When writing to the Gentiles in Rome as recorded in Romans the twelfth chapter, the Apostle Paul made a distinctive directive according to guidance from the Holy Spirit that the church not return evil with evil.  Specifically he wrote in Romans 12: 17 “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. “Paul’s directive was to help the church in settling disputes and arguments among fellow Christians.

Earlier in chapter 12 he uses the phrase “be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” to indicate that a fleshly view of settling disputes cannot be the one adopted by a Christian.  As a sanctified body of believers, Christians ought to be different in all manners of life.  We should talk different, look different and be distinctive.  That’s what sanctified means, set apart. So even when we have disputes or things are done to us that we feel are unjust, we are not licensed to respond in an ungodly manner.

Jesus taught that “offenses must come,” in Matthew 18:7 but he also said “woe unto him” through whom those offenses come.  Jesus was thus explaining that in life, we are going to have temptations, stumbling blocks and things that we have to overcome.  That’s a part of life.  But what we must be very careful to do is to ensure that we are not the one bringing the offense.

Because of the great sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, we too have to give our lives as a sacrifice. We must withhold evil and replay evil with good.  Paul says that “if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  And that has to be our emphasis daily.  As much as we can control our daily interactions, we ought to be creating environments for peaceful relationships with everyone we interact with.

That’s accomplished by kindness and compassion.  John, the apostle, taught that we should love each other so that the love of God would be evident in our daily walk with Christ.  By loving, we prove that we belong to God.  When given the opportunity to curse, if we bless, then we prove we belong to Jesus Christ and are his disciples.  Even members of his body, the church.

“Do not take revenge, my dear friends,” Paul continues to write to the church as recorded in Romans 12, verse 19.  And he closes the chapter by saying “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  In so doing, he says in verse 20, you will heap coals on your enemies head but you will be pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

In our Christian walk (our spiritual lives), as in life (in the flesh, family, friends and jobs), we are willing to do the most for the things we care the most about and have invested the most time, energy and prayer into.  Such is the case in the biblical example where Lot needed to be rescued by his uncle Abraham. The bible tells us that during the war of the kings, Lot was taken up with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and all of their people and goods, along with his family.  This is because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There are so many lessons in this text of Genesis 14:14 which says ‘When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.’

The first lesson is that Abraham is a type and shadow of Jesus Christ, who redeemed the lost, who is Lot (his nephew). Jesus redeems the lost, coming to earth to bring forth salvation and everlasting life for sinners like you and me.  But not just salvation, also ‘abundant life’ until the day which he returns again to claim his ‘church’ for which he gave his own life (Matt 16:18). Jesus is ready to assist us, even after his resurrection, because he gave his life for us.  He meets us where we are.  We can be saved as a rich man or poor man.  Disheveled or put together.  All we need is faith in him and submission to his Word, then to be baptized into his death.

The second lesson we see is that God is always prepared to spring into action on our part.  As shown by Abraham, who had ‘trained men’ already prepared to go and do battle (only 300 or so) according to the scriptures.  Knowing this, we have the assurance that Christ is always ready and willing to help us when we need it the most.  It should transform our anxiety into faith and get us to be less anxious about what will happen, no matter what state we find ourselves in.  And especially when we’ve done wrong, even as Lot had by pitching his tent toward Sodom, a type and a shadow of sin.

The final lesson is that God, just like Abraham, will go as far as it takes to reach us.  This text says Abraham ‘went in pursuit as far as Dan.’  In consideration of a location on a map, Dan is about 140 miles from Hebron, where Abram began his march.  So in those days without modern day transportation that is quite a length to travel and especially while wagging war.  It teaches us that there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love and his reach.  That alone should give us comfort when we go through trials and tribulations and suffer persecution.

God is willing to go the extra mile to rescue us, to redeem us and to save us.  He gave his very best for us, his Son, Jesus the Christ.  So the question now becomes, what are we willing to do for Him and the bride of his son, the church of Christ?

In a very real way, Paul’s conclusion in his letter to the churches of Thessalonica (as recorded in 2 Thess. 3:2) was profound and telling.  Paul wrote “and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith.” The context of that commentary was that Paul knew that while spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ that he would be under spiritual attacks by evil and faithless men.

His prayer, however, was that he would be able to get relief from such men and be saved from the perverse spirits that oppose even men endeavoring to do the will of God. Saints, the devil is very real.  And he cannot be consulted with or even reasoned with. Jesus himself said “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”  This is a warning that we ought not try to reason with Satan or those who allow him to use them, making themselves evident in our lives.

If we’re getting spiritual breakthroughs and being blessed by growth in God’s word, sinful men won’t be happy to hear that news.  Unreasonable men will scoff at the mention of how good God is.  Don’t waste time with Satan, that’s the lesson.  Trying to reason with the devil, especially using God’s word, only enrages him more and encourages him to release evil attacks aimed at knocking you off your spiritual course.

Because we are children of God, we are God’s creation.  Everything God made, inside it, he put a purpose.  Meaning, our lives have purpose and we should be leading purpose driven lives. A purposeful life will always be challenged because the devil’s aim is to steal, rob and destroy us.  But he must be rebuked in the name of Jesus.

In short, we must learn to tell the Devil ‘no!’

Paul described opponents of the gospel as perverse and unreasonable.  Those two words are highly descriptive and impossible to misunderstand.  Perverse means behavior that is anything contrary to expected norms or practices.   Unreasonable simply suggest that a person has moved beyond the limits of acceptability or fairness in behavior or reasoning.

The reason we have to tell the devil no is because he is unreasonable.  He’s the one encouraging you to drink and then drive drunk.  He’s the one encouraging us to lie, cheat and steal and assuring us we won’t get caught or no one will get hurt.  He’s the one who tempts us with temporary pleasures and lusts.  He must be rebuked and he must be told no!  Don’t argue, debate or reason with him, just rebuke him.

It’s what Jesus did when he said “get the behind me Satan” when tempted during his trial of 40 days and nights.  Ask yourself, when tempted, what would Jesus do?  The answer is, he’d tell Satan no.  For the battle is already ours in Christ Jesus.  God didn’t say weapons wouldn’t form, he just said they wouldn’t prosper.

We all love to get good news. A new child has been born, a son graduated from Law school, a son that was lost is now found his way back to the Lord, your wife got a promotion on her job, a doctor’s report was good, your favorite team won the championship game and a daughter is getting married and on and on. We as human beings just love good news and we love to celebrate good news.

Paul says in Romans 10:15 ‘shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

‘And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.’ (Acts 13:31-33)

The Gospel is not old news, But Good News that needs to be told over and over again. When was the last time you gave someone good news? It is time we start telling the Good News, of the Gospel. We are living in perilous times, when it’s a rarity to hear good news. There are times when I tune into the local and world news, that I find myself saying, is there any Good News?

We need to know that every day, somebody needs to hear some good news, The Gospel. The First Century church turned the known world upside down with this Good News, the Gospel. Let us to continue with moving boldly forward with their example in mind. “GO YE” STILL MEANS “GO ME”

‘And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.’ (Matthew 28:18-20)

Family, it is important to remember that we can be a transformative force in this world when we encounter people with problems, heart aches and pain. We have some good news to offer them. It’s been a blessing to become acquainted with Jesus Christ. A healer, a forgiver of sins, a redeemer, a mentor, a brother, father, mother and friend. Let’s tell others about the good news that is Jesus the Christ sometimes. It’s news that can truly transform lives and the world in which we live.

A large part of being a successful Christian is dying daily to our flesh and renewing our strength to walk and live according to the Spirit of God.

Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians (recorded in chapter 3:16,17) a prayer which states in part his wish that God “would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”

Our ability to connect with the mind of Christ is through our faith in Jesus Christ. Ultimately our faith makes us Christians. It leads us after hearing, to water baptism. It convicts us of biblical truths and the Lordship of Christ Jesus. And undeniably, it fills our hearts with love.

With love in our hearts, we are able to accomplish all of the things God wants us to do. That’s because we come to know God better with Love and it’s because God is love. Without love, we cannot know God.

Throughout the scriptures, God is trying to convince us of his love for us so that ultimately we will go out and love others. Thus we accomplish the will of God, bringing people into the perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ who God gave to us as a perfect showing of love.

When we are not convinced that God loves us (by sending Christ to die for our sins), we withhold our love from others. We withhold our praise and our worship from God. It’s a revolt against God’s sovereign will and thus we sin against the Lord.

So when we lack love, we sin because we excuse the love of Christ which should dwell in us. Paul wrote to the churches in Colossi, encouraging them to ‘Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives’ (Col 3:16). That is how we truly allow Christ to fill our hearts and ultimately please God our father in heaven.