All right, so we're studying cultivating covenant community, and we've been looking at the one another commands of the Bible, which really show us how to love one another in the body of Christ. And we won't go through all of them and review them all tonight. But tonight we'll pick up with live in harmony with one another, which primarily comes out of Romans chapter 12. So let's start just by reading that first key scripture from Romans 12, verses 15 through 18. And then we'll pray and begin. Romans 12, verses 15 through 18. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one, evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we bow our hearts before your majesty and this word that you've inspired, and we pray that your Holy Spirit would instruct us. Help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and may our hearts be soft soil for the seed of your word to be planted there and to grow and bear fruit. We ask that you would convict us of sin where that's necessary, that you would assure us of pardon through Christ, that you would give us the sanctifying grace that we need to grow and to love each other better in the body of Christ. We ask that, especially as we consider living harmoniously, that you would speak to us through the various ways we do that. And we ask that you would be present with us by your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So if you look at our outline tonight, the first thing we're going to be looking at is this passage in Romans 12, where it's kind of, you might say, general guidelines for harmonious living. And we'll look at the kind of general guidelines that are given. And then we're going to look at some passages from Galatians and James and think about some of the threats that are out there to harmonious living? What are the things that make it difficult to live harmoniously in the body? And then the third thing we're going to look at is that famous passage in Philippians where it shows us that the way to have unity in the church is through humility. The greatest threat, really, to harmonious living is pride. That's what brings division in the church. And then the greatest way to achieve humility, the thread, you might say, that knits us together, to achieve that unity is humility. And then we'll just ask some self-examination questions of our own hearts. So first of all, general guidelines here from Romans 12. You notice that this shows us that we, as a body, we're supposed to share together in joy and in sorrow. The verse there is, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. And Matthew Henry says, true love will interest us in the sorrows and joys of one another. And so remember, we've been told before that Christ is the head of the church, the church is his body, and we are individually members of his body. We're united to him, but we're also united to one another. So when one member suffers, all suffer together. When one member rejoices, all rejoice. together. And so the idea here kind of gets into the question that you sometimes hear between sympathy and empathy. What does it mean to weep with those who weep? The older word that was often used was sympathy. And the word literally means to suffer with. That's what the word sympathy means. It's a compound word that means to suffer with. And for the longest time, that was really the only word that was used. In fact, it wasn't really till probably the 20th century that, at least in the English language, that people started to favor another word that they thought was better, and that is empathy. And empathy means to suffer in. And so the idea was to enter into someone else's suffering. And so to sympathize came to mean something like, I feel concern for you. I'm sorry for you that you're going through that. But to empathize meant, I know what that's like. I've been there, and I share in that. I've had that experience before. Or at least I'm trying to see things from your perspective and enter into the grief with you. And if that's the kind of definition we're working on, certainly what's being spoken of here, when it says weep with those who weep, is more than just sympathy. It would include empathy. It would include this idea that we are actually supposed to try to understand when others are suffering and enter into that with them. Obviously the weeping here is not, it's a weeping over things that are legitimate sources of grief. We're not talking about empathizing with people in their sin. That's a modern concept that's wrong. We're not to empathize with sin, but we are to empathize with fellow saints and their suffering. to weep with those who weep. And so there's a sense in which we understand in this fallen world what it's like to lose a loved one, what it's like to watch a son or daughter become prodigal, what it's like to suffer sickness in your body. And we share that experience with one another. But we not only share in the sufferings, we share in the rejoicing. So that when something good happens to another member of the body, maybe they get a promotion at work, maybe they overcome a sin, maybe they witness to someone and they plant a seed, or maybe they see someone come to know Christ. Whatever the joy may be, we can rejoice with them. Because the joy of one member of the body is a joy for all. And so basically the idea is that the harmonious living is achieved by us sharing in the trials and the triumphs of life together. We're in this together. Now, weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice. You don't want to be too rigid in your interpretation of that, as if there's one member of the body suffering, no one else can be rejoicing about something else, right? But the principle is we're trying to meet people where they are and enter into their life and experience and be with them in that joy or sorrow, whatever the case may be. What's being prohibited there is something like, you know, dancing on someone's grave or raining on someone's parade, right? You want to be you want to be sharing the proper response they have to a triumph or to a trial. And so harmonious living has to do partly with sharing together in joy and in sorrow. The other thing that's mentioned here is cultivating humility and being willing to associate with those of lower social standing. Notice how that's another thread in this passage. So it says, rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Literally, the ideas have the same mind together, agree theologically, but also agree with your affection with one another. And then do not be haughty or don't think higher than you ought to think, but rather associate with the lowly. And so that associating with the lowly has to do with those who are of lower social standing. So harmonious living means that we're able to relate to one another in the body of Christ across the diversity of experiences and education levels and income levels and skin colors and different views on secondary matters. We're able to love each other and live harmoniously with one another in spite of all those things. If you always think, or if you cannot interact with people who are of lower income, or lower social standing, or less education, that would disrupt the harmony of the church. Why? because there are people who have lower social standing than you. There are people who have higher social standing than you. There's different social classes in the body of Christ, and harmonious living means that we should never think we're above interacting with a certain class of person. You know how sometimes you can fall into that way of thinking. I wouldn't have anything in common with them. They dress differently. They have a different level of education, different interests. They don't like to read what I like to read, or whatever it may be. They don't have the same hobbies. And you feel like you're above them, even if you wouldn't put it that way. Humility calls for associating with those who are different from you and being willing to build relationships with them and love them in this harmonious body of Christ. Notice also, related to that humility, is that we should never be proud of our own way of thinking. So notice how he ties this together. He says, rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. And then he says, never be wise in your own sight. Never be wise in your own sight. So it kind of reminds you of Proverbs 3, right? Don't rely on your own understanding. Don't think you're the smartest person in the room. Don't think that you are basically the one who is always right. Because if you do that, you're going to disrupt unity in the body. Because what are you going to do? You're going to think that you don't need to listen to anyone else. You don't need to ever be corrected. Everybody should listen to your wisdom. And so being wise in your own sight actually is disruptive to the body of Christ. You know, people who are divisive in the church, they're usually people who think that they know best. They have the purest theology. They've read the most books. Maybe they have the most education. Maybe it's an experience thing. They have the greatest experience. They're wise in their own sight. And so there's a warning then that we don't think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. but to think with sober judgment. In fact, that's what it had said in Romans 12 and verse 3 when it says, for by the grace given me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. So we're not talking about having an unnecessarily negative view of yourself or a low view of yourself just for the sake of having a low view of yourself. But we're talking about having a proper view of yourself before God. That's true humility, is seeing yourself before God as you are and not being puffed up, because that attitude then can bring division. So we shouldn't be proud of our own way of thinking. We should be open to reason, open to listening to others. Also notice here he says we should put to death a vindictive attitude towards others. What's a vindictive attitude? A vengeful attitude, a sense in which someone has wronged you, you've got to wrong them, tit for tat, that kind of thing, quid pro quo in terms of offenses. And so he says, repay no one evil for evil. And we know the world says, don't get mad, get even. We know that, right? It's like you are ugly to me, I'm gonna be ugly to you. You ignore me, I'm going to ignore you. You're arrogant in your interactions with me, I'll do the same thing to you. But what this says is repay no one evil for evil. And so we have got to be very careful in living harmoniously in the body of Christ that we don't have a mental list of all the ways that people have wronged us. where you have kind of all the different offenses. It's like you have a written record of debt against people, and you're going to hold that against them. You know, it says in 1 Corinthians 13, love keeps no record of wrongs. And so if you have that vindictive attitude, if you have that list of all the people who have hurt you in the church, for example, and you're always dwelling on the way you've been hurt and the way that you've been wronged, that's going to bring disunity. Because the bitterness and the lack of forgiveness is going to form a wedge between you and the other relationships in the church. And so harmonious living requires us to, as we've seen before, forgive others as God and Christ has forgiven you. So we saw that one another command to forgive is part of the harmonious living there. Notice also he says that we should seek to act honorably in the sight of all. Notice he says in verse 17, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought, so you gotta think about it, you gotta ponder it, give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. So notice it's interesting there, isn't it? It doesn't say, give thought to do what's honorable in God's eyes. That would be true, wouldn't it? I mean, we want to glorify God and enjoy him forever. We want to honor the Lord in all that we say and do. But this actually says, give thought and think about what's honorable in the sight of all. It's concerned about perception. It's concerned about others and whether or not they would evaluate what we're doing is honorable. And so it's a matter of our testimony to the world. So take a non-spiritual example of a company. If a company was acting dishonorably, for example, if it was underpaying its employees, if it was firing them without cause, if it was providing no vacation time, would you want to work for that company? No, because they're not treating their employees with honor and respect. And you wouldn't want to be involved in that, right? It would gain a reputation. Well, the church is supposed to have a reputation before the world that we treat one another in an honorable way, in a way that is honorable, yes, in God's eyes, but also in a way that the world can see and say, that's good. That's a city set on the hill. That's a beneficial thing for the culture. I recognize that that is a great way to live, and I would want to be part of a community that treats me like that, the way that I would want to be treated. That is the way it's supposed to be. And so it actually does matter that we consider the perception of honor. We want to show genuine respect. We also want to make sure that we're actually caring for one another in that way. Because when there is dishonor, then there's going to be disharmony that goes along with that every time. So acting honorably in the sight of all, and then also taking responsibility to preserve peace in all our relationships. Notice what it says. It says, if possible, this is verse 18, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. So we know Jesus said peace is a big deal, right? Because he said, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. That's not a bad thing. That's a characteristic of being a Christian, you know, to be a peacemaker. And to pursue that, you don't compromise truth. You don't compromise righteousness, but one of the characteristics of a faithful follower of Christ is that we pursue peace in our relationship with others, and especially in this context in the body of Christ. Now notice that that verse implies that there are situations where maybe peace isn't possible. It says, if possible, so far as it depends on you. And so the idea is you gotta do your part. You've got to make every effort. You've got to remove every obstacle. You've got to give it a go to try to have peace so that you can say, before God in my conscience, I've tried to remove anything that is potentially going to create disharmony and disunity in this relationship for the sake of Christ. And so you think about your relationships in the church, think about that. Is this source of division, is this source of disagreement, is it worth bringing disharmony? Have I done everything in my power, have I done everything in my ability to try to maintain peace? Which that could mean, have I confronted this person for their sin? That could mean, have I asked for forgiveness for the way that I have sinned against this person? That could mean, have I realized that maybe I really have been too dogmatic about this thing and I've forced a wedge between me and a brother or sister? You have to ask those questions to think about, what are the barriers to peace and how do I go about achieving that? So these are kind of like the general guidelines that Paul is giving to say, live harmoniously, live in unity, unity in the truth. of Christ, but unity in your affection for one another. So what are some of the threats that lead to disunity? Well, we've suggested some of them, but flip over to Galatians chapter 5, and just want to point this one out. Galatians 5, verse 25 and 26. In context, Paul has been talking about two ways to live your life. One is according to the flesh. And that's when you do kind of what you want to do for yourself. And it's ugly. You live for yourself. You live according to the works of the flesh. And that ultimately leads to judgment. And then he talks about another way to live, walking by the spirit. where the Holy Spirit is living in your life, producing his fruit in your life, and it's a life of love and joy and peace and patience, all those things. And then he talks about living by the Spirit, and he says this in Galatians 5, 25, if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. So what rears its ugly head in that verse? Conceited pride, right? Pride is what is going to lead to division and disharmony in the body. And the manifestations of pride that are mentioned there, one is provoking one another. And so provoking someone, the way I put it here is deliberately pushing someone's buttons. That's like the NIV translation of it, or the message translation maybe would be better. Like deliberately trying to upset, irritate, or aggravate someone, right? Are we walking in love if we're deliberately trying to get a rise out of someone, get them to respond in a sinful way? No, of course not. Because you're stirring up, instead of stirring up virtue in someone, instead of stirring up, we talked about early on in this study, we're to stir up one another to what? Love and good deeds. We're stirring up sin when we're provoking someone. We're stirring them up to have godless attitudes or make godless choices. And so provoking one another, in pride we're doing that, that is a threat to unity. envying one another is also mentioned here. It says provoking one another and then envying one another, that's almost that sense of you don't want anything good to happen to someone else. And if it does happen to them, you despise them for it. One of the best examples of that was our study of 1 and 2 Samuel with David and Saul. Remember what happened. Saul was great. People were praising him for slaying thousands of the Philistines, and everything was great until all the ladies were singing, Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands. And you had that comparison, and then Saul became jealous of David, and Saul hated David, and Saul wanted to kill David, and he was trying to pin him against the wall with his spear. You know the story. Because of envy, and because of bitter jealousy in his heart. And so we should ask ourselves, not only am I trying to push someone's buttons, am I trying to provoke someone to do something evil or just get a rise out of them, but also we should ask, Am I able to rejoice, genuinely rejoice, when my brother or sister in Christ succeeds? when something happens to them that is good, whether God has done something wonderful in their life, he has given them something great, they have advanced in some way, am I able to celebrate that? Again, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Envying destroys that because it says, no, I'm not gonna rejoice when they rejoice, I'll rejoice when I rejoice. But it creates a severance to the relationship in the body. Also, we have another way of putting these same sins, really, is bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. Flip over to James, the James passage here. I think it's James 3, yep, James 3, verses 13 through 16. And actually, yeah, start in verse 13, James 3, 13. It's talking about two kinds of wisdom. The wisdom from above comes from God, and then he refers to another wisdom that implicitly comes from below. So God's wisdom and the devil's wisdom, you might say. But it says in James 3, 13, who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom, this bitter jealousy, this selfish ambition, this is not the wisdom that comes from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vile practice. See that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition create disorder, disharmony. It breaks up the unity of the body, and it brings every vile practice. And then he says, but the wisdom from above is first pure, it's peaceable. You see these themes running through all these passages. It's gentle. It's open to reason. It's not wise in its own sight, but it's open to reason. It's full of mercy and good fruits. It's impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. So, you know, bitter jealousy, again, similar to what we've said before. Are you angry or frustrated when others achieve? That's a sign that you have bitter jealousy, right? If you're angry that someone else is achieving or doing well, do you despise anyone because of the good things that come to them? That's bitter jealousy. That's what Saul had towards David. That's what the religious leadership in Jerusalem had towards Christ when they wanted to crucify him. Selfish ambition, do you desire to be the best so that others will praise you? Are you willing to bulldoze over others so that you can achieve your goals as efficiently as possible? I've got what I want to do, I know what I want to be, I know how others, I want others to see me, and I'm willing to knock anyone down and push anyone out of the way to get there. That's selfish ambition. There's nothing wrong with ambition. The Bible talks about godly ambition. Paul talks about missionary ambition in his letters. But selfish ambition is I want to be great so that others think about how great I am. You know, that's the idea. And all of that brings disharmony. So what's the solution to all this? Christ. Philippians 2. Philippians 2 talks about this exact thing in terms of how to have true unity in the body of Christ. And often people forget that this passage is actually in the context of church unity. We just kind of think of it as a passage that talks about Christ's humiliation and exaltation, but it's in the context of talking about church unity and how that unity is achieved by humility. So Philippians 2 verse 1, if there is any encouragement in Christ, there is, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind. having the same love, being of full accord and of one mind. You hear the unity? Unity and truth, same mind. Unity and love, same affection. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. That's the threat. But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. That's the way to harmonious living. Think of others first. Think of self last. How do you do that? Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 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 by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death, on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So nothing is more divisive than pride, and nothing is more unifying than humility, And the way to have humility, Paul is saying here as an inspired apostle of the Lord, is by having the mindset that Christ had when he left heaven, and he became man, and he took on the form of a servant, and he is willing not just to condescend and stoop and humble himself, but ultimately go to the cross and die to secure our salvation. and God exalted him. So the idea is whoever humbles himself will be exalted, whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and we humble ourselves by looking to Christ and imitating his humility. So Christ was willing to stoop, are we? We saw that with the washing of the feet. Are we willing to roll up our sleeves and wash others' feet? Are we willing to debase ourselves and do the things that are inconvenient and uncomfortable and might get our hands a little dirty to love others? And then are we willing to sacrifice? It costs Jesus something to humble himself. And in everything we've been studying in all these lessons, there's a cost. It costs something to forgive, it costs something to forbear, it costs something to serve, it costs something to have harmony in the church. And when we're unwilling to pay the cost, pay the price, and we're unwilling to die to ourselves, and we're asserting our rights, rather than laying them aside, there's going to be division, right? because there'll be that conflict. So self-examination, as we close, and obviously we'll discuss these things tonight, think about your relationships with other Christians and I've been applying these messages to this church, but it could be, you know, it could be a relationship at work, it could be a relationship like your marriage or, you know, some other relationship. I'm just trying to be specific. In this church, let's say, are your relationships in the body here at Christ's Press, are they harmonious? Are they strained? Are they united? Is there disunity? Is there discord? If they're not harmonious, ask yourself, why is that the case? What's the source of the disharmony, the disagreement, the tension? What is the source of it? Probably not the issue you're fighting about, right? Because there's always the issue under the issue. But what is the issue? Instead of focusing on how other people need to change, what we need to do is to look at ourselves and say, how do I need to change? Right? Because in our sin, and Satan will whisper in our ear, you're not the problem. It's them. They're the one who's acting crazy. They're the one who's acting sinful. They're the one who can't control their tongue, or whatever it might be. And the reason why that's so convincing to us is there's some truth to it, right? They probably did do some things wrong. They probably do have a role to play in the disharmony. But you can't fix that. You have to consider yourself. You have to consider yourself before the Lord. And so ask yourself questions, questions like these, like these. Are you able to celebrate with others when good things happen to them? That's a good question. Or do you find maybe you're less than enthused when something great happens to someone that you find annoying or rubs you the wrong way? Are you able to understand and relate to those who are suffering without attempting to fix the problem? And what I mean is just to weep with those who weep rather than try to say, well, let me try to fix this problem for you. There's a lot of problems that a lot of saints go through that aren't fixable in this life. There are trials, there are tears, there are hardships, and just to be a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on and to be a sympathetic friend. Do you think too highly of your own ideas? Are you wise in your own sight? If we only did things my way, everything would be great. It would be the perfect church. That would be a problem, right, if we thought that way. But we find ourselves sometimes thinking that we're the smartest person in the room, and no one else could tell us any differently. We've got it all figured out. Do you see yourself as being above a certain kind of a person in the church? that you wouldn't relate to certain people in the church or another Christian because, well, they didn't go to college or they're blue collar and I'm white collar or vice versa, right? I'm just saying you have that really functionally attitude that you just don't talk to certain demographics of Christians because you're above that. You would never say it that way, right? That's, again, the sneakiness of sin, but in a sense, that's how you function. Is there anyone you like to antagonize simply for the sake of getting a rise out of them? The Bible says don't provoke one another, right? Do we like provoking people? Do we like stirring up fights or stirring up arguments just for the sake of doing that? Are you dwelling on a list of past hurts? You know, like you constantly have that rotary in your mind of the things that people have done. Is that something? Is there a brother or sister you hate to see succeed? Basically, questions like these where you're asking yourself before God, in light of what we've studied, how does the Holy Spirit need to transform my heart, your heart, individually before God, to live harmoniously in the body? Because, you know, we can't fix the community, right? You want to fix the problems outside of you, we got to start with ourselves. And how does the gospel apply to me? How does the gospel apply to my own life so that I can be a source of living in harmony with my brothers and sisters for whom Christ died? Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. It is always a word that brings conviction, and it's a word that brings comfort and correction to us. And so we pray that you would help us to be changed by it. Help us to identify areas where we are not living harmoniously with our brothers and our sisters, and help us not to point our fingers at others and their sin, but help us to see the pressure you're applying to our own hearts where we can grow and repent and change, that we might become more like Christ. Bless us with your truth. Bless us in our discussions. Unite our hearts together in love. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.