Good evening. All right, that wasn't bad. I have not spoken in three days. I was saving it for that. So that went all right. That wasn't bad. Pray for me. I need your prayers, especially tonight. Listening should always be active. Sermon listening should be especially active, but I especially need you active tonight. I will preach for you if you will pray for me as I preach. So we're just going to go, and I'm going to push, and we're going to pray and trust God that he will get us through this. So thank you for your patience. Romans 12 14 through 16 is where we're gonna be if I go super long. It's not my fault. It's Ed's fault so So no no apologies there I got this call when I was in the playground with my four little girls And I don't know if you ever tried to keep up with kids at a playground in New York City, but it's impossible You're always losing one and missing one. I didn't listen to what he said. I didn't know what he said. I got home, sat down and looked at the text. I was somewhat distressed, both in the scope and nature of the text, but also because, listen, this is a tough one for me. I always preach better than I practice. That is always the case. But this is especially the case this evening. So this is going to be a God be merciful to me, a sinner, because I've been assigned a text that I find particularly difficult. And I think that many of you may find it difficult as well. So let's struggle together. Let's remember tonight that our hope is in the Lord, not ourselves. Let's remember that the God that we serve is so merciful and gracious, so merciful and gracious. He's slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. So as you surely know by now, if you've been coming this summer, I think I've listened to all of them but one. I'm going to catch up. Chapter 12 marks a new section in Romans. Wonderful, wonderful Romans. All roads lead to Romans. I tell my church I will preach on Romans when I grow up. I have not gotten there yet, but I want to. So I'm excited to get to dip into it here with you tonight. In chapter 12, you know that we've now transitioned. We've gone from indicative to imperative, from the most brilliant and beautiful exposition of Jesus Christ and His gospel of grace, to then now the natural and thankful effects of that gospel. God saves us. And then he shapes us. God redeems us. And then he renews us. He converts us, and he changes us. Praise God. Romans 1 through 11 is sort of how the first part works. It's how he saves us. Romans 12 through 15, kind of 16, is what the second part looks like, how he shapes us. Romans 1 through 11 you could just say is the grace of God. I think you make a case that Romans 12 through 15 is, it's the image of God. In a sense, it's the image of Christ. Romans 8, 29, what is God doing? What's He up to? What's this whole thing about? Why all the foreknowing and all the predestining to conform us to the image of His Son? He's making us like Jesus. So Romans 12 is kind of what Jesus looks like, and it's what God is making us look like. All of it ultimately summarized, as you heard in verse 9, love. Genuine love. Not just love and affection, but love and action. You've gone through it, showing honor, zealous, fervent, serving, rejoicing, patient, prayerful, serving one another, showing hospitality to one another, love and action, but also Love and affection. Verse 10. As we act in love toward one another, we will grow in feeling love for one another. So love is sort of the core idea of this whole section. But you've noticed all the commandments, all the imperatives. Yes, there's some participles, but they're imperatival participles. There's all imperatives here. Rapid fire, one after the other, do these things. So law, all couched in this whole sense of love. Which makes a lot of sense in Paul's theology, because were you to keep reading to chapter 13, verse 10, we're going to see that love is the fulfilling of the law. The law is entirely about love. Paul tells us that the law is holy and righteous and good. Paul could rightly say with Psalm 119 that he loves the law, because the law expresses God's good and loving nature to us. So these two things go together. Jesus tells us in the Great Commission, go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that he commands. Listen, this is his word. So that includes these commands that we have before us here tonight. These commands about how to love. This is what love looks like. And it looks so rapid-fire and random, but we know Paul better than that. It's not. He's brilliant. We've tried to figure out how to organize these verses. Some people say 9 through 12. Is the love directed toward insiders? Some people say 14 through 21 is love directed toward outsiders. I don't think that really works. I think the easiest way to distinguish these two parts is that nine through 12 is love in action. while 14 through 21 is then love in reaction, right? It's love in initiation verse love in response. We are now looking at how does love react and how does love respond in various circumstances, particularly in various difficult circumstances? How does love respond to persecution? How does love respond to the success of others? That's the more difficult one of the two, by the way. How does love respond to the grief of others? Well, verses 14 through 16 are going to show us. Paul is giving us concrete, practical application. Here's what love looks like. We love because he has first loved us. Lover of my soul first. Grace. I want to live for you because of the grace. That order is so important. So now Paul is showing us how it works out. He's saying, do these things, resting in the wonderful grace of chapters 1 through 11, because doctrine is always meant for practice. Believing is always meant for doing. John 13, 17, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. So, tonight, do this, then, and be blessed. We're gonna look at two points, 14, and we'll take 15 in the beginning of 16 together, because we had to try to do something. No brilliant outline today. Love reacts in blessing, not cursing, and then love reacts in rejoicing and weeping. Romans 12, let me read it for you. This is the most important part of the night. Romans 12, verses 14 through 16. This in the good, meticulous sovereignty of God is what he has to say to you this evening. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Stop there and go to the Lord in a word of prayer. Father, I am weak. You are very, very strong. Father, my physical weakness does not compare to my spiritual weakness. So Father, we are completely and utterly dependent upon You and upon Your grace and upon Your Spirit tonight. Father, we ask that You would work and speak through Your Word. I ask that You would strengthen my voice. I pray that the words could be clear so that Your Word could be clear. But in spite of me, I pray that You would work and speak Convict us. There's a lot to be challenged with here. Father, comfort us and encourage us. Point us to Christ, even in these verses, as the perfect fulfiller of what it is that we have before us. Father, I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe that You are good. I believe that You are powerful. I believe that Your Word does not return void. And so we ask that You would speak tonight, and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, let's start with verse 14, we have three imperatives. We have three commands packed into one short verse. Bless, bless, don't curse. People persecute you. Love reacts by blessing. Now, I really like words. I think it's really important that we understand words and that we wield them well. which means that definitions really, really matter. We have such a tendency just to kind of throw around words without really knowing what they mean. I think sometimes, particularly in Christian circles, we've got all kinds of Christian jargony words that where you stopped and say, hey, what is that? Define that. We'd probably have a hard time doing so. I think that applies to the terms bless, and curse. These words in verse 14 mean different things than we often think that they mean when we use these words. Where I come from in the South, North Carolina, just met Josh from South Carolina. It's good to have some other Carolinians here. Old ladies down there have accomplished the pretty impressive feat of taking the words bless and making it into a curse, right? Polite old Southern ladies love to patronizingly say, oh, you know, bless his little heart. when they mean the exact opposite, right? That's not what they mean with that at all. So what does it then mean to bless and to curse? When I hear these terms with little kids, the first thing I think of are fairy tales. Curses are things of fairy tales. Consider the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty. Did you know that movie came out in 1959? That's old. Some of you knew that because you were there. In the movie, the princess is born. The princess is named Aurora. Aurora is the Latin word for dawn or morning light. And even biblically, this idea has a very positive connotation. Psalm 35, weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Lamentations 322, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Nina Simone sings It's a new dawn. It's a new day. It's a new life. And I'm feeling good. That's morning. It's a fresh start, a new day, new hope. That's the birth of Aurora. So there's great joy. There's great excitement. A big party is thrown. All are invited to celebrate the christening of Aurora. Everybody except for one person, right? So Maleficent shows up uninvited and crashes the party. fairy, the witch, who is so perfectly named. And what does she do? She pronounces a curse. She starts off, the princess, beautiful, loved by all, that's blessing, she's pronouncing good, but then she says, but the princess will prick her finger and die on her 16th birthday, a pronouncement of ill, and that's curse. A curse. It is a curse from Maleficent. Her name is two Latin words shoved together. Malice means bad, and facere means to do. So her name literally means to do bad or to do evil. That's Maleficent, and it's the opposite of beneficent. Bonus is the Latin word for good. We finish the service, we pronounce the benediction, literally the good And in our text, the Greek word is eulogio. Eulogy. You hear the word eulogy in there. It literally just means a good word. That's the difference between a blessing or a curse. A blessing is a promise or a pronouncement of good. It is a good word. A curse is a promise or pronouncement of bad. It is a bad word. But we're still not quite at what Paul means yet, because when we hear curse as a bad word, we think expletives, right? We think swear words, four-letter words. Our parents always quoted to us Ephesians 4.29, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth. And they'd say, don't say any any bad words, don't swear." And sure, I think it includes that, but that's not really what Paul means there in that verse. He goes on, no corrupting words, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear. So corrupting talk is not bad words, it's bad words spoken to. or about others. Bad words that tear down, bad words that give the opposite of grace. So taking that into consideration, it's tempting to read Paul's command in 12.14 that when people say bad things about you, don't say bad things back, instead say nice things. And you should do that. That's included surely in what Paul is saying. You should stop being so obnoxious on Facebook. That's your first application. I'm being persecuted for the gospel." No, you're just annoying, right? The gospel is offensive enough, right? We don't have to add to it our foolish, aggressive, antagonistic, angry words on Facebook. So stop doing that. It's just simple. Be kind. It's sad that that sounds so juvenile and childish. to us, because it's actually quite biblical and profound. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. And if kindness sounds lame these days, how much more does gentleness, also, by the way, a fruit of the Spirit, also, by the way, one of the qualifications of the men who are to lead our churches. 1 Timothy 3.3, they must be gentle. Titus 3.3, remind them to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle. Ah, but we must speak the truth. What about the liberals? What about the social gospel? What about this, that, or the other? We must correct them. Amen and amen. Do that and do it according to 2 Timothy 2.24. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness." It's like we've just kind of forgotten that these words, these verses exist today. So he is saying here, speak kindly, speak words of blessing, speak with gentleness, speak evil of no one. When someone persecutes you, yes, speak good words to them, but still, even that is not what Paul primarily means. What does he mean? Well, Jesus can help us. Jesus can always help us. We've heard these words before. We've heard the words to bless even those who persecute and curse us. These are Jesus's words. And Jesus clarifies for us exactly what Paul means. Look at Luke 6, if you want to look there. Turn there. Luke 6, 27 through 28. Take your time. I'm going to drink this. Luke 6. Oh, man, that's good. Luke 6, 27 and 28. I'm going to do that more often now. This is the Sermon on the Plain. Probably just a condensed summary of the Sermon on the Mount. Maybe not. I'm not sure. Like any teacher over the course of a three-year ministry, Jesus would have taught some of the same content in different places. I do that. I'll do it with this sermon if I get the Anna Moore stamp of approval. I don't think that she knows this, but I only repeat sermons that she tells me are good. Sorry, Ed, but I put a lot of weight there. So Luke 6, Jesus is either repeating stuff or it's a separate teaching. Not entirely sure, but listen to what he says here in Luke 6, 27, in light of what Paul says in our passage. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Stop there. There it is. Bless those who curse you. But how, again, what does that mean? He tells us. He keeps going. Look. Pray. for those who abuse you. And that's what Paul means in verse 14. That's the command in verse 14. Similarly, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, Matthew 5, 44, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. They persecute, we pray. That's what it means to bless. That's love in reaction. To bless is to speak good words. But it means different things depending on who you're talking about. When we bless God, Psalm 103, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Now, your problem maybe tonight is that you've forgotten. Don't forget all His benefits. Bless Him. And that simply means, it means to praise Him. It means to speak good words. It means to speak well of God. That's worship. We bless God. But we're also told to bless others, which must mean something different, because we don't worship or praise others in the same way. Well, that then means that now, when we bless others, we are speaking to God that He would do well to others. Right? It means different things depending on the object of the blessing. Bless God. Ascribe the praise that he is due. Worship. Speak good. For God to bless us is for him to give us blessing. Right? We can't actually bless him. We can speak good words to him, of him, praise him. He actually gives good and does good to us. And then, for us to bless others is to speak good to God. on behalf of them, so that He would do good to them." You follow that? We bless God by speaking good to Him. He blesses us by doing good to us. We bless others by speaking to God and asking that He would do good to them. That's what we're being commanded to do here. They do evil to us, and we react by asking God to do good to them. And man, right, how difficult is that? John Murray at Westminster says that no practical exhortation places a greater demand upon our souls than the command to bless those that persecute you. He's right. This is really, really hard. Listen to the comforting words from Calvin now. Calvin says this. He says, although there is hardly any, who has made such advance in the law of the Lord that he fulfills this perfectly, no one can boast that he is a child of God or glory in the name of a Christian who has not partially undertaken this course and does not struggle daily to resist the desire to do the opposite." It's a perfect balance. Calvin says, no Christian does this perfectly. Phew, because I don't. But also, no Christian doesn't do this. We frequently fail, but we steadily struggle. And man, that applies to so much of the Christian life. We are called to heavenly high standards. Be holy. as I am holy. This is unnatural. This is difficult. This is not how the world operates. Paul is not just saying, do not retaliate. He is not just saying, don't repay evil for evil. Now, don't do that. That is bad. I don't want to steal too much of Harry's thunder here, but look down at 17 through 21. He's going to cover this in two weeks. But just look at how many times Paul basically says the same thing. Verse 17, repay no one evil for evil. 19, never avenge yourselves. 20, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If thirsty, give him something to drink. 21, overcome evil with good. It's all pretty much the same thing. Remember, repetition is always a flashing sign saying, pay attention, this is really, really important. You need to hear this again and again and again. And this is really, really important all the time, but it's especially important in these last couple of years. culture in our context. This is different. This is not even how Christians seem to be operating toward one another right now here with this verse. But this is love in reaction. This is how love responds to hate. And again, it's not just a passive take the evil. This is an active seek the good. And that do good is an active seeking God to do that person good. Brothers and sisters in Christ, you are commanded here tonight in this text to pray for those who persecute you. You are commanded to seek to do them the highest good, which is to seek God himself to do them good. They assault you. You turn and assault the throne of grace on their behalf. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Father, save them. Father, Be merciful to them, sinners. Father, forget the evil that they have done to me and do them good." I mean, honestly, how often do we actually do that? And keep in mind that the persecution that most of us experience is still relatively minor, right? It's generally still social persecution. It can hurt There can be a cost, but we're not yet risking life and limb. It could come, who knows, but when you are offended, how do you tend to respond? Coworker lashes out at you. Coworker is constantly saying bad things about you. Family member mocks you for your foolish faith. How do you respond? Is our first move prayer? Because it's not often my first move. What about that person that you just can't stand, right? My kids say, I can't use this word, but being honest, that person that you just, that you hate, or that person saying those bad things, doing those bad things, have you ever tried actually praying for that person? I don't know where I heard it first, but it was somebody else. It is really hard to hate someone that you're praying for. And it's really hard to humbly go before God's throne about someone that you really hate and say, God, help this person, bless this person, be good to this, And again, next time you get all worked up online, too, instead of posting, try praying. The posting accomplishes nothing. Praying, by the way, can accomplish anything, right? Posting is trusting in your power to do something, which is silly because you don't have it. Nobody cares. But praying is trusting in God's power to do something, which is always the height of wisdom. Because He has it. He has all of it. And He can do something, and He is always doing something, and that something is always good. Prayer is what we are called to. Prayer is an exercise of helplessness. It is acknowledging both our weakness and God's power. It is admitting that you cannot do it, but He can, and He, praise God, can even save the worst of sinners. That's the goal with this verse. And he proves it right with the man who is pinning these words. Paul, the persecutor of the church, the chief of sinners, by the grace of God, becomes Paul, the great missionary and lover of the church. He proves it in the man preaching these words to you right now. He proves it in many of you hearing these words. Brothers and sisters, bless those who persecute you. Because who knows? You may be the means through which God works to save a sinner from eternal damnation. Brothers and sisters, bless those who persecute you. Why? Sermon on the Mount again, because of Matthew 5, 10, and 11. If you're still in Luke or Matthew, go to Matthew 5 and look there. These verses are insane. We are way too familiar with the Sermon on the Mount. Listen to these. I don't think we often hear these words. Why should you bless those who persecute you? Listen to Jesus. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. You hear that? He says, bless those who persecute you. Why? Well, because in some way, in the mysterious sovereignty of God, we are actually blessed when, and I think in some sense, actually blessed by them persecuting us. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you. That thing that you hate, that thing that feels so bad, the terrible curses, the bad words spoken to or about you, and we know those words hurt. We're not minimizing the words. We're not minimizing persecution or the pain. Words wound. Words kill. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never hurt me. That's so dumb. That is not true at all. Words are everything. Nothing wounds worse than words. But follow what Jesus is saying here. He's saying, when those terrible things are said to you and done to you, those words that can cut so deep and wound so seriously, blessed are you when that happens. What? You feel hated. You feel harmed. You've experienced curse. God says, You are blessed. Why? And he tells us at the end, it's because the kingdom is already yours. In Christ, Christ is already yours. So we don't need to retaliate. We don't have to hurt back. We don't have to do whatever we can do to defend ourselves or vindicate ourselves. That thing, no matter how bad it is, it cannot touch what is most true. and what is most valuable and what is most good. It cannot touch what is most important to us. And in fact, in the mercy of God, it can actually enhance and further it. And how is that? Once again, because God is sovereign. Brothers and sisters, there's nothing more important in the midst of suffering and persecution than knowing and resting in the sovereignty of God. We're doing Job right now, which is silly in Bible study, but it's good. And I read a couple people and a couple comforting things and counseling. He's like, ah, you know, don't, don't comfort with the sovereignty of God. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's the most comforting thing in the world. I sat in my car during dinner, trying to avoid talking. And I was reading a Newton, some of letters, Newton's letters. And he was writing a letter to a young man who's pastor whose wife had just died. And the first letter. was just dripping with the sovereignty of God. Newton immediately comforts him with God's sovereignty and God's goodness, right? He's in control and he is good. Spurgeon says, there is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Ah, dumb rain today? Sovereignty of God. I'm trying to load my kids in the car. That's his perfect timing to accomplish his perfect will. He is sovereign over all of it. The bad stuff, the cursing, the attacks, the harm, all the bad stuff. He's sovereign over it. And without that, you're not going to be able to do this. Calvin gives us a pointer. He gives us a practical consideration. He writes, hey, in this situation, make sure not to dwell on the wickedness of men, but rather consider the image of God in them. So again, focus not on their inherent wickedness, on the thing they've done to you. Focus on the fact that they've been created in God's image. Great. But again, I'd like to add to that, and it's never too bold to add to Calvin, I'd add for you, also consider the sovereignty of God in your situation. Hey, we're in a safe place. We're all pretty good Calvinists here, I think. Which means, again, we believe meticulous, absolute sovereignty. Job, Sabaeans, fire, Chaldeans, winds. The Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Satan strikes loathsome sores. Verse 10, shall we receive good from God, shall we not also receive evil. So you may be experiencing something right now, you may be persecuted, you may be under attack, the enemy may have struck, but scripture rightly attributes it, ultimately, to God's sovereignty. The God of secondary causes. The God who himself cannot and does not do evil, but who decrees and ordains it, who is sovereign over it and uses it and works it for good. which means that enemy, your enemy, you have an enemy right now, that enemy striking you, persecuting you, specifically ordained by your good and sovereign God to strike you and to persecute you. It's from Him. Why? Because He loves you. It's because He's up to something. It's because of Romans 8.28. Because He's working all things together for your good. Not good like we want, Good would be comfort and ease and pleasure right now. That doesn't seem to be good for me right now. But good, he tells us, again, conforming you to the image of his Son. God is making you more like Jesus. And I don't know a lot of you very well, but you're probably not very much like Jesus yet. Yet. And so, what God is graciously doing in the bad things and the sad things and the attacks and the persecutions is that He's attacking all that sin that remains. He's knocking down all those idols in your heart. He's murdering everything in you that is not like Jesus. And there's a lot of it. The older you get, I think the more you grow in Christ, the more you're aware of just how wickedly sinful your heart remains. And so He's working. So bless and don't curse that which God is using. The thing that you think is doing you so much harm is actually the very thing that is a vehicle for God's blessing. And again, we know this. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. And listen, that, by the way, in Christ, that's always the case. Every time. No matter what it is, God is always meaning it for good, because He can't do the opposite of that. He is good, and He must do good. So everything that He sovereignly brings into your life is for your good, because He is shaping you and changing you, and He is making you more like Jesus Christ. So no matter how bad it seems, we know that God is good. Persecution, man's wicked attempt to harm God's holy people, actually becomes a means through which God blesses his people. So we, in a quote that Spurgeon may not have actually said, but it's a good one, we learn to kiss the waves that throw us up against the rock of ages. Man, I love that. Learn to kiss the waves that throw us up against the rock of ages. Christian, are you persecuted? Jesus says you are blessed. So bless that which has, in the amazing sovereignty of God, become a vehicle of blessing for you. Pray that they, by the grace of God, would repent and believe so that they too can experience that same blessing. God himself pouring out his goodness on them by pouring out his wrath on his son so that they could live eternally with him. Bless and do not curse. Let's move on. Let's go to verse 15. Worry not. I have not yet mastered the art of preaching, so first point is always longer than the second. We've seen how love reacts to persecution. How does love react to success? How does it react to grief? How does love react to the highs and lows of life together? Look at 15 in the first part of 16. Let's read it again. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Now, we can treat these together because they're actually more connected than they first appear. Paul explicitly ties them together in the Greek. I don't actually love the ESV translation of 16. It's more of a dynamic rather than kind of a more literal, formal translation. It gets the basic idea, but I just wish they had left it. If you've got the NASB, it more accurately puts the beginning of 16 like this. Be of the same mind toward one another. The Greek literally says, minding or thinking the same toward one another. Minding or thinking the same toward each other. And doesn't that, all of a sudden, take what looks like two separate unrelated commands in 15 and 16, and then tie them closely together? Rejoice with the rejoicers, weep with the weepers, be of the same mind. It's the same thing. And I'm just going to punt on this and leave it to Caleb next week, because I'm supposed to stop. But in the Greek, Paul connects the first part of 16 directly to the second part of 16, where you see in the ESV, do not be haughty. Again, most literally, it says, do not be high-minded. It's the same word, mind. So first phrase, be same-minded toward one another. How? Second phrase, by not being high-minded, do not be pridefully Arrogant. Be of the right mind concerning yourself, and we will see you. Then you're going to be well on your way to the right mind concerning others. If you're back in Romans 12, look at verse 3. Go back and listen to Eric Raymond's sermon, by the way, if you didn't hear that. Eric Raymond did a great job there on verse 3. Romans 12, 3. Our verse is a further application of that verse. Look at what it says. Don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. So our verse 16, do not be high-minded. In other words, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but live in harmony. Better translation, be of the same mind toward one another. Think with sober judgment. Guys, pride is the problem. Pride is bad thinking. Pride is high-mindedness. It is thinking highly of yourself. which is always a problem because you're not that high. You're not that great. Therefore, your pride is misplaced. The solution is not no pride, it's properly placed pride. The solution is right thinking. Think rightly of self in light of God, and then you will think rightly of others. And that's exactly, by the way, what Paul is doing in Philippians 2. If you want to turn there, Philippians 2. I just spent nine weeks in it. It's one of the best chapters in the Bible. Go read it over and over and over again. In Philippians chapter 2, we'll pick up in verse 2. Paul says there, be of the same mind. Well, surprise, surprise, that's the same word as Romans 12, 16. How can we be of the same mind? Humility, look at verse three, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, again, you know what that word literally means? It means low mindedness. So in low mindedness, count others more significant than yourselves. Verse four, let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others, have this mind among yourselves." So he's saying replace pride, which is sinful high-mindedness, with humility, holy low-mindedness, and then you will have unity, humble, same-mindedness. And how can you do that? It's only the gospel. Paul knows that. And so he keeps going. In Philippians 2, verses 5 through 11, the Christ hymn, have this mind, he says, which is the mind that you have. This is the mind that you have been given in Christ. who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. Listen, that's the only solution to your high-mindedness, to your sinful pride. It's to see the humility, the low-mindedness of Christ, who, though He was literally the highest, became the lowest by becoming us. He, in a very real sense, became me. He took on my sin and He died in my place so that I, the lowest, by the grace of God, could be counted and treated as the highest. Listen, that's the only way you're ever going to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. So notice Paul's progression. Again, it's masterful. Don't be high-minded. How? Well, sneaking in Philippians 2, low-mindedness. Where does that come from? The low-mindedness of Christ, which then leads to same-mindedness, harmony, unity, as we count others more significant than ourselves and look not only to our interests, but the interests of others, which then results in rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep. Guys, We are to be in such harmony. We are to be so united, so same-minded, sharing such fellow feeling for one another that we will rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. This is 1 Corinthians 12, 26. That's all Paul is doing here. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Why? Verse 12, for just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. We are one body, many members. Why has God composed us in this way? Verse 25, so that there may be no division in the body, but so that the members may have the same care for one another. Church, we are one in Christ. We have been wonderfully redeemed, and that means then adopted by the grace of God into the family of God. And if we are truly one, intimately united as the people of God, that means that the joys of others become our joys, and the sorrows of others become our sorrows. You rejoice with another as if the occasion of joy was your own, and you weep with another as if the occasion of grief was your own. Verse 15 is simple in concept. Paul wants us to care, and that's it. We are not to be indifferent to the joys and sorrows of others. We are to react to them rightly. We are to enter into them. It's so simple, yet so difficult and so rare in practice. I mean, this is the verse that I didn't particularly want to preach on because this is something that I think that I just really, really struggle with. You have multiple pastors in this room who are far more personally qualified to speak on this verse than I am. Have you ever heard of the Enneagram thing? People are all about that. If you've missed it, don't waste your time. But it's the most recent craze in personality tests. It's another Myers-Briggs. Nam told me not to plant because of my Myers-Briggs test. So whatever. Thanks, Nam. I find these things more entertaining than helpful. But it was all the rage a while ago. Somebody asked me to read the book. And if you ask me to read a book, I'll always say yes. So take this with a grain of salt. But here's what it says for mine, apparently. Apparently, I'm a five. There are healthy average and unhealthy fives. And if we're talking anything to do with emotion, I'm definitely on the average to unhealthy range. So here's the description. Here's my personality description. They hold to a scarcity mentality. which leads to hoarding time, space, and affection. They feel more at home observing rather than participating in the external world, and thinking substitutes for feeling. Fives in this space tend to rely on themselves rather than faith, and they carefully measure how much time they spend with others. They struggle with anything that makes them feel incompetent or incapable. Man, this. They experience the world as intrusive, overwhelming, and draining. Typically introverted and analytical, fives don't believe they have enough inner resources or energy to meet the demands of life. They feel drained by prolonged involvement with other people. Ouch. Man. I don't know if the other ones are that bad, but that one's not very good. Some of it's uncomfortably accurate, right? Some of it's enough to kind of say, oh, wait a second. And all that's just to say that I'm not someone who naturally and easily rejoices with those who rejoice and weeps with those who weep. And yet, here it is, commanded. Again, here's why I wanted to be clear at the beginning. This is law. This is part of the law. We are commanded to do this thing. And listen, yes, God does create us and wire us in different ways. He gives us different personalities, and those are good things. But those good personalities can never be excuses for sin. And those good personalities can never be a reason not to do what Scripture commands God's children to do. So for some of you, this is really easy, I'm sure. You just read this verse, you're like, yep, got it. Some of you can weep on the spot. Sentimental commercials, tears, something sappy about a pet, tears. I never got any of those things, but if you are here and you are emotionally stunted like me, what do you do with this command? And it's here. We have to do something, but we are called to obey it. How do we do this? So first, just a couple of things, and then I'll wrap up. I'm doing Philippians 3 on Sunday, where Paul says, finally, and he goes on for two chapters, so. First off, first thing, you gotta own it. You gotta admit it, and you've gotta confess it in prayer. I pray every single day, Father, help me love people like you love people. Father, help me love people like I'm supposed to love people. Father, forgive me for the apathy and the selfishness. Father, change me. Because listen, That's what it is most of the time. Most of the time, it's sin. Why do I so struggle with this? Yeah, there are personality things. Listen, ultimately it comes down to unbelief, pure and simple. Because God's Word clearly tells me what to do. And I know that everything that God's Word tells me is right and good and true. So when I refuse to hear it and heed it, it's ultimately because of unbelief. It's so easy to say, well, listen, actually, you know, It's just not how I'm wired. Guys, listen, I have found that that is so dangerous, because it's true, in part, it is, it's true in part, but that's what makes it so dangerous, because it is then so easy and tempting to take that and then use it to deny the very thing that I have been created and called to do, which is to glorify God by loving and serving the people of God. You know, it's not just a pastor thing, that's an every single one of us thing. We are all of us called to glorify God by loving and serving the people of God. Now again, take heart. The rejoicing and weeping will look differently for everyone. I'm never just gonna be the abundantly effusive guy. I wish that I was, but that doesn't mean I can't weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. It doesn't mean I have to emotionally respond in some prescribed way that looks like other people do it, but it does mean that I have to get over myself. I have to look not to my own interests, but theirs, and very intentionally enter into their rejoicing or weeping. To rejoice with those who rejoice is to rejoice as if the good thing had happened to you yourself. And to weep is the same, is to weep as if the bad thing had happened to you, yourself. Again, it doesn't mean you have to outwardly respond in the same way that other people do, but it means that you are with them. You are responding as you would respond had that thing happened to you. Sharing what they are experiencing, bearing their burden, and in so doing, either doubling their joy or halving their sorrow. So man, it starts first and foremost with admitting your failure, and it starts with asking for God's help. You know what, though? He is a God who is very gracious to respond. I think, I'm going to talk to my wife later, I think he's changing me. I think. Maybe that's in part why he gave me four girls. That's not a complaint. My girls are better than your boys. God has used my wife and he has used my girls to change me, slowly. He's used Ed, he's used other brothers here, he's used guys at Woodside. So confess, own it, pray about it, bring it before the Lord. And second, related to that, related to my girls, seek out and spend time with those who do excel at this because North Shore, you have been blessed. I said, well, I don't feel bad. You have been blessed with an abundance of elders who care well for the flock. I got to listen and sit under them for nine months. I needed a lot more time than that. But in the sovereignty of God, he sent us on. You guys have an abundance of resources here. So if you struggle with this, Man, go to your elders and go and spend time with the men who do this here so very well. Discipleship is both instruction and imitation. Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. So surround yourself with those who rejoice and weep well with others. And third, man, it's just, let's pick up the phone and do it, right? It's call somebody. You can't weep with somebody if you don't know that they're weeping, right? So it simply starts with presence. And it starts with knowing, and it starts with reaching out and building those relationships. And then this part will come. And then fourth, and most importantly, of course, the gospel is of first importance. And this ultimately is the only way that I change and that you change. This is the only way that any of this is possible. It's by looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. So it's, man, it's consider him. It's consider the gospel. That's how change happens. So Paul says, we all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. We stopped there, but it keeps going. For this comes from the Lord, who is the spirit. That's your hope. That's my only hope. This comes from the Lord. And so I have to cling to that. He does it in me and through me. He works through his word. As I see his goodness and his grace, I so want to be more like him and less like me. And so much I see, seeing so much of what he is like here in Romans 12, this love and action and reaction. This is showing us what Christ is like. And this is what He is making all of us like. Those who bless and don't curse. Those who are so united together that we rejoice and that we weep with one another. Guys, these things are so, so difficult. And they are so opposed to our sin nature that our only hope is Him. Rejoicing with those who rejoice seems easy. It's not, and it's the more difficult of the two. I really do want Caleb to preach a good sermon next week, but if I was being honest, just barely not quite as good as mine, right? That's what my sinful heart thinks. Sorry, Caleb. God be merciful to me, a sinner. Weeping with those who weep is also a challenge. Guys, it's not pleasant to weep. Weeping is pain. It's loss. It's grief. No one chooses that. But the Christian chooses to enter into that because that's precisely what Christ chose for us. He entered into the grief. He entered into the sorrow. He entered into our sin. And that's the solution to everything. He ordains ends and beginnings. He finishes what he starts. He saves. He sanctifies. So, Christian, bless. Don't curse, rejoice, weep, all in the Lord, all in response to his infinitely good grace. Romans 12, with our verses in it, 12 one, Paul says, so I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, by blessing those who persecute you, by rejoicing with those who rejoice, and by weeping with those who weep, for this is your spiritual worship. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word. Father, I thank you that it is living and active. And I ask and pray that it would act on our hearts now. I pray that I would not in any way be a barrier to your word working. I pray that your strength would shine through your word. I pray that you would show us your goodness. Father, I pray that you would challenge us where we need to be challenged. Father, I do pray that you would encourage us, because all of us fall so short of these commands. And we're so thankful for Christ, who so perfectly fulfills them. We're so thankful for Christ, who is such a perfect picture of love in action and reaction. So Father, I pray that you would encourage our hearts and point us to Him and give us great love for Him that would lead to great love for one another, that would lead to blessing and rejoicing and weeping and caring for one another as you have so perfectly cared for us in Christ. I love you. I thank you for this church. I pray that you would continue to bless them. I pray that you would continue to use them to do great things for your glory. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.