“You will not be able to overcome evil in another until you have learned to overcome it in yourself.” This is a quote that I read while studying Romans, chapter 12, verses 15 to 16 this week, and I want to invite everybody here, if you could open up your Bible with me and go to Romans 12. And the theme of this section is overcoming evil. Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And if you were here last week, we talked about people who persecute us, and how we would bless them and not curse them. If you come next week, we'll talk about when people do evil against us, we don't repay evil for evil to anyone. And yet, in this section about overcoming evil, it talks about that we need to kind of get over the evil that's within ourselves and really consider other people rather than just having a self focus. And so, this is a very powerful text of Scripture. It's just a few commands, but it's really going to unlock a way of thinking and renew our minds together here this morning. So out of respect for God's Word, I want to invite everybody if you could stand up for the public reading of Scripture, if you could look with me at just these two verses, Romans 12:15-16. And please follow along as I read, because this is the Word of God, and if you believe in Jesus, this is God's command for your life. So please pay attention to Romans, chapter 12, verses 15 and 16.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have a seat. And I'll put that quote up there on the screen, in case you want to write it down. There is a handout there. Maybe you already wrote some of those kids’ names on your handout to pray for them. Well, if you want to take that handout out. You will not be able to overcome evil in another, until you learn how to overcome it in yourself. And so, the idea is, we want to overcome the evil that's happening in our world, or even the evil that's happening in our government. We want to overcome it with good. But we're not going to be overcomers if we're divided from our one anothers. And so that's what it gets to here in these commands. And I want to put verse 16 up here on the screen in Greek. Remember when Paul sent his teaching to the church in Rome, he wrote it in Greek, not English. So, we're reading a translation. And I don't expect you to be able to read Greek, alright? I don't expect you to know ancient Koine Greek. I do expect you to see big red boxes on the screen. Can everybody see those boxes? Right? What it draws to your attention, that is not clear, maybe in our English translation, is that it uses this same Greek word three times in verse 16. And we'll put the Greek word up here on the screen, if you want to write it down. It's the Greek word phroneo, and it's a verb. And it means, to think, it means, to set your mind on something. It's a mentality, as a way we might say it today. It's a mindset. That's the kind of thought that this verse wants to give us. Here's a way that you should think. There's a way we need to all have this same mindset, the mindset where you don't think too highly of yourself, but you are ready to go with the lowly and associate with the humble. In fact, we need everybody to make sure that your mind is not set too much on yourself, but your mind is actually set on other people. Because if you're walking around thinking about how you feel, and caught up in your own circumstances, you won't be ready to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep; you won't be affected by what's happening with other people. If your mind is too much set on yourself, that's the teaching from these verses. It's a mindset, a way of thinking for life. And this idea phroneo has already been taught to us in the Book of Romans.
Go back to chapter eight, verse five. Romans 8:5. I don't know if you remember when we studied this verse. It was over a year ago now. Romans chapter 8, verse 5. This is our 68th sermon we've done from the book of Romans, spread out now over a couple of years. So, it's been a while, but maybe, this verse you'll remember it when I read it to you here. Romans 8:5. “For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” Does anybody remember that? What is your mind set on? If your mind is set on the flesh, on the things of this life, on the things that you want or desire, or is your mind set on the things of the Spirit, the things that God's will is for you to do, the things of walking in your new life, in Christ, in righteousness and holiness. You're thinking one of these two ways. You either have a mind that is set on the flesh or a mind that is set on the Spirit. Phroneo. You think either this way or you think this way. Who remembers us talking about that here at the church? It was controversial. It was provocative. People didn't like that. There were only two possible mindsets you could have, either of the flesh and the Spirit. I remember people left the church after that sermon, and I remember people realized they had the wrong mindset, and they got saved after that sermon, because they were like, wow, how am I thinking? And there's only two different mindsets that you can have, and he's continued to bring that up.
Go to Romans 11:20, when he was talking about all of us who are Gentiles, and how we got grafted into what God is doing with his people, the Jews. And even though many of the Jews were not believing, and many of the Gentiles were believing in Jesus and being grafted into this olive tree picture that he's using here. And he said in chapter 11, verse 20, that it's true the Jews, some of them were broken off, and they were broken off because of their unbelief. But you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud. See, there's that word phroneo. Do not have a high mindset of yourself. And specifically here, hey, Gentiles who have been saved, don't think you're now better than the Jews, is what he's saying here. Look at Romans 11:25 “Lest you be wise in your own sight,” lest you have too high a view of yourself.
Look at chapter 12. Chapter 12 is where we saw the real turning point in the book of Romans. For 11 chapters, he was talking about all that God has done to make us righteous in his Son, Jesus. But in chapter 12, he said, Okay, well, let's think about this based on all we've learned about God being merciful, God not giving us what we deserve in judgment, but God giving us Jesus instead. In response to all that God has done for 11 chapters of teaching, how should we therefore now live, in response to the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, the righteous one, was willing to offer himself as a sacrifice to pay for your sin. What is your response? Well, you should offer your body as a living sacrifice in response to Jesus. And don't go the way of the world. Don't be conformed to what the world's doing to the spirit of this age. You need to get your mind right. You need to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And then he said this in Romans 12:3, he said, “For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone,” everybody here at this nine o'clock service this morning, “to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” Really, it's actually you could translate it to think in a self-controlled way. Yeah, thus he wants to teach us.
And maybe you remember we did the whole “Be the Church” series. How are we supposed to live as a church? How are we all one body with many gifts? How are we all having our own fire for the Lord, but yet we love one another. How does that all work? How are we the church? Well, you can't be the church if you're too caught up with yourself and you don't know how to control thinking about yourself. That's what he started with in verse 3. Now it's like he's kind of transitioned into a new section where the emphasis is not as much on how we would treat one another, but how we would overcome evil in the world. But yet, even as he moves on to talking about overcoming evil in the world, it's like, wait a minute, you still can't be caught up on thinking about yourself if you get so easily offended, if your feelings are so hurt, if it's all about you and how other people are treating you. When other people inevitably do evil against you, how are you going to not respond in an evil way to them? If you're focused on yourself, you're going to just be like, I can't believe they did this to me. What he wants to teach us is it's not about a mindset on yourself. You're here to consider other people.
So, do you rejoice with those who rejoice? And do you weep with those who weep? What is your mindset? That's what he's been talking about now for some time. And here in Romans, 12:15-16, he gives us clear commands about how to think. Go over to Philippians chapter 2. Let me show you how he uses this same word, phroneo. Every verse I want to show you right now in Philippians, some of these verses, hopefully will be familiar to us here at the church. These verses all use this same word. They're all talking about this same mind. And I know in Romans, 12:16, it translates it “Live in harmony with one another.” I wish it would just say, have the same mind with one another. There's a mindset, and we're all supposed to be on the same team Jesus as brothers and sisters in Christ. We all have this same mindset. That's how they translate it here in Philippians 2:2-3, where Paul is writing to them from prison. He's writing to this church. He's sharing his joy with them. And he says, “Complete my joy by being of the same mind.” I want you all to be locked in on the same mindset, the mindset that we're all supposed to have, this way of thinking, phroneo. What is this mindset? Well, he goes on to say, “having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Let each of you look not only to his own interests. Yeah, you’ve got responsibilities. Yeah, you’ve got to look after those things. But don't just look at your own things. Also look to the interests of others. And then here it is again, now in verse two, and here in verse 5. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” You need to have, all of us together, a mindset. And guess how we can have this mindset in Christ? Because this is the mindset that Christ had for us.
Is anybody here thankful that the Son of God humbled himself to die for a sinner like you? Is anybody here thankful that Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve? Is anybody thankful that Jesus controlled his own feelings and his own difficult circumstances? He was willing to keep trusting God and that Jesus was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Do you see that Jesus was not motivated by his self-interest, but he actually cared for us. That's the mindset. That's the way we need to learn how to think. This is not what you're going to hear in America these days. This is not what your own flesh or your own temptations are going to tell you. This is not what the ads and the commercials are going to tell you. Most of the world is telling you to take care of yourself, to put yourself first, to really have a mindset where the main thing you do is get your own back. And what the Scripture is saying is you need to have a different mindset where it's no longer about you, in the same way that Jesus did when he humbled himself, when he obeyed.
Go over to Philippians chapter 3, and you'll see a contrast of possible mindsets. Chapter 3, verse 15, gives us the example. It says that all of us who are mature, or let those of us who are mature, think this way, like the mature people, the people who have left this world and living for themselves behind, and they are pressing on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The people that you can see no longer live for themselves, but they're pressing on towards Jesus. They're the mature people. They're the examples; you want to learn to think how they think that way. Because here's the contrast in verse 19, the enemies of Jesus. “Their end is destruction. Their god is their belly. They glory in their shame, and their minds are set on earthly things.” So, you’ve got some people who are now living for Jesus, and they set their mind on heavenly things, where Jesus is at the right hand of God. And you’ve got other people who are living for their own appetites. What makes them feel good? What do they want inside of themselves? And they're glorying in things that they should be ashamed of. They're doing things that are not right, and they're going to go to destruction because their mind is set on the here and now and how it feels today.
And so, those are the two possible mindsets. And then perhaps the most important use of this word is in Philippians 4:2. Remember this, these two ladies? Does anybody remember these two ladies who are in Philippi, Euodia and Syntyche? We've done a lot of child dedications over the years. Never met a little baby girl, Euodia or Syntyche here at the church. I mean, really this whole letter, all the same mind, all the mind of Christ, all the unity and striving side by side for the gospel. It's also that later on in this letter, Euodia and Syntyche, you, I would imagine, we're no longer sitting together there at the service in Philippi. Right? Maybe they didn't even go to the same service anymore, or they definitely sat on opposite sides of the synagogue, or wherever they were gathering, right? These ladies, he's saying, I want to speak to Euodia. Euodia as my sister in Christ, as someone who's been out there sharing the gospel. Syntyche, as my fellow laborer for the gospel. You need to agree in the Lord. You need to have the same mindset in the Lord, because even though Euodia and Syntyche had served the Lord with Paul, at some point, they lost the plot and they made going to church about themselves. And that's never the way we're supposed to think about it. Going to church is literally going to other people. Church is not a building, church is not a service, church is not a corporation. The church is the blood-bought people of Jesus Christ. And when you go to church, you're going to other people. And somewhere along the way, Euodia and Syntyche, they lost that mindset, and he's saying, you need to come back to the same mind. Can you imagine saying this to the ladies, you guys need to come and agree in a church service? That’s what happened here.
Remember when Pastor Andrew from Arizona came and he preached that to us? Like, wow, there's a mindset that we need to have. And if we're going to be out there overcoming evil in the world, I don't know if that's going to happen if we're all in it for ourselves and divided from our one anothers. So, with that understanding of this mindset, go back now to Romans, 12:15-16, and let's look at these commands that are given to us here. Okay? And we're at the part now where we get these rapid-fire kind of staccato commands, quick little commands. And I don't know what you think when you are commanded to do something. As Americans, we don't really like being told what to do. We don't really like somebody giving us orders. That doesn't really come across to us in a pleasant way. But you need to have the right way to think about the commands. We are here as a church to make disciples of Jesus, and one of the things we're supposed to do to build up the disciples is to teach them to keep everything that Jesus commanded because we don't see commands as like obligations or things I have to do, or I'm supposed to do, or I should do, and I guess I’ve got to do it because God's got authority, and God said to do it. So now I'm kind of stuck doing it. That's not the biblical way to see commands. Commands are when God is telling you the best possible way of human flourishing. Commands are the way to live. They are the way of blessing. Commands are how God wants you to have life to the full. In fact, if you really study the Scripture, a passage like Psalm 119 whether it says the commands or the precepts or the statutes or the ways or the word. However it says it what God tells us to do, it is “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” When God says something that gives me clarity, this is the way to go. This will be the best possible outcome if I want to really maximize life, and God knows he's the one who created it, he's the one who designed it, then I should go the way of God, because there I will experience the maximum blessing.
And so, that's how you're supposed to see commands. Commands are the signposts of life. They're like, turn here. Commands are meant to keep you off the wrong path and get you going on to God's path. And so, we get a command here that says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” I mean, here's the command, when somebody else is bursting forth with praise and joy, does it affect you? Do you then have joy along with your brother or sister? Or when somebody is like, really sad and they're going through a really hard time and they're crying about it, do you then feel the way that they feel, and you come alongside, and you're not just trying to make them feel better or trying to say something positive so they'll stop being sad, but you really actually feel their sadness along with them. See that's a way that you can know if you have the right mindset or not, if you're not affected by what's going on in other people's lives. This is meant to be a wakeup call for you here today, that when other people have joys, you're supposed to share in those joys, and when other people are going through times that would make them cry, you're supposed to cry with them, because your mind is self-controlled. It's not too focused on yourself. You're not evaluating, like did I have a good day just because you had a good day? You're evaluating, well, how is my brother doing? How is my sister doing? How is my one another doing? Well, and I actually feel the burden of their trial, or I actually feel the lightheartedness of their joy.
He told us to rejoice back in verse 12. Look back at Romans 12:12 with me, where it said, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” We did this sermon, “Always Attitudes,” if you can remember it. And we have a hope in Jesus Christ, we have an eternal life waiting for us, reserved for us in heaven. We can know God right now and have joy in the fact that God loves us like his own son, Jesus. God sees us righteous through the blood of Jesus, and we can also know that there's a place reserved for us to be in the presence of our Father, where there are many rooms, and he has a place waiting for us. And we're supposed to let what God has promised us give us joy. Even if we're going through a hard time, my relationship with God can give me joy, and I can rejoice in the hope that I have of my relationship with God. Well, now it's telling you that you should also be able to rejoice because of somebody else's joy. So not just God, and your relationship with him brings you a source of eternal joy as you go through life, but other people, and God's blessings in their life. To see people who've gotten saved, who've gotten married, who've been blessed with children. Have you ever been around people who just got engaged? Have you ever felt the love coming off of those people. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Like, I don't know about you, but I'm not, like, taking a hundred pictures of me right now, right? But when you've just gotten engaged, it's like, I don't care who knows it, right? Everybody, take a picture of me. Put it on the internet. Look at how happy I am because I'm in love, right?
What about when people have the good news that they're going to have a baby, they'll often put it out like an announcement, like, hey, rejoice with me. There's a God-given life. What about, have you ever talked to a parent and you could just really feel the joy that this parent has, whether it's because they just graduated kindergarten, their kid, or they graduated high school. It doesn't matter to parents, it's their kid that are so excited about the joy that they have, and maybe some of you know this elite level joy that only the rest of us can just hope to attain someday. But there is a higher joy, a secret joy that only some know. It's the joy of grandchildren. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? Right? I don't know this joy, but some of you do, and you have this special joy that's beyond us mere mortals, understanding of this joy of grandkids. And you love talking about your grandkids, and your grandkid took their first step, your grandkid got their first job. And like, man, do other people's lives actually affect you? Is your mind actually considering other people? So, when they tell you their good news, you legitimately feel differently in your inner being, because you rejoice with those who rejoice. See, here's the thing, there are people who want to be engaged, but they're not. There are people who want to have kids, but they have not been able to. There are people who are looking at the joys other people have, and they don't have those joys. See, that's a real measuring stick. Is your mind so set on yourself that you can't share in somebody else's joy? Can you rejoice with those who rejoice? Or is it just your feelings and your circumstances determining your joy? See, that's what this command is meant to help us realize, do we have the mindset, the mindset of Christ, where I'm really actually here, not just for me, but I'm not doing anything actually out of my selfish ambition or my own conceit, and my thought about myself. I'm actually here to humble myself and put others as more important, to put others first.
See, I’ve got another way to experience this on Monday night. On Monday night, I had reached that point. I don't know if you ever reached this point at your house where the couch is no longer comfortable enough, but you need to go full recline; it's time to go to bed. Does anybody else relate to that? Right? Like I think the couch is nice when I sit on it, but, after some time, the couch is no longer sufficient, and it's time to go to bed. And I I'm actually embarrassed to tell you what time I was thinking those kind of thoughts on Monday night, because it was an early time in the evening. And I'm like, I need to go get some rest. I'm tired. And right when I'm thinking that thought, guess what happens? My phone starts blowing up. And it turns out that one of our brothers in Christ, a guy named Howard, he is out there playing pickleball, as some of us here love to do. I know some of you, you've got the racket, you've got the clothes, you've got the strategies, and you're out there with Howard playing pickleball. And Howard, on Monday night, he collapsed while playing pickleball, and they had to do CPR, and they had to take him to the emergency room. And it did not look good for Howard when I was receiving these text messages. And so, all of a sudden there was a whole new prayer meeting that nobody planned, that was called for UCI at Fountain Valley. And there are a few of us out there, and I don't know what they were all planning on doing on Monday night, but there we were, and we're there with Howard's family, and we are begging God to spare Howard's life. And I'm starting to realize how intense this situation is. And here's a picture of Howard. We'll throw it up here on the screen. I don't know if you’ve ever seen this guy. That's Frank on the left. That's Howard in the middle. That's them at the what is the Gospel National Equipped conference this summer. So maybe you know Howard here at our church. Maybe you haven't had the privilege of meeting this brother. I got to go to Israel with him last summer before the war over there. And what a great guy Howard is. He cares about the things of the Lord. He's inquisitive into the things of God's Word. He's our real brother in Christ, and here we are on Monday night begging God to sustain his life. When you realize how much CPR they had to do, then you find out that they did already the paddles two times back there in the hospital room. Then the doctor starts saying that when they're looking at Howard's heart, his arteries are all 90% at least blocked up. And you start getting the impression that I'm not sure Howard's going to survive tonight. And so not only are we praying, but we're spreading the word. And the word's going out to the fellowship group, the word's going out to the prayer team here at the church, the word is spreading. We need to go and ask God for Howard's life, and we need to do it right now. And see, I'll tell you what, that my whole experience changed based on Howard. See, and all of a sudden, it wasn't just like, am I having a nice day? It's like, God, will you please spare Howard's life? And I'll tell you what. I was there when his wife got the call from the doctor who had just been there with Howard. And the doctor said to Howard's wife, it is amazing that Howard is still alive. And I thought, that's the prayers of God's people right there. That's the difference maker.
It felt like God was doing a miracle at UCI Fountain Valley on Monday night, and so, man, I got up early the next morning. I got back there, and it's just me and Howard, and they’ve got him breathing through tubes, and they're preparing him for this coronary artery bypass surgery. They're using phrases like high risk, and I'm just in this room with Howard, and I'm praying for him. I'm talking to him. I don't think he could hear me. I don't think he knows I'm there, but I am feeling heavy. I am not sure. God, thank you for Howard living through the night. But what's going to happen in this surgery? This seems very intense. And here comes Howard's brothers and sisters, not just his physical family, but here comes his fellowship group. And there they are gathered together, praying, interceding on behalf of Howard. And then you just wait for the reports to start coming out. It was a long surgery that Howard went through on Tuesday, and they start to say he's stable. Hey, he's doing well, hey, we've actually got somebody we know inside the surgery room, and they're telling us it's going like this. And hey, Howard's doing all right. Howard survived the surgery. Hey, it seems like it really is good. Hey, today, Howard's sitting up. Yesterday, I got this report. It was like, Hey everybody, Howard's eating jello. And I was like, praise the Lord. You know, this is amazing. I thought it was amazing how much I felt heavy this week, and how much I felt happy this week, and how it was all because of Howard, right? It was all because of what's going on with him, and when his family was there, ready to weep because they thought he was going to die, or when they were there rejoicing, because Howard is alive, right? And so that is kind of an extreme example of how what is happening with one of our one anothers, really affects our own thoughts and our own feelings and actions.
And so, if you're going to rejoice with those who rejoice, and you're going to weep with those who weep, let's get this down for point number one, if you're ready to take some notes: “You need to consider your Howards.” That's point number one. Everybody, consider your Howards. And yeah, hopefully they're not collapsed, and playing pickleball, right? Hopefully they're doing okay today, physically. Well, how are they really doing? And that's why I love that name, Howard. “How are they doing”? See, it's right there for you, right? How are your Howard's doing, right? And I'm not just asking, like, how are they doing? Like, hey, are they having a fine day in their physical being? I'm asking, do you consider how you could spur them on to love and good deeds, as it says in Hebrews 10:24, do your brothers at this church, do your sisters in Christ, are they loving Jesus more than they ever have? Are they living for Jesus more than they ever have before? Are they in danger of slowing down and drifting away, or are they paying even closer attention to the things of the gospel of Jesus than they've ever known before? I'm talking about a real world, where you know people and they know you. See, that's what church is supposed to be. It's not supposed to be a building we go to on Sunday morning.
When I come to this place, I have the privilege of coming here almost every day, and not just for these big gatherings where we assemble the worship and get into the Word. I get to meet in small groups. I get to meet with people one on one. I get to meet with just a couple of people over here, and I get to see so many people and what God's doing in their life. And I can't even tell you what a blessing it is for me every day to have so many chances to get over myself and consider God's people, and what's going on with them. I'm telling you, it's just a better way to live, to be here, to serve others, than to be here for yourself. And you’ve got to make sure you understand that you have that mindset. You’ve got to make sure that's the way you're approaching coming to church, because the mission we're on is to overcome the evil.
That's where this text is taking us. The evil is going to come against us, and we're going to have to respond to that evil with good. And if we're in it for ourselves, we're not going to have that kind of response. If we're divided from our one anothers, we're not going to have that kind of response. We're going to need to have a mindset that is self-controlled and considering others. We're going to need to all be united together in that mindset, and then, together, God could use us to shine the light of Jesus here in Huntington Beach and beyond. But if everybody is coming in it for themselves, we will not get to what God has for us here as a church. And so, if you're just coming once a week and you're just kind of seeing people in an external way. How are you going to know their joys and feel their joys? How are you going to know what causes them to weep and weep with them? This requires you to have this mindset where you really are here for other people, and you're proactively seeking to get to know people so you can consider them and be a part of their life, to come alongside of them, to encourage them. Look again now at Romans 12:16 with me here. Look at verse 16 because it says, “Live in harmony with one another.” Or it says, have this mindset is a way that you could translate “live in harmony” or we all need to think this way together. Okay, so by this command of rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep, if it's been a long time since I've praised the Lord with somebody at church, if it's been a long time since I've cried with somebody at church, then it's probably showing me I don't have this mindset that I'm supposed to have towards the one another's at church.
Go over with me to 1 Corinthians 12. Another passage that says this same thing is 1 Corinthians 12, which is using the picture that we're all one body, and you are a member of the body. You are a part of what Christ is building, and that's a role that you're supposed to take seriously. I'm a part of the church, and so we're all in this together. Is this idea we can have a very individualistic mindset, or it's just me and my family kind of against the world? No, the mindset we all want to have is it's my whole church family. We're all in this together because we're all the body of Christ. And look at how it says it in 1 Corinthians 12, look with me in verse 25 there's a lot it says about the body here, but it says that there may be no division in the body, that the members may have the same care for one another. We, if one member suffers, all suffer together, and if one member is honored, all rejoice together. So that's how it is. I want the team to win. I don't care about my own personal stats. I want the team to get W. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Has anybody ever played basketball before? Have you ever played basketball before? And there's a guy you know, if you throw the ball to him, you are not getting the ball back, because that brother is a ball hog. Does anybody know who I'm talking about? We’ve got some brothers like that here at the church. I'm just saying. I play ball with them, right? They're looking for their own shot, and our team might go down in flames, but if they've got a good number of points at the end of the game, they're going to be walking off the court like, hey, did everybody see what I just did out there on the court?
That's how some of us approach church. I'm doing great. We have a how's the church doing? How are the others doing? How are the brothers? Are you okay with getting good stats if your team's taking losses, because it's saying, no, when the team wins, we all win. And when somebody on the team has a loss, we all are in that loss together. This is kind of a radical way to think in America these days, where I can kind of act like those people aren't my people. No, these people are God's people. And so, do you suffer when others suffer? And when others are honored, and others are lifted up and their time of blessing is here, do you come alongside and genuinely feel joy because of what God's doing in somebody else's life?
Go over to 2 Corinthians 11. Here's how Paul thinks about it. Paul thinks about it like this, where he… there's this part here, where the Corinthians, the main thing you need to know about the Corinthian church is they were divided. There was division within the church, and it led to all kinds of problems that Paul had to address. In fact, people were even saying things against Paul in the church. And so, in 2 Corinthians 11, Paul has to, like defend himself, and you can tell he doesn't like bringing out his own resume that he's an apostle. And, yeah, I've probably suffered more than all of you guys, and you can tell he doesn't like saying that stuff about himself. And then he gives us an insight into his thinking here in 2 Corinthians 11:28. Look at how he is describing all these different persecutions and sufferings that he's gone through. But then he says this, “And apart from all these other things,” he said, “there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?” He's like, Yeah, I'm going through things myself. But you know what else I feel? The weight of what's happening in all the churches. Here's Paul. He's not even talking about one fellowship group or one church. He's talking about all the different churches that he's planted, even churches like Rome, where he's writing them a letter. And he knows people there; hasn't even been there himself. There are so many different churches that Paul's getting reports from all the time, blessings and praises, Oh, bad things and hard times. And he's bearing the weight of all these other believers out there. And when they're weak, he's weak. And when they fall, when somebody goes after one of his brothers and sisters, he's angry about it. He wants when somebody is attacked, he wants to defend them. Here's Paul saying, yeah, it's not just what happens to me. I've had a lot of hard things happen to me. They threw rocks at me to kill me. They threw me in prison. All kinds of things have happened to me, but you know what? It's not just what happens to me, it's when it happens to you guys, when you feel weak. I feel weak. That's how Paul thought.
Is that how we think? Is this the mature mindset? This is the mindset of Christ. We need to learn how to think this way. We need to put on this mindset, if I'm not getting happy because other people are happy, and if I'm not getting sad because other people are sad, if I'm not rejoicing and weeping, maybe I'm not thinking the right way. So that's what this command is meant to do, like it's meant to help you see, yes, as soon as you know Howard's in that position, you go visit Howard. That's clear, right? Next thing to do, oh, that brother's rejoicing. You go rejoice with them. That sister's weeping. You go weep with her. Now you know you're on God's path. Now God's command is a lamp to you. So, my concern is that maybe some of us are so riding our own highs and lows, on some kind of emotional roller coaster, that our souls are not even affected by what's happening here among our own church. And so, that's what we're supposed to be thinking about.
This sermon is going to make us take a look in the mirror and realize right there, some of our problem. I'm way too focused on me, and I don't have the mindset where I really rise or fall with other people. Go back to Romans, chapter 12, verse 16, because there are three different phrases here, okay? And I want to make sure we understand all three of them. The first one is just “Live in harmony with one another.” We should all have this rejoicing and weeping mindset together. But then the second one, it says it like this. This is so important. “Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.” Okay, so don't have a high mindset of yourself, but go with those who are low or go after, follow after the humble people. Okay, so what this is talking about is, when you're at church, you don't rank yourself ahead of other people. And this is, unfortunately, something church people are known for, not just by those who go to church, but in the wider world, that people who go to church often act and think like they are morally superior and more virtuous than other people. In fact, go over to Romans 11:20, because this is where he was warning all the Gentiles who were believing and were being brought into the kingdom of God, they're being brought into being a part of God's people. And he said, Hey, yes, it's true. The Jews aren't believing. It's true they were broken off because of their unbelief, and it's true that you now are grafted in. You stand fast through faith. And then he warns them right here, “So do not become,” what does he say there, everybody? “Proud.” Do not rank yourself too highly. If the Gentiles, and this is actually something that is regular in the church, is that people who've been saved as Gentiles now think God's plan is all about us, and they look down on Jewish people. There are still people not listening to Romans 11 and being proud and thinking that them as a church saved, Gentile is in a better spot than the Jews. People are still ignoring what Paul has said here to this very day, and when you start seeing people here at church and some people, when they come to church, they come as we all do when we start out, we come as sinners. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? We come as people who are ungodly. We come as people who are lost, and we come in. And you meet some people, and they’ve got work that needs to be done. And sometimes you can even tell by the things people say, well, that's complicated, well, that's messy. Well, there's a lot going on there. And I wonder what your response is when you see, and I'm and I'm talking right now, even just about people here at church, people you get to know, and you and you can see, and that guy's got some difficult challenges. That guy's not maybe thinking quite right yet about all the areas of his life. Do you then move away from that person and think, well, I'm over here, and that person, they're kind of down there. Or do you actually move towards that person like, hey, that guy, he needs some help. I should go and encourage him. I should go and share some truth with him. He needs to know that somebody cares about him. I'm going to go care about him like this is what I've seen play out over and over, over the last 10 years, as we get to know somebody, and somebody, as we all are, is a work in progress, and some of the work that needs to happen is very evident. And I literally have had people say things to me like, that person, did you hear what that person said? They sound kind of rough, and the implication was almost like, maybe they shouldn't be here with the rest of us. Do you ever think things like, I don't know if that person is worthy of my time. I don't know if I need to meet with that person again. I don't know if that person's a good investment for me. Do you ever start thinking things like that?
Because if you do, you might be thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think, and you might not be associating with the lowly. See, this is a real thing that happens where God's gracious to you, and you get a little bit of that smell of sin off of you, and you know a little bit more of the way to act at church, and you start thinking you're somebody rather than just a sinner saved by grace, rather than just somebody who was dirty and you got washed by the blood of Jesus. You start thinking you added your own little secret sauce to it. You did a little bit of something yourself. And so now here's you and here's other people at church. That's exactly what this phrase is telling you. Don't think that way. Don't think of yourself highly, and then other people as lowly. No, go and associate with the low. Go and associate with the humble, because God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Were you in need of God's grace? Yeah? That you haven't really moved past that need for God's grace.
Go with me to 1 Peter 5:5, as it talks about how we're supposed to think about one another here at church. And I really feel like when we went through 1 Peter as a church a few years ago, this verse got lost, because 1 Peter 5 talks to the elders of the church. We call them, usually, pastors. But if in the Bible, elders, pastors, shepherds, overseers, it's all talking about this same group of men that God is equipping to lead his people, to shepherd or pastor, which means to care for the people and to oversee the people. And so it talks about how these guys should do this, that they should do this not under obligation, but willingly, not to dominate or be like lording over people, but as an example to the people, that they're here not to get something out of it, but they're here to give and so there's this whole passage as Peter writes, as one of the elders to the other elders, “We should all care for God's People in the same way that Jesus cared for us.” Like all elders, need to have this mentality. And then, after saying that about the elders, look at verse 5. This is 1 Peter 5:5. Then he says, “Likewise, you who are younger, you who are not the elders, you should be subject to the elders. You should look up to the elders and see them as examples and leaders.” But then he says this, “Clothe yourselves, all of you.
So, this is for every one of us, “with humility toward one another.” And then it says, “for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” And I love that we clothe yourselves with humility.
I'm guessing that a lot of you, what you're wearing here this morning is not what you would wear if you just woke up and were hanging around your house this morning, right? At least some of you look very nice if you look that way at your house. Wow, that's really impressive if you look that way all the time, right? But no, you think about that idea of I'm going to church, I'm putting some clothes on, and I wonder, Am I putting myself out there at church in a way that I'm concerned about what others would think of me, and I want others to have a high view of me, or do I come to church ready to seek out others and to lift them up? I wonder how you got ready to come here this morning. Could you honestly say that today, when you came here, you clothed yourself with humility? Because here's the tricky thing that can happen at church. Here's where a lot of people lose the plot. They think, oh, I came in lowly. I came in humble, but now I've become somebody. No, no, no, the people of God, they're always the lowly and humble people, because God is opposed to those who rank themselves highly; but God gives grace to those who know they really need God's help. And it doesn't matter how long you've been here at church, you still really need God's help. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? If you're not putting yourself in the category of the humble, you might be thinking too highly of yourself.
Point number two: “Keep company with the humble.” Keep company with the humble. Who is that person that you're ready to give up on? Who is that person that you think is too complicated? Who is that person that someone in your fellowship group would describe as rough. That person is who you should be associating with, who you should be going with, who you should be seeking out. Maybe that's the person that you need to be taken through partners, or you need to be reading the Scripture of the Day with, that you need to be texting them intentionally to let them know that you are there and you care, and even when you can't see them, your thoughts are set on them. You're considering them. I'll tell you what some of the people who might seem rough if they got really loved and really cared for and really spoken the truth to by somebody they could trust, that person might really grow, that person might be really built up. And so, we're here to associate with the lowly. Are there people here at this church who are beneath you? I mean, let's get real. Have you thought a thought where, in that thought you were here, and that other person was down here? Check your mindset, check the way you're thinking.
Now, some people here are saying, well, I don't really think of myself that highly, so I don't have pride, because I don't think I'm awesome, I don't think I have something to say, I don't think I'm better looking than everybody else here, so obviously I don't have pride. We'll go back to Romans 12:16, and because I really need you to see this last phrase, here is this last phrase, even the way it's translated, I'm concerned that we could miss the point of what it's saying. The way it says it here is “never be wise in your own sight.” And it goes back to Romans 11:25, where it said, “Watch out lest you be wise in your own sight.” And that kind of translation that thought, if you're taking notes, write down Proverbs 3:7. So, this is kind of the reason they've translated it like that, not to be “wise in your own sight,” is they're referring to a Proverb that they think is being referred to here by Paul's writing to the Romans. And if you know Proverbs 3:5, you “trust in the Lord with all your heart,” and you “lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, you acknowledge him,” which is basically a way to say, choose God's commands every time, don't go your own way. Go the way God says. In all your ways, acknowledge what God has told you to do. In all your ways, acknowledge him so. And then it says, “Don't be wise in your own sight. Fear the Lord. Turn away from evil, and it'll be like healing and refreshment to your bones.” If you really don't make it about what you know, but you make it about knowing God and turning away from evil, there will be a refreshment and a blessing and a healing in your life.
But here's my concern, is the way that sounds in English. It sounds like you think you know something. It sounds like, oh, I already know about this. It sounds like somebody who's a know it all, and that could be true. Knowledge does puff up. That's one of the things that Paul warned the Corinthians about. One of the reasons they were having divisions is some of them kind of thought they were too much in the know to be taught by other people or be encouraged by other people. I've had people say that. I've had people tell me just they don't even realize how it sounds when it's coming out of their mouth, that the other people in my fellowship group, they can't really relate to what I know in my life. I've heard people say that, and you think, wow, that sounds like pride. That's not exactly what this verse is saying. Literally, it's just do not become a mindset on yourself. That's what it's saying. You don't have to think you know it all. You don't have to think you're stronger than other people. You don't have to think you're you. You're better off than other people financially. All you have to do is be preoccupied with yourself. All you have to do is be worried about what other people are thinking about you. Maybe you even have a low view of yourself, and you're concerned that other people, they'll think low thoughts of you, and you don't want to be judged by other people, and so you don't think you're somebody special. You're just totally thinking about yourself the whole time.
That's the wrong mindset. That's still pride. Yeah, It's not this kind of a Gaston kind of pride. Like, hey, everybody, look at me because I'm stronger and better looking than you. No, it could be like, I hope you don't look at me because I'm not sure about myself. But the problem is, brother or sister, you're still focused on yourself, and “I-focus” on yourself is ensnaring you in your life, it's keeping you back from real living. All the anxiety, all the worry, all the overthinking that you do about yourself is not helping yourself at all, and it's pride, that's what it's trying to say. It's trying to say there's a mindset we all need to have, and it's not a mindset that ranks ourselves over other people, because it's not a mindset that's on ourselves. And if your mind is still set on yourself, that's what pride is.
Let's get this down for number three, let's get down a definition of pride: “Pride is thinking highly of self rather than God, and others.” See, that's what I'm supposed to be thinking about the mind of Christ Jesus. He came to do the Father's will. He came to do what the Father sent him to do. Jesus cares about the glory of God, and Jesus cares about his people. Jesus came for us. Jesus, he loved his own who were in the world. He loved us to the end, to the fullness, to the completion, till he shed his blood to pay for our sins. See, Jesus isn't over here thinking, I'm not awesome. Jesus is awesome. And Jesus would be right to think he knows it. Jesus would be right to think that he can do it. So, what is humility, then? Humility is when your thoughts about God and your thoughts about other people are your focus, rather than your thoughts about yourself.
So, I'm not trying to say beat yourself up or come up with some false humility. I'm not trying to say, hey everybody, go act like when you're clearly better at something than somebody else. Go and act like we're all equal. That's not what I'm trying to say. What the Scripture defines humility as, is, you don't just look out for your own interest, but in humility, you count the interest of others is more important than yourself. And so, it's not just having a low view of self. It's like actively thinking about other people, where I'm putting them first and then I'm coming in second, or I'm coming in last, because I'm focused on them. And so, anytime I'm not thinking about setting my mind on God, and any time I'm not thinking about other people, I am in danger of starting to then have pride, because my mind could be set on myself. And if I wake up on Tuesday, and all I think about is what I've got to do that day, and then I'm having lunch on Tuesday and I'm like, how am I going to make it through the rest of the day? And then I'm going to bed on Tuesday thinking, how am I going to survive tomorrow? That could be a very proud way to think, because all I thought about on Tuesday was myself. And I wasn't like, what's God doing on Tuesday, and how's Howard doing on Tuesday, and that person that shared that thing with me a week ago, why haven't I gotten back to them yet? And that person that unloaded that burden on our fellowship group, why am I not praying for that person? And I wonder what is happening about that and how is that person doing today? And God, I want to pray for that person right now. See that is not pride, that's considering others rather than yourself. And my concern is that this spirit of our age, that you and I live in the world around us, they are trying to form us and conform us into their mold of be in it for yourself, and if you don't get your back, ain't nobody else going to get your back, when the truth is God's already promised to get your back. And there are a lot of people here at this church that genuinely do care about other people, and so stop it with your focus on yourself and live for other people. Have that mindset like this book is a mirror, and some of you are getting a view of yourself today that is selfish, where you can't control your thoughts about yourself, and you do think about yourself a lot when you leave here today, are you going to forget what you saw in the mirror, or are you going to go and do something about it. How are you going to learn to really think about other people so that when they rejoice, you will genuinely feel joy, and when they weep, you won't have to cry with them. You'll just be crying because how it goes for them is how it goes for you, because you have the mind of Christ that you no longer what a freeing thing to be able to say that you no longer genuinely live for yourself, but you are here to love God and to love your neighbor, your brother or sister in Christ as yourself. That's what these verses are commanding. That's what God would desire for you.
And so, the first thing we have to do is we have to say, God, search my heart. Show me my ways. Am I proud? Am I too focused on myself in what ways am I preferring to consider myself rather than to consider others? In fact, if you are taking notes, flip your hand out over, and you can see the first question there on the handout for our fellowship groups. And I'm so excited. I know we've already had a couple of groups, but I know it's labor day this week, but we are having groups this week, we are talking about the book of Romans. Again, I'm so excited. And the question we want to start it out with, Is there any way your mindset is on yourself rather than your one another? So, I understand we all have our own interests, we all have our own responsibilities. We all have things that we need to do. But do we also not only look out for our own interests, but the interests of others. Could we honestly say that we have this Philippians 2 mindset, that we all have the same mind? That I could say I do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in real humility, I'm not thinking about myself because I'm thinking about you, and maybe we need to start this next season of fall, this next season of fellowship, with some honesty. Hey, I was able to find a couple of ways that I think about myself, ways that are proud, ways that are self-focused. I need you guys to pray for me about this. Here's ways I'm not thinking about you. I'm still stuck on me.
That might be a great place for us to start, that we would have the mindset of Christ, because, hey, I am a sinner, saved by grace. Anybody else with me on that? I mean, why would God Be good to me? How did I get to be in his family? Why do I get to be called a son of the Most High? Why will I get treated in God's presence like I'm a righteous person? So, there's only one thing that made me righteous before God, and it's the same one thing that made you righteous before God. It's the precious blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and we are all right there as blood brothers and sisters, that I have nothing to offer God in and of myself, and it is because Jesus cared about me and shed his blood, that's why I'm in this family. And so, who am I to think that I'm better off in this family than anybody else, because we all got saved by the same blood. We're all lowly, humble people, blessed by the blood of Jesus Christ, washed, cleansed, forgiven because of what Jesus did for us. So, let's go and take that mindset Jesus had for us, and let's go think that way towards one another. Let me pray.
Father in heaven, I just am so concerned about us understanding this. And Father, I think that we have this false idea that we're humble, because I don't think I'm that good at things, and yet I spend my days thinking about how not good at things I am. And so Father, help us to see that any preoccupation with ourselves, any focus on ourselves, is still that pride. Father, I pray that you'll convict those of us who are ranking ourselves ahead of others. Father, I pray that you'll convict those of us who go through days and we're not praying for other people. We're not wondering how they're doing. Father, I pray that we could see this, we could get a good look in the mirror, and that we would not leave here and forget what we looked like, but we would leave here and not just be hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word. Father. I pray that there would be a unity here at this church. I pray that we would be in this together. I pray that when the world comes after us and all of its evil, that we will be able to overcome evil, because we've already overcome the evil we see in ourselves. And we're here for one another. We're in this together. Father, I pray that all of us would know the joy of somebody else, and that all of us would shed tears over the hurt of someone else, and that we would really be blood brothers and sisters in your family. So, Father, we worship Jesus now. We're all here because of him, and nothing can wash away our sin but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray this in his name, amen. Amen.