WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.160 Okay, so we're going to go back and look at this passage today, Romans chapter 12 from 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:10.439 verse 9 to verse 21. 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:16.219 For those of you who are visiting with us today, we have just taken up again our study 00:00:16.219 --> 00:00:22.820 of this book, this letter, of Paul to the Roman church, a foundational letter, a really 00:00:22.820 --> 00:00:26.160 significant letter in all that it says. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:37.039 And we've looked at the first eleven chapters in 2018 and in 2019, we're pushing towards 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:40.320 the end of this letter. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:43.799 And this is the more practical end of the book. 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:48.600 The first eleven chapters have been kind of meaty theology, and we've seen how important 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:54.879 that is as a foundation to bring us to practical Christian living. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:56.720 So we're looking at this section. 00:00:56.720 --> 00:00:59.080 I'll be dipping into last week, okay? 00:00:59.080 --> 00:01:03.600 So I'm really sorry if you weren't here last week, because you'll not know what I've been 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:08.240 saying, but I'm really sorry if you were here last week, because then I'm going to be repeating 00:01:08.240 --> 00:01:09.240 myself. 00:01:09.240 --> 00:01:14.200 But hopefully it'll be meaningful, because it's all really one section, even though we're 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:16.840 dividing... 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:20.040 It's divided by chapters and by headings and everything else. 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:27.480 So okay, I'm going to ask you a question, a rhetorical, you don't need to answer. 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:34.200 Every morning, every morning, what is one of the first things you do? 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:42.680 I guarantee, oh, at least 99% of you here do the same thing every morning. 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:47.760 Maybe not immediately you get out of bed, but I guarantee before you come up the stairs, 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:54.120 every single one of us will have looked in the mirror. 00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:55.120 We will have. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:56.719 We will have looked in the mirror, wouldn't we? 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:57.719 You look in the mirror. 00:01:57.719 --> 00:01:59.960 That's one of the things we do when we get up. 00:01:59.960 --> 00:02:00.960 We look in the mirror. 00:02:00.960 --> 00:02:03.080 We go to the bathroom, we look in the mirror. 00:02:03.080 --> 00:02:04.600 It's a good thing to do. 00:02:04.600 --> 00:02:08.040 It's good to remind yourself of who you are first thing in the morning. 00:02:08.040 --> 00:02:11.640 It stops you from being delusional about your looks. 00:02:11.640 --> 00:02:15.879 You may have been dreaming about how gloriously beautiful or handsome you were all night, and 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:18.560 then you get up in the morning and you look at yourself in the mirror, and it brings you 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:20.919 back down to earth. 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:27.560 And it may be that you'll need a hairbrush, in some cases, maybe not, but you may need 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:31.359 a hairbrush, but you certainly can't get an airbrush when you look at yourself in the 00:02:31.359 --> 00:02:32.359 morning, okay? 00:02:32.359 --> 00:02:33.919 You can't change your looks. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:34.919 That's what you are. 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:37.400 That's what you see every morning when you get up. 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:38.400 And that's a good thing. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.000 That's a good practice to look at yourself. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:42.000 I think we all do that. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.280 We all look ourselves in the mirror in the morning. 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:48.439 And you know, the great thing about the Bible as well, God's living Word, is that it is 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:50.920 a mirror into our being. 00:02:50.920 --> 00:02:56.199 It's a mirror where we see ourselves and we see who we are, who we really are. 00:02:56.199 --> 00:03:02.639 We see our true selves as we come face to face with the living God through His book, 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:06.639 through Jesus Christ as He's revealed in the world. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:11.639 And that's a great thing because unlike the mirror we look at in the morning, which just 00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:16.639 is a reflection of us, what we are on the surface, the Bible takes us way beyond the 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:25.079 surface of what we look like physically, and it reminds us of who we are inherently as 00:03:25.079 --> 00:03:26.199 people. 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:32.839 And the message of God's Word is always that our true self has been lost because of sin 00:03:32.839 --> 00:03:35.759 and because of rebellion against God. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:41.560 And it is lost until Jesus Christ rescues and redeems us. 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:42.680 You know, that's one… 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:44.280 We always keep that from… 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:45.280 It's that… 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:46.680 That's why we have the Bible. 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:52.640 That's why we encourage the spiritual disciplines as believers of looking at the Bible, the Word 00:03:52.640 --> 00:03:58.719 of God, the Person of Jesus, praying every day because it's fundamental to us, just 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:01.120 like looking in the mirror every morning. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:05.000 It's really important that we're looking in the mirror of Scripture regularly. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.879 I don't think this Word would ever come from this pulpit. 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:11.639 It's our daily mirror. 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:13.120 It's a different one. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:16.920 Okay, but it should be our spiritual daily mirror if we can talk in these terms. 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:24.120 I know that seems like an oxymoron, but it's something that we should look at every single 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:30.399 day because it reminds us, it gives us the perspective of who we are and the world in 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:35.560 which we live and how we respond to that. 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:39.959 Because of the brokenness of the world and because of sin that enters the world in the 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:44.839 world in which we live, there is for you and there is for me and there is for the world 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:46.399 an identity crisis. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:55.639 That's at the very core of our reality is that our identity is in crisis as we have 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:57.519 turned our backs on God. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.720 That's the reality of our ongoing lives. 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:04.199 If we turn our back on God, we have an identity crisis because we're facing the wrong way 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:08.680 from our Father. 00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:12.719 No amount of motivational quotes can change that. 00:05:12.719 --> 00:05:20.519 No amount of telling us how good and how significant we are in ourselves will turn that around. 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:24.719 You'll find that increasingly, don't you, on social media, all these meaningful memes 00:05:24.719 --> 00:05:33.199 that tell us to look out for and to look after ourselves and just to look into ourselves 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:37.879 and trust in ourselves and that's where we find that identity. 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:41.920 Note to self, you've got to do this for you. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:43.399 This is for you. 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:45.199 This isn't about anyone. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:49.480 Live for you, honour you, never lose sight of that. 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:54.759 Or put yourself at the top of your to-do list every single day and the rest will fall into 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:55.759 place. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:56.759 You've all read them. 00:05:56.759 --> 00:05:57.759 We've seen them all the time. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:03.480 There's these motivational quotes that tell us how to live and tell us just to love ourselves 00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:06.519 and to find our identity in ourselves. 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:13.240 The trouble with that is that it's fraudulent and it's mistaken and we are left in a crisis 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:19.159 if we will not turn round and reckon who we are before our Creator that we were speaking 00:06:19.159 --> 00:06:22.560 about, before the living God. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:29.800 Just like we're living in a spiritual hall of mirrors. 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:34.560 It's a bit old-fashioned now because of technology and everything else, but used to walk into 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:40.480 places with a hall of mirrors that were distorted and so you kind of have really fat, stumpy 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:46.720 legs and enormous long back and a wide head or whatever it was until I realised that was 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:48.399 a normal one for me. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:49.920 But that's how it is, isn't it? 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:53.480 You go in and it distorts everything and it makes it look crazy. 00:06:53.480 --> 00:07:00.280 Our broken image as we face, or we're not facing God, it's a distorted view that we 00:07:00.280 --> 00:07:02.680 receive and have of ourselves. 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:05.600 And so you have, I guess you've got a spectrum really. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:14.040 At one end of the spectrum of that identity crisis is where people will say, I hate myself. 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:20.760 I really hate myself and I need to find some kind of other people to love me and their 00:07:20.760 --> 00:07:26.680 opinions are so important that no amount of motivational jargon makes me feel better. 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:32.280 I just try and find my security and my acceptance through other people and what they think of 00:07:32.280 --> 00:07:40.120 me and that leaves us insecure, tense, fearing, losing other people's love, unwilling to challenge 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:47.160 people in case we upset them in any kind of way, a dishonesty, a people pleasing, a vulnerability, 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:49.639 a passive tendency to be abused. 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:53.240 That's at one end of the spectrum where we just hate ourselves. 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:58.720 But maybe the other end of that spectrum of our identity crisis is I love myself. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:03.600 I absolutely love myself and I don't really need other people. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:11.960 I'm first-centered and proud, but ultimately enslaving and abusing and we see relationships 00:08:11.960 --> 00:08:15.080 as purely functional, what we can get from them. 00:08:15.080 --> 00:08:21.120 Pleasure's everything because we're at the center and it's about putting ourselves first. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:27.640 But that ends up on that end of the spectrum and the dissatisfaction and uncontrollable 00:08:27.640 --> 00:08:30.480 appetites and addictions and loneliness. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:38.120 So you've got two very extreme identity crises and we're probably all somewhere in the middle, 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:39.399 naturally. 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:46.320 Some are just not quite right, hating ourselves or loving ourselves in ways that are not facing 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.759 who we are before the living God. 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:57.080 So our identity, our secure identity can only ever be as Christians in Jesus Christ. 00:08:57.080 --> 00:08:59.000 And that's what this passage is about. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:04.639 It's founded, and I'm going back here to the first section of chapter 12 that looked, 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:06.279 it's founded on God's mercy. 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:07.759 Remember we looked at that last week? 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:13.080 That the first to lift that huge massive section of theology could be summarized by saying 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:16.919 God's mercies, God's grace, God's goodness to us. 00:09:16.919 --> 00:09:19.440 That is what our identity is founded in. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:25.919 It's in founded in the work, the love and the work, the death and the resurrection of 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:26.919 Jesus Christ. 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:32.719 We're created and loved by God our Father through Jesus Christ, our Savior. 00:09:32.719 --> 00:09:36.639 And that's where we learn our identity. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:38.240 That's where we find our identity. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:42.759 And that's where we learn to love ourselves properly. 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:44.360 Love ourselves properly. 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:49.919 We're broken sinners healed by His love. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:51.719 And that's the key, isn't it? 00:09:51.719 --> 00:09:55.919 That's the key that we looked at last week that we could see that we are more sinful 00:09:55.919 --> 00:10:01.279 than we could ever have imagined, but we are more loved in Christ as we put our faith and 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.279 trust in Him than we could ever dream of. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:08.120 And that's where our identity lies. 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:09.599 And that's what helps us. 00:10:09.599 --> 00:10:15.679 Remember last week we looked at not thinking too highly of ourselves, but with sober reflection. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:19.839 That's what gives us the right attitude and the right identity. 00:10:19.839 --> 00:10:22.679 Not too low. 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:26.639 We're not scum of the earth, not too high. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:28.679 The world revolves around me. 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:30.759 But just right. 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:34.399 It's not about self-loathing or about self-loving. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:43.239 It's recognizing and seeing that we are God's children as we are redeemed and as we trust 00:10:43.239 --> 00:10:45.839 in Him and put our faith in Him. 00:10:45.839 --> 00:10:51.599 So we, to meet with the faith that we've been given, we measured ourselves against grace. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:55.080 Lost sinners like everyone else before God. 00:10:55.080 --> 00:10:58.120 So don't point the finger at other people and think you're better than them. 00:10:58.120 --> 00:10:59.920 And we mustn't do that. 00:10:59.920 --> 00:11:08.240 Lost sinners before a holy God, but also justified and loved as we have come to God through Christ. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:13.200 So my friends today as Christians, you have nothing to prove. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:14.680 You're already accepted. 00:11:14.680 --> 00:11:17.879 You have nothing to prove to anyone. 00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:20.120 You're free to serve. 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:26.159 We to serve God and others because it's the purest expression of God's grace in our lives. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:32.360 And it's the fullest expression of our true humanity as we serve others and as we love 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:37.320 others and as we give ourselves to others, because that's really the theme of this section. 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:43.600 And we see that even, I think, even in society in common grace when things, when people see 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:45.639 that that is a beautiful way to live. 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:48.639 I watched an advert this week. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:51.960 It was on social media, but it was from Norway, a Norwegian ad. 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:53.840 I don't know if anyone saw it. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:58.319 It's been kind of going around the social media outlets. 00:11:58.319 --> 00:12:04.439 It's an advert to encourage and promote fostering. 00:12:04.439 --> 00:12:09.600 So it's a little blonde boy in a classroom with 30 other kids around him. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:11.199 And it's lunchtime. 00:12:11.199 --> 00:12:15.200 And they all take out their packed lunches that they're going to eat at the table. 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:18.480 And he opens his packed lunch box and there's nothing in it. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:21.519 And everyone else has full packed lunch boxes. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:23.120 And he's embarrassed by this. 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:24.639 And so he asks to be excused. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:31.600 He leaves the room so he could go to the bathroom and drink, drinking water because he doesn't 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:32.600 get anything to eat. 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:36.920 So he takes his drink of drinking water and then he comes back to the classroom to sit 00:12:36.920 --> 00:12:39.120 rather embarrassed while everyone else is eating. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:44.639 And he's about to put his sandwich, his lunch box away in his bag and he feels it's a bit 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:45.639 heavier. 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:53.000 And he looks around and he opens it and it's full of food, grapes and sandwiches and chocolate. 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:55.000 It's absolutely full. 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.199 And of course all the kids around about them are kind of pretending not to look but they're 00:12:59.199 --> 00:13:03.279 smiling quietly because while he's been out of the room, everyone's given a little bit 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:06.080 from their packed lunch to his and put it in. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:13.639 And it's just a story of common grace and it's a story of the beauty of sharing and 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:20.120 recognizing that and it's in a very simple way, it speaks of the kind of heart motivation 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:22.399 that we should have in our Christian lives. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:24.759 We serve others. 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:27.240 We serve God and we serve others. 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:36.120 Not as a way to feel valuable, not as an enabler or a codependent, but we serve because we 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:37.600 are valuable. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:43.279 We serve because our identity is in the one who has served us and who has given himself 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.559 for us and who has died in our place. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:50.480 It's not about being needed or never being able to say no. 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:59.679 It's about recognizing that this is an action and this is a life of beauty to serve. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:01.519 It reflects who we are. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:05.039 And so our identity in Christ, I'm going to just talk about that briefly, our identity 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:07.439 in Christ, oh I said that briefly word. 00:14:07.439 --> 00:14:12.079 Sorry, you'll not get that unless you were at the wedding yesterday. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:16.520 I was accused of saying briefly by someone and then going on to speak for ages. 00:14:16.520 --> 00:14:22.879 So ministers, habits, that's what they do. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:29.440 So our identity in Christ is fixed and we love because we are first love. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.320 We don't think ourselves too highly that we love. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:37.120 But how then, so really what I'm trying to get to today and I've taken an awful and 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:39.280 an ordinarily long time to get to it. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:43.079 How then do we live as we love Christ? 00:14:43.079 --> 00:14:47.279 How do you go from here and live your life because of who Christ is? 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:52.879 And that's really what this section, following on from the previous section is all about. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:59.079 We remember that our identity is founded in God's mercy and that's the home where we 00:14:59.079 --> 00:15:00.079 belong. 00:15:00.079 --> 00:15:02.679 That's where we belong in Christ. 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:09.279 And that place of belonging enables us then to serve in the world in which we live. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:11.239 You know what you're like at home? 00:15:11.239 --> 00:15:13.599 You feel at home. 00:15:13.599 --> 00:15:16.000 It's a great place to be. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:21.719 And when you understand who you are in Christ, it's a great place to be because it affects 00:15:21.719 --> 00:15:24.519 every single relationship that you have. 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:31.839 And so we're going to look briefly at concentric circles, having a right attitude to ourselves 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:35.440 which means we have a right attitude to other Christians, which means we have a right attitude 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:40.160 to everyone, which means we have a right attitude to our enemies. 00:15:40.160 --> 00:15:43.440 And that's very important as we think of that. 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:51.519 So as love in our life must be genuine, so we need to have that right attitude to our 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:55.720 faith first. 00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:58.440 Love, he says in verse 9, must be sincere. 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:02.840 Let love be sincere, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:07.000 So that's really where the sober reflection comes in in your Christian life. 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:10.920 What kind of relationship do you have with Christ? 00:16:10.920 --> 00:16:15.160 Is it one where you've accepted His grace and it's not phony? 00:16:15.160 --> 00:16:16.160 There's nothing hypocritical. 00:16:16.160 --> 00:16:23.160 As you look in the mirror of Scripture, do you understand what loving Him looks like? 00:16:23.160 --> 00:16:25.000 The love that we are to share. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:26.000 It's to be genuine. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:27.000 It's to be sincere. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:30.639 It's unhyprocritical. 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:36.080 You're not to be, you're not to have a veneer of pleasantness, but inwardly you're seething 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:40.840 other people and you're raging against them. 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:43.320 And it's not a blind love of other people. 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:49.360 It's a love that hates sin in ourselves and other people because it destroys us and it 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:52.639 clings to God's good. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:58.279 Let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:08.599 So it's having this understanding, first of ourselves, that in Christ there's no pretence. 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:13.119 You can't put on a show with God. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:14.559 You can't hide from Him. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:19.000 There needs to be that sincerity that you know your own heart, that you know that you're 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:24.559 blacker and darker than you could ever imagine as He looks at you. 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:30.039 But you're more loved than you can ever dream of because of what He's done for you. 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:35.319 And that is the sincerity that must be at the basis of how we go from here and live 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:37.079 our lives. 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:42.000 And then in this concentric circle, Paul goes on to say, then the way that then reflects 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.279 how you act with other people, kind of verses 10 to 13. 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:49.319 Love one another, will have affection, outdo one another in showing honour. 00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:53.720 Don't be slothful in zeal, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patience, 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:58.079 and tribulation, constant in prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, seeking to show 00:17:58.079 --> 00:17:59.079 hospitality. 00:17:59.079 --> 00:18:05.079 Now, there's not hard and fast divisions here between the different groups, but fundamentally 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:09.680 saying if you love Jesus Christ, then you will, in terms of your relationship with other 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:15.079 Christians, you will, as Philippians 2 says, consider them better than yourself. 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:19.240 So that's a great challenge to us this morning. 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:22.519 You know, you've maybe not, and I wouldn't blame you for not having listened thus far, 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:27.919 because it's been a bit rambly, but how would you describe yourself as a member of this 00:18:27.919 --> 00:18:31.879 church, as someone who's in this church? 00:18:31.879 --> 00:18:36.359 Would these few verses that I've just read, verses 10 to 13, would they describe you? 00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:37.879 Would they describe me? 00:18:37.879 --> 00:18:43.919 Is that the way we think of other Christians, here or in other places? 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:48.039 And I'm not saying, I'm not saying read these verses and say, well, I know some people that 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:51.039 don't live like that or think like that in the church. 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:58.880 I know people that are just critical and not hospitable and don't rejoice in hope and are 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:00.320 certainly not fervent in spirit. 00:19:00.320 --> 00:19:02.039 I'm not asking for that. 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:08.800 I'm saying, how does that reflect our understanding of who we are and our attitude and relationship 00:19:08.800 --> 00:19:10.680 to other Christians? 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:14.519 He's saying here, you are family. 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:15.720 That's the word that's used. 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:21.840 He's saying, you're family, love one another with brotherly affection. 00:19:21.840 --> 00:19:27.160 It's a phrase that's speaking about family love. 00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:32.840 You have spiritual blood ties with one another. 00:19:32.840 --> 00:19:35.320 We value one another above it. 00:19:35.320 --> 00:19:38.759 That's quite the attitude, isn't it? 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:45.039 We're saying other people above ourselves and we're to be, as you read these verses, 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:55.759 I don't need to explain them, we're to be examples of servant-heartedness in this community. 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:59.440 It's really more than just turning up. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:04.279 It's about being a community for Jesus Christ as we live our lives and we're to reflect 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:10.759 on the zeal, joy, hope, patience and commitment in prayer. 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:18.160 We're to share with those who are in need together and we're to become friends with 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.359 the people you don't know. 00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:23.079 That's what it speaks about when it says showing hospitality. 00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:25.480 I think I mentioned that recently here. 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:28.240 Hospitality means the love of strangers. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:33.200 That's actually the meaning of the word, love of a stranger. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:36.400 We often mean hospitality, say, get our mates round. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.160 Have all the people we know and loving that are easy to be with. 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:42.039 And it involves that, but it's more than that. 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:50.640 It's broadening your circle of acquaintance and knowledge and friendship beyond just your 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:56.080 mates to any within the Christian community. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:04.720 And so they cease to be strangers and that's such a powerful testimony that we open our 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:06.919 lives, open our hearts, open our homes. 00:21:06.919 --> 00:21:11.679 Now, today's a connect meal day and there's still time to sign up. 00:21:11.679 --> 00:21:15.279 If you want to have bacon rolls at someone's house, there's three homes open today and 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.000 there's details in the book. 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:19.039 It's a great way to build a relationship. 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:24.879 So you've got this concentric circle, right attitude to ourselves, which then becomes 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:29.600 reflected in the right attitude we have to other people, other Christians, first and 00:21:29.600 --> 00:21:30.600 foremost. 00:21:30.600 --> 00:21:37.120 That's interesting because most of the problems in churches revolve around people and about 00:21:37.120 --> 00:21:38.760 division and separation. 00:21:38.760 --> 00:21:41.920 It's not often about theology, to be perfectly honest. 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:43.840 It's usually about people. 00:21:43.840 --> 00:21:47.600 So there's that relationship with other Christians. 00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:52.600 Then he broadens it, I think, again, to not just Christians, but everybody, Christians 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:55.359 and our friends and people around us. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:22:00.399 He's blessed 14 to 17, blessed those who persecuted, blessed to not curse, rejoice with those who 00:22:00.399 --> 00:22:04.879 rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another, don't be hotty, 00:22:04.879 --> 00:22:10.199 associate with the lowly, never be wise in your own sight, don't repay evil for evil, 00:22:10.199 --> 00:22:14.240 but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:20.599 So you've got that, it does reflect our attitude to Christians, but to just generally, when 00:22:20.599 --> 00:22:24.719 you go from here and when you go into your life tomorrow, these are the kind of characteristics 00:22:24.719 --> 00:22:26.519 he wants from us. 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:29.279 We are to be a blessing. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:33.719 We're to bless those who persecut bless and don't curse. 00:22:33.719 --> 00:22:40.439 That's the acronym that's been used for the city groups, studies, is blessing. 00:22:40.439 --> 00:22:46.119 You know that Abrahamic promise, that believers are to bless all the people of the earth, 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:52.919 the be attitudes, the bringing of God's goodness, speaking well, conferring goodness into this 00:22:52.919 --> 00:22:57.159 world, being Christ-like. 00:22:57.159 --> 00:22:58.159 That's what we're to do. 00:22:58.159 --> 00:23:01.039 We're to be the conferring people. 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:07.959 We are to confer blessing to our neighbors by being Christ-like with them in our workplace, 00:23:07.959 --> 00:23:13.079 in our place of study, particularly maybe those who have bad mouth to you or given you a hard 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:18.159 time, those who give you a repose to you. 00:23:18.159 --> 00:23:23.039 Just fundamentally speaks about being part of the world in which you live, being part 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:29.359 of your community, and their highs and lows when they weep, when they laugh together. 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:32.199 You empathize and sympathize. 00:23:32.199 --> 00:23:36.519 Jesus really hated snobs and people who are snippy and proud. 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.480 And so should we not hate them, but hate the attitude. 00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:43.519 And we should never show that attitude ourselves, and we shouldn't show favoritism, there should 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:51.200 be that honesty and openness and joy and love because we've been accepted undeservingly. 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:56.440 We are not worthless, but we are unworthy, and yet we've been accepted by Jesus. 00:23:56.440 --> 00:23:58.599 And that's hugely significant. 00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:06.839 And so we should be reflecting the living out shalom, living out the peace of the gospel 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:09.319 in the world in which we live. 00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:13.279 We should reflect Jesus, not reflect the culture and the thinking of the world in which we 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.279 live. 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:19.279 That's really, really difficult. 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:22.839 In fact, it's impossible. 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:32.960 And if you go out tomorrow without looking in the mirror spiritually, you'll not really 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:39.640 understand who you are and who your identity is and how that impacts on your life. 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:43.960 So when you look physically at the mirror tomorrow morning, think of this, what we've 00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:44.960 been looking at. 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:50.840 And remember that you need Christ with you in the day to reflect in the concentric circles. 00:24:50.840 --> 00:24:55.519 There's one last concentric circle I think that he especially mentions, and that is your 00:24:55.519 --> 00:25:06.200 enemies, utterly and entirely radical and counter-cultural teaching, that as believers 00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:15.119 we have an attitude to those who wish evil to us that we wish good for them. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:17.359 That is completely different. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:19.759 That is the opposite of revenge. 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:20.759 Okay? 00:25:20.759 --> 00:25:22.879 Now admit it. 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:28.800 If someone does the dirty on you, the initial reaction is we want to do the dirty back, 00:25:28.800 --> 00:25:30.960 because that's at the very heart of our being. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:32.680 We want to revenge, don't we? 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:34.360 We want to get our own back. 00:25:34.360 --> 00:25:40.020 And yet Jesus says, if you've been the specific target of opposition as a Christian, people 00:25:40.020 --> 00:25:48.080 who wish you harm, and there's a real spiritual kind of underlying opposition here, maybe 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:55.720 it's something unwarranted and irrational dislike to you as a believer. 00:25:55.720 --> 00:25:59.639 You know, if anyone, beloved, never avenge yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God 00:25:59.639 --> 00:26:02.720 for his written vengeance, it's mine, I will repay his Lord to the contrary. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:06.759 If your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he's thirsty, give him something to drink, for 00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:09.319 by sure doing you will keep burning coals. 00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:13.119 They said, do not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:14.720 You see that? 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:17.559 You see how utterly radical that is? 00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:23.480 That he says, don't seek revenge, don't wish people's destruction. 00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:25.559 Now, we've said that, haven't we? 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:27.159 I really wish they were dead. 00:26:27.159 --> 00:26:30.679 We probably didn't mean it, really. 00:26:30.679 --> 00:26:36.679 But we just wanted them away, or we would love to get our own back. 00:26:36.679 --> 00:26:43.039 But we're never to repay the evil we've been shown with the same evil. 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:51.799 We're not to stoop to mean words or tactics to get even, because that will only destroy 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:58.359 us and provide a victory for darkness and evil. 00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:02.559 You know, I'm going to morph into a kori for a moment here and use it a lot to the 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:05.639 ring's illustration. 00:27:05.640 --> 00:27:14.000 You know, the ring bearer, if the ring bearer tried to use the ring's power to defeat evil, 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:18.400 it only brought evil into their experience. 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:21.640 You can't use evil to overcome evil. 00:27:21.640 --> 00:27:28.720 You can't use revenge to overcome those who have been violently opposed to you. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:31.320 And that is our natural response. 00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:37.679 Why don't we respond, because on the cross that we're just very shortly going to remember, 00:27:37.679 --> 00:27:42.359 Christ has overcome evil with good. 00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:46.159 He loves his enemies, and we were his enemies before we came to faith. 00:27:46.159 --> 00:27:54.480 And this is a fighting term, and it were to over, we're to wrestle, we're to fight good 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:59.119 against evil, God's goodness and God's grace. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:01.039 Because what does evil do? 00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:02.440 What does evil do in your life? 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:05.799 You think, well, I'm not particularly evil, but okay, you may think that. 00:28:05.799 --> 00:28:06.799 But what does evil do? 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:07.799 What's its fruit? 00:28:07.799 --> 00:28:12.039 Its fruit is division, separation, hostility and estrangement. 00:28:12.039 --> 00:28:13.680 That's what it always does. 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:14.680 That's what it does relationally. 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:19.960 It separates, it divides, it brings hostility and estrangement. 00:28:19.960 --> 00:28:26.399 And that anger and that division from within our hearts is an outworking of sin in our 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:33.440 lives and in relationship with others and in relationship with God. 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:44.000 So when we repay the darkness of evil with feeding our enemies and with giving them something 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:50.600 to drink and doing something good in their lives, then we are showing that what Christ 00:28:50.600 --> 00:28:55.519 has done in His power, we are living a different way. 00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:59.920 It's a recognition of God's mercy. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:04.039 It's also a recognition, can I say, of God's justice. 00:29:04.039 --> 00:29:14.000 Because we're saying God will deal with those who work and live in a violent and oppressive 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:15.920 and evil way. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:19.759 God vengeance is mine, God says, I will repay. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:26.039 So, we do the very opposite of what every natural sinew of our body and mind might be 00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:37.000 straining towards, getting your own back, showing who's boss, being in charge, repaying 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:39.680 evil with evil. 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:46.879 You submit to God, you leave things in His hands and you seek to do as much as it possible 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:52.560 with us in every situation we are to seek to live at peace. 00:29:52.560 --> 00:29:55.520 What a difference that would make in our family. 00:29:55.520 --> 00:29:58.000 What a difference wouldn't it make in our churches? 00:29:58.000 --> 00:30:01.040 What a difference it would make in Edinburgh? 00:30:01.040 --> 00:30:05.640 What a difference it would make in the world we live in if that were the case. 00:30:05.640 --> 00:30:08.840 And that is what Christ seeks to do in our lives. 00:30:08.840 --> 00:30:16.240 The key is that we love other people well, enemies or friends, whatever their circumstances, 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:21.920 whatever their needs, whatever their behaviour towards you. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:29.480 And that comes from having our identity grounded in Jesus Christ, that we are darker and more 00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:31.880 wicked than we ever imagined. 00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:36.720 Yet we are loved in Him as we come to Him in faith more than we could ever dream. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:39.079 And that is where our identity is fixed. 00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:43.240 Keeps us from thinking too highly of ourselves but with sober reflection. 00:30:43.240 --> 00:30:50.480 And it is important because then it reflects how we live with one another. 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:53.799 Isn't that the key all the time? 00:30:53.799 --> 00:31:01.240 That we always want to find the faults with others, with God and with others. 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:07.519 But grace changes everything so we find the answer with God and the need in our own hearts 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:16.119 to be transformed and we leave others up to God but we love them. 00:31:16.119 --> 00:31:18.400 And that's the gospel. 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:21.279 And that is the hardest thing in the world. 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:27.599 That's why we can't lightly say that we're Christians, nor can we lightly take part in 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:34.759 the Lord's Supper as if it's some kind of ritual or some kind of cultural engagement. 00:31:34.759 --> 00:31:38.279 We need to be these kind of people by grace. 00:31:38.279 --> 00:31:39.480 Marks of a true Christian. 00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:41.480 Our love needs to be genuine. 00:31:41.480 --> 00:31:47.519 Our faith, our profession, our testimony needs to be genuine before the living God. 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:52.240 Be the person, be the kind of Christian that looks in the mirror daily, spiritually, that 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:58.079 looks to God, that sees Him, that rejoices, absolutely rejoices in the impossibility of 00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:01.640 grace and that He provides for us. 00:32:01.640 --> 00:32:07.280 And that anything He asks of us, He enables us to do because He's given us a spirit. 00:32:07.280 --> 00:32:10.640 It's a remarkable salvation. 00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:15.960 And to be out of Christ is to be under the dominion of evil. 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:20.800 Even if we don't feel that, it's to be under the dominion of death and darkness. 00:32:20.800 --> 00:32:26.759 And that is a truly desperate place to be because you're facing the wrong way. 00:32:26.759 --> 00:32:27.759 Amen. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:28.759 Let's pray. 00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:35.279 Father God, we ask and pray that you would guide us and that you would keep us and that 00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:38.359 you would show us your love and show us your grace. 00:32:38.359 --> 00:32:43.519 We pray that we would understand a little bit more about what it means to belong to 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:51.400 you and to have our faith grounded in you and to have that right opinion of ourselves 00:32:51.400 --> 00:33:00.080 that helps us to love other people, to love our fellow Christian like family, to love 00:33:00.080 --> 00:33:06.960 everyone around us just unconditionally and especially to love those who wish us and who 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:09.040 do us harm. 00:33:09.040 --> 00:33:17.519 It's a truly remarkable way to live and yet you, you example that in coming to be the 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:24.799 Redeemer and you example that in your life again and again in the world, it wasn't that 00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:30.720 you sought acceptance because you had a low opinion of yourself or that you weren't willing 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:38.279 to call out evil because you knew it's destructiveness but yet you still loved. 00:33:38.279 --> 00:33:44.720 Maybe recognize that loving people isn't just always just being nice, it means being honest 00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:50.120 and a gracious and kind and gentle and respectful way. 00:33:50.120 --> 00:33:54.440 Warning about evil because evil is destructive and sin is destructive. 00:33:54.440 --> 00:34:00.640 Remind us of that in our own hearts and remind us of that in the depth of the relationships 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:08.320 we seek to build with one another that are trusting and allow that honesty and that love 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:09.320 to prevail. 00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:13.079 Bless us Lord as we now celebrate the Lord's Supper. 00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:19.360 We thank you for the bread and the wine that is set before us as a reminder to us of your 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:24.759 death and resurrection and promise of return. 00:34:24.759 --> 00:34:27.400 Wonderful foundational truth. 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:28.679 We thank you for it today. 00:34:28.679 --> 00:34:44.759 Amen.