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00:00 up this morning. We're going to
00:05 deal with a an extremely difficult topic.
00:13 Let me give you a bit of history on this to give you some perspective. In 1994,
00:21 a genocide happened in a country called Rwanda. Over a speed of 100 days, 100
00:29 days, the United Nation record shows a minimum of half a million
00:34 people died. Majority from a clan or tribe caught the tootssis.
00:41 It was a genocide on unprecedented scale where neighbors turn on neighbors. And
00:48 it's something that simmit over a long time because the history of Rwanda is that for many centuries the Totsis held
00:56 power until a coup in 1960s where the Hutus the other tribe came in
01:04 and there was so much bloodshed. Uh they brought in so many of these matches. You
01:09 know where this came from? China. Shows you Chinese culture.
01:15 But this is a topic where many of us are probably not qualified to say because we
01:22 don't have that kind of uh we don't we haven't gone through this. So to give it
01:27 perspective I inviting Sister Queen. Sister Queen is from Rwanda.
01:34 Sister Queen is a Tootszie, a member of a tribe where half a million
01:40 people were murdered over a period of 100 days. To give us perspective, I've
01:46 invited Sister Queen to share a bit with us and I've asked Sister Queen basically I'
01:53 I've I've met Sister Queen at the Rwanda Memorial. She attends our church um and
01:59 she shared a testimony there. I would just like sister queen to share maybe in just five minutes uh the difficulties of
02:08 reconciling in Rwanda between Hutus and Totsis. Maybe you can share.
02:15 Good morning church. Um my name is Queen. I'm from Rwanda.
02:21 Uh as you said our country experienced a genocide 1994. That was a civil war
02:26 between two ethnic groups. That was the hoous against theis.
02:32 A million of people died. Those who fled the country and those who survived are
02:37 the ones who came back to fill the country again. So the massacre I mean the hutus some
02:46 were in prison. So how can we or those who came back or those who were released
02:52 from the prison, how could we live with them in the same street? How could we
02:59 work with them at the same work or share activities? So, we had that remorse in our heart
03:06 about how they killed our members. We had hate.
03:11 But God says to forgive our enemies and to love them. But it's
03:18 hard because forgiving it takes process, understanding, and courage. So it took a
03:25 long time and a long process to forgive and to accept them. So since 1994 up to
03:33 now there was a big development cuz now we forgive them. Now we live in
03:38 the same street. Now we work together cuz above all we
03:44 are all random. We all share the same blood except that there's it's only characteristics that differentiate us.
03:52 But with unity, it's what will bring to a good development for our country. So
03:58 hating our enemies came back and forgiving them and loving
04:04 them. It's all about looking for our future, the future of our country.
04:09 Thanks. Thank you, Queen. Thank you.
04:14 And uh I think uh sometimes we we have difficulty forgiving somebody who said
04:20 bad things about us. And here you have a country where you have to forgive your neighbor who slaughtered your family
04:26 members. This is a very difficult topic. Um newspaper reports carry about this
04:32 man Ariel Castro who 10 years kidnapped three girls and subjected them to sexual
04:37 abuses. Uh why forgive? you know uh I
04:42 heard the testimony of the victim she said um for 10 years you kept me in hell now your hell is beginning as he's now
04:50 serving a tremendous life sentence what's more is that with him he was defiant you know should we forgive this
04:58 man every jihadist in this country every church that's being bombed in Iraq in
05:05 Syria in Egypt owes it to this man you know why forgive
05:10 If uh why be as loving as sister queen tell this guy going wrong in hell it's
05:17 very hard topic but scripture is clear love your enemies so this morning we
05:23 want to look at a very difficult topic and we want to look at the range of it not many of us had gone through such a
05:30 thing where your neighbor or had killed your father or abused your family so the
05:36 range is very wide so this morning we want to have a lot of honesty as We come before God to deal with this topic.
05:42 Shall we go before God in prayer? Lord, we ask for some humility.
05:49 Uh whether we've been Christian for 5 days or 50 years, this is subject which
05:55 most of us are ill equipped to deal with. We thank you for Sister Queen for her courage to stand for unity, for her
06:04 being able to to go through uh difficulties of hate, to learn to
06:11 forgive this morning. Lord, before we start the message, we ask that we open
06:16 our hearts to this area. And we ask the whole congregation now to think of people in your life that have hurt you.
06:24 and we bring that before your altar. Oh Lord, as we start the message, we ask for your anointing and for your power to
06:31 reveal the truth to us. Say this in Jesus name. Amen.
06:37 Let me give you the context of Romans 12. The context Peter brought up some of
06:42 it last week. Uh verses 1 to2 talks about our worship. Then he talks about
06:48 gifts and then it talks about our spiritual family. how you should love
06:54 them. And today we'll look at verses 14- 21. Now there's a parallel text in 1
07:01 Corinthians where Paul talks about spiritual gifts and then after that he talks about love. Here Paul does the
07:07 same thing. He talks about spiritual gifts, leadership, mercy, prophesizing. Then he goes to love. Love must be
07:14 sincere. Verse 9. And here's a very important point. The point is this.
07:20 Don't think just because you're a pastor, elder, preacher, you're a mature
07:25 Christian. That's the point. You look at the text, he goes about right up to verse eight
07:32 about gifts. Then verse 9, he switches. He says, "Love must be sincere." In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, same method
07:39 talks about gifts. Then he talks about love. Why? Because the measure of our
07:45 spirituality is in that and that alone. You can know the Bible very well. You
07:51 can speak in tongues, prophesy, think you're full of the spirit. You really are full of spirit. Let's see how you
07:59 love others. You see a very spiritual person. Let's see how you love others,
08:05 especially those that hate you. Then we see your real colors. So we need a bit
08:13 of humility as we approach this topic. Yeah. Now if I do a test and say you
08:18 know any you know anybody who despise you you know there was a there was a joke about this pastor in the church. He
08:24 says anybody here know at least 10 people who despises you. Three quarter
08:29 of the church put up their hands. Then he says okay know anybody who at least has five people that hate you or despise
08:36 you. And then small group put up their hand. Then finally he says, "Is there anybody here that nobody hates you?" And
08:44 this old man proudly stood up, put up his hand in the judgment. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise
08:50 the Lord. So they invited the old man up here and says, "Tell me, uncle, uncle, why is it because you're full of grace,
08:56 full love?" He said, "No, no, everyone else is dead.
09:01 All his enemies are dead." If we are honest,
09:08 everyone in this room suffers from this. It could be something as small as
09:14 somebody who slighted you, who went behind your back and said something to you and it broke your friendship
09:22 to something more serious like somebody in your office who backstabbed you, cost
09:27 you your promotion. to an ex-husband, an ex-wife, a brother
09:34 you don't talk to, a sister you estrange, an uncle, an auntie. The range
09:40 is wide. And all of us here have this. Marilyn Manson, most of you don't know
09:46 this person, unless you're a young youth, said this. He said, "When you're
09:52 taught to love everyone, to love your enemies, then what value does that place
09:59 on love? You cannot love everyone. It is ridiculous to think you can. If you love
10:04 everyone and everything, you lose your natural powers of selection and wind up
10:10 being a pretty poor judge of character and quality. If anything is used too
10:15 freely, it loses its true meaning. You end up like that guy who's from Sinson's
10:20 Net Flenders who basically is a pushover. Everyone makes use of him
10:26 because he tries to love everyone. Marilyn Manson has made it his life agenda to really hate Christianity. And
10:33 you know why? 10 years he was in this school, Heritage Christian School, and he said he found the hypocrisy of it. So
10:40 here's here here let's let's take a real serious look at this. I give you an example. Oh, you're in an abusive
10:46 relationship. The husband abuses a wife. Why the peep peep? Should I love him back? Teach him a lesson.
10:54 You want to be a doormat to him? That is the reality of it. And Manson
10:59 says this is crazy. Christians are talking rubbish. Now the issue with this, the issue is what does it mean to
11:06 love your enemies? What is the actual word God uses? Is God telling us when we
11:13 love our enemies is the same way as I should love my wife? And there's a word Matthew uses called agape. It is a love
11:20 from God the father, it is very different from the love you show your brother or your wife. I'm going to go
11:26 into that in a while. But generally, I think when it comes to people we hate,
11:31 we have two responses. Some we fight. People like me are a bit more antagonistic. Now you may say okay you
11:39 are not the type that goes and scratch and and and decorate people's car but there are many other ways of doing it.
11:45 Let's be very honest. Say for example you're in your office and this person you don't like invites everyone else for
11:52 let's just say her baby shower or her her party except you. Wow. Really one
11:59 kind you know. Everyone got invited except me you know. Wow. Okay. What's our natural response? Next time I got a
12:07 party, guess who I'm not going to invite.
12:13 And when you do that, feels good. Correct. Feels good.
12:20 There's a natural part of us that payback, you know, don't get mad, get even.
12:27 The other response is flight. The Chinese are saying, "Tongly say, I treat
12:32 you as dead. I couldn't care less about you. I don't know want to know you. I couldn't be bothered. You don't exist to
12:38 me. I'm above you. You can go and die for all I care. Of course, we don't see it in church, but in our mind, it's like
12:45 that. I couldn't be bothered to you. You don't exist. At this morning, you got to be really honest. If you don't strip it
12:51 down, this message has no meaning. So, we either fight or we take flight. Now,
12:58 let's look at the text today. Now the text has four imperatives about loving
13:04 your enemies. Do not curse. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Do not take
13:10 revenge. Do not be overcome by evil. So some people say, "Yeah, see flight. I
13:16 haven't done any of that. I just don't talk to him. He doesn't exist. Not cursing him, not repaying evil, not
13:22 taking revenge. He doesn't exist." But you notice the imperative is active. is
13:28 not just do not curse is what is bless. Bless and do not curse. Do not repay
13:35 anymore for evil. Be careful to do what is right. Do not take revenge. Leave
13:40 room for God's wrath. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. So
13:47 it's an active participant here. So what God is telling us is we need to engage
13:55 our enemies. Now that is extremely difficult.
13:60 Why should I I want to kick him off the cliff you know and you want me to engage him. Hello
14:06 I can't even see you. I see you want to spit him in the face and you want me to engage him. What kind of faith is this?
14:11 Now this is particular to the Christian faith. Now here are some motives people tell us to love our enemies. You know
14:18 you read this in a lot of books. You Google internet you have it. It tells you it helps you to liberate move on
14:25 your life. is good for health. That's what Peter told us last week. Eases my conscience, you know, puts me on a
14:31 higher moral ground, frustrates my enemies, you know, etc., etc. Let's give
14:36 you a simple example. Let's just say somebody offended you or you offended that
14:42 person. We don't care. You You guys are not We won't call you guys friends, okay? And you meet him in a restaurant
14:50 and you see him sitting there. Now should you go up to him and says hi how are you say
14:60 you don't understand never mind it's called making small talk should you do that some people say yes
15:07 that's how I love my enemies other people will say you're being fake
15:13 before you come and talk to me you're doing it not for my sake but for your sake do you know what's the common
15:20 denominator in all five of these points You're doing it for your own good.
15:26 It has nothing to do with the other person. Some people to them you come up and you
15:32 you try to make small talk. To them is meaningless. You know must don't bother.
15:37 You know it's like some Christians saying I forgiven. I forgiven. Yeah I forgiven. I've moved on. Yeah you must
15:42 have not forgive because your action after that is exactly the same as a person who didn't forgive. It's just a
15:47 choice of words. It's meaningless. It cheapens that forgiveness or we say no
15:53 if I offended you I'm sorry if
15:59 you were if you if you know my actions like that I'm no meaning you're putting yourself above the person that you know
16:06 what you are just sensitive you're sui you are probably got issues but okay since you're such a unstable person I
16:12 forgive sorry you know it's like forgiving and taking
16:17 it back is meaningless so loving your enemy is the same thing. We got to get the motive right. We got to get the
16:25 motive right. Okay. And let's start off with we're going to unpack this. You know the first verse, bless those who
16:31 persecute you. Bless and do not curse. How do you love your enemies? What does
16:36 it mean to love your enemies? Step one, take a deep, deep breath before you do
16:43 anything else. Before you go and talk to someone, before you try to be righteous,
16:50 take a deep breath and pray. Pray.
16:56 Two other verses. Luke 6:27. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.
17:01 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who curse you. You notice Jesus uses four words. Love, do good, bless,
17:08 and pray. The point of the text is they're interlin. You cannot do good if
17:14 you don't pray. You cannot pray you don't do good. Matthew 5:44, love your enemies. Pray
17:21 for those who persecute you. You cannot love if you don't pray. You can't pray
17:26 you don't love. Remember the last time you you and I prayed for somebody we hated.
17:32 And then we pray as God pray this fellow give me justice Lord.
17:39 Lord remove the pain and punish him.
17:45 Correct or not? Let's be honest. When was last time, Lord,
17:51 teach me to love him. Oh, I can't remember exactly what the text is saying. You
17:58 pray to love. Paul reminds us that because in earlier chapter, he says, "While God demonstrated his own love
18:04 towards us, while we still sinners, Christ died for us." You start off on prayer. Now, this is this is really your
18:12 starting point. You get it wrong from there, everything goes wrong. What did Jesus do when his enemies nailed him on
18:19 the cross? If someone is doing bad to me, your the words to you is that no, I
18:25 hope God pays you back. I hope you rot in hell. I hope God really gives it back
18:31 to you. But while Jesus was being nailed on a cross in pain and Roman soldiers
18:37 divided his robe below him, what were the words of Jesus?
18:43 Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.
18:49 What is that? It's a prayer. It's a prayer. If it's anything that
18:56 hits you in that gut is that you start off with that you pray. What
19:03 do we pray? Some suggestions. You pray on God's mercies. Romans 12 starts off
19:10 in view of God's mercies. The first line in chapter 12, therefore I urge you
19:16 brothers in view of God's mercy. The whole chapter is anchored on that in
19:21 Luke 6:35-36. But love your enemies, do good to them.
19:27 Lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great and you'll be sons of the most
19:33 high because kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful
19:40 just as your father is merciful. And the parable of the unmerciful servant says
19:45 the same thing. How do we internalize that? Let's be honest.
19:51 What do you think when people hurt you? You don't say this in church, of course, but at home when no one's around. You
19:58 probably say that da who did this to me. I hope he rots in the du. Of course, I
20:03 know this is what comes out. No, this fellow really did it to me. This relative, my ex-husband, my ex-wife,
20:10 this you really feel the anger. Let it out. Let it out. This is what you say. Now you pause and you open up another
20:16 column. Now this column now you don't talk about what people hurt you. You
20:22 talk about how you have hurt God. And this is what we should think.
20:29 Did I offend other people? Did I cheat my tax? Did I cause inconveniences? And
20:35 when you do that, wow, the list is quite long. You know, at the end of it, you ask yourself, do you deserve to rot in
20:42 whatever you just wish your enemy to rot in? Now, it puts it in perspective, isn't it?
20:48 There are some people in my life whom I have difficulty loving. I'll come clean and tell you it's worse because they
20:54 don't think they did me anything wrong. So I get highly offended by them. I think about them in the C.
21:01 I'm serious. You know I'm I'm real about it. I'm real about it. And I I I want on
21:07 on certain day that you know what if something happened to them like the Chinese say meaning really you know they deserve to
21:14 get it back in spades. Then I pause and I go to my room and I think of all the
21:20 wrong I may have done to them to other people and the list becomes quite long
21:26 and then I calm myself down a bit and I remember to show mercy because God gave
21:32 me mercy. Pray to bless your enemies. Pray more for your relationship with God than your
21:40 relationship with them. In the end, even the worst sinner, your enemy can come to know the Lord. The thief of the cross
21:47 was crucified because he was a bandit. He probably offended and murdered people. But yet, God showed love to him.
21:54 A Camille Rrook general can come to know God even though he murdered many people.
21:60 So, we tend to be consumed by our hatred for that person, but God's more
22:05 interested in his eternal soul and his walk with God. and pray that you show
22:12 them mercy. And the end after you pray and you pray and you pray and the guy
22:17 still is like that, you know what? He may not change, but you know what happens after prayer? He will change
22:23 you. He will change you. So start off with prayer. Second one, do not curse.
22:31 Now this one is great. Point two, guard your tongue.
22:36 This is ta fried rice. For all the non-Chinese
22:41 here, what's the little thing we put on top that chili patty without the chili patty? The rice. What?
22:47 No cake. You really want to taste it good, you got to have the chili. Words are like
22:54 that chili. Words are like that chili. You know words can trigger and not in this
23:02 country at this time of our history if is anything we should learn is this when
23:08 people write things to insight and they say things blatantly about the
23:14 church and they get away with it. If is anything in this point of history
23:21 is this and the words are used now anything you walk your dog
23:27 you you eat bakut anything is a there's a trigger point in it now you can say I'm not that type
23:35 don't go around slandering people no no no you're not you just tell half truths
23:41 let me tell you a subter way of doing it let's just say you don't like a certain church or a certain person the way to do
23:47 it like What church are you from? ABC. Oh, ABC.
23:53 ABC. You done already? Correct. Don't say
23:59 anything more because you pause. Why? No. I heard that church you can fill in
24:06 the blanks. Oo. Pop. Wow. Viral. That's a word. The word for 21st
24:13 century. It's called go viral. I I I I heard a conflict and this is
24:18 something I'm trying to learn for myself and I suggest this problem is particular to Christian leaders. You see you go
24:23 back again Christian leaders and I people of influence. So I guess that includes me. You see if you're a person
24:30 of influence or leader you tend to measure yourself that you see I'm a preacher you know I know the Bible all
24:36 these gifts so I'm very mature so I cannot be doing wrong. No no no no no. So when you're caught red-handed, you
24:42 intend to distort the facts. I I saw a case where two Christian leaders fought. It was before my eyes. It went into a
24:50 shouting match. And what was the tragic thing was months
24:55 later, one of the leaders forgot I was there. And I sat down with him with some people to have a meal. And it twisted
25:02 the whole story. He said, "No, no, no." You know, sometimes they hit on a moment, he says something, I say
25:08 something, we get worked up. That's a blatant lie. And here's the thing about us. We can distort words. It's not just
25:15 gossip or slander. It's how we say words. So you want to love your enemies, watch your tongue. Better what is what
25:22 is better for you? Your enemy come and give you a Christmas gift and go behind your back and tell the whole town you're
25:28 such a rotten blah blah blah blah blah blah. You rather keep your Christmas gift and just shut your mouth. Correct
25:34 or not? It is. The scriptures say this scripture is is really really big on this. Proverbs 12:18, "Reckless words
25:42 pierce like a sword. The tongue of the wise brings healing. A perverse man stirs up dissension and a gossip
25:48 separates close friends." Do not let any unh wholesome talk come out your mouth, but only what is helpful for building
25:55 others up according to the needs that it may benefit those who listen. And we
26:00 stop here and I would like to suggest everyone here is guilty of this including me.
26:06 We are too loose with our mouths. You want to love your enemies crudely saying
26:11 learn to shut up. That's as simple as that. Learn to shut up. And that's something we do. We do it at Globe Cafe.
26:18 We do it at a mama store. We do our family. If all of us learn to shut up more, we are loving our enemies. And
26:24 here the word we should put it on top of our our rooms in our cars. And this is
26:29 what God warns us. I tell you, man will have to give account on the day of judgment for every callous word we have
26:38 spoken. Now, let's go to the third point. And here here's something we look at the text is quite interesting. He we have
26:46 Paul telling us do not curse. But inside he sandwiches two other dots. Do not be proud and do not be conceited. Now,
26:52 isn't that a bit weird? Why is God why is Paul diverting from loving your enemies to telling us not to be proud
26:59 and not to be conceited? And you look at the text, you find out that actually he's telling us about community
27:06 that in a community you bless, notice repeated twice. You rejoice repeated
27:12 twice. Mourn repeated twice. Live in harmony. Now here's the point. The point
27:18 is this. If you cannot learn to love people who are different, chances are
27:24 you make enemies faster. If for example you think you know uh
27:35 M people they all like that. You get another guy who says the same thing you get 10 people here you have a group. You
27:41 make that bit bigger you are inciting hated. Correct. you get another personal
27:48 committee. Chinese they don't share know you get two of them you get five you get a group
27:53 then you can give them certain names Passel or whatever but it's the fact
27:59 they come in names so here's the Christian call the Christian call is to learn to live in harmony with our
28:06 neighbors from Rwanda I want to take you to another nation which really went very tragic which is about Serbia and Bosgo
28:13 Vineia and in 1997 a genocide happened there in the war in a town called
28:19 Seanika 8,000 Muslim mens were taken out and shot execution style they have never
28:27 recovered from there they have never and here the tragedy the Serbs are
28:32 considered Christians Bostonians are Muslim you can't be a Bostonian Christian you know is that
28:39 you're you're a traitor you can't consider yourself a Serb and say I'm a Muslim you can't do that here's a
28:44 tragedy of how the gospel has been so robbed from this country. Now in Sabernika,
28:50 8,000 men were shot and they built a memorial. A memorial that that's a memorial in the hamlet in Sabrina. You
28:58 know what the Serbs did? 20 m from there, they built a church. They built a church 20 m from the
29:06 memorial and it was seen as an act of provocation. And I I read through the
29:11 the news on it and Serban leaders were saying, "What's your point? It's Serbian land. We can do what we want. Get on
29:16 with it." the war is over. That's being grossly insensitive. Not only that,
29:22 here's a case fal famous story. I saw this in Al Jazzer. In the war, the Serbs
29:29 shot her family. When she came back to reclaim her land, she found the Serbians have built a church on a plot of land.
29:36 And the words are very chilling in the commentary. You know, I saw this in Al Jazer. You know what she said? She says,
29:42 "They came into my neighborhood, shot my father, killed my family, and then they
29:49 built a church to worship their God." Try bringing the gospel to her.
29:56 So, here's this thing I think about our country. In our country, we really need to know our neighbor. You want to love
30:03 your enemy, get to know people who are different from you. Because hate comes
30:10 communally. Love does the same thing. And they can take very strange little
30:15 things, you know, little things that where you eat can become a trigger point.
30:21 So here's the case. Everyone knows this story of this few students who were
30:26 eating in the bathroom, you know. Then he went on Facebook. Then
30:32 it went viral and then the teacher came up to explain. Then after she gets worked up then then
30:39 a group comes says you know charge the teacher with issues. The teacher then say he's got a death threat. Then she's
30:45 got a death threat. Then a political group comes and say charge that woman with with sedition. And the whole thing
30:51 goes way out of proportion over a few kids eating in the bathroom.
30:57 Now, I'm not saying you should let your kids in in the bathroom, but the son carried a fantastic article of it. The
31:03 son said, you know, if only someone had used one word,
31:08 sorry. But from this, it went to death threats and people made enemies. I learned one
31:14 thing, you know, you can make enemies very easily. You can take a small issue and it can
31:21 just get triggered out of proportion. This was a classic case. So, is there anything we should do? Learn to know
31:28 people who are different. How can we do that? Okay, how can you do that? Here's
31:34 a simple thing. You know, Chinese people always say they're very discriminated in this country. I want to be very honest
31:41 this morning. But in this church, you're the majority. You know,
31:46 in this church, you're the majority. Now, how many people who are ethnically
31:52 different do you go and say hello to? Do you know uh Indian friends from
31:58 Anasa? Do you know Queen? Do you know Michael? Do you know our African
32:03 friends? Uh don't even talk about different ethnic groups. Would you talk to people
32:08 who are different from you, poorer than you? You want to learn to start to love your
32:14 enemies? Learn to mix with people who are different. You say no, no, no, no, no, no. I wrong like you like you talk
32:20 too much. I don't know what to say. I tell you people don't need that. They just need you to say hello. In this
32:26 church, I can divide our territory. It's like a map now. You know, you know where people sit. Now I can give you a map in
32:31 Globe Cafe. Africans sit outside near the sink. Yes. Left hand corner.
32:38 Filipino sit right hand corner. Chinese middle class 40 above seat in
32:44 the middle. airon area privileged the youth sit on the bench. Yes. At a sofa.
32:52 It's almost like the state, you know. It's quite tragic, you know. It's quite tragic. Now, I'm not saying that's an
32:58 issue. But if we don't if we don't as a community get to know people who are
33:03 different, you make enemies faster because you can't think outside the box. You can't think of their needs. So why
33:10 don't you make a simple uh uh goal at the end of this year? Get to know someone who's either poorer than you,
33:17 someone who doesn't speak the same language as you, someone who has absolutely nothing in common with you,
33:22 and try to get to know that person better. If all of us did it, I tell you, this church would be an example of love.
33:30 We won't end up like in Serbia where they hate each other's guts. And we
33:35 won't have a case where they say, "You a Christian? They came and murdered me and you want to preach me the gospel. We
33:40 start here. Get to know people who are different better. Now here is the next point. He says be
33:48 careful to do what is right. The Greek word here promo means to give thought to
33:53 the future to be in advance to plan in advance to take extra precaution. Now
33:58 here's the danger of this. We think that you know what be careful to do because you you're worried what people think.
34:04 That's what politicians do. They kiss babies. They don't mean it. But this not what Paul means. You know, let me give
34:10 you two other verses. He says this. We are taking pains to do what is right. Not only the eyes of the Lord, but also
34:16 in the eyes of men. Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your
34:23 good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. So it takes time and
34:28 sometimes in the in the first Peter text, it takes eternity. But you must do what is right because there are
34:34 consequences. Here's the fourth point. Carefully consider to do what is right.
34:42 Few years ago, Metro Tabernacle Church was bombed, was firebombed. It became a media circus. You look at
34:50 the picture there. Anyone who anybody in politics is there, correct? A prime
34:55 minister is there. All the all the all the state assembly opposition
35:00 you who is who in politics was there. The church had an ample opportunity to
35:07 play the emotional card. You see this what they do to us. No, we did nothing and they burn our church. I demand you
35:14 renovate my church for me. But pastor did none of that.
35:20 The whole media circus was on the church and he gave a message of grace and
35:25 forgiveness. extremely powerful,
35:30 extremely impactful, extremely wise because he knew everybody
35:37 was watching. Let me size it down to you. You don't do this. This is the
35:42 opposite. There's a TV series called Revenge. It's a great TV series. You look at the picture. You see the tor the
35:48 thorns are climbing up this girl called Emily. The the the the TV series has a
35:53 simple question. The question is this. You hate your enemies, right? Okay, how much are you prepared to pay the price?
36:01 And in a TV series, you find it that hate will consume you.
36:07 Let me give you example. Paul gives a story about two people who disagreed in Philippians chapter 4:2. Yudia and
36:14 Sinia. So now you stop. You imagine you have somebody you cannot. You really hate a guy's guts. Now how do you go
36:20 around doing it? Okay, this is a great text. I've never read it this way, you know. And this is how Paul explains it.
36:26 First he commends them. Ask you loyal loyal yoke fellow help these women. So
36:32 here's the first point. The first point is hate and loving your enemies is a
36:39 communal effort. You cannot do it alone. That's something I have never realized.
36:44 So if you don't open up, you bury it inside. That is not what God wants. Hate
36:50 think your enemies dealing with pain is a communal effort. help these women. So
36:56 let's stop and ask when was the last time you open up over somebody you hated to somebody most of the time we buried
37:03 it inside you know but this is not what Paul teaches Paul teaches the church is
37:08 to be part of the solution help this women next line verse four let your gentleness
37:15 be evident to all that is so powerful because when we get worked up all sorts
37:22 of words come up people like me your mother your other then we drag all sorts of history you
37:28 know when espec let's say you fight your wife all the old history comes out memory very big download already all the
37:34 things come out oh you know your character like that and all the hands will start to fly
37:39 so let your gentleness be evident but the last one is extremely powerful really powerful I I've never thought
37:45 about this text in this way you know what he says he says finally brothers whatever's true whatever is noble
37:51 whatever's pure lovely admiral excellent, praiseworthy thing about such
37:57 things. Why? Because when you have somebody you hate, your mind is consumed
38:04 with that hate. Correct? You're consumed with bitterness. You're consumed with,
38:09 you know what, this is what this fellow did to me. You know, this is what I want to, you know, I I just want to this
38:16 fellow, you know. So God says, you know what? Think about these other things. It
38:21 gives you a much more balanced mind. Think about what is pure, what is lovely.
38:28 Then it says, if it is possible as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Fifth point, recognize your
38:36 limits. Meaning sometimes is not possible to love your enemies.
38:44 Last year I was invited to a dinner. I'll be honest with you.
38:51 And uh I was put on the table with this pastor who I think he thought I offended him and vice versa. Let's not go into
38:57 the details. Let's just say we we didn't we don't get on. Okay.
39:03 But he was very gracious, you know. Uh I know he I put out my hand, he put out my hand, he shook my hand, I put my hand to
39:09 his wife, his wife shook his hand. The host obviously didn't know we had issues because put us on the same table, put me
39:14 next to him. Then I went to the son and put out his
39:20 hand. Everybody was there and the son did this
39:28 quite painful. Quite painful and everybody.
39:36 Sometimes peace is not possible. Sometimes people just want to run you
39:42 run you down like a bus. Sometime people are just downright evil
39:47 and God recognizes it. So loving your enemies doesn't mean you are to be a
39:53 doormat to those who are either not ready for peace or not prepared to give
39:58 it. But here is the caveat. God gives a caveat. The caveat is do not take
40:06 revenge. Why? Like the email there, we love it when bad things happen to people who
40:12 have hurt us. You see there is in us why do we like to
40:17 hate our enemies? Why do we want to get even? Because inside we feel there's a need for justice. I want to introduce
40:24 you to a new God. Yes, there's a new God in town. There's a new idol. Actually,
40:30 it's not a new idol. It's a very old idol. And it's an idol that a lot of us have. We just don't recognize it. You
40:36 know what's the name of this idol? He's called head. Head.
40:42 And how hate goes is this way. You start off by saying, "It's not fair. He cheated me on money. It's not fair. He
40:50 ran out on my relationship. It's not fair. They did this to me." From desire
40:55 justice, it goes to demand. Then you dictate terms. No, no, no. He must put out a full ad in the newspaper.
41:02 Apologize to me in this and in Tamil, English and Chinese. Not referring to
41:07 anybody of course. Then from that it becomes personal, very
41:13 personal. Then you decide you're going to punish. But God says no, the
41:18 punishing you leave to me. And when you reach that point where you want to punish, hate has consumed you. And you
41:26 have a new god in your life called hate. Now I want us to pause and think about this because this is very real. And most
41:33 of us probably worship the God of hate much more than we give
41:39 ourselves credit for. Paul teaches us this. God teaches us
41:44 this in the Old Testament on King Saul when he was trapped. And King David had
41:50 a chance to kill him in a cave. And King David says, "No, I will not lift my
41:55 hands against the anointed." And Saul said this, "You are more righteous than I. You have treated me well, but I have
42:03 treated you badly. When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well
42:10 for the way you have treated me today. And here's the last point. Overcome hate
42:16 with love. Now, here's one verse which is quite difficult and we're going to
42:21 close up in a short while. In this verse, it says, "You heat burning coals on his head." What does that mean? Some
42:28 people take it to mean that you're trying to shame your enemy. But the context of the verse doesn't say it
42:34 because the earlier verse is about taking care and feeding him. And quite likely is the next verse. Do not be
42:41 overcome by evil. Overcome evil with good. Meaning this, you see, when King
42:47 David did it, it was not so much that he expected King Saul to reciprocate. He was overcoming his own desires for
42:54 vengeance. And this is what we are taught in Luke. Love your enemies, do good to them, and
43:01 lend to them without expecting to get anything back. We see this in many great
43:07 examples. Cory Tenbun who suffered in prison under the German occupation. One
43:14 day she met one of those person that abused her. He had a talk at a conference she gave. He put out his hand
43:21 to her. In a book, she says she looked at that hand, she paused, she thought of
43:26 all the bad things he did to her, and then she put out a hand, liberated her.
43:34 We have Ernest Gordon who, those of you who are old enough to recognize the Japanese occupation, who suffered under
43:42 the the death railway and in that in that in that death railway, he met a
43:50 Christian. He was an atheist who has so much grace, so much love. It turned him
43:56 to become a paristerian minister. He wrote this book on this, the miracle in the river choir.
44:02 He saw how despite all this evil going around,
44:08 there could be love that could overcome this evil. You see, in the end, what God is teaching you is this. It's not so
44:14 much loving your enemy and hoping quietly the guy will turn it. It may not happen. No. That's why there's a limit
44:20 to peace. But in the end, it's about ourselves. Because hate is a very subtle
44:25 idol. And what God wants us to do is to overcome that. And what we've been
44:30 reading just now, it may take time. I want to end with this last story.
44:38 This is a man called Charles Roberts and his wife Marie Roberts. In 2006, Charles
44:46 Roberts kissed his wife goodbye in the morning. At 9:00, he was a milk driver. At 11:00,
44:54 Marie Roberts discovered four suicide letters. One to his wife, three to his
44:60 children, and she panicked. But it was much more deadly than that.
45:05 He didn't just go and shoot himself. He went to a school, an Amish school.
45:14 and in the speed of that standoff shot five children.
45:19 It was a tragic incident to a small little community.
45:24 Five children died. Now what was particularly interesting about this story is that we've seen a lot of school
45:30 shootouts lately was the speed in which the Amish community extended forgiveness
45:38 and loving your enemies. It became so powerful that a movie was made out of it. A book
45:45 was written about forgiveness and loving your enemies.
45:50 But not everybody was impressed. Some people like Marilyn Manson said, "This is rubbish. You can't do this. This Aish
45:57 people, you know, simple-minded." I want to play a video
46:04 and while we wait before the video comes on, I want to read two letters which the
46:10 wife wrote after the massacre. The first was written in September 18,
46:17 208 to a local newspaper called the Lancaster Times.
46:22 It was just one line. He says, "We are so grateful for the way
46:28 God has provided for family in the midst of such a devastating tragedy and so thankful for each of you have
46:35 played a part in it. Our hope is that you'll feel our sincerity as we offer so few words
46:42 and such a common phrase in thank you." You must understand the husband just
46:47 went to shoot five kids. image community came not only provided for her came for
46:53 the funeral overwhelming people said they were crazy she basically withdrew from the war and
46:59 just wrote one line and after that you won't hear from her again for years
47:06 on October 2nd 2011 many years later she wrote another letter second letter many
47:14 years she was very very silent and she said this the Instantaneous forgiveness and grace
47:21 extended by the Aish community has touched our hearts in a profound way.
47:28 I continue to be amazed and inspired by the thoughtfulness of others. I read
47:34 each card, every note, treasuring the unmmerited favor that was lavished upon
47:40 us. That was October 2nd, 2011.
47:46 Two months ago, Marie Roberts released a video. I want you to hear and watch her
47:52 words.
48:22 When it's someone that you've loved, the lens with which you look at the
48:27 story is completely different because it's not a story, it's your life.
48:43 That was a gorgeous day. It was one of those Indian summer kind of days when you're still holding on to the beauty
48:49 that's around you. We were hearing all the noises of harvesting happening in
48:55 the fields, but still in the midst of that, it was warm and beautiful.
49:02 We walked down to the bus stop with the kids and he kissed them and said that he
49:07 loved them.
49:14 I didn't understand the scope of what was going on until the police came to my door. They said that Charlie walked into
49:22 the schoolhouse, that he held the girls hostage. you know, he shot them and that
49:27 five of them died before he shot himself.
49:36 You know, to know that the man that walked down to the bus that morning and kissed his own kids and said that he
49:42 loved them was capable of hurting someone else's children was
49:48 unfathomable. Yet there was no way to say that it couldn't happen because it
49:53 just had. You know, my son that was five, he was
49:58 outside playing in the backyard. The windows were open, the breeze was blowing in the sounds of their laughter
50:04 and playfulness in the backyard. And I just soaked in that moment thinking, is this going to be the last time I ever
50:11 hear this? In a matter of minutes, I'm going to have to shatter their world and tell them something no parent would ever
50:18 want to have to say, and am I ever going to hear them laugh again?
50:24 And so I drew them in. We just sat there together um
50:32 in the silence of that moment, almost as if we were quiet enough, the
50:37 world would change. But it didn't.
50:47 I had never known a place of desperation like that. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. There weren't any real
50:54 answers. I mean, I was being looked on by the world to give some kind of answer. But for me, there was no one to
51:01 go back to except for the Lord. In those very first moments, I had stood in my
51:06 living room and kind of looked up at my ceiling fan as if I was looking up at the Lord. I had a choice. I could either
51:12 choose to believe that God was everything he's ever told me that he was, everything I'd ever read in the
51:18 word or been taught in Sunday school or heard someone else say, or I could choose to believe that all of that
51:24 wasn't true. Because if it was, then none of this would have happened. And while I was faced with the reality of
51:29 those two completely different alternatives, I knew that I had nothing to lose by throwing myself upon the Lord
51:34 and clinging to him. And so as I stood there, I just put my arms out and felt
51:39 very much like Mary saying, "Let it be done to me according to your will, God. Whatever you can do that's beautiful out
51:45 of this situation and whatever place you can bring redemption and whatever way you can make victory,
51:52 God, do it.
52:11 It doesn't matter what your circumstances are. God's in the midst of them. And he can take the most broken uh
52:18 destroyed situation and bring beauty and life out of it.
52:26 I'd like to ask the worship team to come up a key word
52:32 today for all of you to me as the worship team is preparing a word from
52:38 the Lord. Just one word to me is very strong. I pray this to you. One word
52:46 overcome. Just one word. Overcome
52:52 the darkness. The light shone in the darkness. The light overcame the darkness.
52:60 As the music prepares, as we go into instrumentation, I want to lead us into a time of prayer.
53:08 Can we have some piano, some soft music, just some intro,
53:13 no drums, some I just want to ask you to do something
53:20 before we go into prayer. I want you to think of somebody
53:27 who has hurt you. Just one.
53:33 I want you to really think of that person. He could have slighted you, cheated your
53:40 money, deprived you of love you deserve, hurt you in many ways.
53:47 If Sister Quinn can move on from a community
53:52 that was murder murdered, God is calling us to many things this
53:58 morning. Shall we bow our heads in prayer?
54:05 As eyes are closed, I want to ask you to do something. If you are struggling with loving
54:12 somebody, all eyes are closed, would you just raise your hands and then
54:18 quickly put it down? No one is looking. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank
54:23 you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
54:28 Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you. Eyes closed. Thank you. Eyes closed. Anyone
54:34 else? Thank you. Thank you. Eyes closed. Thank you. Thank you.
54:39 Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone else? Thank you.
54:44 Thank you. Thank you, Lord. We like to come before you in
54:50 prayer, Lord. We ask, Lord, that um
54:56 we ask for your spirit to just fill this place. And we ask for your anointing.
55:04 We ask for your anointing, Lord.
55:09 Hurt and bitterness and hate. These are idols. Oh Lord,
55:16 we are this morning we be overcomers.
55:22 Because by your grace, oh Lord, you overcame sin. By your grace, oh Lord, you showed us
55:28 mercy. Lord, by your amazing grace, Lord, while we were still sinners,
55:36 while we were still enemies, oh Lord, you died for us.
55:42 And this morning, while we look at stories, how you can turn
55:47 a wife of a murderer into a woman of God.
55:53 Teach us, oh Lord, to overcome hate with love.
55:59 to love our enemies. Lord, we take all our pain, all our
56:05 struggles, all those all those bitterness we have with these people who have hurt us, oh
56:11 Lord, and we put it at the cross. And now, Lord, we ask for the spirit to just fill us and give us the peace that
56:18 surpasses all understanding. Lord, heal us, oh Lord, by your cross, by your
56:24 amazing grace. We say this in Jesus name. Amen. Shall we stand as we sing
56:29 this song?
56:38 Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
56:45 that say a wretch like me.
56:53 I once was lost, but now
56:59 I'm found. But now
57:04 I see grace that taught my heart to fear
57:16 and grace my fears really.
57:24 How precious is that grace
57:30 of the hour I first
57:38 my chains are gone I've been set free
57:45 my God my savior has ransomed me.
57:53 And like a flood, his mercies
58:01 unending love, amazing
58:06 grace.
58:13 The Lord has brought this good to me.
58:21 word my hope to secure.
58:28 He will my shield and wash
58:34 me. As long as I
58:42 chain are gone, I've been set free.
58:50 My God, my Savior has ransomed me.
58:57 And like a flood, his mercy.
59:05 Amazing God. Amazing.
59:10 My god. My god.
59:15 I've been set free. My God, my Savior
59:23 has restored me. Like a fly,
59:30 Christmas. Amazing love.
59:37 Amazing grace.
59:43 Unending love. Amazing
59:49 grace. Lord, as we come before you now, we close in prayer. We ask for your healing
59:55 hand, oh Lord, upon the church. We ask for your healing hand upon us as we
60:00 struggle to forgive our enemies. We ask, Lord, we claim, we claim the
60:05 power of the cross to set us free, oh Lord. We ask for the power of the cross
60:10 to set us free from the power of hate. Now our chains are truly gone and we've
60:16 been set free. Oh Lord, we've been set free to love our enemies. Oh Lord, teach
60:22 us to pray for them. Teach us to guard our tongues, oh Lord. Teach us to love people who are different from us. Teach
60:29 us, oh Lord, to think carefully of what we do. Teach us to know sometimes although peace is not possible, we will
60:36 not take revenge. And teach us, oh Lord, to overcome evil with good for we are
60:42 overcomers, oh Lord. And we say this in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. You may be
60:48 seated. I'd like to pass the time now to pastor Rama.
