00:00Hello everyone, this is William Chambers. It is good to be here with you all today.
00:04It's a beautiful day and a good day to hear the Word of God. Let us dive into the text.
00:10Today,
00:11if I had a title for this message, I would call it The Strategy That Defeats Your Enemies.
00:24The Strategy That Defeats Your Enemies. What am I talking about today? Most people believe
00:29that winning means getting even with somebody. When they do me wrong, I'm going to get even with
00:36them. But what if the greatest victory in life doesn't look like victory at all?
00:43Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place under wrath. For it is written,
00:50vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thy enemy hungers, feed him.
00:58If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shalt heap cold of fire on his head. Be
01:06not
01:06overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. So this text tells us to avenge not ourselves.
01:16It tells us to surrender personal justice and transfer it unto God. Avenge not yourself,
01:24rather give place to wrath. It is God's place to take vengeance. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.
01:33That's what this text is talking about. So when we take vengeance, we are in God's role. We are
01:41inserting ourselves on his throne when we take personal vengeance. So what are we to do instead?
01:48If vengeance is God's place? Well, this text introduces a radical strategy of active goodness.
01:57We are to be actively good to our enemies. Oh, that sounds counterintuitive. It sounds
02:05countercultural, and it is. It's not the way the world moves. It's the way believers are to move.
02:11This is the radical kingdom strategy to initiate and actively do good to your enemies. It's not just
02:19simply avoid them and stay away from them or restrain yourself. No, it is actively meeting their
02:24need. The text says, if thine enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him something to drink.
02:33Meet the needs of your enemies. Meet the needs of the very ones that wounded you.
02:41That's the command of this text. Oh, it's counterintuitive against the way we normally do things.
02:48Amen. Why does the text say this to us? It tells us to do this for many reasons, and let
02:54me talk
02:54about the reasons. Responding with good breaks the predictable rhythm of conflict. When someone's
03:03doing evil, evil, evil, evil, evil, and you do them well, you're breaking the cycle. It stops things
03:11because people expect evil to come back, but you did something good. Ah, help. Goodness strategically
03:17disrupts and interrupts the momentum of evil. Ah, help us. Momentum is catching evil. You do bad,
03:26they do bad, you do bad. Evil is getting momentum, momentum, momentum, momentum, momentum. But when you
03:32insert goodness into that thing, you're disrupting it. What is this? You are creating a condition
03:38where change is possible. Nothing changes if y'all keep doing evil back and forth, back and forth,
03:44back and forth. But if you interrupt that system with goodness, change might become possible. The
03:51person might have to think about it. They become aware of what they did. They might become convicted.
03:55They may become ashamed. Ah, change. God can work in that environment. You're creating an environment
04:02that God can work in. Now, this goodness to our enemies is a strategy, and there's two levels that
04:09this strategy works on. It works outwardly. What do I mean by that? It can soften the other person
04:17by being good to them. It can. It can de-escalate the conflict, bring things down a notch because you
04:25didn't return evil for evil. You returned good. It brought it down. And it also can. It has the
04:32ability to change the relational dynamic there, meaning God can move in these circumstances when
04:41we are good to our enemies. But it also has a second level. That's an outward level when it's
04:47talking about other people, but it has an inward level that deals with us. Inwardly, when we're good
04:53to our enemies, it protects us from becoming bitter. It protects our hearts. Lord, I need protection of my
05:01heart so I don't become bitter by this evil that's going on. It keeps us aligned with God's character.
05:09When I am doing good, this strategy keeps me aligned with your character, God. I'm not stepping out of
05:14line with you trying to repay somebody, trying to do something I ain't supposed to be doing.
05:19And it prevents evil from shaping us. Lord, I don't want to be shaped by this evil. I don't want
05:26it to
05:26have control in my heart. So even if it doesn't change the other person, you still win because you
05:33remain intact. You still remain in line with God. You still remain non-bitter. It didn't shape you.
05:41You moved like God would. You became more like God in a situation. We still win when we take on
05:49this
05:49strategy. Now, this text is redefining what victory looks like. The definition of winning is being
05:59redefined here when we have conflict. This verse redefines how victory is measured and it's achieved.
06:07We're talking about kingdom victory. Oh, do you want some kingdom victory, believer? What does it look
06:13like? How do we measure this thing? How is it achieved? Well, this text is telling us, it says,
06:19be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Overcome evil with good. Don't be overcome by it.
06:26Meaning, if you retaliate, you have already been overcome by evil. Meaning that evil has dictated
06:34your response. But when you respond with good, you totally reverse the flow. You become a conqueror
06:43and not a reactor to evil. We're not to be reactors. We're to be conquerors. Evil's primary goal is
06:53transformation. It wants to make you like itself. I want you to be evil. I want you to be hateful.
06:59Now you hateful. Now you carrying all this emotional baggage and angry. Ah, the evil's primary goal is
07:05transformation. Meaning that evil is trying to reproduce itself. I want you to look just like me.
07:11Not more like God. Mmm. Oh God, we should use every situation to look more like you. But evil wants
07:17you to
07:18look more like it. I want you to be retaliatory. I want you to pay them back. I want you
07:23to take
07:23vengeance. I want you to get in God's place. I want you to spread evil. Mmm. Lord, help me. The
07:29hurt
07:29people hurt people. Anger breeds more anger. Harshness multiplies harshness. You don't want the same
07:41spirit that work through them to start working through you as well. And it just spread and got
07:48worse and worse. Ah, that's what this strategy is helping us not to do. We're not, we are called to
07:55overcome and defeat evil. Not escalate it. Not match it. But we are to introduce something stronger
08:04that is goodness. Ah, Lord, goodness is stronger than evil. The weapon that we are to use is
08:11goodness. Goodness is a force that's capable of conquest. Mmm. What do I mean by that?
08:18Goodness as a weapon. It is only goodness that can stop cycles instead of continue them. Mmm.
08:24Goodness can stop things. Whoa. They're good? Oh, why? Oh, it stopped it. Goodness exposes evil
08:33instead of blending in with it. Mmm. When they do you evil and you do good, now they got to
08:39look at what
08:39they did. They disposed their evil and you didn't blend in with it. Ah, the power of goodness. Goodness
08:47transforms environments instead of just mirroring them. Instead of tip for tat, tip for tat, you can
08:53transform it and God can work in it because it'll touch the person's heart. It can soften the person's
08:58heart. Help us. This is the strategy. Good is strategically superior and that's what this text is
09:05talking about. The highest victory is not defeating our enemies. It's defeating the influence that evil
09:13has over you. Kingdom victory is when goodness rises higher in us and evil is taken down and does
09:23not accomplish what it's trying to accomplish. We should want goodness to rise in us. Lord, help us.
09:29In Jesus' name, we pray and say amen.
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