text
stringlengths
7
443
[877.02 --> 877.76] I'm very grateful
[877.76 --> 879.28] for the way that they do work
[879.28 --> 880.14] to keep justice
[880.14 --> 881.02] in our society.
[881.80 --> 883.00] But what Paul focused on
[883.00 --> 883.86] in this passage
[883.86 --> 885.84] is actually quite a bit heavier.
[885.96 --> 886.68] Let me read for us
[886.68 --> 887.44] what Paul says
[887.44 --> 888.80] in verse 19.
[889.52 --> 890.72] Do not take revenge,
[891.32 --> 892.02] dear friends,
[892.82 --> 894.48] but leave room for what?
[896.06 --> 897.58] God's wrath.
[899.26 --> 900.08] For it is written,
[900.22 --> 901.72] it is mine to avenge,
[902.04 --> 903.24] and I will repay,
[903.42 --> 904.10] says the Lord.
[904.10 --> 907.32] That's a pretty heavy passage,
[907.42 --> 907.78] isn't it?
[908.68 --> 909.66] And that whenever I hit,
[909.76 --> 910.68] this is my own personal
[910.68 --> 911.94] working through the Bible,
[912.04 --> 913.12] whenever I hit these passages
[913.12 --> 913.98] that feel harsh,
[914.42 --> 915.48] I sit with them
[915.48 --> 916.26] because I want to know
[916.26 --> 917.00] how is,
[917.14 --> 918.02] why is this in the Bible,
[918.12 --> 919.42] and how might this be good news?
[919.48 --> 920.04] And I want to suggest,
[920.12 --> 920.60] number one,
[920.84 --> 922.52] this is a really important teaching
[922.52 --> 925.20] because you and I
[925.20 --> 927.00] are not in a position
[927.00 --> 928.14] to judge.
[928.14 --> 931.20] We have very skewed judgment,
[931.60 --> 932.92] very unclear motives,
[933.10 --> 933.90] we have all sorts
[933.90 --> 935.00] of improper scales
[935.00 --> 935.90] by which we measure
[935.90 --> 936.86] people's sin
[936.86 --> 937.58] and all the rest
[937.58 --> 938.20] and our own.
[938.36 --> 939.52] We are not in a position
[939.52 --> 940.34] to judge and therefore
[940.34 --> 941.00] make judgment
[941.00 --> 941.82] in our revenge.
[942.42 --> 942.92] Secondly,
[943.86 --> 945.20] good news, church.
[945.88 --> 947.00] There is someone
[947.00 --> 948.30] who is the judge,
[948.52 --> 949.62] who is perfect in love
[949.62 --> 950.72] and infinite in wisdom,
[951.04 --> 952.24] and he sits on the throne,
[952.46 --> 953.20] and his judgment
[953.20 --> 954.40] and his justice will come.
[954.40 --> 956.54] And if you live
[956.54 --> 957.18] in a very safe,
[957.30 --> 958.08] comfortable environment,
[958.22 --> 958.86] that might not feel
[958.86 --> 959.64] like good news to you,
[959.74 --> 960.72] but if you are impressed
[960.72 --> 962.38] and you are in a war-torn country,
[962.48 --> 963.70] if you've been deeply hurt
[963.70 --> 965.00] by someone who is never
[965.00 --> 966.46] getting to deal with that,
[966.66 --> 968.50] you can trust that God sees,
[969.18 --> 970.00] God knows,
[970.36 --> 971.34] and his justice will come.
[972.62 --> 973.76] Let me read for you a quote.
[973.84 --> 974.42] It actually comes from
[974.42 --> 975.22] someone in our own church.
[975.84 --> 977.04] This is Ed Gerber,
[977.18 --> 978.40] a chaplain at Trinity Western Office.
[978.56 --> 979.36] He's here somewhere this Sunday.
[980.08 --> 981.38] But this is just something
[981.38 --> 982.60] he's written in his own work
[982.60 --> 984.10] on Matthew 5 and anger.
[984.40 --> 984.86] He writes,
[985.64 --> 987.16] I need not hold
[987.16 --> 989.44] onto the righteous anger
[989.44 --> 991.26] and act on it
[991.26 --> 992.28] to bring balance
[992.28 --> 993.46] back to the universe.
[994.44 --> 997.20] God will hold it for me.
[998.76 --> 999.60] And just allow that
[999.60 --> 1000.18] to sit with you.
[1000.32 --> 1001.82] Whatever deep conflict
[1001.82 --> 1002.20] you are in,
[1002.26 --> 1003.40] God will hold it for you
[1003.40 --> 1005.04] and act on it in his way,
[1005.34 --> 1006.42] in his own timing,
[1006.42 --> 1009.80] and with his own infinite wisdom.
[1010.98 --> 1012.36] That's good news, church.
[1013.08 --> 1013.48] Humbling,
[1014.10 --> 1014.74] a bit scary,
[1014.82 --> 1015.26] you might say,
[1015.30 --> 1016.12] because all of us
[1016.12 --> 1017.62] face the justice of God