Romans 12:14-21

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 150
• Hymn — To God Be the Glory (#55)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Shorter Catechism — Question 106 (Sixth Petition)
• Hymn — I Need Thee Every Hour (#674)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Romans 12:14-21
• Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:38-42
• Sermon
• Hymn — Though Troubles Assail Us (#95)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: Responding to Personal Adversity with a Kingdom View

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42

I. Background: The Principle of an Eye for an Eye

A. Jesus quotes from the Old Testament law — Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21

1. The principle was originally intended for judges in a courtroom setting, not personal retaliation
2. It was also meant to constrain unequal retribution — punishment was not to exceed the crime

B. In Jesus' day the principle had been twisted into a license for personal vengeance and free-for-all retaliation

C. God is the Supreme Judge; vengeance ultimately belongs to him

1. Deuteronomy 32 — "Vengeance is mine, I will repay"
2. Paul quotes this directly in Romans 12:19 — "Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God"
3. Earthly judges are servants of God's justice (Romans 13)

II. Respond to Personal Adversity with a View to Your King's Justice

A. Jesus commands, "Do not resist the one who is evil" (Matthew 5:39)

1. The Greek suggests both personal retaliation and personal resistance
2. The attitude to be corrected is: "I have been wronged and will maintain my personal rights at all cost"

B. Jesus gives four examples of personal adversity

1. An insulting slap on the cheek
2. A legal claim on personal property
3. An inconvenient demand on one's time
4. A request to lend money

C. The call is not passivity but a trained, patient moderation in light of God's justice

1. Adversity brings us to the training grounds of sanctification
2. Calvin: Christ trains the minds of believers to moderation and justice, that by suffering they may learn to be patient

D. American Christians have a strong natural sense of personal rights; Jesus teaches there is a time to lay them aside

1. We need wisdom and discernment to know when and when not to assert our rights
2. The cross is the ultimate picture of God's justice — wrath poured out on Christ for his people; those not covered by his blood will pay personally and eternally

III. Respond to Personal Adversity with a View to Your King's Generosity

A. Your King is eternally generous toward you

1. Romans 12:12 — "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation"
2. We tend to invest the full value of our rights into temporary, fleeting things rather than eternal ones
3. C.S. Lewis: we are far too easily pleased, making mud pies in a slum when a holiday at the sea awaits
4. Christ promises eternal riches, a better country, a lasting city — you have rights to eternal treasures

B. Your King is mercifully generous toward your neighbor

1. Luke's parallel account: "The Father is kind to the ungrateful and the evil; be merciful, even as your Father is merciful"
2. Romans 12:17, 21 — "Pay no one evil for evil… do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good"
3. Your response in the face of adversity bears witness to the watching world — it may be the means by which the Father calls someone to repentance
4. Heaping burning coals (Romans 12:20): patient endurance of wrong before an enemy's eyes is a witness to the coming judgment
5. God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good; rain falls on the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45) — the temporary mercy shown to the ungodly may be an opportunity for you to point them to the eternal generosity that could be theirs

IV. Conclusion: Where to Look

A. Jesus draws our sight to himself throughout the Sermon on the Mount — he is the lawgiver, the fulfiller of the law, and our example

1. Consider what adversity, mocking, and scorn Christ himself faced on the cross
2. Look to the justice of your King — vengeance is the Lord's
3. Look to the generosity of your King — he has given you all, always, forever in himself

B. You are a stranger, alien, and pilgrim; your full rights and privileges await you in glory

1. In the meantime, be ready to give up what is only temporary
2. Respond with an eternal, pilgrim mindset — think and respond accordingly