Okay, this is lecture number 26 in Romans. Lecture number 26 in Romans. We're on Romans chapter 12. We're still in starting verse 7 and Paul has just said that we should exercise whatever gifts God has given us according to the proportion of the faith that God has given us. And we already mentioned the gift of prophecy, the proclaiming of God's truth. Now Paul says in verse 7, the gift of service. It's service in his serving, or he who teaches in his teaching. So the gift of service and the gift of teaching. Diakonia is the word for service and we get our word deacon from this word. Acts 6 where the apostles found that the Greek speaking Jewish widows were not receiving their fair share of food in the distribution of food to the poor, they decided we need to appoint certain deacons to wait on the tables and serve these Greek-speaking Jewish widows. And so Acts 6, when Stephen was one of the seven that was chosen by the apostles for this purpose, but a deacon is one who waits tables and serves others. And that's the whole idea behind the gift of service and the deacons in a church. should have a heart for service as well. But again, if someone has the gift of service, they should exercise that gift according to the proportion of faith God has given them. Again, don't lag behind God, but don't outrun God. If God has called you to do a certain amount of service, then do that amount. Don't fall behind Him, and don't try to outrun Him either. You know, maybe God has called a certain guy to pastor a church of 50 people, Well, then he shouldn't be passing a church of five people. He shouldn't lag behind and get in God's way. At the same time, maybe he's not ready for a church of 500 people, and he shouldn't try to outrun God. The gift of teaching, didaskon, in the Greek, teaching means to give instruction, and it basically speaks about making God's Word understandable to others. to have the gift of teaching is not to be so profound that nobody understands you, but it's to be able to break down even the complex teachings of scriptures to make them understandable to others. Christian teaching, biblical teaching, unlike other kinds of teaching, your job is done when you just But if you're going to teach English, your job is done if the intellect of the person has grasped what you've taught them, the content. But in biblical teaching, you're not only trying to teach people what the Bible says, but you're also trying to help them to apply those teachings to their lives. And preaching takes on that extra dimension beyond teaching. where you not only teach the intellect, but you try to influence and persuade the emotions and the will of the person as well as the intellect. Verse 8, for he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness, and So, again, here, several other gifts are mentioned. The gift of exhorting, parakalion, is literally the call to one side. It's just the same word, again, that Paul used when he said, I urge you, when he started out Romans 12, I urge you therefore, brethren, The word for urge, parakaleo, to call to one side or aid, to beseech or exhort another, it's the same word Paul used. And this spiritual gift is the gift to beseech or to encourage other believers. It kind of, if somebody's going through a dark struggle, a dark trial, someone with the gift of exhortation would point to the light at the end of the tunnel and would encourage them and show them that things are going to get better and show them God's hand in the situation. And when we get to showing mercy, we'll see that showing mercy is the opposite side of the same coin. And instead of pointing to the light at the end of the tunnel, you express sympathy for another's pain. You go through the trial with the sufferer. You feel the sufferer's pain. And so, if somebody is weeping because they've lost a loved one, the exhorter would encourage that person, would come alongside them and encourage them, and look at the bright side, would say, you know, your loved one's with the Lord now, if their loved one was a believer. But those who show mercy would just sit down next to the person, hug the person and cry with them and would feel the sufferer's pain and would go through the trial with the sufferer. Still Paul says this is to be exercised with cheerfulness. It's a tough gift to go around feeling other people's pain, yet Paul says it should be cheerfully done. And he says, you know, the church built the first hospitals in America. Showing mercy is an essential part of Christianity, especially for those who have the gift of showing mercy. So, agitation, again, agitation and showing mercy are two ministries. They minister to the same type of person, but they have their own Uh... own thrusts that are in a slightly different direction there. The gift of giving is the supernatural ability to share with others beyond what the average Christian would be able to share, a much higher percentage. And the gift of leading is not so much to dominate others, but it's a type of service where you guide others along the path, but you as well are moving along that path. yourself. And we've already spoken about the gift of showing mercy. So these ministry gifts, Paul says that we all need one another. Don't think just because you have one particular gift you're more important than somebody else. We all need to serve the Lord. in accordance with the proportion of the faith that the Lord has given us, that we should practice these ministry gifts, whether it be prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, or showing mercy, to build up the church and to encourage one another to be all that God's called us to be. So in conclusion, God has called us to follow Christ's example, and therefore we must live lives of consecration, humility, and now, starting in verses 9 to 21, we should also live lives of love. We must use our gifts for God's glory. So now in Romans 12, verse 9 to 21, the rest of this chapter, Paul tells us that we are to live lives of love. Paul mentions several different characteristics of love in the remainder of this chapter. He tells us that love is sincere in verse 9. Look at verse 9 of Romans chapter 12. Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. So love is sincere. We should love without hypocrisy. The word for love is agape. It's that godly, unconditional seeking the greatest good for others. It's not like the mushy concept love that we have in America today but is seeking the greatest good for others. Sometimes love will cause you to hug your little child. Other times love will cause you to spank them because you seek a greater good for them and you saw that your little child put his or her hand on a hot stove and you want the greater good for your child so you recognize that a spanking at that particular point may get the message across. Hypocrisy, the word is hypokrisis in the Greek, and it speaks of the acting of a stage player, pretending to be something or someone you are not. Now the word that's used here is anupokritos, which means without hypocrisy. It's the antithesis of hypocrisy, and that's the way our love should be. We shouldn't pretend to love others, we should actually love them. Agape love is not a feeling. So many times I counsel couples and they don't feel like they're in love. I tell them that's totally irrelevant. God can't command you to have a feeling. Feelings come and they go. God can command you to make a choice and God commands a husband to love his wife as Christ loves the church. And so keep in mind, love is a choice. It's the choice to seek the greatest good for another, even if that person doesn't return that love. Paul tells us that we should abhor evil, shrink from evil. You see, evildoers can only pretend to love others. They can only love others with hypocritical love. So we need to shrink from evil if we are to love without hypocrisy. And we are to cling to what is good. Again, the word for good there is good in character. Verse 10, Paul tells us, love is unselfish. Verse 10 of Romans 12. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor. Love is unselfish. Brotherly love. We get the word Philadelphia. I believe it's used here. Now there's three different types of love in the Greek. Only two of them show up in the scriptures. There's actually a fourth type. Agape is unconditional love. That's seeking the greatest good for another. Unconditionally. Theolos love, which is Philadelphia, is a derivative of this, is brotherly love, friendship love. You have something in common with the other, you like someone. And then there's Eros love, which is sensual love, a physical attraction. But there's also Storge love, which is motherly love, the way a mother loves her child. And I believe only the Antithesis of that, astorge, is used in Romans 1 without natural affection, I think is the way it's used. Eros is never used in the New Testament, and it's just agape or philos that are used in the New Testament. Sometimes agape love is used as a greater type of love than philos love. Many commentators claim that it's always used as a greater type of love than philos love, but that's not really the case. Every once in a while, for instance, when Jesus is asking Peter, do you agape love me? And Peter's saying, no, he's saying, yeah, I philos love you. Peter might not be saying, look, Lord, I can't love you unconditionally, but I do love you as a friend. Peter might be saying, Look, I not only love you with unconditional agape love because I choose to love you, I love you with brotherly love, philos love, because I desire to love you. And so there is a way that you can use philos love. For instance, I love all mankind with agape love. But guys I play football with, I philos love them as well. So sometimes feel less love. in addition to agape love is more than, well, I just choose to love that person even though I don't feel like it. Philos love says, well, not only do I choose to love them, but I feel like loving them as well. But if it's philos love without agape love, then it's going to be less than agape love. But if the agape love is already there, the philos on top of it could really put the finishing touches on there. I think that's what Peter was telling Jesus. Not only do I love you with unconditional love, You're my friend. I love you as my friend and my rabbi. But here brotherly love is spoken about, that brotherly love, that friendship type love. Paul says that we are to give preference to one another in honor. Again, Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4. That message is real clear. We don't hear this much anymore with all the secular psychology garbage that is being thrust on us, coming from behind a pulpit, interpreting the Bible through the eyes of Freud. But Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4 doesn't tell us to seek our own self-esteem, to learn to love ourselves first and then we can learn to love others. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches you're an expert at loving yourself. Now you need to learn to love God with everything you've got and learn to love your neighbor as yourself. Philippians 2 verses 3 to 4 tells us to put others' needs before our own. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. And it gives Christ as the example in verses 5 to 8 there. So the Christian life is not a life of the search for self-esteem. The Christian life instead is the goal, it has the goal of self-denial and then putting others' needs before your own. So also give preference to one another and honor. Hold others in higher esteem than yourself. Treat others like they're important. The fact is, they are. Once a person is saved, they are important because God has given each and every one of them an important role to play in the church. He's equipped them, He's given them supernatural abilities, and everybody plays a vital role in the church. It doesn't matter if a guy's 25 years old or if a guy's 85 years old. It doesn't matter if it's a little five-year-old girl in the church or a 50-year-old man, God has given each and every one of us an important role to play in the church and therefore we should hold others in higher esteem than ourselves, give preference to one another in honor, and treat others like they're important because they are. God has given them an important role to play in the church. So Paul said that love is sincere and love is unselfish. Now in verse 11 Paul says love is diligent or hard-working. Love is hard-working. Verse 11, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. So love is hard-working, not lagging in diligence. Love is active, it is zealous, it is energetic, it is hard-working. Sometimes laziness is almost the antithesis of love. Okay? Fervent in spirit, love is enthusiastic, it is boiling. Revelation chapter 3, verse 16. They lay out at sea in church, God tells them, Jesus tells them that they're lukewarm and he's going to vomit them out of his mouth. Love is not lukewarm, it's enthusiastic, it's boiling. It's fervent in spirit. And love is hard-working, is serving the Lord. Love motivates us to serve. Love is not only hard-working, but love is also joyful. Verse 12 of Romans chapter 12. Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer. Love is joyful. Rejoicing in hope. Titus 2.13 tells us that the second coming of Christ is the blessed hope of the Church. Christ is our hope. Without Christ we would have no hope. And so we are to rejoice in hope because if you have Jesus you always have hope. You have no reason for despair if you have Jesus. Therefore we should rejoice in hope. In Paul's letter to the Philippians he says over and over again that we are to rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice. So we are to rejoice in hope, and we are to persevere in tribulation, and the reason for this, of course, is because of our hope. No matter how bad things get, no matter how bad the trials get, we always have hope. Because no one can take Jesus from us. They can take your career from you. They can take your car. They can take your home. They can take your money. They can take your family. But they can't take Jesus from you. And therefore we should persevere in tribulation because Jesus is our hope. And we should be devoted to prayer. Speaks of steadfastly continuing in prayer. If Jesus is our hope, then in the midst of tribulations we'll be able to persevere because we'll be continuing to communicate to Jesus in prayer and continually seeking Him and His will, no matter how bad the situation gets. Verse 13 tells us that love is generous, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. So love is generous. Love will cause us to contribute to the needs of the saints and to practice hospitality. If a brother or sister in the Lord needs a place to stay and we have ample room, we should express this hospitality to them and give them a place to stay. Love meets not only the spiritual needs of others, but is willing to meet the physical needs of others. as well. At the same time, you don't want to... A person has a problem because they're always taking loans, borrowing money, not repaying it, then you do more damage to them to lend them money than you would to just say no to them. But love is generous and will seek to meet the spiritual and physical needs of others. Verse 14, love is forgiving. Bless those who persecute you, bless and curse not. Love is forgiving. Love will cause us to bless those who persecute us. Christ set the example in Romans 5, verses 8 to 10. Romans 5, verses 8 to 10. But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if we were enemies who were reconciled to God through the death of the Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. So we were enemies of God. To be a sinner means to be in rebellion against God. All sin is directed ultimately at God, yet here we were the enemies of God, and He became a man and died on the cross for our sins. So Christ set the example for us by blessing those who persecuted him. He died to save those who were killing him. He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Love is not only forgiving, but it's also caring. Verse 15. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Love is caring. We are to rejoice with those who rejoice. In John chapter 2 verses 1 to 11, Jesus was at the wedding feast of Cana, Cana in Galilee, and He rejoiced with the bride and the groom that were getting married, and He celebrated their wedding. We should be willing to rejoice with those who rejoice. Too often, you know, If you're a wannabe preacher and your buddy's a wannabe preacher and he gets a break that you didn't get, too often we're jealous and envious. And it shouldn't be that way. We should rejoice with those who rejoice and praise God that he got his opportunity and pray that we will get our opportunity as well. But we should also be willing to weep with those who weep. In John 11, verse 35, The shortest verse in the Bible says Jesus wept. He was at the tomb with his friend Lazarus. He knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, but he saw the others weeping. He saw that God had created a paradise for us, put us in the Garden of Eden, and everything was perfect. But man disobeyed Him. We abused our free will, the free will that God gave us in the Garden. And because of that, because of sin, the consequences set in, and death was part of that. And Jesus was willing to not only rejoice with those who rejoice, but weep with those who weep. Love is caring. Verse 16, love is not arrogant. Love is not arrogant. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. So love is not arrogant. We are to have the same mind towards others. We are to live in harmony with others, be united with believers. We are told that we should not be haughty in mind, not be proud. but we should associate with the lowly. Love transcends social classes. We should not say, well we don't want this guy in our church, he's an outcast and people look down on him and this and that. We should be willing to associate with the lowly. When Christ came to earth, he spent almost all his time with the outcasts, with the sinners, but they were people who knew they were sinners and who recognize their need for a Savior and so we should be willing to associate with the lowly and not be wise in our own estimation. Look at Proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 to 7 on the topic of not being wise in our own estimation Proverbs 3 verses 5 to 7 also deals with this topic and that states, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. And so we are not to be wise in our own estimation. We are to understand that the wisdom of men is foolishness and that the only true wisdom that can give us the abundant life that we so desperately long for. The only true wisdom is the wisdom of God found in His Word that can guide us into the paths of righteousness. So love is not arrogant. Verse 17, love is respectful. Love is respectful. Verse 17, never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. It first says, don't return evil for evil. Don't take revenge. We're going to cover that a little bit later in verse 19, where it says love is not... it speaks about love is not vengeful. Later on, verse 19. But, don't return evil for evil. Matthew 5, 38 and 39. Let's read that. It's where Jesus commands us to turn the other cheek. Matthew 5, 38 and 39. Jesus said, You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, do not resist him who is evil, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. Now, keep in mind, understand the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6 and 7, Jesus was not bad-mouthing the Old Testament law and saying, well, you know, I made a mistake in the Old Testament when I gave you the Mosaic law. I mean, I said some things that weren't true. That's not what he's saying. We'll look at Matthew 5, verse 17. Let's understand what Christ is saying in its proper context. Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then knows one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." So, Jesus is saying that, look, the Old Testament law is the infallible and inerrant word of God. However, then he says, you have heard, heard, not read, heard. So he's talking about the oral tradition of the Pharisees, the oral commentaries of the Jewish rabbis on the Old Testament law. You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. What was also written, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, but an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was God's written commands for Moses as the leader and judge of Israel, that was the law of the land. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, the punishment must fit the crime. And that still should be applied to the governments today. Okay? However, the Jewish rabbis in their oral tradition took this principle and applied it to justify revenge for individual Jews. So if somebody plucked out your eye, you can go and pluck out their eye, and you can get your own justice. So what Christ is saying is that rather than taking revenge, which is what Jewish oral tradition said, justified, Jesus said, no, no person has the right to defend themselves, We are to turn the other cheek when we are insulted or slapped. Anything that does not really place our physical well-being in danger, we should turn the other cheek and not seek revenge, not return evil for evil, as Paul said in verse 17 of Romans 12. Paul says that we should respect what is right in the sight of all men. 1 Timothy 3.7, he's talking about the qualifications for elders and deacons. And in 1 Timothy 3.7, Paul says, and he, meaning an overseer, the senior pastor of a church, the elder, and he must have a good reputation with those outside the church so that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. So it's important that we have a good reputation even with non-believers. Now sometimes non-believers will have a bad reputation with them just because they hate Christ. Well that's something that you just can't, you know, you've got to please the Lord as Paul says in Galatians 1.10, you know, you've got to choose to please the Lord and it's going to make some people unhappy. But we need to respect what is right in the sight of all men and have a good reputation with outsiders in areas such as pay our debts and that type of thing. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. Love is respectful. Verse 18 of Romans chapter 12 Paul tells us that love is peaceful. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. So love is peaceful. Paul says, if possible. Well, right there he's telling us it's not always possible. Even Jesus angered many people. In fact, Jesus would not... You know, you don't crucify a guy because he won a popularity contest. Jesus ticked a lot of people off. Jesus made a lot of people angry. Now, Jesus' love and was trying to reconcile men to God, and that would have also reconciled men with other men, and Jesus is going to bring peace on earth, but the fact of the matter is, most men are still in rebellion against God, and so it was not possible even for Jesus to be at peace with all men. He angered many men. So, it's not always possible, but if it is possible in a given situation, so far as it depends on you, Paul says, be at peace with all men. When he says, so far as it depends on you, he's stating that we are not to initiate hostility. You know, if somebody else starts the fight, we may have to finish it if we have to defend ourselves. Again, nobody died from getting slapped. You know, you get a 250-pound guy who slaps a 100-pound woman, her life is in jeopardy. But you get a 150-pound guy slap another 150-pound guy. God commands the Christian to turn the other cheek and basically to back down from a fight even if you know that you could tear the guy up. So far as it depends on you, we are not to initiate the hostility. We are to be at peace with all men. We are to go out of our way to avoid strike. So love is peaceful. Verse 19 of Romans 12, love is not vengeful. Paul says, Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. So love is not vengeful, we are not to take revenge. This forbids vigilantism, Not self-defense. Matthew 5, turning the other cheek, that's a slap across the face. When you look at Exodus, if someone breaks into your house, the book of Exodus, the Mosaic Law, if somebody breaks into your house and it's still dark, you're allowed to kill the guy. Because you don't know what his intentions are. But if the sun rises and you go out looking for him and find him the next day and then kill him, that's not justifiable. You're guilty of murder. So we need to recognize that not taking revenge, love is not vengeful. This forbids being a vigilante, someone who takes the law into their own hands. At the same time, it still permits self-defense. God gives us the right to defend ourselves and others. In fact, I would say the obligation to defend others that we're able to defend. But Paul says, don't take your own revenge, but leave room for God's wrath. Now when you look at Romans 13, again the chapter breaks that we have in our Bible, we put there later on, when Paul wrote this letter to the Romans, there was not 16 chapters, it was just one letter. So the context is continuing, and he starts out Romans 13 verse 1 with, let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. And then he talks about there's no authority except from God. And then you go down a little bit further. And in verse 4 he talks about the government. He says, For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid. For it, the government, does not bear the sword for nothing. For it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. You see, when Paul said, don't take your own revenge, but leave room for God's wrath, one of the ways that God exercises his wrath on the evildoer, the one who did you wrong, is through human government. Okay? That's why the government is supposed to chase down the guy who stole from you last night if he already got out of your house. It's the government's job to track him down and arrest him. It's not your job. At the same time, while he's in the house and he's still a threat to you and you don't know what his intentions are, then you have the right to defend yourself. But one way that God exercises his wrath on the evildoer is through human government. Another way is in Romans chapter 1 verses 18 and verse 27, God revealing his wrath to mankind through nature, and then it talks about when a man has turned his back on the God of creation, God turns him over to his own sinfulness, and then male homosexuals receive in their own bodies the due penalty of their sin. That's a man reaping what he sows, as Galatians chapter 6 tells us. That's a man reaping what he sows. That's also God's wrath. And then of course John 3.36 talks about God's eternal wrath on those who reject Christ. But the fact of the matter is we are not to take our own revenge. We are to leave room for God's wrath Vengeance is the Lord's. He alone is worthy to judge. Just like when Christ said that he was without sin cast the first stone. So the fact of the matter is, only God has the right to judge. Now he has delegated some of his authority to judge to human government. and we need to recognize that. And those who are opposed to the death penalty and call themselves Christians, they need to get their faces back in the Bible and stop trying to be so politically correct. But love is not vengeful. Verse 20, love is unconditional. In other words, even if the love is not returned, even if the person is your enemy, you're still going to love them. Verse 20, but if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink, for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. Okay, so feed an enemy and give him a drink. Care for his needs. You see, the difference between the church, which Paul is talking about in Romans 12, individual believers, and the government, which Paul is going to talk about in Romans 13, the church is God's instrument of compassion. Through evangelism, we share the gospel message with others. We also, through charitable works, we help the poor. But it's the government's job to bring God's wrath on the evildoer through a military to defeat nations that try to take away the freedom of our people. and try to oppress our people and then through law enforcement and the judicial system to prevent the criminal from infringing on the rights of the individual citizens. So when the government gets into welfare and trying to help the poor and the government tries to get in the business of proclaiming spiritual, what they think is spiritual truth, usually what it ends up being is teaching kids how to do some transcendental meditation in the public schools, but whenever the government tries to get involved in either evangelism or helping the poor, the government is basically out of its field of expertise, it's not cost effective, and you're usually damned to the cycle of poverty, those you're trying to help. It's the government's job to carry the sword and bring down God's wrath. It's the church's job to share God's compassion, God's love and God's salvation message with the world. But we are to feed our enemies and give them water to drink, to care for their needs. In doing this, we will heap burning coals on his head. Now, there's a A big question, what does this mean? Let me give you the usual interpretation of this, which I tend to favor. Heaping burning coals on a person's head. Back then, the ladies would go out and would have a basket on their head. and they would carry burning coals in that basket and they would bring it home, bring the burning coals into their house to heat up the house. And so to heat burning coals on the head of your enemy would mean that when you feed and clothe and quench the thirst of your enemy, by loving your enemy, you would basically be warming them. be turning your enemies into your friends. You'd be taking care of their needs. You'd be doing a favor for them by giving them more burning coals to heat up their household. You would be turning your enemies into your friends. Now that's one possibility. You know, then hopefully they'll repent. That's one possibility. And it seems... The context of this passage could go either way, because don't forget in verse 19, it says, don't take your own revenge. Leave room for God's wrath. So it might be that by you feeding your enemy, you'll be leaving room for God's wrath. and heaping burning coals on them basically brings with it the symbolism of burning the guy alive. That is a possibility from the context. However, due to this practice of carrying the burning coals in a basket on their heads, it seems to be that it's talking about warming them. But I want us to look at a passage to show that the context could go either way here. Look at Psalm 140. King David is talking about his enemies and he talks about heaping burning coals on the head of his enemies. But he's got a lot of He's got a different emphasis than most commentators do when they try to interpret what Paul's talking about here. Psalm 140 verses 9 and 10. As for the head of those who surround me, may the mischief of their lips cover them. May burning coals fall upon them. He said now in verse 9, as for the head of those who surround me, and now he says, may burning coals fall upon them, may they be cast into the fire, into deep pits from which they cannot rise. So, what I'm getting at, and Paul, a lot of his teachings came straight from the Psalms. The more I read the Psalms, especially the Psalms of David, the more I see Paul's teachings not so much as as totally original teachings, but as commentary, his own commentary on the Psalms. But it is possible that when Paul's talking about heaping burning coals on their heads, he's saying, hey, when your enemy is persecuting you, be nice to them, feed them, take care of their needs, and then that will bring God's judgment on them. At the same time, it could also mean when you feed your enemy and take care of your enemy, you'll bring them warmth, and make their homes warmer, and who knows, maybe turn your enemies into your friends. Whatever the case, what we do know about Romans 12, verse 20, it is real clear, it's our job to love our enemies. It's God's job to judge them. And if they're opposed to us because we're rotten people, well, then our enemies are not the enemies of God. But if they're opposed to us because we have sided with Jesus Christ and we're doing His work, then our enemies are also the enemies of God. And so it's our job to love our enemies, it's God's job to judge them. In fact, that's the way it was for David, especially since he was the anointed king of Israel and the Messiah was going to come from his line, any enemy of David was an enemy of God. And David understood that. That it was godless men that he was calling God's judgment down upon. Verse 21, love is victorious. Romans 12 verse 21, to not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And so love is victorious. Don't be overcome by evil. Again, evil there. Kekon, from the word Kekos, it's evil in character. Instead, overcome evil with good. We're for good. Agathon, good in character. Love will conquer hate. When we love our enemies, God will come to our aid. Now, if we hate our enemies, number one, we're going to sin and suffer the consequences for our sin. And number two, if we hate our enemies, God's not going to come to our aid. We're on our own. It's our fight. But if we love our enemies, we leave room for God's vengeance. But don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And so when we look at Romans 12, We see that Paul tells us to live the consecrated life, devoting our lives to God's service and allowing God, rather than being outwardly conformed to the simpleness of the world, the simpleness of this age, we are to allow God to inwardly transform us by renewing our minds so that we can put on the mind of Christ as we study God's Word and replace the wrong beliefs that we held from the old worldview, we replace those with the right beliefs found in the Word of God. We are also to humbly serve the Lord and to exercise our gifts in proportion to the faith that God has given to us. And we are to use our gifts and not to abuse them and not to look down on others who do not have the gifts that we have. And then finally we are to live a life of love, recognizing that love is sincere, Love is unselfish. It is hard-working. It is joyful. It is generous. Love is forgiving, caring. Love is not arrogant. Love is respectful. Love is peaceful. Love is not vengeful. And love is unconditional. And love is victorious. And so we are to devote our lives...