June 18, 2025 • 52 mins
The world tells us to look out for “number one” and to be true to ourselves. Our own happiness, comfort, and self-fulfillment seems to be the end goal. But that’s not the community of God’s people, the church, should look like. In this message from Romans 12, David Platt shows us that the community of God’s people, the church, should be marked by its others-centeredness. As those who have received God’s mercy, Christians should be eager to show mercy and meet the needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
If you have a Bible and I hope you do let me invite
you to open with me to Romans,chapter 12.
And as you're finding Romanschapter 12, let me invite you to
pull out the notes that are inthe worship guide you received
when you came in tonight.
I'm so thankful for thiscommunity of faith.
(00:29):
I so appreciate your desire forthe glory of God and your
eagerness for the word of God,especially over the last couple
of weeks We've been looking atour church covenant, which I
hope is an expression of theWord, your eager response to the
(00:51):
Word.
I want to thank you for that.
We looked last week at what itmeans to be a God-centered
community of faith, how to loveone another in a way that
centers on God and not onourselves, which we're going to
take that to another leveltonight as we look at what it
means to be an open-handedcommunity of faith, and here's
(01:11):
what I mean by that.
Here's what I hope we're goingto see in the Word.
The church is designed by Godto be a generous people, an
open-handed people, a people whobelieve that God has given us
time and resources and energy tobe used for the good of others,
(01:33):
to the glory of God.
Now, the opposite of that isobviously close-handed people,
people who believe that God hasgiven time, resources, energy to
center on ourselves and toterminate with ourselves, to
meet the needs of ourselvesinstead of to meet the needs of
(01:56):
others.
That's the American way.
After all, we have things forthe good of ourselves.
I was just finishing up taxseason and was talking with a
financial planner recently andhe was saying to me Dave, first
and foremost, you need to takecare of yourself, and that is
(02:17):
worldly counsel.
It's not biblical counsel,that's worldly counsel.
Take care of yourself first andforemost.
What I wonder is if we havebought into that kind of picture
wholesale, even in the way wedo church, if we have actually
(02:38):
designed church to cater tobeing close-handed, to be less
than generous in giving ofourselves and more in receiving
for ourselves.
You look at the way we describechurch growth.
We have created a whole picturewhere people, when they come to
church, are told they shouldexpect certain things.
(02:59):
When I come to church, then Ineed to drive up and the
building grounds need to lookgood to me and parking needs to
be accessible to me and thechildren's ministry needs to be
easy for me to drop off my kids.
The music and the worshipservice needs to be pleasing to
me.
The sermon needs to beappealing to me.
(03:20):
We need to leave in a timelyfashion when we are finished,
which obviously you havedisregarded completely.
So I thank you for that.
So this is hypothetical, thisgoes beyond this faith family,
but need to leave in a timelyfashion.
Everything needs to be smooth.
You think about expectations.
People think when they arevisiting church all right, I
want to come, I want to be ableto have a good parking space
(03:41):
when I come in.
It would really help if therewas a latte waiting for me there
.
If I could get a peppermintmocha for worship, that would be
particularly good.
I like this place If I can dropmy child off at a
state-of-the-art children'sministry so that when I come
back I can press a button.
Maybe they even come slidingdown and meet me there, and it's
(04:03):
really top-notch if they've gotface paint on as well.
They've had the best time oftheir life.
This place is for us and I wantto be able to drive away Having
my needs been fulfilled.
I don't want to drive awayfeeling bad.
I want to drive away feelinggood about what I have just
experienced.
This is American Christianity101.
(04:24):
You do these things.
You draw the crowd and youbring the church and, in the
process, think about it with me.
These are phrases that youwould never hear on the lips of
first century Christians.
I hope there's a latte waitingfor me.
You never hear that.
Do they have a state-of-the-artchildren's ministry?
(04:48):
Do they have a state-of-the-artpreschool or youth ministry?
You never hear those words onthe lips of first century
Christians, or most of ourbrothers and sisters around the
world, for that matter.
Is the music going to beappealing to me?
Is this going to meet my needs?
Is this going to meet my needs?
Is the music going to beappealing to me?
Is this going to meet my needs?
Is this going to meet my needs?
These are uncommon phrases toNew Testament church and our
(05:09):
brothers and sisters around theworld, but they are so common in
our day, and I wonder if, inour attempts to cater to
conveniences and grow the church, if we have undercut the very
foundations of biblicalcommunity, a community that
revolves around the One who saidI did not come to be served,
but to serve and to give my lifeas a ransom for many.
(05:31):
We center our community aroundthe One who gave His life for
His enemies, and we cannotreflect Him if we are
close-handed and looking to haveour needs met at every turn.
(05:52):
Christian community isfundamentally about being
open-handed, about realizingthat God has given us time and
resources and energy to be usedfor the good of others, to the
glory of Christ, and so whatwe're going to do is we're going
to dive tonight into Romans,chapter 12.
Again, somewhat like I did lastweek, looking at all the
scriptures that fill that lastpart of the covenant that we're
(06:13):
looking at, is there one passagethat really sums up the others?
And Romans chapter 12, Ibelieve, does it.
Last week we looked at the wordof God in the community of
faith and tonight we're going tolook at the mercy of God in the
community of faith.
And so we're going to readthrough the whole chapter Romans
, chapter 12.
And I want you to imagine thisis a letter that was written by
Paul to the church at Rome inthe first century and he's
(06:35):
encouraging them.
This is practical encouragement.
It just fills the pages, theverses, the words, the phrases
of this chapter.
So I want you to imagine ushere.
We are a community of faith andthis being written to us and
sensed by the Holy Spirit,saying this is how your
community is to look.
Church at Brook Hills.
And the Spirit writes.
(06:56):
Therefore, I urge you, brothers,in view of God's mercy, to
offer your bodies as livingsacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God.
This is your spiritual act ofworship.
Do not conform any longer tothe pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewingof your mind.
Then you will be able to testand approve what God's will is,
(07:20):
his good, pleasing and perfectwill.
For by the grace given me, Isay to every one of you do not
think of yourself more highlythan you ought, but rather think
of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure
of faith God has given you.
Just as each of us has one bodywith many members, and these
members do not all have the samefunction, so in Christ, we, who
(07:41):
are many, form one body, andeach member belongs to all the
others.
We have different giftsaccording to the grace given us.
If a man's gift is prophesying,let him use it in proportion to
his faith.
If it is serving, let him serve.
If it is teaching, let himteach.
If it is encouraging, let himencourage.
If it is contributing to theneeds of others, let him give
generously.
If it is leadership, let himgovern diligently.
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If it is leadership, let himgovern diligently.
If it is showing mercy, let himdo it cheerfully.
Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil, cling towhat is good.
Be devoted to one another inbrotherly love.
Honor one another aboveyourselves.
Never be lacking in zeal, butkeep your spiritual fervor
serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient inaffliction, faithful in prayer.
(08:26):
Share with God's people who arein need.
Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you.
Bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Mourn with those who mourn.
Live in harmony with oneanother.
Do not be proud.
Be willing to associate withpeople of low position.
Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil forevil.
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Be careful to do what is rightin the eyes of everybody.
If it is possible, as far as itdepends on you, live at peace
with everyone.
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath
, for it is written it is mineto avenge.
I will repay, says the Lord.
On the contrary, if your enemyis hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give himsomething to drink.
(09:10):
In doing this, you will heapburning coals on his head.
Do not be overcome by evil, butovercome evil with good.
That chapter is full of commands, challenges, exhortations for
the community of faith.
There's around 25 differentcommands and challenges and
(09:32):
words of encouragement for thecommunity of faith.
This is how you're to liveamong one another.
But I want you to see thefoundation of the whole picture.
It's the very first phrase.
Therefore, in view of God'swhat Mercy, in view of God's
mercy.
This is where we remember.
Anytime we see the wordtherefore in the Bible, we know
that what is about to come isbased on what has just been said
(09:54):
before.
That.
And so this command to worshipand this definition New
Testament definition of worshiphere in Romans, chapter 12,
verse 1 and 2, and all of thesecommands 25 different commands
for how to love, serve and carefor one another, they don't just
come out of a vacuum.
There's a foundation that'sbeen built, it's the basis for
all of these commands, and thatfoundation that, therefore, is
(10:16):
referring to 11 chapters thatprecede this chapter, 11
chapters of Scripture that giveus probably the most glorious
portrait of the Gospel in allthe Bible.
You've got three chapters first,three chapters in Romans that
talk about how God's wrath isset against sin and sinners, and
(10:38):
then you come, at the end ofRomans, chapter 3, verse 21
through, to probably one of themost potent paragraphs in all
the Bible, a paragraph that Iwould encourage every follower
of Christ in this room tomemorize and hide in your heart
Romans, chapter three, verse 21through 26.
We've studied it before here.
It talks about how God hastaken his wrath and poured it
(10:59):
out on his son Jesus, instead ofpouring it out on us, so that
by his grace, when we trust inChrist, we are delivered from
his wrath, saved from our sinsand brought into relationship
with him.
How does that happen?
Verses, chapters four and fivetalk about this happens by faith
.
How we're justified, we're maderight before God.
(11:19):
Romans 5 1.
We have peace with God throughfaith and faith alone, not based
on what we do, but trusting inwhat Christ has done.
Then faith alone, not based onwhat we do, but trusting in what
Christ has done.
Then you've got a chapter onhow we're dead to sin as a
result of faith and we're aliveto God in Christ the exact
picture we've celebrated inbaptism tonight dead in sin,
alive to God in Christ.
Then you've got a chapter abouthow we still struggle with sin
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and that leads into Romans,chapter 8, verse 1, that says
there is now no condemnation forthose who are in Christ Jesus.
That chapter goes to the endand reminds us that nothing can
separate us from the love of Godin Christ.
And then you've got threechapters Romans 9, 10, and 11,
that talk about how God haspursued us by His grace and our
salvation is not based on ourmerit or our work, but solely
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based on the grace of Godexpressed to us.
So you've got 11 chapters.
In light, paul is saying, inlight of the fact that you were
dead in sin and under the wrathof God.
You have been delivered fromthe wrath of God by Jesus on a
cross, you are justified byfaith and you are no longer
condemned, and all because ofthe grace of God.
In light of all that, worshipNow.
(12:27):
That makes sense.
That makes sense Now.
Worship is not a duty that wefeel like we must do.
Worship is now a delight thatwe long to give ourselves to.
We want to worship.
When we realize the magnitudeof Romans 1 through 11, romans
chapter 12, verse 1, is justnatural Offer yourselves.
(12:51):
And then the same thing Romanschapter 12, verse 3 through 21,.
All of these commands to loveone another.
They don't just come out of avacuum.
The Bible's not saying loveeach other and serve each other
just because the Bible's sayinglove each other and serve each
other.
Because because the Bible'ssaying love each other and serve
each other because of the mercythat has been expressed to you
and that overwhelms and compelsyour heart.
(13:11):
So I want us to see the effectof the mercy of God on the
community of faith in threedifferent ways.
First, because of the mercy ofGod in the community of faith,
we are mercy-driven worshipers.
Mercy-driven worshipers.
This picture of faith.
We are mercy-driven worshipers.
Mercy-driven worshipers.
This picture of worship Imentioned, kind of a New
Testament definition of worship.
(13:31):
In a sense, what Paul does ishe reaches back into Old
Testament history, this wholepicture in the Old Testament of
the people of God bringinganimals as sacrifices.
They would bring them and theywould lay those animals in the
altar and they would offer theseanimals as a sacrifice, a
blameless sacrifice, pleasing toGod.
And what Paul does is he saysNew Testament, totally different
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picture.
You don't bring an animal andlay that animal on the altar.
You're on the altar.
This is worship your life.
This is worship your life,living sacrifice, your life laid
on the altar before God.
This is so much deeper thansongs and religious routine.
This is surrender and sacrifice.
(14:14):
We sacrifice our bodies, offeryour bodies.
Yourselves say my body and myentire self belongs to you, god.
Our minds to be transformed bythe renewing of our minds, just
like we talked about last week,as the Word of God fills our
minds and we saturate our mindswith the Word of God and leads
us to worship.
(14:35):
Why we must be careful not tofill our minds with the stuff
this world offers, not to fillour minds with Oprah and reality
TV shows and stuff.
This world clogs our minds withit, crowds out knowledge of the
greatness of God through HisWord.
To fill our minds, to besaturated in our minds with the
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Word of God, so our minds arebeing transformed.
That's worship, so that ourthoughts reflect the glory of
God and our bodies, our minds,our wills, this good, pleasing,
imperfect will.
We surrender our wills to Him.
In worship we say you determinethe direction of my life, you
determine where I go, how I go,how I live, the decisions I make
(15:18):
.
They are not my own.
I do not belong to myself.
I belong to you, to myself, Ibelong to you.
This is worship.
Now the picture is allthroughout the Old Testament.
In this sacrificial system theyhad, they continually missed
this.
The people of God prone to missthis and I'm convinced we're
prone to miss it as well.
Hold your place here for just asecond and go back to the left
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to the Old Testament.
Isaiah Find Isaiah, chapter one.
The left to the Old Testament.
Isaiah Find Isaiah, chapter one.
It wasn't going to take us here, but I was in my devotional
reading in the Word.
This week was in the beginningof Isaiah and this passage just
left out as a reminder to me ofwhat we're looking at tonight,
of the mistakes, the errors thatthe people of God all
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throughout history have madewhen it comes to worship, how
the people of God are prone tolook at worship as religious
routine or religious exercise orreligious duty, as opposed to
surrender of our lives and ourhearts before God.
Listen to what God says to Hispeople in Isaiah, chapter 1,
verse 10.
And we're going to make aconnection here, parallel,
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between what Isaiah isprophesying here and talking
about and what Paul is saying inRomans, chapter 12.
Look at Isaiah, chapter 1,verse 10.
This is God speaking to hispeople through his prophet,
isaiah Hear the word of the Lord, you, rulers of Sodom, listen
to the law of our God, youpeople of Gomorrah, isaiah 1, 11
.
God says the multitude of yoursacrifices.
What are they to me?
(16:45):
I have more than enough ofburnt offerings of rams and the
fat of fattened animals.
I have no pleasure in the bloodof bulls and lambs and goats
when you come to appear beforeme.
Who has asked this of you?
This trampling of my courts?
Stop bringing meaninglessofferings.
Your incense is detestable tome.
(17:06):
New moons, sabbaths andconvocations I cannot bear your
evil assemblies, your new moonfestivals and your appointed
feasts.
My soul hates.
They have become a burden to me.
I am weary of bearing them.
Does God hate worship?
Is that possible?
(17:27):
Absolutely, it's possible.
Worship bringing religiousexercises, religious offerings
devoid of surrender of life.
So what do you see?
All throughout the prophets inthe Old Testament, a people who
were a worshiping people, whowalked through the routine of
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worship but missed the wholepoint, disconnecting worship
from the mercy of God all overtheir lives.
That led them to surrenderthemselves.
And then don't miss the picture, not just in their relationship
with God, but theirrelationship to each other.
What was so detestable to God?
Keep going.
Verse 15,.
When you spread out your handsin prayer, I will hide my eyes
from you.
Even if you offer many prayers,I will not listen.
(18:12):
Your hands are full of blood.
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Listen to the second half ofthe way through verse 16.
Take your evil deeds out of mysight.
Stop doing wrong, learn to doright.
Seek justice, encourage theoppressed, defend the cause of
the fatherless, plead the caseof the widow.
(18:32):
You see how they wereparticipating in religious
exercises, but they wereignoring the oppressed and the
fatherless and the widow.
Go down to verse 21.
See how the faithful city hasbecome a harlot.
She once was full of justice,righteousness used to dwell in
her, but now murderers.
(18:53):
Your silver has become dross.
Your choice wine is dilutedwith water.
Your rulers are rebels,companions of thieves.
They love bribes and chaseafter gifts.
Listen to this, verse 23,.
Midway through they do notdefend the cause of the
fatherless.
The widow's case does not comebefore them.
Do you see this picture?
The people of God were not onlymissing the whole point of
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worship and their relationshipto God, but their worship was
having no effect on theirrelationships with others.
They were still ignoring theoppressed, or the widow, or the
fatherless, the needy among them.
And this is where we just needto remember.
We need to remember that oursongs, disconnected from hearts
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of surrender to God, miss theentire point of worship.
Religious exercise disconnectedfrom radical abandonment of our
lives to God, misses the wholepoint of worship in the same way
.
In the same way it really doesnot matter Church at Brook Hills
in wealthy Birmingham, alabama.
It does not matter what we door say on Sunday.
(19:58):
If our lives are ignoring theneeds of the poor and oppressed
around us, here and around theworld, then, no matter what we
do or say, we are not worshiping.
When we gather together, we'refooling ourselves.
This is a reminder that God'speople receive over and over and
over again.
And when you get to Romans 12,come back there.
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It's exactly what Paul issaying.
Follow along here in your noteswe experience the mercy of God
in worship.
This exactly what Paul issaying.
Follow along here in your noteswe experience the mercy of God
in worship.
This is what he's saying.
As we offer our bodies and ourminds and our wills, we give our
bodies the living sacrifice.
We experience the mercy of Godin worship.
But then, after two versestalking about worship, what
you've got is verse 3, all theway to verse 21, talking about
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how we express the mercy of Godin community, and these go
together.
Worship propels us to love oneanother, to care for one another
, to serve one another.
We experience the mercy of Godin worship, and then we express
the mercy of God in ourcommunity with one another,
which means what we do in aworship gathering like this
(21:02):
tonight as a community of faithis important, extremely
important, but it is only onepart of what it means to be the
people of God, because ourworship gatherings propel us to
love, serve one another.
New Testament definition ofworship, followed by New
Testament explanation ofcommunity.
(21:22):
See the two linked together.
That leads to the second part inthis passage.
We are mercy-driven worshipersand we are a mercy-molded family
.
What I love is what comes nextin verses 3-21 this portrait of
biblical community molded by themercy of God.
(21:44):
A family together serving oneanother, loving one another,
gifted for one another, prayingwith one another, blessing,
rejoicing, mourning together.
All of these pictures a mercy,mercy-molded family.
My younger sister was graduatingthis weekend from nursing
school at UAB and so we hadfamily in town from all over the
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place and they were everywherein the house, everywhere,
everywhere, everywhere, familyjust everywhere.
And you look everywhere andthere they are.
It's you know, you know thesense.
You just look around, it'schaos, it's everywhere.
And and and I sat back justkind of looking around the room
(22:29):
All ages, we don't all cometogether like this, which is not
necessarily that bad of a thing.
We don't all come together likethis in one place that often,
and just to look around and justto think about the years of
being family together and theadditions in that process and
knowing that there's strugglesrepresented in this or that and
(22:50):
victories represented here orthere in the room, and just to
see, just to be reminded, ofjust the beauty, for the most
part, the beauty of family, asyou look around and as last
night it was late by the timeall the family everywhere was
getting to sleep and it'sgetting quiet.
Finally and I was looking overthis passage and I was just
(23:14):
reminded, struck by this realitythat Scripture teaches Like we
are, we are a community whoserelationship to and with one
another is deeper than that ofphysical family.
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It's deeper than that ofphysical family.
It's deeper than that ofphysical family.
And that's not just talking,that's not trite, this is a real
picture in the New Testament.
Even physical family, aswonderful as physical family can
be, is still a temporal reality.
What we experience with oneanother in the community of
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faith is an eternal reality.
We are an eternal community.
We are united togetherspiritually, supernaturally, in
a way that supersedes any othertype of relationship.
This is why the church iscertainly no club or religious
organization.
Even and even deeper thanphysical family, we are a
community of faith whoseinterconnectedness runs deep,
(24:22):
and that's what Romans chapter12 is all about.
God, help us not to miss this,the beauty of what is
experienced in the community offaith.
And so what I want to do is Iwant us to take verses 3-21 and
we're just going to run through.
We've got about 25 differentcommands here.
I've tried to bring it down to10 overarching ways that we
(24:46):
display the concept of being amercy molded family.
Follow along with me.
First, we belong to each other.
Romans 12, 3-5.
We don't think of ourselves morehighly than we ought because
listen to verse 4, just as eachof us has one body with many
members, and these members donot all have the same function,
so in Christ, we, who are many,form one body and each member.
(25:11):
Listen to this each memberbelongs to all the others.
What a profoundinterconnectedness.
Literally, we are individuallymembers of one another.
We belong to each other Justlike a body the analogy Paul
uses a body has many differentparts that are connected
together.
In the same way, we aredifferent parts of a body,
(25:33):
dependent on one another,belonging to one another,
attached to one another.
That's the picture here.
Think about it.
Let that soak in as youconsider the people that are
sitting around you.
We belong to each other.
Second, we are gifted for eachother.
This is a great picture, verse6,.
(25:54):
We have different giftsaccording to the grace given us.
And then he begins to listthese different gifts.
Catch what Paul's saying here.
He's saying that every memberin the body, every part of the
body, is gifted for a purpose.
Let this soak in this realitywhether you are eight years old
or 88 years old, the Spirit ofChrist dwells in you.
(26:16):
If you've trusted in Christ forsalvation, the Spirit of Christ
lives in you.
Then what Paul is saying hereis no matter how old you are, no
matter where you are in life,what you're doing, you have been
given brother or sister.
You have been given spiritualgifts, supernatural gifts from
the Holy Spirit of God in you,in each of you, intended for the
(26:40):
building up of the body.
One of my favorite things to doas a pastor is to spend time in
the New Members Workshop at thebeginning of each of the New
Members Workshop, go in andspend time there with those who
are joining with this faithfamily, and it is just
exhilarating to me to lookaround the room and to see
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individuals and to see couplesand to see families and to just
picture the spiritual realitythat is expressed there, to see
people gifted by the Spirit ofGod that God is entrusting to
this community of faith to buildup this community of faith.
What an awesome picture.
Now we have a tendency toundercut this.
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We need to be very carefulbecause we kind of exalt those
who have this gift or that giftand we kind of minimize those
who don't seem to be very giftedor this or that, and we have a
dangerous tendency to lose sightof the fact what Paul's saying
here.
Everyone counts in this picture.
Everyone contributes.
He gives this list of gifts.
It's not intended to be anexhaustive list of spiritual
gifts.
You compare this with otherlists of spiritual gifts in the
(27:46):
New Testament and you'll see allkinds of different gifts.
I don't think the point is he'ssaying here's what the gifts
are.
Instead, he's saying you'vebeen gifted, some have this,
some have this, some have this.
But the point is whatever giftyou have, use it.
Use it for the glory of God.
I want you to watch somethingwith me on the screen.
It's a picture of the Apollo 11mission to the moon, and I want
(28:09):
you to think about the realitythat's being expressed here in
Romans, chapter 12, in light ofthis picture represented in
American history.
Watch this with me.
Did you know that there were amillion different parts on that
Apollo 11 spacecraft?
(28:30):
A million different parts?
Just think about that.
Just think about that.
That means even if 99.99% ofthe parts on that spacecraft
(28:51):
worked, that would still leave100 parts, components of that
spacecraft that would fail andpossibly jeopardize the entire
mission.
Talk about needing every singlepart to come together.
This is the picture.
What happens?
What happens when churchrealizes that we have a far
(29:20):
greater mission, greatcommission, the greatest mission
on this planet you heard itexpressed in these baptism
testimonies to make the gospelknown among all the peoples of
this world.
That kind of mission cannot beaccomplished with 50%
participation, or 60, or or 70,or 80 for that matter.
This is the picture of whatPaul is saying.
It's the body of Christ comingtogether, each with different
(29:43):
gifts, some with more gifts thanothers, some with different
gifts than others, but thepicture is the whole body of
Christ, the Spirit of Christ,equipping this body, the church
of Berkel's, with all kinds ofdifferent gifts for the
accomplishment of a mission thatis greater than ourselves.
You heard, saw that quote atthe end, from a secular
anthropologist who had studiedpeoples and tribes all over the
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world.
She said never doubt that asmall group of committed people
can change the world.
She was right, but she did.
She totally did not come upwith that.
Jesus shows us this Small groupof men, small groups of
believers scattered, scattered,scattered throughout house
churches in the first century.
Small groups of believersscattered throughout China and
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North America and around theworld, who together are
accomplishing something greaterthan they ever could experience
individually.
This is what the church isabout.
We are gifted for each other.
Realize this.
Let this soak in every brotheror sister in this room.
Watchman Nee said the church issuffering not so much from the
prominence of the five talentmembers as from the holding back
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of the one talent members.
The life of the whole body ishampered and impoverished by the
burial of those single talents.
So what happens wheneverybody's together on that
kind of picture?
It's not a pastor movement oran elder movement or a this
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leader or that leader movementor a staff movement, but it's a
people movement of people whoare accomplishing the purpose
for which God has created us asa community of faith.
God may it be so.
We belong to each other and weare gifted for each other,
gifted to build each other up.
Let's not undercut this withthinking me, me, me in the
community of faith Misses thepoint.
(31:33):
Third, we love each other.
Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil, cling towhat is good.
This is not a fake, superficial, shallow surface kind of love.
This is the depth of selflesslove.
The word here for love is agape.
Some of you are familiar withthat.
Unconditional love, selflesslove.
Very uncommon in pagan Greekliterature, In the literature of
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that day, to use this kind ofword to describe love for each
other.
And that's the word that Jesususes, the word that Paul uses
here.
You do not think me, me, me, me.
This is what sets us apart.
This is what sets us apart.
We don't come together with oneanother thinking me, what am I
going to get?
What am I going to get?
We come together thinking howcan I give for the sake of the
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people around me?
This is what the church isabout.
Let's not miss this in our day.
Love each other, we care foreach other.
Be devoted to one another inbrotherly love Two great words
in the original language of theNew Testament, both of them
talking about the love Bedevoted to one another,
brotherly love.
Both of those words won't gointo the intricacies of the
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Greek, but the picture is.
The love of brothers in afamily is what's expressed in
the community of faith.
We care for each other, wehonor each other.
Honor one another aboveyourselves, literally.
Prefer one another in honor,prefer to honor rather than be
honored, outdo others inbestowing honor.
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That's the picture here.
I want to pause, real quickly.
Go to the right, real quickly.
Ephesians, chapter 4.
You go to the right, you'll gopast 1st and 2nd Corinthians,
then Galatians and thenEphesians.
Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 29.
This is another one of thosepassages that's mentioned in our
church covenant.
And as I was praying about whattext we would study tonight, it
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was either Romans 12 orEphesians 4.
And we went with Romans 12, butI want to take us real quick to
Ephesians, chapter 4.
Look at verse 29.
How do we honor one another?
I want you to see one practicalway we honor one another.
Ephesians 4, 29.
Ephesians 4.29.
Ephesians is one of thegreatest books on the church in
the New Testament and Paulwrites in that book, verse 29,.
(33:44):
Do not let any unwholesome talkcome out of your mouths, but
only what is helpful forbuilding up others according to
their needs, that it may benefitthose who listen.
And do not grieve.
The Holy Spirit of God withwhom you are sealed for the day
of redemption, get rid of allbitterness, rage and anger,
brawling and slander, along withevery form of malice.
(34:05):
Be kind and compassionate toone another, forgiving each
other, just as in Christ, godforgave you.
Now, this is in no way.
What I'm about to say is in noway a reaction to anything that
I've observed in this faithfamily.
That needs correcting.
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I've not seen a lot of brawlinggoing on, and that's a great
thing that we're not brawling,but this is where I want to
remind us that God tells us tohonor one another with our
mouths, with our tongues, tohonor one another with our
(34:48):
speech.
And we all know we all knowthat one of the deadliest
weapons the adversary uses toundercut the community of faith
is gossip, and we justify it insuch ludicrous ways in the
church and we must be rid of it.
(35:11):
Be rid of it.
We grieve the Holy Spirit ofGod with gossip, with anything,
anything that does not build upeach other's character in Christ
and benefit those who arelistening.
Your name needs to be safe inmy mouth.
My name needs to be safe in mymouth.
My name needs to be safe inyour mouth, each other's name
(35:36):
safe in each other's mouths, sothat we are always speaking to
honor one another.
When you speak about, people askthe question are you speaking
in a way that honors them andbuilds up the character of
Christ in them?
That'll cut down on a varietyof conversations.
We'll save a lot of breath thisway.
If we ask those kinds ofquestions and when we have
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concerns, conflict with abrother or sister we're going to
talk about this next week go tothem, go to them and speak to
them about these things, that'sa good thing.
Now don't go to them and gotell everybody else what you
went to them and speak to themabout these things, that's a
good thing.
Now don't go to them and gotell everybody else what you
went to them about, but just goto them, address this with them
and let Christ show His glory inreconciliation with the
brothers and sisters.
You talk about those things.
That's a great process, not aneasy process.
(36:22):
We'll talk about that more nextweek.
But we honor each other.
We want the last thing we wantto do is grieve the Holy Spirit
of God and this community offaith by speaking about one
another in a way that does nothonor Christ in them.
Speak with kindness andcompassion about one another.
Next, come back to Romans,chapter 12.
We spur on each other.
I think this sums up Romans 12,11, and 12, when Paul talks
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about not being lacking in zeal,but keeping spiritual fervor
and serving the Lord and beingjoyful in hope, patient
affliction, faithful in prayer.
You live like that.
Here's the picture In thecommunity of faith, when you
live with zeal for Christ.
This is the purpose of thechurch that you would come
together, we would come together.
You would see zeal in me forChrist and it would spur you on
(37:07):
to greater zeal for Christ.
That I would see zeal in youfor Christ and it would spur you
on to greater zeal for Christ.
That I would see zeal in youfor Christ and I would be
spurred on to greater zeal.
This is the picture.
We're a snowball effectintended to be a snowball effect
that we come together and wespur one another on and you live
joyful in hope, patient inaffliction, faithful in prayer,
praying for one another.
You saw that in our churchcovenant 1 Samuel 12.23.
(37:30):
You catch that.
1 Samuel 12.23.
We spur on each other, we sharewith each other, share with
God's people who are in need.
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Literally, we participate Rootword there's koinonia that we
see about, see referring tofellowship all over the New
Testament.
We share with each other,practicing hospitality, sharing
our homes literally with oneanother.
The language here is you pursuehospitality, you go after
people, you look for ways toshare in others' needs and you
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see needs and you share inmeeting those with them.
We rejoice with each other.
We'll skip over verse 14 andcome back to it in a minute.
Verse 15, rejoice with thosewho rejoice.
We do not envy each other'ssuccesses.
We rejoice with each other.
We do not compete with oneanother.
We celebrate with one anotherin the community of faith.
We rejoice with one another.
We celebrate with one anotherin the community of faith.
We rejoice with each other.
We weep with each other.
Not one person, not one personin the community of faith
(38:38):
intended to hurt alone.
This is why I love the picturein 1 Corinthians 12.
I think it's verse 24, 25, 26.
1 Corinthians 12 talks abouthow.
When.
It's verse 24, 25, 26.
First Corinthians, chapter 12talks about how, when one part
of the body hurts, the wholebody hurts.
Now you know that feelingphysically and laughing.
(38:59):
This last week we had just anovernight staff retreat where
staff got away and just kind ofstepped back Okay, where are we?
Where are we going and praytogether.
It was good Spiritualrefreshment time.
At the same time, we had alittle bit of rec time together
and played bazooka ball, whichis a whole other story that we
won't get into tonight.
Let me just say that there aresome ladies on the staff who are
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mean bazooka ball players.
So we're running around playingbazooka ball and I realized it
hit me.
I have not run 10 yards sincethat marathon in January, like I
have not exercised a bit, to myshame.
Okay, but I realized I woke upthe next morning and it was
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clear that I had not run 10yards since.
It's that feeling when one partof the body hurts, the whole
body hurts.
And I'm just aching all over,still aching today.
This is the picture of hurt inthe community of faith when you
hurt, when one part of the bodyhurts, the whole body hurts.
This is why we must, we must,absolutely must identify with
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our persecuted brothers andsisters around the world and be
knowledgeable about what they'regoing through, because they are
persecuted brothers and sistersaround the world, and be
knowledgeable about what they'regoing through because they are
our brothers and sisters andwhen they hurt, we hurt the same
thing.
With the people sitting next tous this evening, we weep with
each other.
We accept each other.
Verse 16 live in harmony withone another.
(40:28):
Do not be proud.
Be willing to associate withpeople of low position.
Do not be conceited.
We accept each other.
This is humility.
It's the basis for Christiancommunity.
A redeemed community is markedby humble concern for one
another, as all are treated asvalued before God.
So this is the pictureMercy-driven worshipers who come
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together as a mercy-moldedfaith, a mercy-molded family,
and give themselves to thirdpart, a mercy-giving mission.
Now we skipped over verse 14,because in verse 14, and then
verses 17 to 21, what we see isPaul focusing on the way we
respond to non-Christians, thoseoutside the community of faith,
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and particularly those whowould persecute us or those who
would wish evil toward us, whodo evil toward us.
So we've seen Paul's beenfocusing here's what you do with
one another, with one another,with one another.
But then how do you respond tothose who persecute you and
those who do evil toward you?
And what Paul says.
Two things, I think, sum upverse 14 and verse 17 through 21
(41:33):
.
First, we trust in God'sjustice.
We trust in God's justice.
Now, this was written in a timewhen brothers and sisters,
believers, were being persecuted.
Obviously, we're not, in thiscontext, in the same kind of
situation that they were in Atthe same time.
Think about this when it comesto trusting in God's justice,
(41:55):
all of us have been wronged atsome point.
You've been wronged, I've beenwronged, some of us in hurtful
ways.
We have been wronged.
What happens is, when we arewronged, there grows in us I'm
guessing we can all identifythis with this there can grow in
us a root of bitterness and ofanger towards the person who has
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wronged us and especially thatgrows especially when that wrong
is not made right, when it'snever dealt with, and sometimes
for years, sometimes short term,sometimes long term, for years
it's not dealt with and thatbitterness and that anger just
kind of grows and it kind ofhardens in us and part of us,
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part of the root of that, is wewant there to be justice in this
picture.
Someone has done this to us andwe want there to be payment for
that in some way.
We want there to be justice,some closure on that and in and
of itself, that desire forjustice is not a bad thing.
It is good to desire justice.
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God is just.
It is good to desire justice,but what Paul is saying all
throughout here and it's the keyto blessing those who persecute
you not repaying anyone evilfor evil Verse 19, do not take
revenge, my friends, but leaveroom for God's wrath, for it is
written in his mind to avenge Iwill repay Trust in the justice
of God.
(43:24):
It may not be immediate, it maynot be the next year, it may
not be immediate, it may not bethe next year, it may not be the
next 10 years or more, but knowthis God is just and his
justice will prevail.
And when we believe that, whenwe trust in that, then this
(43:45):
frees us up.
How do you bless those whopersecute you?
That's an active thing.
That's not even just sittingback and saying, okay, I'm not
going to go after them.
That's saying I bless you, youcome after my life and I bless
you.
How do you do that?
You trust in the justice of Godand, second, you triumph with
(44:06):
the love of God.
You trust that God is going tocarry out justice.
That is not something you haveto take responsibility for in
that situation.
And you triumph with the loveof God.
This is one of the mostrevolutionary statements in the
New Testament.
We see it in Jesus love yourenemies, pray for those who
persecute you, bless those whopersecute you.
Paul says here triumph with thelove of God.
(44:30):
Nowhere in pre-Christian Greekliterature are you gonna find
people saying bless those whowant to kill you.
That's a radically differentway to live.
How do you live like that?
How can we be that kind ofcommunity?
This changes.
We realize.
This changes the way we viewFox News or CNN or whatever we
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are watching around the world.
When we hear of this or thathappening in militant Islam or
radical Hinduism, we do notrespond the same way the world
responds.
The community of faith respondsin a different way.
The community of faith respondsto that with blessing.
That's weird.
How do you do that?
How unusual is that?
How is that even possible?
(45:15):
And this is where we come tothe reality.
We mentioned it earlier.
We follow brothers and sisters.
We follow the one who died forhis enemies, of which we were
one, when we were enemies of Godin our sin.
He blessed us, he loved us, hepursued us with mercy, and so
(45:44):
how will we ever demonstrate thecharacter of God to a watching
world if we respond anydifferent to persecution or
those who would do evil towardus?
Now, thankfully, we havepictures all throughout church
history of what this looks like.
Even just a few years ago, someof you may remember the story of
Graham Staines.
He'd served for 34 years inIndia, down in Orissa.
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He was the director of aleprosy mission there in Orissa,
india.
Orissa is a place where, evennow, our brothers and sisters
have been persecuted.
Over the last year we have beeninvolved.
You may or may not know thatthe Church of Brookhill has been
involved in serving ourbrothers and sisters there and
providing for them in the middleof some heavy persecution that
they have experienced.
But the picture with GrahamStaines, he and his wife, three
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kids, two boys and a girl, livedthere.
He lived there for 34 years andone day he and his two boys
Philip, 10 years old, timothy 6,were in their car and they were
mobbed by radical Hindus andtrapped inside their vehicle.
These radical Hindus surroundedtheir vehicle, their vehicle.
These radical Hindus surroundedtheir vehicle and set the car
(46:54):
on fire and burned GrahamStaines and his two sons alive.
News reports said three charredbodies were covered, clinging
to each other.
Graham Staines left behind awidow, gladys, and his daughter,
(47:15):
esther.
If you followed that story youmay remember her response.
It was all over the pages ofthe news in India.
She said I have only onemessage for the people of India.
I am not bitter, neither am Iangry, but I have one great
desire that each citizen of thiscountry should establish a
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personal relationship with JesusChrist, who gave his life for
their sins.
Let us burn hatred and spreadthe flame of Christ's love.
Everyone thought she would move, but she said God had called
her to India.
Her words, my husband and ourchildren have sacrificed their
lives for this nation.
India is my home.
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I hope to be here and continueto serve the needy.
And then, perhaps mostremarkable of all, listen to
this if you're a teenager, astudent, listen to this.
If you're a teenager, student,listen to this.
Esther, 13 years old, asked howshe felt about the murder of her
dad and she responded I praisethe Lord that he found my father
(48:33):
worthy to die for him.
God raised up daughters andmoms and sons and dads and
husbands and wives, men andwomen who, when they find
themselves in horriblesituations like this, display
(49:00):
the glory of Christ in suchradical love.
How do you say those kinds ofthings?
Only by Christ in you, only byChrist in you.
There's no other way to saythose kinds of things.
And don't miss the connectionhere why Paul brings this in.
After talking for verses aboutloving one another, he says
bless those who persecute you.
(49:21):
It makes sense.
How will we ever look in thefaces of enemies, those who
would persecute us?
How will we, brook Hills, thefaces of enemies, those who
would persecute us?
How will we, brook Hills, gointo nations around the world
where our brothers and sistersare being persecuted and say we
bless you, we love you.
How can we say those kinds ofthings if we do not love one
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another?
How can we speak blessing tothose who would persecute us if
we do not build one another upwith our speech here?
This is the picture of aChristian community overflowing
to a lost and dying world Inradical love and kindness and
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compassion.
That makes no sense, if we'rehonest, really makes, in a way,
no sense to us.
Picture ourselves in thatsituation.
How do you say those kinds ofthings?
You can only say those kinds ofthings when you have
experienced the mercy of God inyour heart and it has
transformed the way you relateto the people around you inside
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and outside the community offaith.
And this is why this is why wemust dive in and look at texts
like this and realize we are anopen-handed community, because
because if we are aclosed-handed community and if
church is built on catering toour needs.
We will never go to the nationsto make this gospel known,
because if all we're looking foris our own interests and the
interests even of our families,we need this and this and this
and this then we because if allwe're looking for is our own
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interests and the interests evenof our families, we need this
and this and this and this thenwe will never sacrifice our
lives to make the gospel knownamong those who have never heard
it before.
So this is why we look at eachother and we say we want to be
an open-handed community here,so that when the times come and
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we look upon the non-Christiancommunity around us, they will
see in us love radical love, adifferent kind of love and care
and support People who rejoicewith each other and weep with
each other and accept each other.
This is why open-handedcommunity is so important.
That truth just rises to theforefront the gladness of the
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family.
The gladness of the familyreflects the glory of the Father
.
When a world sees sons anddaughters enjoying life together
and building one another up andloving and serving one another
radically, then this is areflection on the Father who has
brought that family together.
(51:53):
Gladness of the family reflectsthe glory of the Father God.
May it be so in this communityof faith.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
If you have a Bible and I hope you do let me invite
you to open with me to Romans,chapter 12.
And as you're finding Romanschapter 12, let me invite you to
pull out the notes that are inthe worship guide you received
when you came in tonight.
I'm so thankful for thiscommunity of faith.
(00:29):
I so appreciate your desire forthe glory of God and your
eagerness for the word of God,especially over the last couple
of weeks We've been looking atour church covenant, which I
hope is an expression of theWord, your eager response to the
(00:51):
Word.
I want to thank you for that.
We looked last week at what itmeans to be a God-centered
community of faith, how to loveone another in a way that
centers on God and not onourselves, which we're going to
take that to another leveltonight as we look at what it
means to be an open-handedcommunity of faith, and here's
(01:11):
what I mean by that.
Here's what I hope we're goingto see in the Word.
The church is designed by Godto be a generous people, an
open-handed people, a people whobelieve that God has given us
time and resources and energy tobe used for the good of others,
(01:33):
to the glory of God.
Now, the opposite of that isobviously close-handed people,
people who believe that God hasgiven time, resources, energy to
center on ourselves and toterminate with ourselves, to
meet the needs of ourselvesinstead of to meet the needs of
(01:56):
others.
That's the American way.
After all, we have things forthe good of ourselves.
I was just finishing up taxseason and was talking with a
financial planner recently andhe was saying to me Dave, first
and foremost, you need to takecare of yourself, and that is
(02:17):
worldly counsel.
It's not biblical counsel,that's worldly counsel.
Take care of yourself first andforemost.
What I wonder is if we havebought into that kind of picture
wholesale, even in the way wedo church, if we have actually
(02:38):
designed church to cater tobeing close-handed, to be less
than generous in giving ofourselves and more in receiving
for ourselves.
You look at the way we describechurch growth.
We have created a whole picturewhere people, when they come to
church, are told they shouldexpect certain things.
(02:59):
When I come to church, then Ineed to drive up and the
building grounds need to lookgood to me and parking needs to
be accessible to me and thechildren's ministry needs to be
easy for me to drop off my kids.
The music and the worshipservice needs to be pleasing to
me.
The sermon needs to beappealing to me.
(03:20):
We need to leave in a timelyfashion when we are finished,
which obviously you havedisregarded completely.
So I thank you for that.
So this is hypothetical, thisgoes beyond this faith family,
but need to leave in a timelyfashion.
Everything needs to be smooth.
You think about expectations.
People think when they arevisiting church all right, I
want to come, I want to be ableto have a good parking space
(03:41):
when I come in.
It would really help if therewas a latte waiting for me there
.
If I could get a peppermintmocha for worship, that would be
particularly good.
I like this place If I can dropmy child off at a
state-of-the-art children'sministry so that when I come
back I can press a button.
Maybe they even come slidingdown and meet me there, and it's
(04:03):
really top-notch if they've gotface paint on as well.
They've had the best time oftheir life.
This place is for us and I wantto be able to drive away Having
my needs been fulfilled.
I don't want to drive awayfeeling bad.
I want to drive away feelinggood about what I have just
experienced.
This is American Christianity101.
(04:24):
You do these things.
You draw the crowd and youbring the church and, in the
process, think about it with me.
These are phrases that youwould never hear on the lips of
first century Christians.
I hope there's a latte waitingfor me.
You never hear that.
Do they have a state-of-the-artchildren's ministry?
(04:48):
Do they have a state-of-the-artpreschool or youth ministry?
You never hear those words onthe lips of first century
Christians, or most of ourbrothers and sisters around the
world, for that matter.
Is the music going to beappealing to me?
Is this going to meet my needs?
Is this going to meet my needs?
Is the music going to beappealing to me?
Is this going to meet my needs?
Is this going to meet my needs?
These are uncommon phrases toNew Testament church and our
(05:09):
brothers and sisters around theworld, but they are so common in
our day, and I wonder if, inour attempts to cater to
conveniences and grow the church, if we have undercut the very
foundations of biblicalcommunity, a community that
revolves around the One who saidI did not come to be served,
but to serve and to give my lifeas a ransom for many.
(05:31):
We center our community aroundthe One who gave His life for
His enemies, and we cannotreflect Him if we are
close-handed and looking to haveour needs met at every turn.
(05:52):
Christian community isfundamentally about being
open-handed, about realizingthat God has given us time and
resources and energy to be usedfor the good of others, to the
glory of Christ, and so whatwe're going to do is we're going
to dive tonight into Romans,chapter 12.
Again, somewhat like I did lastweek, looking at all the
scriptures that fill that lastpart of the covenant that we're
(06:13):
looking at, is there one passagethat really sums up the others?
And Romans chapter 12, Ibelieve, does it.
Last week we looked at the wordof God in the community of
faith and tonight we're going tolook at the mercy of God in the
community of faith.
And so we're going to readthrough the whole chapter Romans
, chapter 12.
And I want you to imagine thisis a letter that was written by
Paul to the church at Rome inthe first century and he's
(06:35):
encouraging them.
This is practical encouragement.
It just fills the pages, theverses, the words, the phrases
of this chapter.
So I want you to imagine ushere.
We are a community of faith andthis being written to us and
sensed by the Holy Spirit,saying this is how your
community is to look.
Church at Brook Hills.
And the Spirit writes.
(06:56):
Therefore, I urge you, brothers,in view of God's mercy, to
offer your bodies as livingsacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God.
This is your spiritual act ofworship.
Do not conform any longer tothe pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewingof your mind.
Then you will be able to testand approve what God's will is,
(07:20):
his good, pleasing and perfectwill.
For by the grace given me, Isay to every one of you do not
think of yourself more highlythan you ought, but rather think
of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure
of faith God has given you.
Just as each of us has one bodywith many members, and these
members do not all have the samefunction, so in Christ, we, who
(07:41):
are many, form one body, andeach member belongs to all the
others.
We have different giftsaccording to the grace given us.
If a man's gift is prophesying,let him use it in proportion to
his faith.
If it is serving, let him serve.
If it is teaching, let himteach.
If it is encouraging, let himencourage.
If it is contributing to theneeds of others, let him give
generously.
If it is leadership, let himgovern diligently.
(08:02):
If it is leadership, let himgovern diligently.
If it is showing mercy, let himdo it cheerfully.
Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil, cling towhat is good.
Be devoted to one another inbrotherly love.
Honor one another aboveyourselves.
Never be lacking in zeal, butkeep your spiritual fervor
serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient inaffliction, faithful in prayer.
(08:26):
Share with God's people who arein need.
Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you.
Bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Mourn with those who mourn.
Live in harmony with oneanother.
Do not be proud.
Be willing to associate withpeople of low position.
Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil forevil.
(08:49):
Be careful to do what is rightin the eyes of everybody.
If it is possible, as far as itdepends on you, live at peace
with everyone.
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath
, for it is written it is mineto avenge.
I will repay, says the Lord.
On the contrary, if your enemyis hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give himsomething to drink.
(09:10):
In doing this, you will heapburning coals on his head.
Do not be overcome by evil, butovercome evil with good.
That chapter is full of commands, challenges, exhortations for
the community of faith.
There's around 25 differentcommands and challenges and
(09:32):
words of encouragement for thecommunity of faith.
This is how you're to liveamong one another.
But I want you to see thefoundation of the whole picture.
It's the very first phrase.
Therefore, in view of God'swhat Mercy, in view of God's
mercy.
This is where we remember.
Anytime we see the wordtherefore in the Bible, we know
that what is about to come isbased on what has just been said
(09:54):
before.
That.
And so this command to worshipand this definition New
Testament definition of worshiphere in Romans, chapter 12,
verse 1 and 2, and all of thesecommands 25 different commands
for how to love, serve and carefor one another, they don't just
come out of a vacuum.
There's a foundation that'sbeen built, it's the basis for
all of these commands, and thatfoundation that, therefore, is
(10:16):
referring to 11 chapters thatprecede this chapter, 11
chapters of Scripture that giveus probably the most glorious
portrait of the Gospel in allthe Bible.
You've got three chapters first,three chapters in Romans that
talk about how God's wrath isset against sin and sinners, and
(10:38):
then you come, at the end ofRomans, chapter 3, verse 21
through, to probably one of themost potent paragraphs in all
the Bible, a paragraph that Iwould encourage every follower
of Christ in this room tomemorize and hide in your heart
Romans, chapter three, verse 21through 26.
We've studied it before here.
It talks about how God hastaken his wrath and poured it
(10:59):
out on his son Jesus, instead ofpouring it out on us, so that
by his grace, when we trust inChrist, we are delivered from
his wrath, saved from our sinsand brought into relationship
with him.
How does that happen?
Verses, chapters four and fivetalk about this happens by faith
.
How we're justified, we're maderight before God.
(11:19):
Romans 5 1.
We have peace with God throughfaith and faith alone, not based
on what we do, but trusting inwhat Christ has done.
Then faith alone, not based onwhat we do, but trusting in what
Christ has done.
Then you've got a chapter onhow we're dead to sin as a
result of faith and we're aliveto God in Christ the exact
picture we've celebrated inbaptism tonight dead in sin,
alive to God in Christ.
Then you've got a chapter abouthow we still struggle with sin
(11:41):
and that leads into Romans,chapter 8, verse 1, that says
there is now no condemnation forthose who are in Christ Jesus.
That chapter goes to the endand reminds us that nothing can
separate us from the love of Godin Christ.
And then you've got threechapters Romans 9, 10, and 11,
that talk about how God haspursued us by His grace and our
salvation is not based on ourmerit or our work, but solely
(12:04):
based on the grace of Godexpressed to us.
So you've got 11 chapters.
In light, paul is saying, inlight of the fact that you were
dead in sin and under the wrathof God.
You have been delivered fromthe wrath of God by Jesus on a
cross, you are justified byfaith and you are no longer
condemned, and all because ofthe grace of God.
In light of all that, worshipNow.
(12:27):
That makes sense.
That makes sense Now.
Worship is not a duty that wefeel like we must do.
Worship is now a delight thatwe long to give ourselves to.
We want to worship.
When we realize the magnitudeof Romans 1 through 11, romans
chapter 12, verse 1, is justnatural Offer yourselves.
(12:51):
And then the same thing Romanschapter 12, verse 3 through 21,.
All of these commands to loveone another.
They don't just come out of avacuum.
The Bible's not saying loveeach other and serve each other
just because the Bible's sayinglove each other and serve each
other.
Because because the Bible'ssaying love each other and serve
each other because of the mercythat has been expressed to you
and that overwhelms and compelsyour heart.
(13:11):
So I want us to see the effectof the mercy of God on the
community of faith in threedifferent ways.
First, because of the mercy ofGod in the community of faith,
we are mercy-driven worshipers.
Mercy-driven worshipers.
This picture of faith.
We are mercy-driven worshipers.
Mercy-driven worshipers.
This picture of worship Imentioned, kind of a New
Testament definition of worship.
(13:31):
In a sense, what Paul does ishe reaches back into Old
Testament history, this wholepicture in the Old Testament of
the people of God bringinganimals as sacrifices.
They would bring them and theywould lay those animals in the
altar and they would offer theseanimals as a sacrifice, a
blameless sacrifice, pleasing toGod.
And what Paul does is he saysNew Testament, totally different
(13:54):
picture.
You don't bring an animal andlay that animal on the altar.
You're on the altar.
This is worship your life.
This is worship your life,living sacrifice, your life laid
on the altar before God.
This is so much deeper thansongs and religious routine.
This is surrender and sacrifice.
(14:14):
We sacrifice our bodies, offeryour bodies.
Yourselves say my body and myentire self belongs to you, god.
Our minds to be transformed bythe renewing of our minds, just
like we talked about last week,as the Word of God fills our
minds and we saturate our mindswith the Word of God and leads
us to worship.
(14:35):
Why we must be careful not tofill our minds with the stuff
this world offers, not to fillour minds with Oprah and reality
TV shows and stuff.
This world clogs our minds withit, crowds out knowledge of the
greatness of God through HisWord.
To fill our minds, to besaturated in our minds with the
(14:57):
Word of God, so our minds arebeing transformed.
That's worship, so that ourthoughts reflect the glory of
God and our bodies, our minds,our wills, this good, pleasing,
imperfect will.
We surrender our wills to Him.
In worship we say you determinethe direction of my life, you
determine where I go, how I go,how I live, the decisions I make
(15:18):
.
They are not my own.
I do not belong to myself.
I belong to you, to myself, Ibelong to you.
This is worship.
Now the picture is allthroughout the Old Testament.
In this sacrificial system theyhad, they continually missed
this.
The people of God prone to missthis and I'm convinced we're
prone to miss it as well.
Hold your place here for just asecond and go back to the left
(15:40):
to the Old Testament.
Isaiah Find Isaiah, chapter one.
The left to the Old Testament.
Isaiah Find Isaiah, chapter one.
It wasn't going to take us here, but I was in my devotional
reading in the Word.
This week was in the beginningof Isaiah and this passage just
left out as a reminder to me ofwhat we're looking at tonight,
of the mistakes, the errors thatthe people of God all
(16:03):
throughout history have madewhen it comes to worship, how
the people of God are prone tolook at worship as religious
routine or religious exercise orreligious duty, as opposed to
surrender of our lives and ourhearts before God.
Listen to what God says to Hispeople in Isaiah, chapter 1,
verse 10.
And we're going to make aconnection here, parallel,
(16:25):
between what Isaiah isprophesying here and talking
about and what Paul is saying inRomans, chapter 12.
Look at Isaiah, chapter 1,verse 10.
This is God speaking to hispeople through his prophet,
isaiah Hear the word of the Lord, you, rulers of Sodom, listen
to the law of our God, youpeople of Gomorrah, isaiah 1, 11
.
God says the multitude of yoursacrifices.
What are they to me?
(16:45):
I have more than enough ofburnt offerings of rams and the
fat of fattened animals.
I have no pleasure in the bloodof bulls and lambs and goats
when you come to appear beforeme.
Who has asked this of you?
This trampling of my courts?
Stop bringing meaninglessofferings.
Your incense is detestable tome.
(17:06):
New moons, sabbaths andconvocations I cannot bear your
evil assemblies, your new moonfestivals and your appointed
feasts.
My soul hates.
They have become a burden to me.
I am weary of bearing them.
Does God hate worship?
Is that possible?
(17:27):
Absolutely, it's possible.
Worship bringing religiousexercises, religious offerings
devoid of surrender of life.
So what do you see?
All throughout the prophets inthe Old Testament, a people who
were a worshiping people, whowalked through the routine of
(17:50):
worship but missed the wholepoint, disconnecting worship
from the mercy of God all overtheir lives.
That led them to surrenderthemselves.
And then don't miss the picture, not just in their relationship
with God, but theirrelationship to each other.
What was so detestable to God?
Keep going.
Verse 15,.
When you spread out your handsin prayer, I will hide my eyes
from you.
Even if you offer many prayers,I will not listen.
(18:12):
Your hands are full of blood.
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Listen to the second half ofthe way through verse 16.
Take your evil deeds out of mysight.
Stop doing wrong, learn to doright.
Seek justice, encourage theoppressed, defend the cause of
the fatherless, plead the caseof the widow.
(18:32):
You see how they wereparticipating in religious
exercises, but they wereignoring the oppressed and the
fatherless and the widow.
Go down to verse 21.
See how the faithful city hasbecome a harlot.
She once was full of justice,righteousness used to dwell in
her, but now murderers.
(18:53):
Your silver has become dross.
Your choice wine is dilutedwith water.
Your rulers are rebels,companions of thieves.
They love bribes and chaseafter gifts.
Listen to this, verse 23,.
Midway through they do notdefend the cause of the
fatherless.
The widow's case does not comebefore them.
Do you see this picture?
The people of God were not onlymissing the whole point of
(19:14):
worship and their relationshipto God, but their worship was
having no effect on theirrelationships with others.
They were still ignoring theoppressed, or the widow, or the
fatherless, the needy among them.
And this is where we just needto remember.
We need to remember that oursongs, disconnected from hearts
(19:36):
of surrender to God, miss theentire point of worship.
Religious exercise disconnectedfrom radical abandonment of our
lives to God, misses the wholepoint of worship in the same way
.
In the same way it really doesnot matter Church at Brook Hills
in wealthy Birmingham, alabama.
It does not matter what we door say on Sunday.
(19:58):
If our lives are ignoring theneeds of the poor and oppressed
around us, here and around theworld, then, no matter what we
do or say, we are not worshiping.
When we gather together, we'refooling ourselves.
This is a reminder that God'speople receive over and over and
over again.
And when you get to Romans 12,come back there.
(20:20):
It's exactly what Paul issaying.
Follow along here in your noteswe experience the mercy of God
in worship.
This exactly what Paul issaying.
Follow along here in your noteswe experience the mercy of God
in worship.
This is what he's saying.
As we offer our bodies and ourminds and our wills, we give our
bodies the living sacrifice.
We experience the mercy of Godin worship.
But then, after two versestalking about worship, what
you've got is verse 3, all theway to verse 21, talking about
(20:41):
how we express the mercy of Godin community, and these go
together.
Worship propels us to love oneanother, to care for one another
, to serve one another.
We experience the mercy of Godin worship, and then we express
the mercy of God in ourcommunity with one another,
which means what we do in aworship gathering like this
(21:02):
tonight as a community of faithis important, extremely
important, but it is only onepart of what it means to be the
people of God, because ourworship gatherings propel us to
love, serve one another.
New Testament definition ofworship, followed by New
Testament explanation ofcommunity.
(21:22):
See the two linked together.
That leads to the second part inthis passage.
We are mercy-driven worshipersand we are a mercy-molded family
.
What I love is what comes nextin verses 3-21 this portrait of
biblical community molded by themercy of God.
(21:44):
A family together serving oneanother, loving one another,
gifted for one another, prayingwith one another, blessing,
rejoicing, mourning together.
All of these pictures a mercy,mercy-molded family.
My younger sister was graduatingthis weekend from nursing
school at UAB and so we hadfamily in town from all over the
(22:08):
place and they were everywherein the house, everywhere,
everywhere, everywhere, familyjust everywhere.
And you look everywhere andthere they are.
It's you know, you know thesense.
You just look around, it'schaos, it's everywhere.
And and and I sat back justkind of looking around the room
(22:29):
All ages, we don't all cometogether like this, which is not
necessarily that bad of a thing.
We don't all come together likethis in one place that often,
and just to look around and justto think about the years of
being family together and theadditions in that process and
knowing that there's strugglesrepresented in this or that and
(22:50):
victories represented here orthere in the room, and just to
see, just to be reminded, ofjust the beauty, for the most
part, the beauty of family, asyou look around and as last
night it was late by the timeall the family everywhere was
getting to sleep and it'sgetting quiet.
Finally and I was looking overthis passage and I was just
(23:14):
reminded, struck by this realitythat Scripture teaches Like we
are, we are a community whoserelationship to and with one
another is deeper than that ofphysical family.
(23:35):
It's deeper than that ofphysical family.
It's deeper than that ofphysical family.
And that's not just talking,that's not trite, this is a real
picture in the New Testament.
Even physical family, aswonderful as physical family can
be, is still a temporal reality.
What we experience with oneanother in the community of
(23:58):
faith is an eternal reality.
We are an eternal community.
We are united togetherspiritually, supernaturally, in
a way that supersedes any othertype of relationship.
This is why the church iscertainly no club or religious
organization.
Even and even deeper thanphysical family, we are a
community of faith whoseinterconnectedness runs deep,
(24:22):
and that's what Romans chapter12 is all about.
God, help us not to miss this,the beauty of what is
experienced in the community offaith.
And so what I want to do is Iwant us to take verses 3-21 and
we're just going to run through.
We've got about 25 differentcommands here.
I've tried to bring it down to10 overarching ways that we
(24:46):
display the concept of being amercy molded family.
Follow along with me.
First, we belong to each other.
Romans 12, 3-5.
We don't think of ourselves morehighly than we ought because
listen to verse 4, just as eachof us has one body with many
members, and these members donot all have the same function,
so in Christ, we, who are many,form one body and each member.
(25:11):
Listen to this each memberbelongs to all the others.
What a profoundinterconnectedness.
Literally, we are individuallymembers of one another.
We belong to each other Justlike a body the analogy Paul
uses a body has many differentparts that are connected
together.
In the same way, we aredifferent parts of a body,
(25:33):
dependent on one another,belonging to one another,
attached to one another.
That's the picture here.
Think about it.
Let that soak in as youconsider the people that are
sitting around you.
We belong to each other.
Second, we are gifted for eachother.
This is a great picture, verse6,.
(25:54):
We have different giftsaccording to the grace given us.
And then he begins to listthese different gifts.
Catch what Paul's saying here.
He's saying that every memberin the body, every part of the
body, is gifted for a purpose.
Let this soak in this realitywhether you are eight years old
or 88 years old, the Spirit ofChrist dwells in you.
(26:16):
If you've trusted in Christ forsalvation, the Spirit of Christ
lives in you.
Then what Paul is saying hereis no matter how old you are, no
matter where you are in life,what you're doing, you have been
given brother or sister.
You have been given spiritualgifts, supernatural gifts from
the Holy Spirit of God in you,in each of you, intended for the
(26:40):
building up of the body.
One of my favorite things to doas a pastor is to spend time in
the New Members Workshop at thebeginning of each of the New
Members Workshop, go in andspend time there with those who
are joining with this faithfamily, and it is just
exhilarating to me to lookaround the room and to see
(27:01):
individuals and to see couplesand to see families and to just
picture the spiritual realitythat is expressed there, to see
people gifted by the Spirit ofGod that God is entrusting to
this community of faith to buildup this community of faith.
What an awesome picture.
Now we have a tendency toundercut this.
(27:24):
We need to be very carefulbecause we kind of exalt those
who have this gift or that giftand we kind of minimize those
who don't seem to be very giftedor this or that, and we have a
dangerous tendency to lose sightof the fact what Paul's saying
here.
Everyone counts in this picture.
Everyone contributes.
He gives this list of gifts.
It's not intended to be anexhaustive list of spiritual
gifts.
You compare this with otherlists of spiritual gifts in the
(27:46):
New Testament and you'll see allkinds of different gifts.
I don't think the point is he'ssaying here's what the gifts
are.
Instead, he's saying you'vebeen gifted, some have this,
some have this, some have this.
But the point is whatever giftyou have, use it.
Use it for the glory of God.
I want you to watch somethingwith me on the screen.
It's a picture of the Apollo 11mission to the moon, and I want
(28:09):
you to think about the realitythat's being expressed here in
Romans, chapter 12, in light ofthis picture represented in
American history.
Watch this with me.
Did you know that there were amillion different parts on that
Apollo 11 spacecraft?
(28:30):
A million different parts?
Just think about that.
Just think about that.
That means even if 99.99% ofthe parts on that spacecraft
(28:51):
worked, that would still leave100 parts, components of that
spacecraft that would fail andpossibly jeopardize the entire
mission.
Talk about needing every singlepart to come together.
This is the picture.
What happens?
What happens when churchrealizes that we have a far
(29:20):
greater mission, greatcommission, the greatest mission
on this planet you heard itexpressed in these baptism
testimonies to make the gospelknown among all the peoples of
this world.
That kind of mission cannot beaccomplished with 50%
participation, or 60, or or 70,or 80 for that matter.
This is the picture of whatPaul is saying.
It's the body of Christ comingtogether, each with different
(29:43):
gifts, some with more gifts thanothers, some with different
gifts than others, but thepicture is the whole body of
Christ, the Spirit of Christ,equipping this body, the church
of Berkel's, with all kinds ofdifferent gifts for the
accomplishment of a mission thatis greater than ourselves.
You heard, saw that quote atthe end, from a secular
anthropologist who had studiedpeoples and tribes all over the
(30:04):
world.
She said never doubt that asmall group of committed people
can change the world.
She was right, but she did.
She totally did not come upwith that.
Jesus shows us this Small groupof men, small groups of
believers scattered, scattered,scattered throughout house
churches in the first century.
Small groups of believersscattered throughout China and
(30:26):
North America and around theworld, who together are
accomplishing something greaterthan they ever could experience
individually.
This is what the church isabout.
We are gifted for each other.
Realize this.
Let this soak in every brotheror sister in this room.
Watchman Nee said the church issuffering not so much from the
prominence of the five talentmembers as from the holding back
(30:49):
of the one talent members.
The life of the whole body ishampered and impoverished by the
burial of those single talents.
So what happens wheneverybody's together on that
kind of picture?
It's not a pastor movement oran elder movement or a this
(31:12):
leader or that leader movementor a staff movement, but it's a
people movement of people whoare accomplishing the purpose
for which God has created us asa community of faith.
God may it be so.
We belong to each other and weare gifted for each other,
gifted to build each other up.
Let's not undercut this withthinking me, me, me in the
community of faith Misses thepoint.
(31:33):
Third, we love each other.
Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil, cling towhat is good.
This is not a fake, superficial, shallow surface kind of love.
This is the depth of selflesslove.
The word here for love is agape.
Some of you are familiar withthat.
Unconditional love, selflesslove.
Very uncommon in pagan Greekliterature, In the literature of
(31:56):
that day, to use this kind ofword to describe love for each
other.
And that's the word that Jesususes, the word that Paul uses
here.
You do not think me, me, me, me.
This is what sets us apart.
This is what sets us apart.
We don't come together with oneanother thinking me, what am I
going to get?
What am I going to get?
We come together thinking howcan I give for the sake of the
(32:18):
people around me?
This is what the church isabout.
Let's not miss this in our day.
Love each other, we care foreach other.
Be devoted to one another inbrotherly love Two great words
in the original language of theNew Testament, both of them
talking about the love Bedevoted to one another,
brotherly love.
Both of those words won't gointo the intricacies of the
(32:41):
Greek, but the picture is.
The love of brothers in afamily is what's expressed in
the community of faith.
We care for each other, wehonor each other.
Honor one another aboveyourselves, literally.
Prefer one another in honor,prefer to honor rather than be
honored, outdo others inbestowing honor.
(33:02):
That's the picture here.
I want to pause, real quickly.
Go to the right, real quickly.
Ephesians, chapter 4.
You go to the right, you'll gopast 1st and 2nd Corinthians,
then Galatians and thenEphesians.
Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 29.
This is another one of thosepassages that's mentioned in our
church covenant.
And as I was praying about whattext we would study tonight, it
(33:23):
was either Romans 12 orEphesians 4.
And we went with Romans 12, butI want to take us real quick to
Ephesians, chapter 4.
Look at verse 29.
How do we honor one another?
I want you to see one practicalway we honor one another.
Ephesians 4, 29.
Ephesians 4.29.
Ephesians is one of thegreatest books on the church in
the New Testament and Paulwrites in that book, verse 29,.
(33:44):
Do not let any unwholesome talkcome out of your mouths, but
only what is helpful forbuilding up others according to
their needs, that it may benefitthose who listen.
And do not grieve.
The Holy Spirit of God withwhom you are sealed for the day
of redemption, get rid of allbitterness, rage and anger,
brawling and slander, along withevery form of malice.
(34:05):
Be kind and compassionate toone another, forgiving each
other, just as in Christ, godforgave you.
Now, this is in no way.
What I'm about to say is in noway a reaction to anything that
I've observed in this faithfamily.
That needs correcting.
(34:25):
I've not seen a lot of brawlinggoing on, and that's a great
thing that we're not brawling,but this is where I want to
remind us that God tells us tohonor one another with our
mouths, with our tongues, tohonor one another with our
(34:48):
speech.
And we all know we all knowthat one of the deadliest
weapons the adversary uses toundercut the community of faith
is gossip, and we justify it insuch ludicrous ways in the
church and we must be rid of it.
(35:11):
Be rid of it.
We grieve the Holy Spirit ofGod with gossip, with anything,
anything that does not build upeach other's character in Christ
and benefit those who arelistening.
Your name needs to be safe inmy mouth.
My name needs to be safe in mymouth.
My name needs to be safe inyour mouth, each other's name
(35:36):
safe in each other's mouths, sothat we are always speaking to
honor one another.
When you speak about, people askthe question are you speaking
in a way that honors them andbuilds up the character of
Christ in them?
That'll cut down on a varietyof conversations.
We'll save a lot of breath thisway.
If we ask those kinds ofquestions and when we have
(36:00):
concerns, conflict with abrother or sister we're going to
talk about this next week go tothem, go to them and speak to
them about these things, that'sa good thing.
Now don't go to them and gotell everybody else what you
went to them and speak to themabout these things, that's a
good thing.
Now don't go to them and gotell everybody else what you
went to them about, but just goto them, address this with them
and let Christ show His glory inreconciliation with the
brothers and sisters.
You talk about those things.
That's a great process, not aneasy process.
(36:22):
We'll talk about that more nextweek.
But we honor each other.
We want the last thing we wantto do is grieve the Holy Spirit
of God and this community offaith by speaking about one
another in a way that does nothonor Christ in them.
Speak with kindness andcompassion about one another.
Next, come back to Romans,chapter 12.
We spur on each other.
I think this sums up Romans 12,11, and 12, when Paul talks
(36:45):
about not being lacking in zeal,but keeping spiritual fervor
and serving the Lord and beingjoyful in hope, patient
affliction, faithful in prayer.
You live like that.
Here's the picture In thecommunity of faith, when you
live with zeal for Christ.
This is the purpose of thechurch that you would come
together, we would come together.
You would see zeal in me forChrist and it would spur you on
(37:07):
to greater zeal for Christ.
That I would see zeal in youfor Christ and it would spur you
on to greater zeal for Christ.
That I would see zeal in youfor Christ and I would be
spurred on to greater zeal.
This is the picture.
We're a snowball effectintended to be a snowball effect
that we come together and wespur one another on and you live
joyful in hope, patient inaffliction, faithful in prayer,
praying for one another.
You saw that in our churchcovenant 1 Samuel 12.23.
(37:30):
You catch that.
1 Samuel 12.23.
We spur on each other, we sharewith each other, share with
God's people who are in need.
(37:51):
Literally, we participate Rootword there's koinonia that we
see about, see referring tofellowship all over the New
Testament.
We share with each other,practicing hospitality, sharing
our homes literally with oneanother.
The language here is you pursuehospitality, you go after
people, you look for ways toshare in others' needs and you
(38:11):
see needs and you share inmeeting those with them.
We rejoice with each other.
We'll skip over verse 14 andcome back to it in a minute.
Verse 15, rejoice with thosewho rejoice.
We do not envy each other'ssuccesses.
We rejoice with each other.
We do not compete with oneanother.
We celebrate with one anotherin the community of faith.
We rejoice with one another.
We celebrate with one anotherin the community of faith.
We rejoice with each other.
We weep with each other.
Not one person, not one personin the community of faith
(38:38):
intended to hurt alone.
This is why I love the picturein 1 Corinthians 12.
I think it's verse 24, 25, 26.
1 Corinthians 12 talks abouthow.
When.
It's verse 24, 25, 26.
First Corinthians, chapter 12talks about how, when one part
of the body hurts, the wholebody hurts.
Now you know that feelingphysically and laughing.
(38:59):
This last week we had just anovernight staff retreat where
staff got away and just kind ofstepped back Okay, where are we?
Where are we going and praytogether.
It was good Spiritualrefreshment time.
At the same time, we had alittle bit of rec time together
and played bazooka ball, whichis a whole other story that we
won't get into tonight.
Let me just say that there aresome ladies on the staff who are
(39:21):
mean bazooka ball players.
So we're running around playingbazooka ball and I realized it
hit me.
I have not run 10 yards sincethat marathon in January, like I
have not exercised a bit, to myshame.
Okay, but I realized I woke upthe next morning and it was
(39:45):
clear that I had not run 10yards since.
It's that feeling when one partof the body hurts, the whole
body hurts.
And I'm just aching all over,still aching today.
This is the picture of hurt inthe community of faith when you
hurt, when one part of the bodyhurts, the whole body hurts.
This is why we must, we must,absolutely must identify with
(40:06):
our persecuted brothers andsisters around the world and be
knowledgeable about what they'regoing through, because they are
persecuted brothers and sistersaround the world, and be
knowledgeable about what they'regoing through because they are
our brothers and sisters andwhen they hurt, we hurt the same
thing.
With the people sitting next tous this evening, we weep with
each other.
We accept each other.
Verse 16 live in harmony withone another.
(40:28):
Do not be proud.
Be willing to associate withpeople of low position.
Do not be conceited.
We accept each other.
This is humility.
It's the basis for Christiancommunity.
A redeemed community is markedby humble concern for one
another, as all are treated asvalued before God.
So this is the pictureMercy-driven worshipers who come
(40:51):
together as a mercy-moldedfaith, a mercy-molded family,
and give themselves to thirdpart, a mercy-giving mission.
Now we skipped over verse 14,because in verse 14, and then
verses 17 to 21, what we see isPaul focusing on the way we
respond to non-Christians, thoseoutside the community of faith,
(41:11):
and particularly those whowould persecute us or those who
would wish evil toward us, whodo evil toward us.
So we've seen Paul's beenfocusing here's what you do with
one another, with one another,with one another.
But then how do you respond tothose who persecute you and
those who do evil toward you?
And what Paul says.
Two things, I think, sum upverse 14 and verse 17 through 21
(41:33):
.
First, we trust in God'sjustice.
We trust in God's justice.
Now, this was written in a timewhen brothers and sisters,
believers, were being persecuted.
Obviously, we're not, in thiscontext, in the same kind of
situation that they were in Atthe same time.
Think about this when it comesto trusting in God's justice,
(41:55):
all of us have been wronged atsome point.
You've been wronged, I've beenwronged, some of us in hurtful
ways.
We have been wronged.
What happens is, when we arewronged, there grows in us I'm
guessing we can all identifythis with this there can grow in
us a root of bitterness and ofanger towards the person who has
(42:21):
wronged us and especially thatgrows especially when that wrong
is not made right, when it'snever dealt with, and sometimes
for years, sometimes short term,sometimes long term, for years
it's not dealt with and thatbitterness and that anger just
kind of grows and it kind ofhardens in us and part of us,
(42:43):
part of the root of that, is wewant there to be justice in this
picture.
Someone has done this to us andwe want there to be payment for
that in some way.
We want there to be justice,some closure on that and in and
of itself, that desire forjustice is not a bad thing.
It is good to desire justice.
(43:04):
God is just.
It is good to desire justice,but what Paul is saying all
throughout here and it's the keyto blessing those who persecute
you not repaying anyone evilfor evil Verse 19, do not take
revenge, my friends, but leaveroom for God's wrath, for it is
written in his mind to avenge Iwill repay Trust in the justice
of God.
(43:24):
It may not be immediate, it maynot be the next year, it may
not be immediate, it may not bethe next year, it may not be the
next 10 years or more, but knowthis God is just and his
justice will prevail.
And when we believe that, whenwe trust in that, then this
(43:45):
frees us up.
How do you bless those whopersecute you?
That's an active thing.
That's not even just sittingback and saying, okay, I'm not
going to go after them.
That's saying I bless you, youcome after my life and I bless
you.
How do you do that?
You trust in the justice of Godand, second, you triumph with
(44:06):
the love of God.
You trust that God is going tocarry out justice.
That is not something you haveto take responsibility for in
that situation.
And you triumph with the loveof God.
This is one of the mostrevolutionary statements in the
New Testament.
We see it in Jesus love yourenemies, pray for those who
persecute you, bless those whopersecute you.
Paul says here triumph with thelove of God.
(44:30):
Nowhere in pre-Christian Greekliterature are you gonna find
people saying bless those whowant to kill you.
That's a radically differentway to live.
How do you live like that?
How can we be that kind ofcommunity?
This changes.
We realize.
This changes the way we viewFox News or CNN or whatever we
(44:53):
are watching around the world.
When we hear of this or thathappening in militant Islam or
radical Hinduism, we do notrespond the same way the world
responds.
The community of faith respondsin a different way.
The community of faith respondsto that with blessing.
That's weird.
How do you do that?
How unusual is that?
How is that even possible?
(45:15):
And this is where we come tothe reality.
We mentioned it earlier.
We follow brothers and sisters.
We follow the one who died forhis enemies, of which we were
one, when we were enemies of Godin our sin.
He blessed us, he loved us, hepursued us with mercy, and so
(45:44):
how will we ever demonstrate thecharacter of God to a watching
world if we respond anydifferent to persecution or
those who would do evil towardus?
Now, thankfully, we havepictures all throughout church
history of what this looks like.
Even just a few years ago, someof you may remember the story of
Graham Staines.
He'd served for 34 years inIndia, down in Orissa.
(46:08):
He was the director of aleprosy mission there in Orissa,
india.
Orissa is a place where, evennow, our brothers and sisters
have been persecuted.
Over the last year we have beeninvolved.
You may or may not know thatthe Church of Brookhill has been
involved in serving ourbrothers and sisters there and
providing for them in the middleof some heavy persecution that
they have experienced.
But the picture with GrahamStaines, he and his wife, three
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kids, two boys and a girl, livedthere.
He lived there for 34 years andone day he and his two boys
Philip, 10 years old, timothy 6,were in their car and they were
mobbed by radical Hindus andtrapped inside their vehicle.
These radical Hindus surroundedtheir vehicle, their vehicle.
These radical Hindus surroundedtheir vehicle and set the car
(46:54):
on fire and burned GrahamStaines and his two sons alive.
News reports said three charredbodies were covered, clinging
to each other.
Graham Staines left behind awidow, gladys, and his daughter,
(47:15):
esther.
If you followed that story youmay remember her response.
It was all over the pages ofthe news in India.
She said I have only onemessage for the people of India.
I am not bitter, neither am Iangry, but I have one great
desire that each citizen of thiscountry should establish a
(47:38):
personal relationship with JesusChrist, who gave his life for
their sins.
Let us burn hatred and spreadthe flame of Christ's love.
Everyone thought she would move, but she said God had called
her to India.
Her words, my husband and ourchildren have sacrificed their
lives for this nation.
India is my home.
(48:00):
I hope to be here and continueto serve the needy.
And then, perhaps mostremarkable of all, listen to
this if you're a teenager, astudent, listen to this.
If you're a teenager, student,listen to this.
Esther, 13 years old, asked howshe felt about the murder of her
dad and she responded I praisethe Lord that he found my father
(48:33):
worthy to die for him.
God raised up daughters andmoms and sons and dads and
husbands and wives, men andwomen who, when they find
themselves in horriblesituations like this, display
(49:00):
the glory of Christ in suchradical love.
How do you say those kinds ofthings?
Only by Christ in you, only byChrist in you.
There's no other way to saythose kinds of things.
And don't miss the connectionhere why Paul brings this in.
After talking for verses aboutloving one another, he says
bless those who persecute you.
(49:21):
It makes sense.
How will we ever look in thefaces of enemies, those who
would persecute us?
How will we, brook Hills, thefaces of enemies, those who
would persecute us?
How will we, brook Hills, gointo nations around the world
where our brothers and sistersare being persecuted and say we
bless you, we love you.
How can we say those kinds ofthings if we do not love one
(49:45):
another?
How can we speak blessing tothose who would persecute us if
we do not build one another upwith our speech here?
This is the picture of aChristian community overflowing
to a lost and dying world Inradical love and kindness and
(50:05):
compassion.
That makes no sense, if we'rehonest, really makes, in a way,
no sense to us.
Picture ourselves in thatsituation.
How do you say those kinds ofthings?
You can only say those kinds ofthings when you have
experienced the mercy of God inyour heart and it has
transformed the way you relateto the people around you inside
(50:26):
and outside the community offaith.
And this is why this is why wemust dive in and look at texts
like this and realize we are anopen-handed community, because
because if we are aclosed-handed community and if
church is built on catering toour needs.
We will never go to the nationsto make this gospel known,
because if all we're looking foris our own interests and the
interests even of our families,we need this and this and this
and this then we because if allwe're looking for is our own
(50:49):
interests and the interests evenof our families, we need this
and this and this and this thenwe will never sacrifice our
lives to make the gospel knownamong those who have never heard
it before.
So this is why we look at eachother and we say we want to be
an open-handed community here,so that when the times come and
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we look upon the non-Christiancommunity around us, they will
see in us love radical love, adifferent kind of love and care
and support People who rejoicewith each other and weep with
each other and accept each other.
This is why open-handedcommunity is so important.
That truth just rises to theforefront the gladness of the
(51:32):
family.
The gladness of the familyreflects the glory of the Father
.
When a world sees sons anddaughters enjoying life together
and building one another up andloving and serving one another
radically, then this is areflection on the Father who has
brought that family together.
(51:53):
Gladness of the family reflectsthe glory of the Father God.
May it be so in this communityof faith.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
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