved the brilliant things that we've read and understood and gone through in this wonderful chapter of our Bible Romans chapter 12 that speaks to us about what it looks like what what does the Christian life look like in actual terms how how could it be described how can it be depicted how could it be exemplified and Paul gives us so clearly now if you've been joining us each Sunday evening we've been taking a verse at least one sometimes two and we've sought to understand it in the in the light of how we ought to live how then should we live that's got to be that's got to be the the first question on the lips of anybody who who recognizes that their life has been a life of sin that each and every one of us that at some point in our life has broken God's holy laws and the truth the situation really is this each and every one of us has often broken God's holy laws none of us can claim to be perfectly truthful never envious never jealous never prideful never self seeking always honoring God our life is a track record of failure before God this is the reality of who we are and when it comes to when it comes to be a realization of ours that in Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven by the blood that Jesus spilt on the cross we are washed clean we are we are cleansed of all unrighteousness that that by God's Holy Spirit implanted in our heart and our life we have faith to believe where our sins are atoned for our life is saved and eternal life is ours the first question on anyone's lips after undergoing such a any an incredible process such a such a life-changing event and the Bible calls that simply just simply just becoming born again just just starting all over again just the whole thing the whole all that was in the past behold it's all passed away everything is new Paul says we are new creations in Christ Jesus that's what we are the first question the first thing any of us should ask is how then should we live what does life look like okay if that's what God's done for me if in Jesus God saved me all my sins forgiven my wretch of a life has been washed away and now I have new life I'm born again I'm a new creation how then must I live now the Bible's not silent on that we can be sure and if we've as we've traced these steps in Romans 12 starting of course at verse 1 which calls us to to not be conformed to the world around us but be transformed by the renewing of our mind to offer our lives as living sacrifices as we we've understood that and we've walked through these Beatitudes of Paul that we should we should love one another we should live for one another we should pursue hospitality we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought we should be humble we should be gracious we should be appreciative we've come to get something of a profile of the Christian life something of a profile and we continue this this evening as we take a look at our our two verses which of course our verse 19 and verse 20 now these are read in light of what we'd read already last week so let me go back and just really quickly rehearse what we ground we covered last Sunday 9 the text we read last Sunday told us that if at all possible and as far as it depends on us live at peace with everyone the Christian life is marked it is it is depicted it's exemplified by a person a life who is at peace with the world around them but not at peace as we share and we we explicitly spoke to this not at peace with the works of darkness that are set against us we looked at Paul's statement of the the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly they're not carnal they're not they're not physical they're not tangible the weapons of our warfare are not physical but they are mighty in God to the tearing down of demonic strongholds the Christian life must look like a life of peace one with another and one with the world around them but never at peace with the sin in their life and never at peace with the archenemy of our souls who Peter says is like a roaring lion prowling around seeking whom he may devour I'm sure that even since last Sunday night when we looked at this particular this reality that the Christian life outwardly is a life of peace but inwardly and spiritually is a life of warfare many of you even in the last few days from last Sunday to now have had engagements where you had to go to war in Jesus name and thank God always be thankful to God that he has equipped us with an armor that is impenetrable and weapons that are mighty in light of that if at all possible as far as it depends on you live at peace with all people verse 19 of Romans 20 says this friends do not avenge yourselves instead leave room for God's wrath because it is written vengeance belongs to me I will repay says the Lord verse 20 but if your enemy is hungry feed him if he's thirsty give him something to drink for in so doing you'll be heaping fiery coals on his head if at all possible insofar as it depends on you live at peace with all people and do not avenge your self do not do not go after to retaliate and to repay but rather leave room for God's wrath this is the text that we've read together in the hearing of the holy spirit and the Assembly of the Saints you know it feels good it feels good to take a day off sometimes take it take a day off I don't mean from work I don't mean take a day off from your normal errands and chores and responsibilities but just to take a day off being God it feels good that's a weird sentence isn't it take a day of it take a day off being God but the reality is oftentimes in our life we are caught trying to be God trying to be God trying to do God's work for him trying to trying to play God for him trying to trying to speed up God's clock and his timing and and enact his purposes perhaps perhaps to do it for him it's a it's a good feeling to sometimes remember that God is God and we are not now that's so that he's just so axiomatic that it almost seems foolish for me to have to say that I'm gonna say it again God is God and we are not the Bible tells us that God by the word of his power upholds the material world by the word of his power the Bible tells us that God's sovereignty God's sovereignty stretches as far as reality itself and God's sovereignty boils down to the most minut subatomic particles the God is sovereign over all things not a bird falls out of the sky that God is known not a not a hair in our head has failed to be counted and accounted for by this sovereign God but how often do we neglect to remember that while he is God we are not I really think this is that this is the root of our text today this is the root of our text in fact you read it right there in vice verse 19 do not avenge yourself but leave room for God's wrath how how often is it is a part of our thinking that when someone comes out against arson and bitterly attacks us or spitefully uses ours or betrays us or mistreat us in any particular way that we feel like at that moment we've got to stand up for ourselves defend ourselves and come out against the person who made us a victim with a fury and a wrath that is unbecoming of a believer in almost every area of our life we are happy to let God be God often apart from what our text tells us today do not avenge your self the texts we read last week that we studied that we spoke about which says insofar as it depends on you if at all possible live at peace with everyone did not guarantee either you or me or any believer a peaceful life if you read it that way you have tragically misunderstood it so guaranteeing us a life of ease a life of luck a life of comfort a smooth sailing offering to the harbor of heaven when we get there a great life now full of prosperity and peace and luxury and heaven at the back end of it that's not what the text said in fact the New Testament repeatedly reminds us that if we've chosen if we've chosen to stand up for Christ to stand upon the gospel we will in this life suffer persecution the world will array itself against you it'll come out against you it will punish you it will reject you it will spitefully use you know Christians guaranteed a life of peace and that's why Paul preface his statement on peace with so much we with so much conditions that just as far as it depends on you and if at all possible live at peace with everyone because you will soon find that as you declare Jesus Christ as your Lord as your Savior and as the forgiver of your sins the world will come out against you so Paul now returns and asks the question how should we respond how should we pursue peace how should we how did that look like when we are actually attacked it's easy it's easy to pursue peace when life's pretty easy things are going pretty well there's there's all comfort there life and we're not really under any major onslaught but what about when you're attacked beltless suffers spitefully uses you what out when the when the government comes in as we see in the New Testament we see in the New Testament the government comes in we we read about this and and starts to tear down the Christians homes pull out their their wives or their children and and dad's the lock them up and put it in prison and turn them against each other and force them to to confess that they that they love Jesus Christ what about what about being pulled before the very census of the statues of worship to the Emperor when to be a Roman citizen and to prove yourself a Roman citizen and to come before the the statue of the Emperor and you had to you had to cry out as you burn your incense Kaiser hokule'as which in Greek meant Caesar is Lord that's why Paul says why Paul says and this very pistol the day that confessed with their mouth that Jesus is Lord they are say as these Christians are dragged before before the before the statue of worship unto Emperor unto the the Caesar and there sat there in the guard the soldier has his sword pulled from the sheath ready to separate heads from bodies if they dare say anything other then Caesar is Lord and believer after believer and Christian after Christian dragged before these these places of of Emperor worship would cry out with their last words on this earth Jesus is long the blade would come down now it's seal in their blood the confession of their mouth that their Lord that their God that their worship goes to no one else but the all-conquering and risen Lamb of God Fred we it's possible that we perhaps live far too comfortably it's possible that when we read when we read this and we think Paul saying do not avenge yourself we we think about that we think about that friend that turned against ours we think about that work colleague that we thought was that we thought was our our partner that we thought was our friend that we thought had our back and they turned against us and and they they backstabbed us and they slandered us and they took the opportunity that belonged to ours I think sometimes we we lose sight our life is just that comfortable we lose sight of the kind of believers that these words were written for and we read these in our context in our day now now comfortability of this modern Western world that we that we are the luxury of living in and we we tend to lose sight that Paul is writing to a group of believers who live in the city of Rome in the capital of the empire and in Rome itself hundreds of thousands of Christians in the coming centuries after Paul wrote this epistle would turn to this epistle and use these words as their comfort because they would shed their blood either by being tortured either by being fed to the Lions and the the wild beasts and the the Coliseum is entertainment for the mob i crucified in Nero's garden as night began to fall there'd be they'd be drenched in tar and lit up and burning in Nero's garden just as lamps the origin of the phrase the roman candle this is this is what happened this is this was their comfort this this epistle was their hope as they begin to think about what it meant to be Christian what does it mean to be a Christian sometimes so it's something I'm so hard for us to hand out a gospel tract they have a gospel conversation with someone on the pastor to be so daring so bold to preach Jesus in our modern day when the worst that we might incur that the worst judgment the worst ridicule the worst criticism we might incur as an insult or maybe a piece of half-eaten fruit thrown our way or or maybe someone rejects us and laughs and scoffs and ostracize ins we are terribly detached from the world of Christianity this epistle is written to do not avenge yourself live at peace as far as it is possible for you live at peace as far as it depends on you live at peace do not ever avenge yourself but as our text says leave room for God's wrath because it is written vengeance belongs to me I will repay says the Lord vengeance belongs to God the reality is as we stand up for Jesus in our day we will be attacked we will be marginalized we will be criticized we will be insulted and it may come as as as the secular world of our modern country begins to get more and more anti Christian persecution may get more harsh more severe and then how are we going to derive the comfort that we must from these texts today this is why I started our discussion by asking what I feel good to take a day off being God doesn't the text so clearly say that for us as believers as followers of Jesus our mandate is really clear live at peace don't retaliate don't repay don't turn back and and attack those who attacked you live at peace and leave room for God's vengeance for God's wrath for he will repay a quote here if you'll you'll bear with me a quote here from one of John Piper's sermons that speaks to this very text since God is going to take up your cause and since God is going to see to it the justice is done you can lay it down you don't have to carry anger and bitterness and resentment and revenge indeed you dare not for jesus warned that an unforgiving heart will destroy you in the end this is this is so clear in the New Testament as a believer what is our mandate what does what does it look like let me give it to you in Jesus here Luke chapter 6 verse 27 31 then I'm gonna read verse 35 and 36 that's what it means to follow Jesus now as I'm reading this I want you to think does this characterize my life does this describe my life would it be possible for an unbeliever to watch me for a whole week or a whole month or half a year and come back and say this text precisely defines your life so what Jesus says is the Christian life but I say to you who listen love your enemies do what is good to those who hate you bless those who curse you pray for those who mistreat you if they don't hit you on the cheek or for the other also and if anyone takes away your coat don't hold back your shirt either give to everyone who asks you and from someone who takes your things don't ask for them in return just as just as you want others to do for you do for them now verse 35 36 but love your enemies do what is good and lend expecting nothing in return then your reward will be great and you'll be children of the most high for he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil be merciful just as your father also is merciful sometimes we sometimes we don't take a day off being God sometimes people hurt us sometimes people hurt us for a for no real cause they're unprovoked and they attack us and and we begin to let bitterness fester in our heart we begin to let unforgiveness best in our heart and this friend is a dangerous game because what it indicates first and foremost is we have entirely neglected just how bad we have afflicted God our sins against the holy God are infinitely greater in provocation and defense than when anyone has ever done for us now I know when I say that someone thinks himself well he doesn't know what I've gone through he doesn't know what I've struggled he doesn't know how people have abused me or or attacked me or or used me he doesn't know and that's true I don't know but what I do know is that the Bible says no matter how bad it has gotten for you no matter how bad it someone has abused or mistreated you no matter how bad it is it will never compare to the suffering that Jesus endured on the cross never and as Christ hangs on the cross and sheds his pure blood the Bible tells us that by that act alone he atones for our sins and when he cried out it is finished it was and Jesus says that if we if we are forgiven of our sins the sins that drag Jesus out of heaven that dragged him to a cross that pinned him there by nails and saw his blood drained from his body if that sin can be forgiven then we must be those who forgive others we must forgive this friend is a Salvation issue if you cannot forgive others no matter how bad it was if you cannot forgive others then the Bible says God refuses to forgive you and this is the reality about text today sometimes people hurt us sometimes people who hurt us really badly sometimes people take advantage of us and all of us know that if we've lived long enough had been abused at some point but here is the question will you live at peace will you love your enemies will you leave room for the wrath of God will you let God be God and will you remain who you ought to be the sinner saved by nothing other than God's immeasurable glorious grace this is the calling that we have love your enemies Jesus said do what is good and lend expecting nothing in return then your reward will be great and you'll be children of the Most High then then your reward will be great and then you'll be children of the Most High there are there are people no doubt listening to my voice right now and you've wanted salvation and you've wanted forgiveness and you've wanted God to look upon you and call you his child but the thing that stands before you and that wonderful reward is your unforgiveness toward the person that hurt you know this today and know this well that if we have unforgiveness and bitterness in our heart we haven't left room for God to deal with that because he's God he's the judge he's the Avenger we don't leave God his place to do what he does and we try and take up we try and take up that mandate to avenge ourselves then friend we have already failed to live the Christian life the wrath of God our text says you'll see it right there in Romans 12 the wrath of God do not avenge yourselves instead leave room leave room for God's wrath leave room for God's wrath because it is written vengeance belongs to me I will repay says the Lord the wrath or el-amin let me read some points here I quoted John Piper earlier let me read he's got full points here regarding the wrath of God from this text I want to share this with you it's compelling listen to this carefully if we focus on the wrath of God that falls on human beings at the final judgment we can say at least four things all the counts will in due time be paid all accounts and the God's sovereign justice will in due time be paid don't avenge yourself but know that God is a just judge liberate yourself by handing your burden of bitterness unforgiveness to a holy God the reality is that every sin that's ever been committed will either be paid for in full at the cross of Christ or will be punished forever in hell every sin yours and mine so john piper offers these four observations about the wrath of god leave room says paul for the wrath of god number one the wrath of god will be eternal it'll have no end number two the wrath of god will be terrible it'll be indescribable in its pain number three the wrath of God will be deserved it'll be totally just it'll be totally just and right and number four the wrath of God will have been escapable through the curse bearing death of Christ if we have taken refuge in him there's no doubt each one of these compels us to think about the wrath of God is unending forever infinite and eternal it's horrific in its pain and it's it's in German it's horrible to to consider it will be entirely deserved no one's ever going to be in hell and be able to honestly say I'm the one person that never sinned I don't deserve to be here but surely the most cutting surely the most horrifying surely the most degrading is the fourth that anyone who ever ends up in hell never had any good reason to be there hasn't hasn't God sent his son the answer is yes hasn't God son died on the cross to atone for the sins of sinners the answer is yes it's a Weibull sinners reject him and choose rather to take their chances at the judgment seat where God's justice is final now there's no doubt that of all the torments that hell will give the fourth will be among the most painful you you ever never have something horrible happen in your life something tremendously horrible happen in your life only to think back of a moment where one decision you made where one small moment where you had a had a choice to make am i making the wrong choice you ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time and then that horrifying thing occurred to you our minds can't help but go back to that moment where it all could have been avoided it all could have been it all could have been entirely entirely avoided and yet we fail this will be the torment of Hell to know that God has sent forth his son to this world to die for sinners such as you and I and if we reject that free offer of grace we will not only deserve hell but forever we'll be reminded of a night like this where Christ is extended to us but because of our because of our bitterness Christ is extended to us but because of our unforgiveness Christ is extended to us but because of our offense or the shame of I don't want to I don't be one of those Christians I don't want to have to be one of those churchgoers my Sundays too precious to give it up to being Church every I'm gonna choose not to be a believer that and among many other ludicrous reasons I've heard why people reject the gospel of Jesus Christ and every one of those reasons you can be sure we'll be tracking on repeat forever in hell as that person sitting there in the fiery furnace that is the punishment of God hears themselves say over and over and over and over without cessation without a moment's break without a without a lunch breaker or a day off they will hear over and over and over again I didn't want to give up Sunday well that person hurt me so bad I couldn't forgive them or I'm offended oh I don't like Christians I don't like churches I'm gonna reject Jesus for the most insane reasons of all these four things we can know about the wrath of God there are people here tonight no doubt carrying deep and horrifying scars of where they were hurt there's no doubt and you can know this that the Justice of God is coming the day of God's judgement is coming and all accounts will be summoned assess and they will all be paid they will never be a rogue sin ever committed under God's sovereign rule that's allowed to go off scot-free without due payment friend you make this choice right now will you choose rather to take your chances and pay your own debt in an eternal hell or will you confess Christ as your Savior and your Lord for those who believe in Christ have all their sins forgiven and are forgiving people live at peace as much as it depends on you as far as it's possible live at peace with everybody and don't avenge yourself let's seek to retaliate don't seek vengeance rumor that there is a God in heaven who is still a God in heaven who rules this world leave it to him if you're a person of faith and you trust God as you claim to do leave it to him to avenge I can hear what you're thinking I can hear what some people think they think well if I do that God might forgive them like he did you and me in fact Paul addresses this that next verse Paul addresses this grab your Bible turn Romans 12 let's read the the last verse we look at the sealing verse 20 but if your enemy is hungry feed him if he's thirsty give him something to drink so don't withhold forgiveness from your enemy forgive them love them serve them practically if they're hungry feed them they're thirsty give them drink yeah of course Paul hasn't given us an exhaustive list of ways we can serve our enemies whatever you can do to help to assist to be a benefit be that to your enemy love them love those despitefully use you jesus says pray for them pray for their blessing their prosperity please don't break God rain down upon them with your wrath and fury like Sodom and Gomorrah it's not the responsive a forgiving heart Paul says this give them food if they're hungry give them a drink if they're thirsty for in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head and the person who's abused the person who's been insulted the person who's angry furious the person who doesn't want to forgive sees that last line of things well there's my there's my vengeance if I be nice to them and God's God's going to kill them that's not what it says if I this this phrase heaping fiery cause but this is a throwback to Egyptian times where someone who had done something so bad they defended they they've done something horrific to offend people in order to show their public conscience shame their remorse their repentance they would take a pen of burning coals from the fire they would hold it on their head and they would walk around in public showing their pain in their anguish that's that's the reference here for Paul Paul says when when your enemies hate you spitefully use you reject you go to war against you when they abuse you and you see them hungry you feed them you see them thirsty you give them a drink when you can serve them you serve them you do this because when you do this then they will feel the shame of what they have done and they'll cry out to God and that will show public contrition public repent public remorse for what they have done for you in other words how much are we willing to suffer in order to see another soul snatched from damnation and welcomed into the kingdom of God this is what Jesus calls all for and Jesus calls us for this because this is the example of Christ himself we may bring deep conviction and even confession and even repentance and even salvation by showing the love that Christ showed for you and I in that while we were still sinners while we were enemies of God while we insulted and rebelled the death of Christ happened millennia ago and many of us even only just recently a hearing of this wonderful news and embracing the grace that God gives through Jesus Christ here we've lived our whole life as enemies for God and God held off God didn't destroy us he didn't ruin us he didn't bring us to to become nothing but a pile of ash on the floor he held off so that we can hear this wonderful news that he can love us he can feed us he can quench our thirst he can bless us in Christ and then he says to you and I who wants enemies of him you and I by our sin we insult we offend we abused God he says to us do this same thing to others that I have done in Jesus to you even though you hated I loved even though you rejected I responded with compassion even though you spitefully abused and you've insulted and you attacked God says I showed you nothing but compassion and mercy go and do likewise and you might just find that although you didn't win the fight although you didn't stand up to be shown as that as the big mighty and powerful person that you are able to avenge yourself you might actually win a soul you might actually snatch a precious soul from the burning pit of hell as they see your kindness and your mercy and they see through that to Jesus Christ and they ask the question what could possess a person after I've abused them so badly to continue to serve me and help me and pray for me and bless me what could possess a person the answer is the grace of God the truth of the gospel the love that is shed abroad in our hearts through what Jesus Christ has done what are you waiting for this evening you harboring unforgiveness are you harboring bitterness in your heart what are you waiting for to serve an abusive world what are you waiting for to receive the salvation that Christ has offered exclusively through his death his burial and his glorious resurrection I'm gonna pray you know pray that God blesses us through this particular text tonight that we would begin to learn that our greatest service for a broken abusive world it's not retaliation it's not making them feel the pain that they deserve to feel leave room for God's wrath and serve and love and pray and love them into their Kingdom as Christ has done for us and for those that are here this evening and you've been standing aloof of God's grace you've been you've been declaring yourself unworthy of eternal life because of your pent up frustration because of your bitterness your wrath your vengeance God says tonight let it go let it go because that is not a good enough reason to choose to to hell unforgiveness will ruin your soul we're gonna pray the God would bless us all believers and unbelievers like why don't you join me father we come before you again this evening we pray for your mercy father we read in this text this evening about the example of Jesus Christ he was abused he was reviled he was insulted he was beaten he was stripped he was whipped he was mocked he was crucified and the Bible tells us like a lamb led to the slaughter he never opened his mouth he never retaliated he never turned the tables and attacked back he left room for your wrath and in fact more than that Jesus loved them he loved his persecutors he loves his attackers he loved his tormentors and his abusers he loved them to pray for them Father forgive them they know not what they do may we this evening imbibe more imbibe more of what Jesus shows us in love for a world that is yet to understand father your grace I pray even tonight Lord God there are people here who are unbelievers they yet to trust in Christ and receive forgiveness maybe because of their bitterness maybe because of their frustration I may be because they they've just never been truly compelled to trust in Christ and leave their sin and receive the forgiveness that you offer in Jesus I pray right now they would realize that salvation can be theirs in this instant if only they let go and trust in Jesus Christ and father for the rest of us of course we pray that you make us more like Jesus more and more and more like Jesus that we would turn the other cheek that we would love when we are abused that we would serve where we can and we would show the world father the great love that you've manifested in our heart in Jesus name we pray and all who agreed said amen

Channel: Hope Reformed Baptist Church

Views: 3,559

Rating: 4.9436622 out of 5

Keywords: HC, HRBC, Preaching, Romans 12, Gospel, Jesus, Christ, God, Holy Spirit, Faithful, Kindness, Blessing, Wrath, Vengeance

Id: 87F73OmcarY

Length: 35min 13sec (2113 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 10 2017