In this sermon, the preacher focuses on Exodus 23:4-5, which discusses the concept of aggressive kindness. The passage emphasizes the importance of helping even one's enemies in times of need. The preacher explains that if someone encounters their enemy's donkey going astray or the donkey being burdened, they should assist and show kindness. This act of kindness is compared to helping someone whose car has crashed today. The sermon concludes with a reminder to be grateful for God's aggressive kindness towards us and a reference to the story of Elisha and his servant being surrounded by enemies.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing, World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. On my lips and my heart to speak it, and on the ears and the hearts of those who hear it, that we may be changed. God, I want to be changed by your Word. To this one will I look, him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my Word. Lord, we want to tremble at your Word to such an extent that we will give in to it and obey it and stand on it. Lord, cause us to tremble at your Word this morning. Lord, anoint me, let the Spirit of the living God change everybody. In the balcony, here on the main floor, those downstairs watching on closed circuit, I pray those who are standing, everyone behind me, before me, around me, everyone who hears this message will be transformed and changed by the power of God and his Word. In Jesus' name, amen. I want to talk to you this morning about aggressive kindness. Aggressive kindness. Now, most Christians that I know are kind, loving, and considerate, and very helpful. I doubt I could meet anybody here this morning that's a real Christian that I could not say, I know you to be kind, and I think you would think of yourself as being kind-hearted. I don't think there's anybody here this morning who would admit to being anything but kind-hearted. I don't think you'd want anybody to accuse you of being other than that. But I want to speak to you about a different kind of kindness. I want to talk about aggressive kindness. Now, aggression is offensive action. It is taking a bold initiative forward step. It's something you do boldly. It's an initiative you take. And you have to add that to kindness. It's aggressive kindness. Now, God gave this to me. It's something I want to incorporate into my very being. I want it to change me. And we're going to face some hard words from the Lord this morning. I hope some of you don't do as they did to Jesus and turn away and say, that was too hard of a thing. Now, we look upon soft-spoken, quiet people as being kind because they're so sweet, they're so gentle. And we refer to them as, there goes a very kind-hearted person who goes, he never says anything evil about anybody, always has a kind word for somebody, always willing to do something for somebody. And we think of that as being kindness. And that's a wonderful attribute. It's a wonderful place to be. But there are many people in the world that are just like that, who don't know Jesus Christ. And that's passive kindness. It's just passive. It's something from the heart, but it's passive. It's not an aggressive kindness. And that's what I want to talk about today. The kindness that most of us as Christians practice is very passive and it's very limited. For example, we read in Romans 12, 14, Bless them which persecute you. Bless and curse not. And so what we do when people curse us, when people talk about us and we get hurt, we go to the Lord and we beat into subjection all of our hurt feelings. And we say, I'm not going to take revenge. We get bitterness out of our heart. We get revenge out of our heart. And we even say, I've come to the place where I can pray for those who've made themselves my enemies. And we take the word very seriously that says, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourself, but rather give place unto wrath. So we let our anger go. We seem to bring our wrath under control. And we're even now able to look with a measure of kindness at those who have hurt us or been our persecutors. And the day comes when we can say, Well, I've been hurt in its past and I'm being healed. And I even have kind thoughts toward those who have wounded me. This could be a former husband, a former wife. It could be a co-worker that has been alienated from you. It can be someone on the job. It can be almost anyone who has hurt you and they have considered themselves as your enemy. But biblical kindness is not something we indulge in for our own personal satisfaction, just so that we can go through life with no bitterness, no vengefulness, and we can say, Well, I have no ill feelings toward anybody. I'm at peace with myself. That in itself is not the goal of biblical kindness. It goes much deeper than that. Kindness, in fact, is one of the most potent weapons in our spiritual warfare. Aggressive kindness, I repeat it, is one of the most potent weapons in our spiritual arsenal in this spiritual warfare that we're engaged in. The kindness that God desires of us has to be aggressive. It demands of us bold action. It's a kindness that is not defensive, but it is offensive. I've never seen it before, but I want to try to explain it to you as the Holy Ghost explained it to me. The Bible says, Repay no man evil for evil. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. That's Romans 12, 17 to 19. Now, that's fine. I'm not going to repay any evil for evil. If they hurt me, I'm not going to hurt them back. I'm not going to avenge myself against anybody. And as much as there is in me, I'm going to live at peace. In other words, if they just leave me alone, everything's fine. They go their way, I go mine. I have peace in my heart. I won't speak against them. I don't care what they say about me. I'm not going to take any revenge. But folks, that's passive. That's all passive. It's a passive kindness. It is not aggressive. There is a passiveness that many of us are satisfied with. We just say, Well, I've reached a place where I don't hurt anymore, and it's a passive kindness. But suddenly, in that same 12th chapter of Romans, that says, Don't repay men evil for evil, and avenge not yourself, as much as lieth in you, be at peace with all men. Suddenly, it turns aggressive. And it says this, If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Overcome evil with good. That's all aggressive. That's all offensive action. Nothing defensive about it. Now, Romans 12, 20, is a direct quote from Proverbs 25, verses 21 and 22. The Proverbs says the same thing. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him drink. And the Bible says, Make it very clear, Ye shall be pouring coals of fire upon his head. But in Proverbs, it adds this, And the Lord shall reward thee. The Lord shall reward thee. Now, as I said, this can be a divorce. It's somebody that has hurt you. It's on the job. It can be in the church. It can be anywhere. It may be that it's taken you months, even years to get over it. You have finally forgiven that person. That person has made themselves an enemy to you. They still may act like an enemy towards you. But you have conquered those unkind feelings. And you can truly say, I have honestly forgiven. I have nothing in my heart against anybody now. It may have healed you, but it has not healed your transgressor or your persecutor. I'm going to ask you a question that the Holy Ghost asked me. Is it enough in God's sight for me to wrestle my way to a place of heart freedom and rest and peace Is it enough for me to just rid my soul of all vengeful thoughts? Is it enough for me to bring myself to such a place of peace that I even learn to pray for my persecutors or those who stand against me? Is that all that God expects of me? What about God's desire for His body to be reconciled? The Bible says that we are all members one of another. When one hurts, we all hurt. What about God's eternal purpose that the body of Christ be in total reconciliation one with another? After all, if we're all going to get caught up together, we had better get together. How is it that we cannot be reconciled here on earth and then think that suddenly we're going to be caught up in the twinking of an eye, and suddenly everything is going to be reconciled simply by the act of translation? Because the Bible said you shall be known even as you are known. The same prejudice, the same ill feeling, the same alienation is going to be there when you stand before the throne. Just being caught up will not stop or change. Alienation from anybody, any other Christian brother or sister, doesn't change anything. Now, if we tremble at God's Word, we're going to have to face some very serious thoughts here this morning. If the enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink. Doing so, thou shall heap coals of fire on his head. Now, in most cases in the Old Testament, when it refers to coals of fire, it speaks of God's wrath being poured out upon mankind for sin. But there's a very unique Scripture. You don't need to turn there, but it's in Ezekiel 10 too. And it's a story of a man clothed in linen. And he is told to go between the cherubims. That is the mercy seat. That is the holy of holies. That is the actual presence of the living God. And he is told, fill thy hands with coals of fire. And the picture is of a brother or sister in Christ, one dressed in white, linen robe, the righteousness of Christ, going into the holy place and becoming so saturated with Jesus. Becoming so Christ-like, so radiating his image. Being so like him. Being so Christ-filled, so Christ-like. He absolutely reaches into the very holy of holies, into the very presence, really into the heart of God where the fire burns. And he comes out of the secret closet, out of the place between the cherubim. And he's got hot coals of fire in his hands. And those hot coals of fire are fires of mercy and grace, love and forgiveness. And he goes to his enemy and he heaps coals of fire on the head of his enemy. Those coals of fire will either melt that individual or like clay, harden it as a rock. But my calling, my commandment from the Lord is that as a man of God, a woman of God, someone who calls himself by the name of Jesus, that if I'm going to be a man of prayer and I know that there's someone out here not reconciled to me, they are angry at me without a cause, at least in my thinking. And they have something against me. I am to go into the presence of the Lord and I am not to come out until I have my hands full of the coals of the fire at the altar of God. And I pour them on by acts of mercy. Every act of mercy, every act of reconciliation are coals of fire because my heart wants reconciliation. I want to see the body of Christ healed. I want to see the testimony of the gospel of reconciliation fully known to mankind so that it's not a lie, so that sinners out there say, you preach reconciliation to the world yet you are not reconciled among yourselves. It becomes a lie outside the house of God. These are hot coals of kindness, aggressive kindness. If your enemy or persecutor is a Christian, you cannot practice passive kindness, which says, yes, I've forgiven you, I'll pray for you, but stay out of my way. You go your way. Don't ever talk about me again. Don't slander me. Just keep your mouth shut. I've forgiven you, I'll pray for you, but don't come near me. Luke 6.35 says, But love ye your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the highest. For He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Now, here is the key to aggressive kindness. You do more than love your enemies. You do more than pray for your enemies. You do more than just get your vengefulness out of your heart against your enemies. You do good and kind things to your enemy. If they need a loan, you give it to them. Without expecting to get a dime back. Did I just read that to you? Didn't think I dreamed it up. Do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And your reward shall be great, and ye shall be children of the highest. If they have not yet repented, even though they're still unthankful and evil, God says do good to them. Now, this has been very hard for me to accept. This is one of those hard sayings that I want to walk away from. Because, you see, my idea has always been, Lord, I won't do anything to cause revenge, but I tell you one thing, I'm not going to help my enemy until I see true repentance. Not until they have seen all the damage they've done. Not until they're at their wit's end. Lord, I'm going to wait until you knock them down flat, and when they're flat, I'm going to rush in and love them. I'm going to rush in and help them, but God, not until you teach them a lesson and show them what they did to me. Oh, come on now, that's exactly how you've been thinking. You don't sit there and say, well, poor Brother Dave, he's having all this struggle. No, it's your struggle too. Do you understand what Jesus is speaking now? He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Your enemy, you may go to your enemy trying to do good and they may be unthankful. There's always a risk in aggressive kindness. I repeat it. There's always a risk in aggressive kindness. David is an example. Don't turn there, but in 2 Samuel, the 10th chapter, there's a story of the king of Ammon, Nahash, who has just died. Nahash had done an act of kindness to David. And David is sitting there one day and thinking of what Nahash did, and so his son Nahan becomes king, and David sends a delegation. The Scripture says, David said, I will show kindness unto Nahan, the son of Nahash. And David sent to comfort him. He sent a delegation of his princes, of some of his best men. He said, just go and tell them, we're just praying for you. We're sorry about your father's death. We just want you to know that we're thinking about you. If there's anything we can do, we want to be available to you. And it was just a simple act of aggressive kindness. He just didn't sit back and say, well, I'll pray for his son. He aggressively went after Nahan and said, here's my delegation. I want to offer my sympathy and my help. And of course, it was totally rejected. And this is the risk you take in aggressive kindness. Nahan cut off half their beards, said, you're here as spies, and cut off their garments, halfway to the buttocks, which was a sign of shame. In fact, David, when he found out, said, just stay away, because the worst thing you could do is have your beard cut off. A beard was a sign of manhood, and half a beard was half a man. And naked buttocks at that time meant that they were chained, they were bond slaves, they were slaves. And David said, just stay away until your beards are grown, and then you can come back and you won't be in shame. Now, there was a price that Nahan paid for this. He declared war, he brought in other armies, and he was smashed and he was crushed. But you see, David took aggressive act of kindness, and the Scripture makes it very clear, thou shalt be rewarded, the Lord shall reward thee. And here is what happened to David, you can read it, and David became famous. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went. The Lord prospered David whatsoever he put his hands to. You see, God honored him. He took an act of aggressive kindness, and though he was totally rejected, he was mocked, he was ridiculed, it didn't change his heart. He didn't say, well, if that's the way it's going to be, Paul said, the more I love, the less I'll be loved. Yet Paul kept on loving. I'll tell you something, I've been hurt the most by those I've helped the most. There are people who've done me more damage that I couldn't conceive because I did more and loved them more than anyone else and went further out of my way. And those often are the ones who hurt you the most. Those who are closest to you have the capacity to injure you the most. But see, there's a danger if you get hurt and you try to be reconciled, and you are rejected, the tendency is to crawl into a shell and say, never again am I going to let myself get hurt. Never again. It's a line, I draw a line. Never again. Anybody hurts me now, they're coming my way, I'm not going their way. I've been hurt enough. Now things are getting quiet. You still with me? I want you to go to Exodus, the 23rd chapter. I want to show you a very unusual Scripture. Exodus 23. I'll show you an unusual example of aggressive kindness. Exodus 23. Let's start at verse 4. Read two verses, verses 4 and 5. You won't see it at first, but I'll try to explain it to you. If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hated thee lying under his burden, a donkey that's just crushed under burden, and wouldst forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. In other words, you help lift him and turn him loose. Look this way, please. This is a very profound picture of aggressive kindness. Because if you read the verses just prior to that, there's an inference that there's someone here that has risen up with a false report and is joined with others in an unrighteous multitude of slanders, and he made himself an enemy. And one day, you're walking down the road and this man who is joined with a multitude of others to slander you and has raised up a false report against you, you see his donkey running away. What do you do, Sal? Ha! I knew it! Because you see, a donkey in that time meant his livelihood. It meant food on his table. It meant drink on his table. And the Bible says if your enemy hungers, you feed him. If he's thirsty, you give him drink. And you don't stand there if you're a man or woman of God and said, Well, because it's just like a donkey then was like a car today. And you see, you go down the road and see somebody's car crashed, and what do you say? Judgment. See what you do when you touch God's anointed? You get it. Bye, donkey. No, the Bible, and you don't stand there and say, Oh, poor man, his donkey is running away. Poor man. I'll go home and pray for his donkey. I'll go home and pray his donkey finds his way back. No, the Bible says aggressive kindness. You go get the donkey, and you take it back to the man. Say, Here's your donkey. Aggressive kindness. But then you're going down the road one day, and this time the donkey is loaded down, so loaded, he's crushed. He's absolutely crushed under the burden. Now, it could be that this man has too many of those bottle skins of goat milk. He could have dried meat. He's on the way to market. It's his livelihood. And that milk may sour. I don't know what it may be, but there you are. And this man is in trouble. His donkey has collapsed. His livelihood is at stake. And you go by, and what do you say? Well, I know what he said about me, and I know what he's done, and how he's hurt me. And all he has to do is either hug me or say, I'm sorry. And I'll get down there with him, and I'll help get that donkey going. If you'll just give me a sign that he's sorry. If he just looks at me and shakes his head in sorrow, I'll help him. I have to have some sign. And you walk around and say, no, you've got a handful of coals. And you pour it on his head. You don't say a word about what he did. You get down under, and you start lifting that donkey. You do whatever. I don't know what it takes to get a donkey going, whether you get some kind of a sharp thing and hit him. But you get under there, and you sweat with that man, and you lift it up. And the whole concept is two men sweating together under a common cause is going to bring reconciliation. What do you do about that donkey? The Scripture says, thou shalt surely help with him. The Bible said, he blesses even the unthankful and the evil. Suppose he's not even thanking you. You do it, and you're so kind, and you say, well, I've helped him. Now maybe he'll quit talking about it. Maybe he'll be my friend now. Maybe he'll be an enemy. But instead of that, you get him going. He goes down the road and turns. He's unthankful. And you walk down and say, of all things, after all I did. He talks about me, and I don't even say anything about it, and I help him. I'm trying to reconcile, and he won't be reconciled. The Bible said, he blesses even the unthankful and the evil. But see, you're a free man. You can walk down the road now. You did everything in your power to be reconciled. You're free, and God will bless you and honor you. Nehemiah was overwhelmed at the aggressive kindness of the Lord toward the people of God, who had been so evil, unthankful to the Father. He says, thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and forsookest them not. He said, oh God, you didn't forsake these people. I'm going to ask you, how ready are you to forgive? How slow are you to anger? And are you sharing in this kind of aggressive kindness that the Lord has shown to all of us? Elisha took a great risk in aggressive kindness toward the Syrians. You remember that story, Don't Turn Their Bits and Second Kings, the sixth chapter? It seems that everywhere the king of Syria went, the Syrians were enemies. They're out to destroy Israel. And everywhere the king of Syria camps, God refills it at night to prophet Elijah. And so he sends his servant to the king of Israel and said, they're going to be camping here tomorrow night, and they're camping here. And the king of Syria got so concerned about it, he thought a spy was in the camp. And he said to his team, show me which of us is for the king of Israel. Which one is spying on us? And one of the servants of the king of Syria said, it's Elisha the prophet. He tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber. He said, when you go to sleep at night and you're talking to your few men right in your bedroom, God tells him what you're saying. And then he takes it to the king. The king says, all right, simple enough. Get the best chariots, get some of your best soldiers, take a battalion, find out where they are. They said, well, he's at Dothan. Well, go to Dothan, surround the city, get him and bring him, and we'll stop it. Simple enough. The servant of Elisha wakes up the next day, comes running in after getting a bucket of water from the well, probably in his screaming, says, Master, Master, we are surrounded. There's an army around us. Elisha said, Lord, open his eyes. And his servant saw the armies of God surrounding the hills. So here is king of Syria's got his best captains, and they're at the gate of Dothan, and asking entrance, and Elisha walks out of his little home, and he heads toward the gate, and he says, God, smite them all with blindness. And suddenly the whole battalion is blind. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and return to their master. Now, he didn't say, look, we got them here. You have their swords. They can't hurt anybody. They've learned their lesson. Send them away. Just let them go. We'll pray for them. No harm done. It's all over. No. See, there's something more than that. There's an aggressive act of kindness. The prophet says, you set bread before them, that they may eat and drink and return to their master, and he prepared a great feast for them, that eating and drunk, then he sent them away. Now, these were enemies. These were enemies out to capture Elisha and quiet his prophetic voice. Now, folks, that's a wicked, vile enemy. And now the prophet of God has them here in a place where he's able to aggressively show them kindness, and he puts on a feast. Can you imagine the stories these men told when they got home? How do they explain that blindness? And suddenly, they said, they took our swords, and we sat around, and we waited. We thought we'd get our heads chopped off. Said, this is it. Our enemies have us. And they start bringing out trays of sandwiches and food, and they feed us. Did it work? Well, listen to what the Scripture says. So the bands of cereal came no more unto the land of Israel. Some war. Aggressive kindness. The Bible said, we're to put on the new man. And this new man that we are in Christ Jesus is a man of aggressive or a woman of aggressive kindness because Christ has shown to us perfect aggressive kindness. Aren't you glad? I was walking through a park over here yesterday, and two young ladies were talking. And evidently, one of the young ladies had been hurt by a boyfriend. And I guess the other was asking if she's going to forgive him. She said, forgive him. After all he did to me? No way. I mean, she put it bluntly. After all he did to me, forgive? No way. Aren't you glad the Lord didn't say that about Peter? After all the denial, after all he's done to me, forgive him? No way. Aren't you glad he didn't say that about Saul? You mean forgive Saul after taking so many of my precious people, killing and enslaving them and putting them in prison? Forgive Saul? Aren't you glad he didn't say no way? Aren't you glad when he came to you? And he saw all that you have done? Forgive you after all you've done to me? No way. Aren't you glad he didn't say that? Aren't you glad for the precious blood where he set out being reconciled to you? Even when you were a sinner, he was reconciled to you. The cross is the epitome of aggressive kindness. If I'm to take up the cross and follow him, I too have to take on this ministry of aggressive kindness. Be ye kind-hearted one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven us. Now it's amazing to me how willing we are to forgive everyone who sinned against Jesus. I mean, we can go to the most wicked sinners. We've got these Teen Challenge friends of ours here. They're going to go out in the street and offer forgiveness. I mean, if you've murdered, if you've killed, if you've raped and you repent and come to Jesus, he will forgive you and set you free. How easy it is. What a wonderful forgiveness we offer the whole world. But how difficult to forgive those who sin against us. Then we show a different spirit. We're not as overwhelmed with forgiveness when it comes to those who hurt us. Now I'm going to come to the hardest part of all. Here's the part that if you don't tremble at God's Word, you're going to say, I can't receive it. And I've had to ask the Holy Ghost to help me receive this, because I know once I totally receive it, I'm going to have to take steps of reconciliation that I would have never taken otherwise. Aggressive kindness, aggressive reconciliation. I want you to go to Matthew 5. Would you breathe a prayer, God, to help you receive this? I'm going to read it to you in King James and I'm going to read you a Moffat's translation of a few verses. Start with verse 21, Matthew 5. Jesus gave us a commandment that few are willing to face up to. Few of us. Look at me. I don't care how holy you are. I don't care how much you pray. I don't care how long you've walked with God. But I'm going to tell you again, few of us are willing to face this. We can pray about revival. But He said, if my people that are called by my name will humble themselves and confess their sins. And confess their sins. This is something that can be the key to an outpouring of the Holy Spirit if we face this hard word from the Lord, this hard saying. Verse 21. You have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shall not kill. Folks, you know that you kill with your mouth in these days of grace. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council or the Sanhedrin. But whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar and there remembers that thy brother hath ought or anything against thee. Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. Now you know that that gift is praise, it is worship, it is anything done to the glory of the name of Jesus. All ministry. Now listen to it in Moffat translation. Whosoever maligns his brother or sister in Christ shall come up before the Sanhedrin. Whosoever curses his brother, and I would say or sister, shall be cast into the fires of Gehenna or hell. But I tell you, whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be sentenced by God. So if you remember, even as you bring your gift to the altar, that your brother has any aggrievance against you. Leave your gift at the altar and go away. And first be reconciled to your brother and then come back and offer your gift. Now look at me please. The brother who is commanded to take the initiative toward reconciliation is the one who is at the altar. One who is busy ministering unto the Lord. But he knows that another brother or sister has something against him or her. He does not go on worshiping. He does not go on ministering to the Lord. He doesn't go on praising. He doesn't go on worshiping. But there's something in his heart that says, But Lord, I feel that I've been ill-treated without cause. I did nothing wrong. I'm not at fault. He stops all his religious activity. And the Bible said he's to stop right there. It doesn't say that you are the one who did the wrong. But somebody who has wronged you. You have it in your mind. Somebody has wronged you. And in your mind it's without cause. Now here's the hard part. If I know in my heart that I'm innocent of what a brother or sister has done or said about me. If my brother and sister in Christ has made me out to be a fool in the public eye. And the word fool here in Greek actually means a rebel apostate. If somebody has spread word that I'm rebellious. That really I'm not what I'm supposed to be. That I'm an apostate. That I appear to be a man or woman of God. But in my heart I'm backstabbed and I'm an apostate. That's saying fool. And the Bible said that person who does that is headed for hell. Now listen to me. If I can weep over a lost and dying world going to hell. If I can spend my life weeping for the lost around the world. In China, Africa, India and here in the United States and in New York City. God help me if I can't cry over my brother or sister who the Bible says is headed for hell for wounding me. And I had better do something. Because I don't want to stand before the judgment seat. And see my brother or sister no matter what they've done to me. I don't want to see them go to hell. I don't want to see them judged. I don't want to see them damned. So you have to say I don't care who's right or wrong. I don't care who said what to whom. I don't care what any of my enemies have done past or present. I feel my brother my sister has something against me in their heart. I don't know how it happened. What it's all about. But I don't care. I'm going to be aggressive in my kindness. I'm going to heat coals of fire. Because I don't want that brother or sister to die and go to hell. I've got to swallow my pride, my rights, my sense of being innocent. I must not go about my business for God waiting for my persecutor to wake up. Waiting for my persecutor to repent and then come to me. If he or she is offended, angry with me, with what I conceive to be without a cause, I have to do something either by a letter or a call or by sending word by a mutual friend. I have to do something definite and aggressive, boldly, in an act of kindness to heat coals of fire. If I am not received, if I am rejected, if my aggressive kindness appears to them to be a sign of guilt or of weakness, if they act treacherously, if they inflame themselves even to a greater offense against me, it matters not because I have done what the Lord said. I am face to face with God. I've poured out my coals. I have fed and I have given thirst. I have tried to meet their thirst. I've done everything. And the Bible said if they will not receive you, it's clear they'd be turned over to reprobate mine. The scripture said, he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done. For God has no respect of persons, but you will be rewarded and you will be free because you have taken aggressive steps of kindness. Now that's hard. I tell you that's hard. And I wonder how many of you sitting here right now said, well, I don't know, Brother Dave. I don't know, Pastor. I can give you scriptures that say if somebody's sitting here to isolate them from the congregation. Yes, the Bible says before they're swallowed up with over most sorrow, you're to go to them and try to restore them. Talking about the heart of Jesus. Now having preached this, I've got a lot of work next week to do. And so do you. Because when Jesus comes and I stand before the throne, I don't even want to conceive of having to stand by somebody that I could have been reconciled to. And I didn't take the aggressive action. I didn't expect it to be this quiet. And since it's this quiet, I can only presume that you've got about as much work to do as I do. How many would like to be reconciled to everyone on the face of this earth? Everyone on the face of this earth? Your enemies? I'll tell you one thing. I'll tell you very quickly. Most of your enemies are not going to receive you. Most of those who set their mind are not going to be melted. In fact, the coals of fire are going to harden their hearts. But you have to be free. You have to be obedient. And God said, I will reward you greatly. I will reward you. I'll preserve you. I'll go with you. Will you stand please? Folks, I am not suggesting to you in any way that reconciliation means that you go back to the way things were. You never go back. Things are never the same. But your heart is free. Your heart is free. You say, I will be your friend. I will talk to you when you want to be talked to. I will counsel when you want to be counseled. I will bless you. If you need help, you call me. I'll be there. And folks, if you know somebody that has hurt you and they're in need, just write a little note. If it's $10. Don't say, well, I know you hurt me. But here's $10 anyhow. You don't say anything. You just said according to the word of God, the love of Christ, I want to bless you. Love in Christ. Or just get on the phone and say, is there anything I can do? I know you may be hurt. I may have hurt you in some way. I don't know. I'm sorry if I've offended you. I don't even know what it's about. But forgive me. And please know that I'm here to help. Just make yourself available and you're free. That's aggressive kindness. No more passive kindness. Aggressive. Holy Spirit, I know you're changing me. I'm not doing it just to be rewarded. Lord, I'm doing it because I don't want anybody going to hell. Nobody. Not my worst enemy. I don't want anybody going to hell. And that's where many are headed unless there's reconciliation. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that you come by your Holy Spirit. Help us to receive the words that are hard to receive. And make it meet to us. Help us to tremble at it. And say, Lord, I hear it. I obey. I will be aggressive in my kindness toward all brothers and sisters in Christ. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Folks, I'm not going to give another altar call. The whole house is just going to be an altar before him right now. If the Word of God has touched you, you take it to heart. I make you this promise. If you will go in between the cherubim, the holy of holies, you shut yourself in with God, I'm not going to have to give you a set of rules and regulations on how to be reconciled. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. He will give you direction. If you've got five enemies, you name the one before the Lord, and He will tell you exactly in detail how to go about your part in trying to bring about reconciliation. And after you've done what He's told you, then just go on praising the Lord and thanking Him. Don't worry about rejection or anything else. Just do what He tells you to do. The Holy Ghost will give you advice. Now, folks, if this had been psychology or I was a psychiatrist, you'd have been charged $200 for what you've got today for nothing. But I'm not a psychologist, and this is not psychology. I gave you the living Word of the Lord, the living Word of God. Now, Heavenly Father, it's one thing to hear the Word. It's another thing to do it. Let us not be hearers, but let us be doers of the Word of God. Help us to be reconcilers, O God, to reconcile. Be ye reconciled unto God. But you said also to our brothers and our sisters. O God, we pray for those who would consider themselves our enemies or persecutors. We pray, Lord, that the coals of fire from heaven will melt hearts and heal. Let there be great healing, O God, by our acts of kindness. Hallelujah. Lord, speak to our hearts today. There be anyone here now that cannot receive this. Lord, open their hearts to receive it. Let there be no hardness. Let there be no one turning away as they did in Your day, Jesus. We thank You, Lord. You're bringing great revival to this church. But first, You're preparing us to make us more like You. Hallelujah. O Lord, we want to be like You. I want You to just raise Your hands and thank Him for being reconciled to You. Lord, thank You for reconciling me to Yourself. Thank You for Your aggressive kindness toward me. We give You praise. We give You thanks. You have been good to us. You've been merciful to us. You've been kind to us. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the tape. I love You, Lord. I love You, Lord. This is the conclusion of the tape.