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