July 26, 2026 - Multiplied Mercy
Notes
Transcript
These past several weeks, Paul has been throwing some hard truths our way.
A lot of the exhortations that we've seen have seemed very practical...
And what I mean by that is...
They seem to be written out...in list form...
...as though Paul was handing us a LIST of things to do...
...and it's our job now to JUST DO IT...
Well, what we've seen is - these exhortations are not merely "THINGS TO DO"
That Paul isn't merely calling for us to DO THINGS...
BUT...
BUT...
That he's actually calling us to BE SOMETHING...
DON'T be conformed to this world...
BE TRANSFORMED...in mind! (a RENEWED mind)...
And the last couple of weeks we've seen Paul highlight what GENUINE LOVE looks like...
And isn’t it interesting that - IT SEEMS a way that we RENEW our mind - is to - - JUST DO IT!
**How many of you were REALLY nervous to come to AFBC - the first time?
Ok - why are you still here?
Would you even say - We’re here because - - we came that first time?
It helped - RENEW your mind! - - I can speak for ME...
Why am I here today - Preaching?
Why did we just get back from camping yesterday?
Why do I sing in front of people?
PAUL SAID -
Love one another in brotherly affection
Outdo one another in showing honor
Passionately do MANY things for Jesus
Give lavishly
and pursue showing hospitality
And then last week we saw Paul call us to Bless Those Who Persecute Us...to bless and not curse them.
And what we really saw was that this command must be rooted in WHO WE ARE...
That WHO WE ARE...dictates HOW WE FEEL...and dictates WHAT WE DO
That - IF we are Christians, then THAT changes how we feel about Jesus (we now want to obey Him)...
We now desire to respond to the world the way that He responded to me...
And so If we ARE Christians, the ONLY response to persecution that would be GENUINE would be BLESSING our persecutor.
To curse our persecutor, would be hypocritical to WHO WE ARE - IF we're a Christian...
And Paul is calling us to GENUINE LOVE - not hypocritical love...
And so Paul continues with this call today...
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
As I read through this passage this week, I was debating on how I would approach it.
Would I just preach on verses 15-16, or do I bring them all together...CAN i bring them all together without compromising the author's intended meaning?
What I think we see here in these verses is Paul WARNING us again about the dangers of "thinking too highly of ourselves"
BUT even MORE than that...I think Paul wants us to see the RESULT of doing that.
That WHEN we think too highly of ourselves...THIS happens!
And here's what THIS is:
SLIDE:
When we think too highly of ourselves, mercy gets tossed out the window
This is the overarching theme of these verses today
Now, FROM this result - a couple different things can happen.
And so when THAT happens, when mercy gets tossed out the window, the effects are destructive....HYPOCRITICAL.
And so the 2 points we're going to dive into today are these:
SLIDE:
When we think too highly of ourselves, mercy gets tossed out the window, and people get stepped over.
When we think too highly of ourselves, mercy gets tossed out the window, and people get stepped on.
Again, as we go through this today, don't forget what Paul is calling us to....a GENUINE LOVE.
And so point number 1 today...
SLIDE: Point 1
When we think too highly of ourselves, mercy gets tossed out the window, and people get stepped over.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly....
Paul here is calling us to a hard thing.
It might sound easy, but it's far from it.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Let's look at 2 different words here...
What is Sympathy? - The feeling that you care about and are sorry about someone else's trouble, grief, or misfortune...
What is Empathy? - The ability to understand and share the feelings of another...
And so an example - On the one hand, to be sympathetic to a homeless person is to feel sorry for them...to feel bad for their misfortune...to PITY them.
On the other hand, to be empathetic toward that homeless person is to FEEL what they FEEL...to FEEL how they FEEL...
And so Paul is calling for empathy here...
*(Sympathy - like a Coach) VS (Empathy - like a Player)
explain - connection
Sympathy is me - acknowledging that someone else has feelings about a particular situation
Empathy - is feeling THOSE feelings, not just acknowledging they exist.
How important is Context? - We’re called to Live in context with others... (book of Philippians) - And he called the Philippians to EMPTY themselves - and LIVE for OTHERS considering them more important than yourself!
NOW - did Paul write the letter from his Penthouse in Jerusalem?
NO - from Prison!
He’s said - FROM PRISON - count others as more important than yourself!
Paul was - - IN THE GAME!!
Because you know what will happen if we don't live in context with people...if we don't get in the game...
..if we choose to just stay on the sideline feeling sympathy for people...
you know what will happen?
People will get stepped over...people will get forgotten....people will get left behind...
AND THAT, BEING a CHRISTIAN...is NOT Genuine Love - but hypocritical
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
When we think of vocal harmony...we have a melody line...and then you can have a harmony above or below...(Rachel wants to demonstrate)
If the melody lines goes like this (wavy) - then the harmony line should do the same...
The point is for the two parts to stay in harmony...
Paul's asking us here to stay in harmony with each other...
If joy rises in our brother or sister, our joy should rise (rejoice with those who rejoice)
If sadness rises in our neighbor, our sadness should rise (weep with those who weep)
It's really a call for us to seek unity.
Unity in belief, in concern, in feelings
Eldership… Do you know how Eldership works?
Do you know it’s not - MAJORITY rule
NOW - we UNDERSTAND majority rule.
We can HANDLE majority rule..
Challenge - try - UNITY only
Now, as you know...EVEN SEEKING UNITY - can be very hard to do.
We're not always going to agree with everyone we come across...
BUT there should be an attitude of charity within that disagreement, where there is a unity that is sought out...
Why is that important?
Because where disagreements rise...left unchecked...it can become an occasion for hostility...bitterness...and anger.
UNITY should be sought...
AND WE KNOW THIS - we’ve ALL experienced the OPPOSITE haven’t we??
How many of you disagreed with someone - were OFFENDED by someone - and you KEPT it to yourself = INSTEAD of seeking unity...
Instead of going to that person… YEP (been there)
What happened?
I can tell you VERBATUM what happened!
Your frustrations - - ROSE
They became MORE INFLAMED!
Now some people think it's their job to ALWAYS be argumentative...
The problem with someone like that is pride.
When someone isn't AT ALL interested in another person's opinion...
When someone always looks at everyone else who disagrees with THEM as being wrong...
PRIDE is flourishing!!
Paul is saying that we need to be teachable!
We hear that all the time in sports...
Are you coachable?
**Christian Walk - One Way Street...
** - As young believers - people are typically MORE worldly minded (and when someone speaks Spiritual matters to them - they reply with - YEAH BUT… and they seek to bring that thing BACK to the physical.
** - But what did Jesus constantly DO?
** - Jesus was constantly saying - YEAH BUT - - too!
** - But how were His “YEAH BUT’S” different?
** - Jesus’ ‘yeah buts’ were pulling people INTO the SPIRITUAL.... and our
YEAH BUTS were always pulling things BACK to the physical!
How did the Jews MISS their Messiah?
They had their ideas of what the Messiah would be - THE SAME Scripture we HAVE TODAY..
And they saw Jesus and thought - YEAH BUT...
The Messiah wouldn’t SAY that!
The Messiah wouldn’t BREAK the RULES and HEAL ON THE SABBATH!
The Messiah wouldn’t QUESTION our PIETY!
The woman at the well...
Jesus said to her - Will you give me a drink?
And she says - YEEAHHH BUT - You’re a Jew and I’m a Samaritan...
JESUS SAID - YEEEAHH BUT - If you KNEW who I WAS - you would have asked ME for a drink! (to the Spiritual)
SHE SAID - YEAAHHH BUT - Sir, you don’t have a bucket to DRAW any WATER! (back to the physical)
Jesus spoke with Nicodemus, the most Religious man of the time...
Jesus said to him - YEAH BUT - You must be born again if you want to see the Kingdom of God.
Nicodemus: YEAAHH BUT - How can a man be born when he is old?
how am I supposed to RE-ENTER my mothers womb?”
Jesus is about to wash Peter’s feet...
And Peter says - “YEEAHH BUT - Jesus, you will NEVER wash my feet”
Jesus says to him - “YEAH BUT - If i don’t WASH YOU, then you have no share with Me”...
WAIT - Peter wasn’t done - - “YEAH but - - then WASH ALL OF MY PHYSICAL BODY!”
When Jesus told the apostles of His coming Death....
Peter took Jesus over in the corner and said - “YEAAH BUUT - this will NEVER happen to you JESUS!”
Jesus replied - “Get behind me satan”
What was Peter’s problem…? Jesus tells us....
23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
PETER = You’re ‘YEAH BUTS” are on a one-way street to the PHYSICAL side of life!
YOU are - HINDERING my work.
Get out of my way.
When Jesus said…Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life...
Those around Him would have said -THAT’S JESUS...!
And others would have said - YEEAAHH But - He’s CRAZY!
AND SO - The question is...
SLIDE:
Are our “yeah but’s” shifting more to considering the spiritual side or are they mostly always pulling things back under the physical realm?
There’s a term in sports… and it’s this: COACHABLE
Someone who is NOT coachable (teachable) will never listen.
We need to be better listeners...
NOW, Paul's not trashing conviction...
We should have convictions...
BUT
...those convictions should be held under a HUMBLE heart and a HUMBLE attitude.
Ready to listen - to receive - - WHY?
Because PRIDE is dangerous! - Thinking too highly of ourselves in dangerous.
Pride will cause us to think more highly of ourselves than we should...and when we do that, mercy gets tossed out the window, and people get stepped over...
- They're not good enough for us...
- We're better than they are...
When mercy gets tossed out the window, people get stepped over...
BECAUSE - we don't have time for them...they're not worth it...
DON”T WE - actually tend to RANK those around us...
If we see someone without material things...we classify them 'VERY NEEDY' and we'll avoid them...
Most times, if we see someone lacking this or that...
If we see someone who's not popular...
If we see someone who's different than us...
we'll be tempted to IGNORE them...
We'll begin to build walls to separate us from them...
We'll....be....partial
...and do exactly what James 2 tells us not to:
1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
SLIDE:
We should be people who look around and see everyone as either:
a lost soul, under the wrath of God, in need of salvation...MORE IMPORTANT THAN MYSELF...
a redeemed soul, my fellow heir IN CHRIST, MORE IMPORTANT THAN MYSELF...
We must NEVER forget where WE came from
Must never forget where God pulled US out from...
Must never forget who we ONCE were apart from Christ
IF we do...we WILL think too highly of ourselves...
...and we will walk thru life....
...stepping OVER people
BUT - NOT ONLY does pride cause us to STEP OVER people, but what? - our next point.
SLIDE: Point 2
When we think too highly of ourselves, mercy gets tossed out the window, and people get stepped on.
16 ...Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
I think this could possibly be one of the most difficult passages for us to WANT to agree with...
The Lord says - Vengeance is mine, I will repay..."
YOU don't repay....I'll repay....
And we say - YEAH BUT...JUST THIS ONE TIME???!!!!!
CAN'T I REPAY????!!!!!
Have you thought about - What are we asking for, when we say - Yeah but, can't I repay???
What do we want?
We want JUSTICE! AND WE WANT IT NOW!
We want Justice!
We want Justice!
That's not FAIR...! We want Justice!
Listen to this story by R.C. Sproul...
My favorite illustration of how callous we have become with respect to the mercy, love, and grace of God comes from the second year of my teaching career, when I was given the assignment of teaching two hundred and fifty college freshman an introductory course on the Old Testament. On the first day of the class, I gave the students a syllabus and I said: “You have to write three short term-papers, five pages each. The first one is due September 30 when you come to class, the second one October 30, and the third one November 30. Make sure that you have them done by the due date, because if you don’t, unless you are physically confined to the infirmary or in the hospital, or unless there is a death in the immediate family, you will get an F on that assignment. Does everybody understand that?” They all said, “Yes.”
On September 30, two hundred and twenty-five of my students came in with their term papers. There were twenty-five terrified freshmen who came in trembling. They said: “Oh, Professor Sproul, we didn’t budget our time properly. We haven’t made the transition from high school to college the way we should have. Please don’t flunk us. Please give us a few more days to get our papers finished.”
I said: “OK, this once I will give you a break. I will let you have three more days to get your papers in, but don’t you let that happen again.”
“Oh, no, we won’t let it happen again,” they said. “Thank you so, so, so much.”
Then came October 30. This time, two hundred students came with their term papers, but fifty students didn’t have them. I asked, “Where are your papers?”
They said: “Well, you know how it is, Prof. We’re having midterms, and we had all kinds of assignments for other classes. Plus, it’s homecoming week. We’re just running a little behind. Please give us just one more chance.”
I asked: “You don’t have your papers? Do you remember what I said the last time? I said, ‘Don’t even think about not having this one in on time.’ And now, fifty of you don’t have them done.”
“Oh, yes,” they said, “we know.”
I said: “OK. I will give you three days to turn in your papers. But this is the last time I extend the due date.”
Do you know what happened? They started singing spontaneously, “We love you, Prof Sproul, oh, yes, we do.” I was the most popular professor on that campus.
But then came November 30. This time one hundred of them came with their term papers, but a hundred and fifty of them did not. I watched them walk in as cool and as casual as they could be. So I said, “Johnson!”
“What?” he replied.
“Do you have your paper?”
“Don’t worry about it, Prof,” he responded. “I’ll have it for you in a couple of days.”
I picked up the most dreadful object in a freshman’s experience, my little black grade book. I opened it up and I asked, “Johnson, you don’t have your term paper?”
He said, “No”
I said, “F,” and I wrote that in the grade book. Then I asked, “Nicholson, do you have your term paper?” “No, I don’t have it.” “F. Jenkins, where is your term paper?”
“I don’t have it.”
“F.”
Then, out of the midst of this crowd, someone shouted, “That’s not fair.” I turned around and asked, “Fitzgerald, was that you who said that?”
He said, “Yeah, it’s not fair.”
I asked, “Weren’t you late with your paper last month?”
“Yeah,” he responded.
“OK, Fitzgerald, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. If it’s justice you want, it’s justice you will get.” So I changed his grade from October to an F. When I did that, there was a gasp in the room. I asked, “Who else wants justice?” I didn’t get any takers.
There was a song in the musical My Fair Lady titled “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” Well, those students had grown accustomed to my grace. The first time they were late with their papers, they were amazed by grace. The second time, they were no longer surprised; they basically assumed it. By the third time, they demanded it. They had come to believe that grace was an inalienable right, an entitlement they all deserved.
I took that occasion to explain to my students: “Do you know what you did when you said, ‘That’s not fair’? You confused justice and grace.” The minute we think that anybody owes us grace, a bell should go off in our heads to alert us that we are no longer thinking about grace, because grace, by definition, is something we don’t deserve. It is something we cannot possibly deserve. We have no merit before God, only demerit. If God should ever, ever treat us justly outside of Christ, we would perish. Our feet would surely slip.
Justice and mercy...
As Christians we often forget about the MERCY we've been handed by God
...and in doing so we end up wanting JUSTICE to come down on our enemies...
But not only that...WE want to be the ones to GET Justice for OURSELVES...
God says NO - You repay evil with GOOD...
You now have ME dwelling inside of you...
You do WHAT I WOULD DO...
You repay evil with GOOD...
God says - I'm the one keeping score here...I'll handle the evildoers...
God says - You do what is right in the sight of all...Let your honesty be a model to the world.
And we see it all the time don't we??
Even unbelievers will applaud virtues of righteousness!
Even a pagan will appreciate a man who keeps his word.
What we do, ESPECIALLY as professing Christians, speaks to the world.
And they're watching!!
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Live peaceably with all men...
Now, we hear this and think - Well, that's not ALWAYS possible...
Jesus himself was crucified by man...
Paul was beaten by men...
It's not always possible to live peaceably with all men...
Doesn't the bible say that - IF we live a godly life in Christ Jesus, we WILL be persecuted?
Well that implies we won't live peaceably with all men...so what's this saying?
Here's the point...that theologian John Murray makes...
SLIDE:
‘It is one thing if I give offence to somebody; it is another thing if a person takes offence at what I do.’ John Murray
We know that the Gospel offends people...
Paul is NOT calling for us to dumb down the gospel so it doesn't offend people...
What he's calling us to is to handle the Gospel appropriately...proclaiming Christ IN LOVE...
He's basically saying - TREAT people the way Christ treated people...
You remember the woman who was caught in adultery?
The scribes and Pharisees bring her out to be stoned...
They say - Look Jesus, in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women...
WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
Does Jesus throw the book at her???!!
No - Jesus wasn't there to condemn her....He came to SAVE the lost....
He says - He who is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her...
THEY ALL LEAVE...
Jesus was not only there to SAVE her, but the scribes and the Pharisees as well...
Jesus points out their own sin to them...
SHOWS it to them...
and basically says - HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHO YOU ARE - SINNERS?
The scribes and Pharisees were THINKING of themselves TOO highly...and what happened???
MERCY GOT TOSSED OUT THE WINDOW - And they weren’t going to STEP OVER her… They were ready to STEP ON HER...
We are called to respond to others the way that Christ responded to us!
...and he says...
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Now, I think people can read this and think - Ok, wait - So it's OK for God to be vengeful? For God to take vengeance?
What does it say...
Never avenge yourselves, but Leave it to...GOD?
No it says - Leave it to "the wrath of God"....
Vengeance sounds like an evil word - that has evil motives...
But when Paul uses the phrase "leave it to the wrath of God" - He's actually removing any evil intent...
He's saying -
God IS LOVE...
YET because He is HOLY...
He is wrathful...and His wrath will be poured out on all unrighteousness! - BECAUSE He is loving!
The wrath of God will settle all unrighteous accounts in the end.
THEREFORE....
don't avenge yourselves...
20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Again, the remedy for pride in our lives is to ALWAYS view ourselves BEFORE God...
To always have in our hearts and minds...
WHERE WE'VE BEEN...UNDER God
WHO WE ARE...BEFORE God...
and WHERE WE'RE GOING...WITH God...
Pride will NOT ONLY cause us to "NOT CONSIDER" people as we step over them - THINKING TOO highly of ourselves...
BUT
Pride will also cause us to step ON people - AVENGING OURSELVES against our enemies...
What does avenging ourselves look like?
Clubbing our enemies in the head? - It could
Slashing our enemies tires? - It could
But how does Paul describe it?
AVENGING ourselves against our enemies would look like this:
Our enemy is hungry, and we DON'T feed him
Our enemy is thirsty, and we DON'T give him drink
These are basic staples of life - FOOD, DRINK
And we are to provide...
...SO LONG AS IT DEPENDS ON US...meaning...
In terms of our choices...in terms of our conduct...
We are to make choices that display a pursuit of unity...
We are to make choices that display peace...
And so we are CALLED to speak INTO the evil that is in the world...not to ignore it.
...Overcome evil with good - verse 21 says.
What did we read last week in 1 Peter?
12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
The ones that speak against us as evildoers should see what?
Our good works...
For what purpose...
That they may glorify God on the day of visitation...
These past 2 weeks, we've had some hard truths placed on our plates.
BLESS those that persecute you...
Live in harmony with one another (rejoice / weep)
Repay no one evil for evil...
These are hard things...
And only in Christ can these things be fulfilled in us.
GENUINE LOVE pursues these things...
And so TO CLOSE...
What have we seen today?
When we think too highly of ourselves, mercy gets tossed out the window, and people get stepped over.
When we think too highly of ourselves, mercy gets tossed out the window, and people get stepped over.
Do I empathize with people...do I enter into their feelings?
Do I work to GET INTO people's lives, or do I do my best to AVOID getting involved?
Have I forgotten the poor?
Have i neglected the lowly in my own circles...?
Have I classified people into different groups, and treated those groups differently?
Have I stepped OVER people...in society, in my neighborhood, at work, at church, at home...?
If so, then I think too highly of myself.
I have forgotten the mercy that I've been shown.
When we think too highly of ourselves, mercy gets tossed out the window, and people get stepped on.
When we think too highly of ourselves, mercy gets tossed out the window, and people get stepped on.
How do I respond to someone who wrongs me?
Do I pursue getting even?
Do I hope that they get what they deserve?
Do I hope for their destruction?
Do I wish harm on them?
Do I ignore doing good to them?
Do I ignore feeding them when they're hungry....giving them drink when they're thirsty?
If so, then I think too highly of myself...
And I have forgotten the mercy that I have been shown.
Let's pray now that God would awaken us to approach life...our friends, our family, our fellow man...
ALWAYS with an eye to the mercy that we've been shown!...
That we might extend that mercy to those around us...
Let’s pray
