Well, this morning, we are continuing also, a series on vengeance. On the board, before you, you have words like hurt and betrayal and you have words like blessing and praying because, we will be looking at the subject of vengeance. And before we look into the sermon itself, just a very simple, light video to share with you, about how real it is in all our lives.

Video plays.

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Well, that's what vengeance is, in a very simple practical way. You know, it doesn't take a lot to ruffle our feathers, isn't it. Most of the time, we are angry, we go into vengeance, because of very trivial or little things. This is what we react in, when we are hurt and betrayed. So, today, once again, we are looking at the subject of insults and hurts in our lives.

You may have had someone in your life hurt you, betrayed you, insulted you and slandered you and when these pains come into your life, no matter how trivial it is, somehow, we are volatile, combustible and we say to ourselves, someone is gonna pay, that's what vengeance is. It's such a common and powerful emotion and expression, that we fail to realize, that we have forgotten what God's standard is for us.

You see, Chinese, many of you here, like myself are Chinese people. The Chinese culture and history, is very steep in vengeance isn't it, so much so, that we think that vengeance is a virtue. How do I know that, let's look at this idiom, this Chinese idiom. For those who don't understand it, I have written it for you in English as well. Now, what it means in English is,

"10 years, though is a long time, is not too long for a gentleman to await, to exact his revenge!"

So, in other words, you can harbor some kind of bitterness and anger for a long time, that's fine, just wait for the golden moment, you can wait for ten years, it's fine. But what is even more shocking to me, is that the Chinese, we believe, it is gentlemanly to exact revenge. Hey, it's perfectly legitimate, it's perfectly good, it's perfectly right for us to take revenge, take as long as you want, but go ahead and do it.

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And, so this is so ingrained in our belief systems, in our culture, that we fail to realize, that is not the way of the Bible, that is not what God wants. Instead of responding in vengeance, saying, someone's got to be, the Bible tells us, you have got to be blessing those who hurt you, you've got to be praying for those who persecute you, you have got to be healing them, you've got to be forgiving them. And so, this is really unnatural to many of us. This morning, when you came, maybe you were in a tiff with your spouse, you had some run in with your boss and colleagues, and you say, how is it possible to bless that unreasonable fella, it's impossible, it's unnatural and you are right.

It is natural, for us to respond in vengeance, it is supernatural, for us to respond in goodness.

I share with you a quote from that Spurgeon, a preacher of times past, used to say. He says, returning evil for good is devil like, true right, someone does something good to you and you respond in evil, that's bad, that's devil like. He goes on to say, returning evil for evil is beast like. And then he says, returning good for good is men like. And then, he comes with this, returning good for evil is God like. Because, it is unnatural. The way man is, the best we can do is when you do something good to me, I will do something good to you. But, if you hurt me, don't expect me to return blessing and praying and healing and forgiving, it's unnatural.

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You see, the only way, anyone of us, could live a life God wants us to live, to return good for evil, is when we first of all, have been touched by God. There is no way you today, can live a life of love, until you're willing to come to the cross of Jesus Christ. Now, there are many coping mechanisms when we are hurt. What we do, is sometimes, we sleep it off, isn't it. Husbands and wives, you quarrel, you argue and you don't want to settle anything, you don't want to resolve it, so what both of you would resort to do is to just, sleep it off. Maybe, tomorrow morning, when we wake up, it would be fine. But the reality is it isn't fine. The poison, the toxins of vengeance and hatred, brews within you and so, the next week when you quarrel again, the wife or the husband will get historical, you remember, you remember, you remember, five years ago, ten years ago and then, you get hysterical. Because, it accumulates, you have never really dealt with it.

So, there are many coping mechanisms, some of us, I realized, cope with it, by going for a good meal. I am very angry, so I eat a lot. Or some of us, we escape to go on a holiday and so, these are the escape mechanisms. But there is no real solution to vengeance, to hatred until we come to the cross and we realize the love of God in Jesus Christ. And only when we receive this love from Christ, who died for us when we were His enemies, that we can now begin to love others with the overflow of the love we first received. So, until a man is touched by God, he understands, he receives, deep within his soul, the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, there can be no real deliverance from anger and hatred and animosity. It's always on the cross.

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So, when He is now bruised, when He is now insulted and betrayed, because of the love of Christ, coursing through His soul, when He is bruised instead of responding in hatred and vengeance, He emits a beautiful aroma fragrance of blessings and praise. So, last week, we looked at this sermon, called beautiful when bruised. That's what a Christian should be. I gave all of you a lemon grass, I suppose some of you used it for curry, some of you use it for lemongrass, honey lemongrass, some of you, like myself, I used it to ward off mosquitoes, I am told, it's very effective. But I hope you have a whiff of that lemongrass. It was not very strong, when you got it here on this chair, but when you bruise it, the aroma accentuates, it's obvious and that's what a Christian should be. The Christian life, is most glorious, it's most beautiful, when we respond to evil with good, beautiful when bruised, possible only because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, right off the sermon last week, I had some of our church members, asked me great questions. One of the great questions, is this, pastor, supposing, the wife is abused by a terrible husband, what you're saying, is, this wife cannot retaliate. What you're saying, is that she has to continue to sit under the abuse of her husband, pastor, that isn't right, what do we do, what do we tell her, a wife who is in an abusive family? I say, that's a great question; it's a great question because it is important to clarify, that when we say, we forgive someone from the heart and we bear no grudges and we're not to hate the person, it doesn't mean you cannot tell the other person what he did is wrong, neither, does it say, you can't protect yourself from further abuse.

You see, we're not to encourage the abuser to continue the abuse because you're just encouraging him to sin. So, there's nothing wrong with informing, with protecting yourselves, there's nothing wrong with a wife seeking help and separating herself, so that she may be protected from further harm. But, the heart, is where we are after and the heart is where God is looking at, that she must not have anger and animosity and bitterness. That itself, is really difficult. Remember Jesus, I have mentioned this example several times, remember Jesus, how he was slapped on the cheek. Our Lord, didn't say, hey please continue to slap the other side, he didn't. He did tell the soldier, why did you do this? The intent, is not that He wanted to retaliate, the intent, is to put a check to that soldier's soul, why do you even do this, don't.

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So, as a wife, who is abused, you may know of people like this. Hey, the advice of Scripture, the commands of Scriptures, is not that she cannot protect itself; she must, she should. But, she must come to the cross to find forgiveness and healing, and love from the cross of Jesus Christ, from the Gospel of God.

Now, let me say this, another reason why, is you and I may have difficulty forgiving somebody else, is because we just feel that it is not right, how can it be so, he abused her, he did this, they did this and how could we ever let that go, it's just not right. Isn't it so? Supposing, you have worked out those personal grievances, you have dealt with that, there is no self and this, yet we still find it very difficult to say, we're not going to do anything about it, let him be, let them go, I am not going to hold them accountable. Somehow, within us, that is not just, that's just not right.

Let me tell you something about you, about me, it is this; deep in all our hearts today, deep inside, is the cry for justice. Think about this, in your heart, you long for justice, you long for wrongs to be made right, you long for justice to prevail, you long for sin to be dealt with, you long for punishments to be meted out when it is appropriate and necessary, you cry for justice.

Just this week, I had a friend who post on Facebook this post, I thought it was rather interesting. He says "I don't mean to be mean, but yesterday, at the Causeway, seeing those drivers, who had no intentions to queue, went all the way to the front, in a lorry or trailers' lane, and getting caught by the waiting police at the front, is something really, really satisfying. You know what it is, right? When you go to the Causeway, the car queue can be very, very long. And then lorry and the truck queue is very very short and so, those who think they're very clever, what, those who are car drivers, they swerve to the lorry lanes and they go right in front, hoping to then cut in at the very end. And I have seen this before, there are police or security people who are right at the end of the lorry's lane and when they see the car coming, they just turned back, they say to you, turn back and I tell you, when I read what he wrote, and I recall that scene where the police is constantly redirecting, those cheaters bugs, I also say, it is really really satisfying.

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Now, it was nothing to do with me, I mean, I was not inconvenienced by people who did that, because, I was on a bus, on a bus lane, but I felt that these cheats are just not doing what is right and when wrong is judged, in a sense, when wrongs are made right there is a satisfaction that comes to the depth of our heart, because, deep in all our hearts, we cry out for justice. Maybe, that's why, you can't let go, because, you feel that it's just not right.

I give you another example. A few weeks ago, we heard the horrendous stories, tragedies, of how a young girl was gang raped in Delhi. It is now known as the Delhi rape case. It was a rape of a single lady, but the entire nation of India, Delhi and the entire world really, was just grieved with this wrong, just upset. Now it was nothing to do with your daughter or your wife, somebody else, but yet in all our hearts, you say, this is not right and the whole nation rises up and say "We want justice" because, there is the cry of your heart.

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Therefore, when you read the Bible, you look at the book of Psalms. Psalms is that song book of the Bible, that's where the lyrics are written and sung to tunes by the Jews. In the book of Psalms, it's not all about nice, sweet, rosy things. The book of Psalms, have those judgment kind of a songs, O, judge them, punish them and you feel as if, wow, why are they so fierce? Let me say this, the psalmist, the writers of the songs, are not writing it in vengeance or animosity or bitterness within their souls, it's a cry for justice. It's a cry, for the deepest longing within your hearts; that's why, it is difficult for us to forgive, because, you say, it is just not right that he could go off scot-free. He's got to be in judged, that wrong has got to be made right, we can't just let go.

And you know what, that desire is from God because you all, we are all made in the image of God and God is righteous and God is a God who will judge wrongs and therefore, deeply imprinted in our souls is the cry for justice. So you say, pastor, how can I ever forgive if this is the deepest longing in our soul. I worked out my personal grievances but there is something objectively just wrong and I can't let go. This is where the Word of God comes in. In Romans 12:19, these words are powerful words, you have got to understand the logic, you know, we could've ended vengeance at verse 18, but, Paul sees it fit that he gives us versus 19-21, because there is good reason for it.

Because, he knows that deep within our hearts, there is this longing for justice that makes us feel we can't forgive, so God through Paul says, don't you worry about it, "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but, leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Now, will wrongs be made right? Sure. Is justice going to prevail? Yes, but it is not by you. You let go, leave it, give place to the wrath of God, it is not in your position to deal with it, it is God who deal with it, I will repay.

Romans 12:18-21

English Standard Version (ESV)

18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[a] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Let me tell you something, if God says I will repay, you can trust him to do a good job at it, isn't it. I will repay and let me say this, I think again, deep in our hearts, at least in certain cultures, deep in our hearts, not only do we want justice to prevail, deep in our hearts, we also believe, somehow, someway, justice eventually prevails.

There are some statements like, "Justice and righteousness always prevails", Another statement that you may also want to know is this Chinese saying, literally "The net of heaven is wide, is far, but no one escapes from it." Deep in our hearts, at least for the Chinese, as we follow these idioms, we are saying, justice will prevail and all evil will be judged. But, who is going to judge it? You, oh, you will be very busy if you are the one judging all evil, but the conviction of our hearts, I think, derive from the understanding and the instinct, to realize and from the Bible that informs us, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay", says the Lord.

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This is what is necessary in order for you to live a revenge free kind of a life, you need the love of Jesus within your soul and you need the faith in the absolutely perfect Judge; He will do it. You have got to trust Him, nothing will slip by Him, He is the all knowing impartial Judge. Shall not the Judge of the earth do right? Trust Him.

Some years ago, I was a medical officer in the Army, in a brigade and in the Army, you know that people who commit errors and they need to be charged. We call that going to a court-martial. Court-martial is to go before the SAF courts to be convicted and then to be sentenced. Now, what happens in a court-martial, I've only been there once, alright, what happens to the courts, not not that I was, court-martialed, but I have to be there, in a court-martial, generally you have a judge and then, you have offices who are witnesses and we sit together. Usually, they are done by infantry officers, but in my brigade, there were some exercise and they had no available officers. So, they got me, a medical officer to go to a court-martial to be one of the witnesses or one of the judges. Now, it was really weird, because I've never been trained on this I've never experienced what it is, what are my responsibilities. So, when I got there, I saw this reservist lawyer, I think he is a major or a half colonel and he is serving his reservist. Very good lawyer, your reservist is being a judge, how shiok can that be and so, he was the judge then, he was trying to tell me what it's all about, share with me and another officer but, we "catch no ball", Don't know what he's talking about and, times up, the court is going to start and so, we walked with him, I didn't know where to sit, didn't know where to stand, didn't know when to stand and didn't know when to sit, didn't know whether I should bow or not, I just was a dummy. And during the entire proceedings, about the soldier who went AWOL, absent without official leave, the prosecutor presented his case, I didn't understand what he was talking about and I just acted very smart, I nodded my head and right after that session, we went behind, because the judges needed to deliberate over the sentence.

So, the very nice reservist lawyer, ask me, what do you think? The whole time, I was just smiling, having a blank look, I didn't know what to think. He says, is five weeks appropriate? I don't know, two weeks, five weeks, five thousand dollars, I don't know what is appropriate. I have no information, I have no background and I just felt, that whole time, inadequate, silly and lousy about it, because, I am not suitable to be a judge.

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Some of us, however, want to be a judge, we want to say, he deserved this, he deserves that, when we really do not know better. Hey, vengeance, judgment, taking things into our own hands, is too dangerous a weapon for us to wield, we can't handle it. All we do is maybe, perpetuate even more anger and evil and hatred and we expand that poison, we fling it further and we poison our own soul. So, God says, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." You know something about our God, this morning, as you come, we're not here to give you moral lessons, that's not my interests, that's not our purpose, we are here to share with you about God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There's something you need to know about God, the Bible says, God proclaims and promises, "Vengeance is mine." Now, that word is not popular in modern-day Christianity, we don't like to hear about the God of wrath, we want to hear, God is love. Wrath? no, no, no, that's not my concept of God. But, you can't run away from that and indeed, you should rejoice that our God is a God of wrath, because he is a God of holiness and righteousness and justice and indeed, "The net of heaven is wide, is far, but no one escapes from it", because He is a God who will repay. You see, the verses of the Bible, tells us so, so many. It's just that, in the church today, we can to talk about His love without an understanding of His righteousness, His wrath, His holiness.

Deuteronomy, right in the Old Testament, it says,

“Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He will repay, He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people's land.”

“Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people's land.”

(Deuteronomy 32:43 ESV)

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So, what does the writer say we should do? Rejoice because He is a God who will execute justice.

Psalms 94

O LORD, God of vengeance, oh, I've never heard anyone pray, God of vengeance, you say, God of love today. The Psalm is, is not afraid to proclaim, indeed they are proud to proclaim, they are happy to proclaim, You are a God of vengeance. God of vengeance, shine forth! What they're saying is the glory of God is manifested in His vengeance, His holiness, His righteousness is seen. So, the psalmist cries, Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?

O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth! Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?

(Psalm 94:1-3 ESV)

Because, deep in all our hearts is the cry for justice and God, meets that need. Nahum, well, what Nahum, well, is one of the books of the Old Testament, he is a minor prophet and there, it says, God is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.

(Nahum 1:2 ESV)

And lastly in Revelations, you know, when we get to heaven, one day, when Jesus comes for us, we are going to sing His grace, we are going to sing about His love, we are going to sing about the wonderful salvation in Jesus Christ, but let me tell you what we will also be singing about and again, is not about a kind of vindictive kind of anger but it's a righteous, holy indignation against sin and those who will refuse to believe, John said

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, (Added by Pastor: what) “Hallelujah! (Added by Pastor: praise to the Lord ) Salvation and glory and power, (Added by Pastor: great things) belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

(Revelation 19:1-2 ESV)

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You see, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

Today, the Scriptures is saying to you, if you're wronged, you need to come to the cross, you need to be filled with the love of Jesus, overflowing and you not only need that, you need that faith that God will ultimately make those wrongs right, trust Him, because He is holy, He is not Santa Claus, He is not a benevolent old grandfather sitting up there and closing one eye to all the wrong is going on in this world, He is going to make it all right. Therefore, my beloved, don't avenge yourself, you can't handle this, you can't do this well, but God can, leave it, give place to the wrath of God, for He has already said, "Vengeance is mine, I, not you, I, not you I will repay."

That's what I want for you, because, maybe for many years, for the first time in decades in many years right now, you can take a deep sigh and say to yourself, finally, I can let go because, vengeance is yours Lord, You will repay.

I want you to look back to the cross, in this church, I pray at all times, we are brought back to Jesus and at the cross, Jesus suffered and died for His enemies, for people like you and me who deserve nothing but judgment and wrath, because, we are sinners, we grieve God, we go against Him, we hate Him, we duly deserve the judgment. But you know what, Jesus died for you and for me. Now, won't that be the thought of you, how could that be, it's just not right. But, it is exactly because He died for us, that on the cross, we see Him, beautiful when bruised. What enabled Him to do so, it's amazing, Scripture tells us why, the rationale in the mind of God.

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Peter, he says,

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. (Added by Pastor: What did he do?) He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, (Added by Pastor: How could he do this? Look at the closing phrase ) But he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.(1 Peter 2:21-23)

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This is the deep conviction of our Savior, that enabled Him to go to the cross, believing, in the Father who judges, justly. This is what you need, maybe, this morning, to find grace, and to find faith that God would make all things right ultimately, vengeance is His, it's His department, it's His prerogative, it's His business and there is no place for me to usurp that position or prerogative. Does this mean then, Christians, you have nothing to do? When someone wrongs you, okay, I'm not going to do anything, no.

Let me tell you, if you really have the love of God in your veins, and the faith that He is going to judge rightly, then, Paul goes on and say, to the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. Very practical good. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. So, what Paul is saying here is, instead of just passive, non retaliation, he says, you do active benevolence. Do it! Why?, By so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. Now, this is not saying, go to a BBQ pit, get the coal and dump it on your neighbors head. No, no, no, this is not what it is.

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What it means, is rather difficult to decipher, even commentators up till today, can't quite agree. But there are 2 basic views. One, this is simply an act of generosity, because, they live in days that may be cold, they don't have heaters and therefore, coals set on fire is something precious and you give it to someone who carries it on his head, you're just being a blessing to him. So, it is a very straightforward, simple meaning in the 1st view.

But there are others who say, that this putting coals on his head, is an Egyptian ritual, that when people carry it on the heads, it burns and people do it as a sign of repentance. So, they are sorry about something, and they want to tell others they are sorry about something, they get a pot of coals, sit it on his head and everybody knows, this guy knows he is wrong, he is repentant, he's sorry about what he does.

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So, Paul is saying, in essence, when someone wrongs you, bring it to the cross, believe that the Judge of all the earth, will do right and do good to him, because, as you do to him, that will be pain and guilt in his life. Now, I hope your understanding is wah!, his pain, his guilt, shiok ah, ha ha, I can pay back that way. No, no, no, that will go contrary to the entire teaching of Scriptures. But you are hoping that he will be pained, he will be shamed, he will be guilty, so that he may repent and turn back to God and find forgiveness in Jesus.

So, what he's saying here is, you heap coals, ultimately, still for his good, all right, that's the only way to take this text, because, also in verse 21, he says, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

So, don't perpetuate the cycle of evil. Break that cycle, believe in the power of good, embrace the power of the good. Anger Hardens, Love Softens.

Overcome evil not with evil, but only with good. The word overcome is quite interesting, it is the word, nikao, that comes from the word nike (sounds like nikay) from which you get the word nike, nike means conquests, victory.

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The only way you can conquer evil is by good. Do you know the only way you can conquer your unreasonable friend, your unreasonable spouse, is not with more evil. When your wife shouts at you, the only way you can retaliate or the only way you can really overcome that, is not by shouting louder, because, you merely stoke the fires of vengeance and cause it to escalate. The only way you can douse those claims is with good. Evil can only be overcome with good, by good. This is what the Bible says, keep your conduct among the Gentiles, honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God. Overcome evil with good!

A wife, who is married to someone who is not a believer, and may even take advantage of her. What does she do? Again, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the Word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives; you overcome evil with good.

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

(1 Pet 3:1-2)

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Again, I am saying, doesn't mean, you can't tell him his faults, doesn't mean you can't protect yourself, but this is how you need to react, because, this is what nikao evil.

Ultimately, I want us today to come back to the cross, once again. How are you won, how are you won, how are you won to Jesus Christ. He conquered us with His love. Jesus conquered me with His love. It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance, and on the cross, when I hear and when I understand and when I know, the Son of God, came down, to die for me, when I am His enemy, that conquered my sinful heart. He won me over.

You know, Jesus embodied Romans 12:21, Do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with good. He did it, He did it and we are called to follow His footsteps, that we will do it, and give place, to the wrath of God to deal with him.

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We end today, in a series on vengeance. I do not know about you, but I was sharing with my care group yesterday, as I was studying the subject of vengeance over these few weeks, it is a tremendously humbling experience for me, because, I see the ugliness of my life, I see the quickness to retaliate, I see the anger, the bitterness, I see the unworthy way I am. How it's destructive and how it's hurtful, and how through the sermons as I have been preparing, it drives me back to the cross of Jesus Christ. It humbles me to say, Lord, I need Your love, because I have no love of myself, fill me with the love of the cross, that with the overflow, I may love others. Lord, I see in me a very insecure and fragile person, that when I am just irritated a little, my feathers are ruffled and I am combustible. Teach me, to die to self, that I may indeed, present my body, a living sacrifice.

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This week, somebody in this church, wrote a beautiful article, I thought I would just share with you some excerpts. She said:

Is there a way to deal with difficult people. These are her reflections, of the hearing the sermons,

Is there a way to deal with difficult people?

Needless to say, there are plenty of these people around. They are our bosses, the fellow commuter on the train on the way to work, or just a colleague in a snappy mood.

How did I react? Sometimes I cowered, other times, I fought back. But I would feel rotten about it, all the time.

I agree with her.

It helps, to tell yourself, it's not the opinions of others that you change your life on,
but, it is so, so difficult, to fix an approval addiction problem, that has already left behind a trail of broken hearts and broken relationships in its path.

You know that addiction to have approval, to fill your ego, the hubris, we are not pretty enough, good enough, successful enough, charming enough, eloquent enough, rich enough, happy enough and that makes us feel rotten. So, we're never enough for anyone and it is so easy to then press the wrong buttons and to rile someone up because of that.

Time stamp in audio 0:39:19.1.

You are insecure, that's who we are. So, it is this fragile self image, and the string of never enough that makes us so sick inside, that it manifests, outwardly. Realizing this is only one part of the story, disarming a snarky and rude person is another, never, ever, retaliate. Don't let anger eat into you, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. But most importantly, be so firm and rooted in love that even though you are hurt, acknowledge this hurt and evil, and come to the fountain filled with blood, to wash the guilty stains of others, which were wiped on you.

The best way to deal with difficult people, is to let Jesus deal with your self first. You have got to come to the cross, find your approval, find your acceptance, find your love in Jesus, on the cross. So, have you built a card castle of who you are and what's really important to you,.  Learning why, and how difficult people get under your skin are good indicators of what you prize as more important than Jesus.

Time stamp in audio 0:40:35.5.

Sometimes, the correct self image, of that rooted in being a valued treasure is attacked; we must then plead for healing and restoration as you utilize His divine power to cover a multitude of sins.

Rather long, but several thoughts that lead you to come to the cross and find a solution in Jesus Christ. If you today, are a child of God, I am speaking to you, I am speaking to myself. The only way we can have grace, to forgive is from Jesus.

Time stamp in audio 0:41:08.6.

But dear friends, you may be here today for the 1st time and this may be the only time, I wish it's not your 1st time and only time, I wish you will continue to come and hear the Word of God. But this morning, we are hearing, vengeance is Mine; you know something, God will judge all sins, He will, He will not let it slip by, He is not flippant or slipshod about it, He will repay and because we are all sinners, we will be judged, if it is not yet paid. The wrath of God abides in those who believe not in Jesus Christ. But, let me tell you this, in His wrath, He remembers mercy. This morning, come back to the cross. The cross, is the only place where the wrath of God and the love of God can ever meet. It is because of the wrath of God, that there is the cross. It is because of the love of God that there is the cross. You see, if there is no love of God, there will not be the need for the cross, all of us will be judged, and all of us will go to hell. But, if there is no wrath of God, there is also no need for the cross, because, God is so slipshod and so flippant about it, He says, everyone can go to heaven, there is no payment that needs to be made. But no, He is just, He is love and therefore, the wrath and the love of God meet perfectly on the cross of Jesus Christ.

God has ordained, that all the wrath that is due to our sins are poured out on His only Son, Jesus. The Bible says, "He that has the Son, has life." Because, He has borne the wrath that is due to your sins. "But he that has not the son of God, have not life" and you will die in judgment. My friends, all of you, what is really important to us today, this is the message. The love of God is not a cheap love, it is a costly love, because He is a God of justice, vengeance is Mine, I will repay, but He chose to pour it on His Son. Would you today, choose to receive the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Sacrifice, remember this, vengeance is Mine, I will repay. Let's bow for a word of prayer, this morning.

Time stamp in audio 0:43:46.4.

What a beautiful contrast, the love and the wrath, because, it is in the sight of His wrath that we fully appreciate His love. Our God is a perfect, righteous God. This morning, take some time, I want to encourage all my brothers and sisters, you who are Christians, maybe, there is still bitterness, animosity, hatred within your soul today and it is poisoning you, it is killing you on the inside and you say to yourself, I just can't forgive. Look to Jesus, who has first forgiven you, all your sins and follow His footsteps and and trust yourself to Him who judges, justly. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, believe, and be set free that you may, maybe for the 1st time in your life, be able to experience that full and free, forgiveness that you can give to others and as you do so, you have fellowship with Jesus in His suffering, in His love and in His death.

Time stamp in audio 0:45:06.2.

To all of you today, who do not know Jesus, the wrath of God, is a terrible thing. When He execute judgment, it is a fearful thing and we do wish that on you in the least bit. There is a wonderful gift, a gift of grace, a gift of love, that some 2000 years ago, Jesus, the only Son of God, came that He may die on the cross. You say why, because that's the love of God, to barter for your sins, that the wrath of God, that sins must be judged, in order for you to be set free, He's got to pay the price and you know something, Jesus paid it all and today, that flows for you a fountain filled with blood. Sinners, you can plunge beneath that flood and lose all your guilty stains. Jesus, paid it all.

So, would you today come to Jesus, acknowledge, confess admit within your hearts today, you have sinned against Him and you can't save yourself, but Jesus can and you want to believe. If that is the desire of your heart, cry out to God and it is that prayer, it is that belief, it is that faith in Jesus that will set you free. So, Lord, this morning, we thank You, we thank You, today, You are perfect, You are just, You are holy, You are righteous and You are God of love. Thank You for the cross and I pray today, all of us, regardless of where we are in our lives, would be drawn a step nearer to Jesus. So, bless Your people today, in a rich, wonderful, beautiful way, we ask, and pray all this now, in Jesus name, Amen.