Romans 12:12-21

I certainly appreciate each one that's come along tonight. We're looking together in Romans chapter 12, and we're going to try to get to the end of the chapter tonight, one way or the other. Let's read the first verse again, just to remember the important connection with the presentation of our bodies to Him.

Verse one, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Drop down to verse nine to pick up the connection there again. Let love be without dissimulation or without hypocrisy.

Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honor, preferring one another, not slothful in business or in diligence, not slothful, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality.

Bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another.

Mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil.

Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine.

I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Now last night we were looking at verse nine to verse 11, and I will just mention that verse nine, let love be without dissimulation or without hypocrisy is really the primary emphasis or charge of this whole last part of the chapter. Let love be genuine without hypocrisy, abhorring that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good.

And I pointed out that there are quite a number of verbs, not only in this verse, but in the following verses that are all I-N-G verbs, abhorring, cleaving, minding, rejoicing, so on, that all carry us back or link us with a main thought, and that it is primarily this, let your love be genuine and sincere. Now, verse 12, I mentioned in closing last night that this verse reminds me of a triangle. A triangle is one of the strongest forms, that one of the strongest structures.

A triangle can hold a tremendous amount or withstand a tremendous amount of force. And so if you look at your personal relationship to the Lord in this verse, you could just do a little self-assessment and ask yourself, am I joyful? Am I patient? Am I prayerful? These three things are very much intertwined, and each has a significant impact upon the strength of the other. So we start with rejoicing in hope.

Now, what does that mean? Well, this is asking us to look forward, to think to our future. Do you know that basically everything that God has for you is anchored in the future? That's where our fullness of salvation exists. We are going to be perfect.

We are going to be fully blessed. We are going to be happier than we know what to do with. Can you imagine an existence without stress, without worry, without grief, without being vexed, frustrated, upset? That's what is in our future.

To have every burden lifted, relieved from everything that drags down, to be in a kingdom where there's a perfect government, perfect rule, perfect administration, and we're going to be part of that administration. We are being equipped today, and when God allows us as his people to endure hardship, to be left in difficult, unpleasant circumstances, it's not because he doesn't care about us. It's not because he has favorites and he gives blessings to other people, but us, he just sort of just lets us scrounge in the dirt.

Everything that he permits us to experience that is negative, burdensome, stressful today has a corresponding blessing. A corresponding reward in the future. I remember some time ago when I was studying on the truth of the king and his kingdom, and it struck me that everything that God asks of us is all based upon a reality that is beyond death.

Where Christ is and where we're going. So everything that we know today is temporary. It's transient.

And so this verse then brings these realities together, and he wants our present strength, our patient endurance in tribulation, in distress, in affliction, in trouble, to be strengthened on one hand by this awareness of the future. Rejoicing in hope. You know, we get disappointed, don't we? But the more that we recognize our true blessings, our eternal blessings are all tied up with the Lord Jesus, the less disappointed, disillusioned, let down we will be when things don't turn out perfectly here.

That's really 1 Peter chapter one. Very important teaching in that chapter. And so rejoicing in hope is a stabilizing, strengthening reality.

And so we need to challenge ourselves. Am I rejoicing in hope? The hope doesn't change or waver because we've lost sight of it, but it can have a profound effect upon our strength and stability if we rejoice. This idea of rejoicing is the idea of the exalting.

We're really caught up in it. It's really holding our attention. Patient in tribulation.

That's the part we don't particularly like. But as I've tried to suggest, not only is there strength to get through it, but the getting through it is a valuable experience. Back in Romans chapter five, the first five verses teaches us that.

We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And then he goes on to say, and we also glory in tribulation. And I always ask myself, really? How many of us do? Not very many and not very often.

It's because we don't really lay hold of our confidence in the God who has saved us and the goodness of his purposes that he always has good intended for us. And in Romans chapter five, it says that tribulation works patience and patience experience. And you might say, well, I'm not particularly interested in getting a lot of experience.

But that idea of having experiences is not just being experienced and having been through it all. As they say, been there, done that. But it really means to have been tested and approved.

To become someone that God has brought through testing and you have gained his approval. There's going to be honor for that. So this verse is really a very important verse, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation.

And then the other anchor on the other side that holds this together is continuing instant in prayer. Now, whatever you might gather in your thinking on continuing instant in prayer, it really is the same expression translated in Acts chapter two and verse 42, when the first disciples continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, the fellowship and the breaking of bread and the prayers. The continuing steadfastly.

Or another way you could translate this is persevering. Persevering in prayer. So again, this is telling us that our communion with God, our calling upon God is a very vital part of our stability, our strength.

And again, that's the other side that holds up and enables us to endure through tribulation. You might wonder, how does the next verse connect with this? Some of these expressions, you could look at them and just sort of look at them like you do the Proverbs, just one verse at a time and in isolation from its context. But how is it connected? Well, I'm gonna just try to connect it together with you and suggest this idea.

Not only does God look for us to persevere in our spiritual life so that we don't give up, we persevere through times of trouble. We are kept steadfast by our confidence in the future, but that we have some energy and interest left over to care for other people. Have you sometimes felt like my life is such a chaos? I've got so much on my plate.

I just don't have any heart, time, energy left to even think about caring for somebody else. If you haven't, I sure have thought that way sometimes. But he says, distributing to the necessity of saints.

That means that we are to have our eyes open to be thinking about the needs that arise among our fellow believers. Now, I would just give you the context here. From verse 14, where it says, bless them which persecute you, and then down in the last few verses where you get the impression that there is persecution in the surrounding context of the lives of these saints.

And so when he is saying, distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality, and then he talks in the next verse about those who persecute you, here is a situation where some Christians have probably lost everything. And so fellow Christians are being appealed to to look at their need and help to take care of them. Given to hospitality is an interesting expression here because it's actually the same word that is used for persecute in the next verse.

Now, that sounds strange, doesn't it? Persecute hospitality. What it really means is to pursue hospitality. Now, how many of us really pursue hospitality? What does that mean? Well, that means to look for opportunities.

To be able to care for people who are in need. One thing I would just point out is that in the New Testament, wherever you get the exhortation to hospitality, it involves more than just what we call socializing. Or you have your friends in and they have you in and you're just going back and forth and enjoying nice times together.

There's nothing wrong with that. But the sense of hospitality here, the word itself means love of strangers. So it really has the idea of caring for people in their distress, whom you would not have a natural connection to.

And so I would, again, just keep it in the overall context of, probably of persecution, of saints who are in distress. And so then how does verse 14 link with this? Well, it says, bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not. Do you have an easy time handling persecution? I don't think any of us really handle persecution very well.

Most of us carefully avoid letting ourselves be subjected to persecution. And maybe we haven't experienced very much direct outright persecution. But there is reproach that every Christian will bear.

But what does this mean? It means not only to survive in the face of animosity, hostility, slander, reproach, but to actually be able to turn towards that person and bless them. Now, what does that mean here? It's the same word as used in 1 Peter 3. And it's the word to eulogize. Now you've all heard eulogies, I'm sure, at funerals.

And what do we do when we're eulogizing? Well, we're speaking well of a person. That's literally what it is, to speak well of. Do you have anybody that hates you? Anybody that despises you? Anybody that treats you contemptuously? This is a tremendous challenge.

The instinctive reaction is to retaliate, is to speak derogatorily towards them. But this is calling upon us out of the strength of our relationship with the Lord Jesus, recognizing that we belong to him, that we are always in his care. Nobody else has the power to destroy us.

And we are free in the safety of our sovereign shepherd to look with compassion towards others who may despise and hate us, and not only refrain from retaliation, but actually to speak well of them, to speak kindly about them. Now that is grace, isn't it? That is the life of the Lord Jesus. Bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not.

If you go to 1 Peter chapter three, verse 10 to 12, where this idea is expanded a little further, the secret is given as to how we can do this, or why we can do this, and very simply, it's because he has called you to a blessing. He has called you to blessing. You are under the sovereign command of a sovereign God who is determined to bring you into blessing.

And so you can afford to be a blessing and bless others. But then the next verse looks at our interest in, and again, I'm going to suggest this is referring back to believers now, rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. And I'm going to point out that the next verse is actually connected grammatically with this verse.

And if I just to give it to you, where it says rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep, the next verse says literally, minding the same thing one towards another, not minding high things but condescending to things that are lowly. So I'll try to explain that as we get down to it. What does this mean and why is this a challenge to us? Rejoice with them that do rejoice.

Well, if somebody else is having a great time, they're in happy circumstances, things are turning out well for them, they're rejoicing, can you enter into their joy? Well, if things are tough for you, that can be difficult. This is the call of love to have a selfless interest in other people so that when they're happy, that brings joy to you. And it's again, just think of it very simply, when you love somebody, when something goes well for them, aren't you happy? Don't you enter into their joy? This is true sympathy in the sense of what sympathy literally means to feel together with, to be able to feel their joy and likewise, weep with them that weep.

And I think most Christians acknowledge that it's easier to weep with those that weep than it is to rejoice with those that rejoice because weeping with those that weep does not tend to cause the same challenge of envy or of feeling sorry for ourselves in relation to, in comparison with them, but it does happen. And again, it usually happens because one individual is going through some kind of hardship, difficulty and they see somebody else who's going through some kind of hardship or difficulty and it seems like everybody's running to care for that person and I'm being left alone. Sometimes we hear this and we can't actually avoid all of this.

For one thing, none of us have the capacity to be able to be everything to everybody. Yet at the same time, we are called to have an impartial interest and care for God's people. But we can tend to be very selective and we can enjoy certain people and rejoice in their joy and be immediately affected if they're in need of help.

In sorrow and other people, we neither share in their joy nor share in their sorrow. That's where I want to link the next verse with this, where it says, be of the same mind one towards another. Now you might think that that is just saying, well, let's just all agree together, be of the same mind.

Now that would be wonderful, wouldn't it? Be of the same mind. If we could even do that, that would be tremendous in many assemblies, to genuinely be of the same mind. And God does desire that we would have unity of mind.

But this is talking about something more than just agreement about principles or agreement about decisions or whatever. This is actually saying, I want you to think the same thing one toward another. In other words, I want you to care about one just as you care about the other.

Minding the same thing one toward another. And then what goes on further with that is not minding things, or not minding high things, but condescending to things that are lowly. Now what is this getting at? Mind not high things.

Does this mean that we shouldn't have any ambition in life? That we should never try to improve a lot in life or get ahead or make progress in life? What does it mean? I'm going to suggest in the context of what we're looking at, it is saying, don't set your heart on becoming number one, of promoting yourself, of wanting a high place. You know, some people are only interested in other people as they further their ambitions. There, I hate to say this, but there have been some times when there are certain people who, when they call you, you know that the only time they're interested in you is because they need you to help them get ahead.

Because they're so absorbed in their own pursuits that they're always calling upon other believers to make use of them for their own purposes. Their own personal pursuits. Thankfully, most aren't like that.

But this is emphasizing that we are not to have this self-focused seeking for advancement, but rather to condescend to men of low estate or to things that are lowly. And again, I'm going to give you what the word condescend really means here. When we use that word, it usually means to kind of, you know, we talk about condescendingly helping somebody.

Well, that's certainly not what this is all about. It really means to let oneself be carried along with. In other words, it's saying, what are the things that motivate you? What are the things that you let carry your interest? Is it the things that are lowly? Or is it the things that are lofty? This is really touching on one of the foundational principles of God's kingdom.

The Lord Jesus taught it, and he was the supreme example of it. He that exalts himself shall be abased. He that humbles himself shall be exalted.

And it's really saying to become a lowly servant. It's not thinking that everybody else is better than you are and you're no good for anything, but rather that you, by serving the needs of others, you are actually being lowly and lifting them up rather than trying to push yourself up. And the last expression in that verse really kind of goes along with that when it says, be not wise in your own conceits.

That word conceits, sometimes it's translated correspondingly in the Proverbs as in your own eyes, in your own opinion. Be not wise in your own conceits. That's fairly easy to happen, really.

That we can carry within us this opinion that my thoughts are worth more than somebody else's thoughts. My opinion is wiser than someone else. I understand it better than you do.

And so we can become wise in our own eyes. And there's a proverb, and this links back to what we read about the slothful man. And I'm just gonna give you a verse that says that.

Proverbs 26 and 16 says the sluggard or the slothful man is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. And then another verse in Proverbs 26 and 12 says, seest thou a man wise in his own conceits or in his own eyes, there is more hope of a fool than of him. What this is really touching on is the problem of pride.

And wisdom, intelligence, cleverness under the control of pride is one of the most dangerous things in the universe. That was the origin of sin. God created a wise, brilliant, beautiful creature, made him the covering cherub.

His name is Lucifer, son of the morning. And what caused the fall of the one who was the greatest of God's creation to become the enemy of God was he became lifted up in his own eyes. He became occupied with how great he was, how intelligent he was, how powerful he was.

And he began to think of himself in terms of rivalry with God himself. And just bringing this down to the everyday assembly life level, if you want to cause damage in the assembly, you just become proud. That's all it takes.

And it doesn't matter who we are. If we let pride begin to infiltrate into our being and take over our impression of ourselves and others, we will become those who create conflict, who cause strife, because strife and rivalry come out of this inflated sense of importance and value of myself. Why is love the antidote of all this? Because love is not self-occupied.

Love is occupied with others. And so earlier in the chapter, it says, as to honor, preferring one another, seeking to honor others ahead of ourselves, or here, not minding high things is not looking for prominence and place among God's people, but being willing to do whatever can help and strengthen others. Now, the last section from verse 17 down to the end, really touches on an aspect of the Christian life that I think personally has been one of the greatest struggles, and some of the dearest saints that I know have been overtaken by it.

This is not talking about someone who is overtaken by personal sin, but someone who is overcome by the effect of somebody else's sin, somebody else's wrong behavior, wrong treatment. And it's our reaction to the evil of another. And the key to it is what we think of God.

And what place we allow God to have in dealing with it. Now, notice how it gives it to us in verse 17. There's a no man in it, and there's all men in it.

And so it's very, very sweeping in its statements. Recompense to no man, evil for evil. And in contrast, provide things honest in the sight of all men.

So first of all, we are challenged to not recompense evil for evil. What does recompense mean? Well, simply to pay back. So this is valid among Christians, and it's valid in our relationships with people in the world.

And I have a sense within me that we have the biggest trouble when it's among Christians. And I think one of the reasons for that is because we expect better from one another. We know it's not right for Christians to treat others wrongfully.

And our sense of the injustice of it, and of the fact that it should be judged, rises up more strongly within us than when it is an unbeliever who treats us wrongly. So he says recompense to no one, evil for evil. Do not let yourself be trapped by retaliating according to their behavior.

You say, well, I can't let them get away with it. If I don't do something about it, they're just gonna keep on being like that. It doesn't mean that evil is not to be confronted.

And this, again, is one of the failings among God's people, and why problems go on and on and on in assemblies, because issues are not dealt with, and problems are not confronted. And that's a tremendous challenge among God's people. Now, this is not looking at the judicial side of it, where the government of the assembly has a responsibility.

And if you go to 1 Thessalonians chapter five, it says, see that. I better read it because I'm not sure if I'm gonna get it just right. 1 Thessalonians chapter five.

We have on one hand the encouragement in verse 12 for the believers to acknowledge those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. So that's the exhortation to all the believers in the assembly, be at peace among yourselves. Keep peaceful relationships.

And now we exhort you, brethren, verse 14 is really to the overseers, now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, disorderly. Comfort the feeble-minded. That's an unfortunate translation.

It really should be the faint-hearted. Comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient towards all. But then notice verse 15.

See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men. So the overseers, as shepherds in the assembly, have this challenge to watch the flock and to not let believers beat up one another. If you see, if as shepherds see things going on that are not right, there should be intervention.

The sheep should know there's shepherds watching out for me. I don't have to fight back. I will be protected.

That is supposed to be the atmosphere of security. Just in the natural realm, in a herd or a flock, if there's one of the, I mean, we never had sheep, but we had cows, and if you had one cow that was in the habit of bullying the others around, they could get merciless and needed a little bit of intervention. And then things settle down.

And then they're at peace. But chapter 12 of Romans is not looking at that governmental side of it, but it's looking at our personal reaction, our personal response to evil. And that is this.

Don't let yourself be dragged down to the same level. If somebody else is behaving wrongly, they are under the control of evil. Don't let their evil trigger evil in you.

If you react as they are behaving, then you have just been brought under the same control of evil that that person is in. And that's what multiplies and magnifies wrong. So on the other hand, on the opposite hand, it says provide things honest in the sight of all men.

Now, what does that say? Well, I'll give you another translation. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. In other words, be careful about your own behavior, that everything that you do will be seen to be honorable.

In other words, we are to not only live before God, which is what we are to do first of all, that is the all-important starting point, but we are also to have a care for the conscience of other believers and other people so that as they look at our lives, they will be able to respect and recognize that this person is acting honorably, kindly, courteously. And so if somebody speaks harshly, carelessly, do we react the same? Or do we respond carefully, kindly, courteously under the control of God? That's what he's asking for us to do. And even in the eyes of those that we may not have much respect for because of their poor behavior.

And so verse 18, actually again, this is another one of these verses that is actually one of these ING verbs again, where it says live peaceably with all men, it's actually living peaceably or being peaceable with all men. So what does verse 18 mean? If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Well, I've heard it explained this way, that you just hold on to your temper as long as you can.

And then when you've had enough, then you give it to them. Well, that's exactly not what it's saying. What it really means is this, in as far as it depends on you, you live peaceably.

It may not be possible to live at peace with another person because they refuse to be peaceable. They will continue to be hostile, provocative. You may have to retreat from that connection.

You may have to walk away from that argument, remove yourself from that hostility. But it says as far as it depends upon you, you don't be the cause of the problem. You maintain the peaceableness.

And that's good for your neighbors. That's good for assembly relationships. As I have gone through many, many years of experience among God's people, I have come to appreciate more and more the value of peace among the saints.

Because when we lose that, we lose the incentive to be caring, to be kind, to be restrained. And so peaceableness is a care for the security and well-being of that person. You're not aggravating the situation.

You're not causing more antagonism. You're bringing it down to a safe level where there can be healthy, beneficial relationships maintained. So if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, as much is resting in your responsibility, live peaceably with all men.

And then he makes this appeal. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.

Again, I'm just going to say that some very, very wonderful believers have been very sadly sidelined in their Christian life by not being able to overcome on this issue. Now, what does this mean? Avenge not yourselves. Well, that's simple enough.

That means don't you take it into your own hands to bring vengeance for what's been done wrong, but rather give place unto wrath. Now, what does that mean? Well, if you just looked at it from the human standpoint, you could think that it means, well, you just step back and let that person blow as they want and you don't retaliate and you just give place unto wrath. That's not what it means.

When it says give place unto wrath, then there's a quotation that follows, and it brings the Lord into the picture. So what it really means is this. Give place unto wrath is just like if you step aside and you let the Lord take over.

Because he is present. One of the most important things for us to grasp in every aspect of life, but when especially when it comes to wrongs that have been experienced, God was there. And God is still the supreme ruler.

He is still the supreme judge. He still accepts final responsibility for what he permits to happen in his dominion. That's an important reality.

Even with the world being as it is, God is still the sovereign God. He is still the one who will judge all things. And when he says, vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord, means that we are to bow to the overruling and ruling hand of God for his governmental dealing of justice.

That's hard to do when things seem to keep going on and don't get put right. But what happens? I've seen this happen too many times. Sometimes it's a failure of an overseer.

Sometimes it's just one of the other believers. Something is done that you think is unjust and it burrows away. And if a believer gets it into his or her mind that I've got to put this right, it's got to be put right, what will we do? Well, we'll keep talking about it.

First of all, we'll keep rehashing it, going over it and over it and over it in our own minds. And then we'll talk about it to other people. Have you ever talked to someone who always is on the same issue? They can't seem to let it go.

The basic problem is they have never relinquished it to God. They have never acknowledged that it is God who is watching, who has seen it, who has the authority, the right and the responsibility to judge it. And so we actually are stepping on God's toes.

James chapter four touches on this, even to keep talking about it. When it's not a matter of confronting it, not a matter of bringing it to governmental authority for it to be dealt with, but just keeping on stewing on it and stirring about it. He says in James chapter four is that we're actually judging the law giver.

Why? Because he hasn't acted. So basically what we're saying is this, God's not doing his job. He's not punishing that person.

So I've got to make it happen. And so that's why he says don't. Avenge not yourselves, dearly beloved.

Step back. Recognize the sovereign God who is the judge. Give place unto God's wrath.

For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. If only we could let our hearts be settled in this confidence that God will, in his own way, on his own terms, according to his own purposes, he will deal with what is wrong.

So what does verse 20 and 21 have to do with this then? This is now saying, if we truly will relinquish this issue to God, then that makes us free to fulfill what God wants us to be fulfilling now in our stewardship. And that is to manifest the grace of God in this world. So here's what it says.

Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Now again, I've heard some pretty humorous interpretations of this. And unless you relate it to the culture of the Middle East, it's pretty hard to know what this is really saying, especially the illustration. What does it mean, heaping coals of fire on somebody's head? Well, I remember one dear sister, when I explained this, she was quite disappointed.

She said, I was hoping that it meant that it really was gonna make him sweat. What does it mean? Well, just put yourself in the harsh environment of the desert. And the people that live there, live under the constant threat of danger to their survival.

And there are three things that are absolutely essential to survival in the desert, as well as anywhere else, but there it's day-to-day life or death. You need food, you need water, you need heat, you need fire. And in the nomadic cultures, they would carefully scoop up the coals of fire from their fires of the night before, and they would carry them with them, literally on their head.

I'm not sure how they managed to do that without getting a warm head. But in their container on their head, you've maybe seen pictures of them carrying all kinds of things on their head as they transport. And so what this is saying is, if you see your enemy in need, take care of that need, help them out.

You are liberated from your sense of having to punish him, cause him harm, and instead you are free to show the love of God. And you might even kill him with kindness. You might overcome your enemy, you might conquer your enemy by changing him into a friend, by showing the care and mercy of God to him in his need.

You know, out in the desert, there's actually a law of the desert that if somebody comes to you at night, you have to let them in and give them a bed, even if it's your enemy. It's the law of the desert, because you are to recognize you might need him the next day or the next month, because you all face a common foe, the desert. And so this is really drawing from that kind of background.

And saying that God wants us to live in freedom from the power of evil to overcome and dominate our lives, and to be able to have the freedom to live out the love of Christ, and to actually transform people, possibly from enemies to friends by showing loving kindness to them. So verse 21, in conclusion, be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. If you look at the quotation, that's a quotation from the Proverbs, really the verses just before that.

And when it says, after it says, and thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head, and it says, and the Lord shall reward you. So obviously it is meant in a kindness, not in causing harm, like pouring literally coals of fire over somebody's head and starting a fire. This is giving to someone the essentials of life and possibly saving their very life.

So I'm going to just leave you with this final challenge. Don't be overcome by evil. Don't let somebody else's wrong destroy your life for God.

Overcome evil with good. And I'm not going to say that I have always succeeded, but I have come to recognize that that's the only true way to overcome. Otherwise, we will perpetuate the ongoing effects of wrongdoing and let's not carry it forward to another generation, to another generation.

That's what the Middle East is built on. Generations of hatred, retribution, retaliation, vengeance, and it never ends. The only thing that can overcome is that love which is of God, shall we pray.

Our gracious Father, Thou has been so compassionate to us to move us from being enemies, sinning against Thee into those who love Thee. Thou has done it at tremendous cost. And we think of the sacrifice of the cross, the giving of Thy beloved Son, the exposure to the insane hatred and malice of men, of that despicable, unsatisfiable hatred that evil has towards good.

And Thou did know that it was really against Thyself, and yet Thou in the wisdom and love of Thine heart did use the very hatred that men had towards Thee to be the instrument by which the sacrifice would be made. We marvel at the love of God. We have rejoiced in our own spirits at being forgiven, of being brought near, of being in Thy love forever, of being united with Thy beloved Son in Thy favor.

Help us, O God, to be able to embrace one another, to be able to overcome that which so easily distresses us and disturbs our peace, our joy, our strength. And we think of the world around us. We pray that we may be able to continue to have an attitude of care and love and interest and respect and courtesy despite whatever injustice animosity might be expressed toward us.

We ask that we might truly, as those who have presented our bodies to Thee, for Thy glory and Thy service, that we may be able to express it by living out this life that is the life of Thy Son. We commit ourselves to Thee, blessing our Lord Jesus in Thy presence in His worthy and precious name. Amen.