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If you open your Bibles with me
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to Romans 12:17.
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Romans 12:17
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If you've ever responded in haste;
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maybe said something
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or sent an email or a text;
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or perhaps posted
something on social media
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that you later regretted,
-
this sermon has application.
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These verses come in a section of Romans
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that deals with Christian living
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on how we are to react
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towards people.
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And here when people
treat us in a certain way,
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how we are to react towards them.
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So, do you remain seated? Stand?
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Okay, I'll read Romans 12:17-18
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and then we'll pray.
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"Repay no one evil for evil,
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but give thought to do what is honorable
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in the sight of all.
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If possible, so far as it depends on you,
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live peaceably with all."
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I'll read that again.
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"Repay no one evil for evil,
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but give thought to do what is honorable
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in the sight of all.
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If possible, so far as it depends on you,
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live peaceably with all."
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Let's pray.
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Our Father, as we look together
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at Your Word now,
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we pray that You would teach us
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by Your Spirit how to live lives holy,
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lives set apart for You;
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to live for Your glory,
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for Your name's sake.
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Help us, we ask, in Jesus' name,
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Amen.
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Okay, so if someone
mistreats you as a Christian,
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or even goes out of their way
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to harm you,
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what is your reaction supposed to be?
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How are we as Christians
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called to react when someone
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does something evil towards you?
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And that is what these
verses deal with now.
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The first principle the apostle lays out
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in regards to this here
in v. 17 of our text,
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is repay no one evil for evil.
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In other words, don't just retaliate
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and strike back in whatever way.
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You see, the reason Paul, no doubt,
-
begins with this what
is a guiding principle,
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is because the natural instinct
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when someone treats you
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in what you perceive to be an evil way;
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the natural instinct is
to want to strike back
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and get even.
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How dare they treat me in such a way!
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Now, I want to show you how this is linked
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to the previous verse there.
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At the end of the previous verse (v. 16),
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we are told, "Never be
wise in your own sight."
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Or never be wise in your
own estimation of yourself.
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That is basically another way of saying,
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"Do not think more highly of yourself
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than you ought to."
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Think about this.
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When someone has an overinflated opinion
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of themselves,
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they are always going
to be easily offended
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at the slightest thing
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and ready to lash out.
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The instinctive reaction
is always going to be,
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"How dare they treat me that way!"
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And instinctively lash out with vengeance.
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James 3 from verse 13 puts it this way:
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"Who is wise and understanding among you?
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By his good conduct,
let him show his works
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in meekness and wisdom.
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But if you have bitter jealousy
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and selfish ambition in your hearts,
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do not boast and be false to the truth.
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This is not the wisdom that
comes down from above,
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but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
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For where jealousy and
selfish ambition exist,
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there will be disorder
and every vile practice.
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But the wisdom from above is first pure,
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then peaceable, gentle, open to reason,
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full of mercy and good fruits,
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impartial, and sincere.
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And a harvest of righteousness
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is sown in peace by those who make peace."
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You see, in order to react right,
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we've got to get our thinking right.
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If our wisdom, if our thinking
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is clouded by bitterness and jealousy
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or selfish ambition -
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there's nothing wrong, by the way,
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with ambition in and of itself.
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Someone can be ambitious
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for the glory of God.
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But selfish ambition is the problem.
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But when you are ambitious
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in whatever way for the glory of self,
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well, when all these things
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are clouding your mind,
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you're not going to
react in the right way.
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So, one of the guiding principles
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that the apostle began
with, of course, in chapter 12
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is do not be conformed to the mindset
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of this fallen world.
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So we really have it again here.
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You see, if our thinking is wrong,
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we're going to react wrong.
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If one has an overinflated
opinion of oneself,
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then that person is going
to be easily offended
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and see everything as a personal attack.
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And if someone treats you
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in what you perceive to be an evil way,
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your instinct is going to be instinctively
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to lash out in whatever
way to get revenge.
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Well, the Christian is
not to be in that way
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Paul states there.
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Think of this in another way.
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Imagine if the Lord treated us that way.
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Imagine if His response
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after we treated Him evil
was just to lash out.
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None of us would be here.
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We'd all be in hell.
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So, that's the negative part here.
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What not to do.
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But then, in the next part of the verse,
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Paul tells us what to do instead.
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He says, "But give thought
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to what is honorable
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in the sight of all men."
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You see, this is what we are to do.
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"Give thought to what is honorable
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in the sight of all men."
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The ESV translates this quite beatifully.
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In case anyone is reading from
-
the old King James,
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I must point out that that translation
-
renders this verse:
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"Provide things honest
in the sight of all men."
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Which is okay if you're
living in the 17th century,
-
and you're one of the people
-
that translation was intended for,
-
but it makes absolutely no sense
-
in the way we would use
the word "provide" today.
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You see, back in the 17th century,
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the word "provide" actually meant
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to take thought beforehand.
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To think ahead.
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Hence, why the ESV translates this,
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"But give thought to do..."
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You see, the idea here
-
is when someone treats you
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in what you perceive to
be in a bad or evil way,
-
don't respond by instantly lashing out
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in revenge, but take thought.
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Think it through is the idea.
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And when it says in the next part
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that you are to give thought to do
-
what is honorable in the sight of all,
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again, the ESV really
gets the idea, I think.
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The idea is to respond in a way
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that is good that can be seen by all.
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That others can see it is good.
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It's the same words used
in 2 Corinthians 8:21.
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Paul says, "For we aim (in our conduct)
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at what is honorable,
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not only in the Lord's sight,
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but also in the sight of men."
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That is, we aim to be blameless if we can;
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to act in a just and right manner.
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Not just before the Lord,
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although that is the primary,
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but hopefully we can also
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react and conduct ourselves in a way
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that is right in the sight of men.
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Of course, our first duty is to the Lord.
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And that must not be
compromised for the other.
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But notice it says here
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"in the sight of all men."
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That is believers and unbelievers alike.
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You see, in our actions,
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in the way we respond,
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we are to be concerned
about what others think.
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In the sight of all men it says.
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Do good in the sight of all men.
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We are to be conscious in how we react
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that the lost world is looking on at us.
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You see, the teaching of this verse is
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when someone does what you perceive to be
-
an evil towards you,
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you are not to respond without
thinking it through properly,
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by instantly lashing out.
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But you are to take thought.
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How is the lost world going to perceive
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how I respond to this?
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You ought to pause. Think.
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If I respond in this or that certain way,
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what will they think of Christ
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and Christianity.
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Remember this verse is in the context here
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of thinking of the church as a body.
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And so, we must ask
ourselves as Christians,
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if I react in a certain way,
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what will people think of the church
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I am part of?
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You see, it's the Lord's name
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we are to be concerned with.
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If I respond in this way or that way,
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what effect is it going to have on others?
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You see, this really is another section
-
about living the gospel.
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The unbelievers - the
lost world around you
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will judge the gospel and Christianity
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by what they see in us.
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So we must think it through.
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How is my response going to affect
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the perception of Christ and Christianity?
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You see, you're a Christian now,
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and so no man lives unto himself.
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You've got to realize that what you do
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doesn't just affect you alone.
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No man lives unto himself.
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But what you do and say
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is going to affect what
others think of Christ
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and Christianity.
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In how you behave and your conduct,
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in how you react to a
perceived evil against you.
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And never think in terms of yourself only.
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But you must think first
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of what effect will my response
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have on others.
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You see, this is what must dictate
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or govern our response.
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Think it though.
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What response would
give God the most glory?
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Think about all the times, brethren,
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you know, you've been hasty.
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How many times have you and I
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perceived an evil by someone against us?
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And so you've said something
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without properly thinking it through
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and then regretted it.
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How many times have people sent a text,
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an email, or replied to a post
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on social media?
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Something on Facebook or whatever.
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And later thought,
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"If only I had just waited..."
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We live in a minefield today
-
with all the technology.
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You know, there have
been times in the past
-
when someone has sent me a rather angry
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or provocative message on WhatsApp.
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And of course, WhatsApp,
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when you send someone a message,
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it gives you the two blue tics to say
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they've read the message.
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But then, you find there are people
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who want to bring back public hanging.
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And of course, the death
penalty's still here,
-
but they want it to apply for that
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because I've not responded in 30 seconds.
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When in actual fact, what I'm doing
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is I'm doing what this verse tells me.
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I'm thinking about what is the best way
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to respond to their anger.
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Or, I might be doing something else
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and it's come up, so I've got to give
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my attention to that.
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You know the world doesn't
revolve around people.
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You see, I use that by way of example
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because many times,
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you will feel under pressure
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to respond rashly.
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But you don't want to do that.
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Make sure you pause.
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Think it through.
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Time out.
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You see, rather than very quickly respond
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in a way without properly
thinking it through,
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you must think,
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what is likely to be the final effect
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if I respond like this?
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Is it better to sit on your fingers
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and save the text or the email
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or the call for another day?
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In which time you might have
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a completely different
perspective on things.
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By then, you might see,
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well, I've overreacted.
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Or, more things have come to light.
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Or, you might be thinking later,
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what good is this going to do anyway?
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I remember once, I had a school teacher.
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He used to say,
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"Engage brain before mouth."
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And that's good advice.
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Properly thinking it through.
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You know, sometimes you meet people
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that say, "I always speak my mind."
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And they're proud of the fact
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that they say the first thing
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that comes into their head,
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no matter how rude
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without thinking it through.
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Without thinking about what effect
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it will have on others.
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But according to this verse,
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a Christian should never
have that attitude;
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should never be one of those people
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who says, "I just always speak my mind,"
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and say the first thing that comes out.
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Never try and excuse things like that
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by saying I'm of a certain nationality
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or a certain family or whatever;
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a certain background.
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Never try to excuse sin
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by some sort of cultural context.
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When Paul said to the Cretans,
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those of Crete are always liars,
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he wasn't saying it's okay for you to lie
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because you're from Crete.
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Just like if someone is from -
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this is the way it is where we live -
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if someone is from Africa or Spain
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or Latin America, it doesn't mean
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it's okay for them to be late.
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Or if someone comes from the Middle East,
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it's not okay to have a bad temper.
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Believe it or not, there
are professing Christians there
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who just lash out in anger
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and then they try and excuse it by saying,
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"Oh, it's just a cultural thing."
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You see, cultural sin is sin.
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That is the way Paul is speaking
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to those in Crete.
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He says, "Or is the saying true?"
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You're different. You're Christians now.
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And so, you're not to be that stereotype.
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A Christian should never be those people
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who say, "I just speak
my mind all the time
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without thinking it through."
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And so, verse 18 continues with this.
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"If possible, so far as it depends on you,
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live peaceably with all."
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Live at peace with all.
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That is, believers and unbelievers alike.
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As far as it depends on you.
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Notice, as far is it depends on you,
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you are to take the initiative.
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The Christian is not to
be the troublemaker.
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There's much in Proverbs about that.
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The contentious, argumentative,
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always picking a fight type of person
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is not a characteristic of a Christian.
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There's a lot of Christian
bloggers out there
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and so-called discernment ministries
-
that act in a way where
they're always ready
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figuratively to punch someone in the face.
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But again, that's not
characteristically Christian.
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But I want you to think about this.
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In reacting in a way
that is not going to be
-
a bad witness,
-
and as far as it depends upon you,
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thinking about it in terms of
-
you taking the initiative to be at peace.
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First of all, remember,
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you're not trying to win the argument,
-
but the person.
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Well, you are trying to win the argument,
-
but it's the person first and foremost.
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You see, if you just get someone's back up
-
unnecessarily, then you've lost them.
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You may have won an argument,
-
but they may go home thinking
-
they won the argument too anyway.
-
But secondly, think of this in terms of
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online disagreements with others.
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Much of the world lives
in that sphere today.
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I remember one time another Christian
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was arguing with me over
-
some secondary issue that was evidently
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a first issue to him.
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But we eventually agreed to disagree.
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Now, he was doing this via Facebook,
-
so at the end of it, I thanked him
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for doing it on the private messenger.
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So only I and he could see.
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Because if it had been plastered all over
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my Facebook wall in public -
-
in view of others -
-
then all the unbelievers,
the non-Christians looking on
-
would not have understood it.
-
It would have been a really bad witness.
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So even though I disagreed with him,
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and I thought his manner was a bit harsh,
-
I thanked him for
still doing it in private.
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Whereas I remember another person
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just plastering my Facebook wall,
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and every time I would delete his dribble
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because I'm thinking
this doesn't look good
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in front of all the unbelievers
I'm trying to reach here.
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He'd just post some more.
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So, in the end, I had to defriend him
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and take him off.
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You see, he obviously thought
-
that all the world had to agree with him
-
over some secondary issue.
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Because he wasn't thinking
-
how is this going to be perceived
-
by unbelievers?
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What sort of testimony
is this going to give?
-
He wasn't thinking of the glory of God
-
and those people's souls.
-
All that was before him
-
was personal pride in winning an argument.
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And he didn't want to be seen to lose.
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Because he didn't want my friends
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or my wife's friends who
he didn't even know -
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it's ridiculous.
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If you ever have a
disagreement with someone
-
in a church meeting,
-
perhaps over some
theological issue or whatever,
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don't lash out.
-
Think it through.
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What are onlookers going to think of this?
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You know you've always got weaker
-
and newer, less mature Christians.
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Some people who are
-
walking through the door the first time
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and see some odd discussion
-
that could be a bad testimony.
-
It's very serious stuff.
-
Supposing you have a disagreement
-
with someone else, and so you have
-
this big squabble, whether it's online
-
or in a church setting,
-
or in a house setting or at work
-
or wherever, but it's in a public setting,
-
and people know you're a Christian.
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And so the result of it,
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people are turned off to the gospel
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and Christianity.
-
And so part of the reason
they end up in hell
-
is because of your conduct.
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Not to mention then going around
-
blaspheming the Lord's name.
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Saying those Christians
are just like that.
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You see, as Christians, we don't want
-
to bring shame upon the name of Christ.
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That should be our concern.
-
But we've got to realize,
-
you cannot do things in isolation
-
as a Christian.
-
You are to, as our Lord said,
-
let your light so shine before men
-
that they may see your good works
-
and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
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Think of this in every
aspect of your life.
-
That people are watching you.
-
People are looking on.
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Now, of course, let me make clear here,
-
you may still do everything right,
-
and you're still going to
get some false accusations.
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The Apostle Paul did. Our Lord Jesus did.
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You think of Joseph in the Old Testament.
-
He was a classic example
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of someone living out this verse.
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And yet, he was still thrown in prison
-
for something he didn't do.
-
But he's also an example
of how to respond.
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Now, the next thing I want
to point out here though
-
is Paul does not say
-
be at peace with people at any cost.
-
He doesn't say be at peace
with people at any cost,
-
but as far as it depends upon you.
-
Remember, the wisdom from above
-
is first pure, then peaceable.
-
It's pure, meaning truth first.
-
You see, you're not to
be the trouble maker.
-
You're not to be the one
who initiates the fight.
-
You are to try and be the
peacemaker if you like
-
in your actions,
-
but there are some people who
-
will go out of their way
-
to be difficult.
-
And there are some people
you cannot make peace with.
-
With those people you can sleep at night
-
knowing that as far as
it depended upon you,
-
they could have had peace.
-
But again, this peace is not at any cost.
-
We are told in Scripture for instance
-
that if anyone comes to you
-
preaching another gospel,
-
let him be accursed.
-
It doesn't say just agree with them
-
for the sake of peace.
-
In 2 John, we're told if anyone comes
-
bringing another doctrine
of the person of Jesus,
-
saying something like He's not fully God
-
or He's not fully man,
-
then don't even give him a greeting.
-
He's not talking about your neighbor
-
that you're trying to witness to,
-
but someone teaching.
-
There is such a thing
-
as church discipline in Scripture
-
for those who profess to be Christians,
-
but continue in unrepentant sin.
-
We are told to avoid the divisive person
-
after one or two warnings.
-
And we are to earnestly
contend for the faith.
-
Not put it aside for the sake of peace.
-
You know, in regards to a pastor
-
teaching from the pulpit,
-
and other Christians in a general sense,
-
of course, we should be sensitive,
-
but there should never be a case,
-
for instance, where a pastor thinks
-
I can't preach this certain truth
-
because so-and-so will be offended
-
and leave the church.
-
You know, I once had someone come to me
-
very disgruntled over
the doctrine of Calvinism
-
and the sovereignty of God,
-
and was showing their
anger and disgust over it.
-
The next time they came into our meeting,
-
and it came up in that sermon -
-
it was just in the text -
-
but he actually got up and walked out
-
in the middle of the sermon.
-
But you see, we're not to skip over
-
parts of the Bible in order to pacify
-
those types of people.
-
We're not to think I can't preach this
-
because so-and-so might leave the church.
-
I'm just the messenger.
-
It's not my message to tamper with.
-
In fact, it's a very
serious thing to do so.
-
You see, what I'm saying in these examples
-
is in making peace,
-
we should never do it in a way
-
which would deny Christ
-
and our Christian faith.
-
Our Lord Jesus said,
-
"If you deny Me before men,
-
then I will deny you before My Father
-
who is in heaven."
-
So this verse is not saying
-
in order to have peace and an easy life,
-
deny your faith in Christ.
-
Pretend you're not a Christian at times.
-
You know, many people
have gone to their deaths
-
because they were not willing to deny
-
they were Christians.
-
You see, there are some people
-
who will not have peace with you
-
because you are a Christian.
-
Like in the previous verses here,
-
he's not teaching if people persecute you,
-
then pretend you're not a Christian.
-
You are to be faithful
in your Christian faith.
-
But as far as it depends upon you,
-
be at peace with all people.
-
A Christian wife married to an unbeliever,
-
can and should go out of her way,
-
as far as it depends upon her
-
to be at peace with her husband.
-
But she cannot deny Christ in that.
-
And the same goes in the workplace.
-
Or anywhere else in life.
-
When you're around unbelievers,
-
you are to go out of
your way to live at peace,
-
but you don't deny Christ.
-
But as far as it depends upon you,
-
live at peace.
-
And we are not to sin
-
in order to have peace with people.
-
We are to have no fellowship
-
with the unfruitful works of darkness.
-
Lloyd-Jones pointed out something
-
regarding this which was excellent.
-
And that is there are some people
-
who have a tendency
-
to always want to retaliate
-
and strike back, and of course,
-
I've just given application for that.
-
But then of course, there are people
-
at the other end of the spectrum;
-
there are other people
who will do anything
-
for a peaceful life
-
and just give in to bullies
-
and let people walk all over them.
-
Well, that's not Christian either,
-
he points out.
-
And that is not what
this is talking about.
-
That sort of thing is just being lethargic
-
and cowardly,
-
or trying to avoid confrontations.
-
You see, this is not being scared
-
and so being willing to do anything
-
for a peaceful life.
-
Let me point out here,
-
in all this, there are sometimes
-
where you have to respond quickly.
-
It may be in defending someone.
-
He's not saying stop,
pause, think about it,
-
and the person's dead on
the floor or whatever.
-
Obviously, they're both in the context
-
of the examples I've given
-
when you can respond rationally
-
and there was time to think it through.
-
But you see, not acting in haste
-
and doing something
you regret is the idea.
-
But thinking it through.
-
What is the best response
-
that's going to glorify God?
-
What is going to be the best testimony?
-
What's going to be the best
-
to win these people to Christ?
-
And you see, ultimately,
-
these verses were the related theme
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that keeps coming up in Romans 12
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or a repeated word,
I should say, is "love."
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You see this again and again.
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Love is to dictate how we respond.
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Love to God first and love to fellow man.
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As Charles Leiter rightly points out,
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with instruction like this
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in the Sermon on the Mount also,
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these instructions are not to be taken
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as a to-the-letter law.
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(Incomplete thought)
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What I mean is you're not meant to
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take these words like "rule #15."
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This is how I should respond exactly
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and tic that box
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when it could be the wrong response.
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But we're given principles here.
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And the overriding principle is love.
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How can I best show love to God
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and love to fellow man
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in how we respond?
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You see, these verses,
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they don't forbid going to
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a civil magistrate when
you've been wronged.
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Paul deals with that in the next chapter.
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Even the Old Testament law
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gave principles for civil magistrates.
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So there's nothing wrong
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with calling the police
or whatever authority.
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But don't lash out.
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First, pause and think.
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What is the best way I can respond
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that can give glory to God?
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What is going to be the best witness?
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Think first. Pray about it.
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Don't take things personally.
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It may be letting things go
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is the best response that time.
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It may be doing some charitable deed
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is the best response.
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It may be calling the police
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and getting them arrested.
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I remember last time I
was in the U.S. up north.
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Well, it was in the middle.
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Kind of everything's north of Texas.
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But there was a member of the church there
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who prior to making a profession in Christ
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had been in prison for dealing drugs.
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But after making a profession,
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he'd gone back to it.
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Well, the church was now
praying for his conversion.
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You know, they were loving him
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and praying for him.
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But at the same time,
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they were also praising God
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in the same prayers
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for taking him off the street
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so he's not harming others
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with his drug dealing.
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You see, that is a right balance there.
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Love and glory to God
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dictates our response.
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So we have to pause. Think it through.
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What is going to bring glory to God?
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And of course, you can apply this
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to other areas of life
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when you're not treated evil.
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You know when you're choosing what to do.
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You have many choices.
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Think it through.
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What is going to bring more glory to God?
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When you're volunteering
to help for things,
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it's very easy to volunteer, isn't it,
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to do everything,
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but sometimes you can take
things too much on
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and that can be a bad testimony
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because you can't follow it through.
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You think can I properly do this
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and so forth?
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So, let's pray.
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Our Father, we thank You for Your Word
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and we pray You would help us
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to apply these principles
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to our lives;
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that we would be governed by Scripture,
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that we would not be
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unnecessarily a bad testimony.
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Help us to be about our Father's business,
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concerned for the name of the Lord
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in what we say, what we do.
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In Jesus' name, Amen.