Sermon series: BEHAVING LIKE A CHRISTIAN

Subject: "Sharing in Joys and Sorrows"

Romans 12:15
"Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."
1 Corinthians 12:24-27
"But God composed the body having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually."
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Amplified
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement).
Who comforts (consoles and encourages) us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort (consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled and encouraged) by God.
For just as Christ's own sufferings fall to our lot [as they overflow upon His disciples, and we share and experience them] abundantly, so through Christ comfort (consolation and encouragement) is also [shared and experienced] abundantly by us.
But if we are troubled (afflicted and distressed), it is for your comfort (consolation and encouragement) and [for your] salvation; and if we are comforted (consoled and encouraged), it is for your comfort (consolation and encouragement), which works [in you] when you patiently endure the same evils (misfortunes and calamities) that we also suffer and undergo.
And our hope for you [our joyful and confident expectation of good for you] is ever unwavering (assured and unshaken); for we know that just as you share and are partakers in [our] sufferings and calamities, you also share and are partakers in [our] comfort (consolation and encouragement)."
"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)

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Matthew 25:32-46
"All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and your gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
Then He will say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
Then He will answer them saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Remember our text! "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."

Chapter 12 of Romans is filled with directives as to how we live out our Christian faith in our home, our church and our world. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)
After we have, by faith, received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, the pro-

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duct of our living is going to be good works that bring honor and glory to our Saviour!
James, the pastor of the First Christian Church in Jerusalem two thousand years ago wrote a letter to all churches of Christianity down through the ages. He writes: "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2:14-20)
Jesus said:
"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds, and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)
Paul gives this admonition to Timothy: 'Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." (1 Timothy 6:18)
"And let us consider how we may spur one another onward toward love and good deeds." (Hebrews 10:24)
Peter writes: "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us." (1 Peter 2:12)
Please do not misunderstand me! I am not suggesting that good works and deeds will save you, but in that you have been saved through trusting in the saving grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, good works will be the natural by-product of your life, your deeds and your words. Good works are the evidence or fruit of true faith and they add or contribute nothing to the meritorious basis of our redemption.
In the 1500s a fastidious monk, who by his own testimony "hated God," was studying Paul's epistle to the Romans. He couldn't get past the first half of Romans 1:17..."[in the gospel] is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith."
He wrote: "I greatly longed to understand

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Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, "the righteousness of God," because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust. My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage Him. Therefore I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against Him. Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant."
One simple biblical truth changed that monk’s life--and ignited the Protestant Reformation. It was the realization that God’s righteousness could become the sinner’s righteousness--and that could happen through the means of faith alone. Martin Luther writes about the moment when this great eternal truth came home to his heart:
"I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that ‘the just shall live by his faith.’ Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before the "justice of God" had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven."
Because Christians are justified by faith alone, their standing before God is not in any way related to personal merit. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
I have taken time to make it clear that good deeds do not save us but because we are saved and the Holy Spirit dwells within us, our lives will reflect the life of Christ who dwells within us. "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20) "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every

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lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." (Titus 2:11-14)
In our Romans 12 passage, Paul has told us to present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. With that introduction to Christian faith, the rest of chapter 12 deals with this matter of living out our Christian faith doing things that bring honor to God. We are to love without hypocrisy, be kind to one another, patient in tribulation, faithful in our prayer life, giving to the needs of others and responding with kindness to those who treat us unkindly.
Our directive for Christian living today is: "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."
Empathy describes what Paul is talking about when he speaks of weeping and rejoicing with others. Empathy is the ability to identify closely with someone else, to make his case your own and allow what has happened to him to effect you deeply.
But this is not easy to do. We often do it superficially. We would not think of joking at a funeral, for example, and we express our condolences to those who suffer loss. Again, when a friend is promoted we send congratulations and may even attend a party in their honor. But when someone does very well we find it hard to be anything but jealous, even when we are congratulating him or her. It is much easier to weep with those who weep than it is to rejoice with those who rejoice! Long ago Chrysostom wrote on this passage: "It requires more of a high Christian temper to rejoice with them that do rejoice than to weep with them that weep. For this nature itself fulfils perfectly: and there is none so hard-hearted as not to weep over him that is in calamity; but the other requires a very noble soul, so as not only to keep from envying, but even to feel pleasure with the person who is in esteem."
It is indeed, more difficult to congratulate another on his success, especially if his success involves disappointment to us, than it is to sympathize with his sorrow and his loss. It is only when self is dead that we can take as much joy in the success of others as in our own.
Christians should rejoice with others, with no hint of jealousy; and they should mourn with those who mourn, offering kindness, concern, compassion, and a shoulder to cry on if needed. The believers needed to have this as they dealt with the ups and downs of daily life in their surroundings. Following Jesus will mean that believers

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will pass through a kaleidoscope of experiences in life. Christianity is neither denying life's hardships, nor dulling life's excitements. Our perspective of eternity in Christ can free us to enter into the full variety of living. Both laughter and tears are appropriate before God. Each has an important place in representing our feelings. Identifying with the joy and heartaches of others is also an important way to show them love.
When we started our lesson, we cited a large portion of scriptures from Matthew 25. Let’s take just a moment and think about those verses.
This is one of the most vivid parables which Jesus ever spoke, and the lesson of it is crystal clear. The lesson is this——that God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human need.
God's judgment does not depend on the knowledge we have amassed, or the fame that we have acquired, or the fortune that we have gained, but on the help that we have given to those in need. And there are certain things this parable teaches us about the help which we give, weeping with those who weep and mourn in life's difficulties.
It is helping in the simple things of life!
Note what Jesus speaks of...giving a hungry man a meal, or a thirsty man a drink, welcoming a stranger, cheering the sick, visiting the prisoner-—things all of us can do!
And did you notice when we read the verses...those who helped did not think that they were helping Christ, and thus piling up eternal merit; they helped because they could not stop themselves from helping! It was the natural thing to do. Their hearts were flowing with the love of Christ. On the other hand, the whole attitude of those who failed to help was: 'If we had known it was You, we would gladly have helped; but we thought it was only some common man who was not worth helping.'
It is still true that there are those who will help if they are given praise and thanks and publicity: but to help like that is not to help, it is simply to pander to self-esteem. Such help is not generosity; it is simply disguised selfishness. The help which wins the approval of God is the help which is given for nothing but the sake of helping. There are those in history who have found this parable blessedly true. One was Francis of Assisi; he was rich and he was wealthy and he was high-born and high-spirited. But he was not happy. He felt that life was incomplete. Then one day he was out rid-

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ing and he met a leper, loathsome and repulsive in the ugliness of his disease. Something moved Francis to dismount and fling his arms around this wretched sufferer; and, lo, in his arms the face of leper changed to the face of Christ.
The other was Martin of Tours. He was a Roman soldier, and a Christian. One cold winter day, as he was entering a city, a beggar stopped him and asked him for alms. Martin had no money; but the beggar was blue and shivering with cold, and Marin gave what he had. He took off his soldier's coat, worn and frayed as it was; he cut it in two and gave half of it to the beggar man. That night he had a dream. In it he saw the heavenly places and all the angels and Jesus in the midst of them; and Jesus was wearing half of a Roman soldier's cloak. One of the angels said to Him, "Master, why are You wearing that battered old cloak? Who gave it to you?" And Jesus answered softly, "My servant Martin gave it to me."
In our text from Romans 12, we as Christians are admonished to identify with those in life's situations, weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who rejoice. It is distinctively Christian to be sensitive to the disappointments, hardships, and sorrow of others.
Someone wrote these words as they pondered the Matthew 25 passage:
I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and you discussed my hunger. Thank you.
I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel in the cellar to pray for my release.
I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seem so holy; so close to God.
But I'm still very hungry and lonely and cold.
So where have your prayers gone? What have they done? What does it profit a man to page through his book of prayers when the rest of the world is crying for help?
Remember our text: "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."
When we commenced our lesson, we read from the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter one in the Amplified Text. The New Living Bible gives us this version: "All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of

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every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with His comfort through Christ. So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation. For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can encourage you." (2 Corinthians 1:3-6)
Paul writes as a man who knows trouble to those who are in trouble. Sometimes there falls upon a man’s spirit the burden and the mystery of this unintelligible world. In the early years of Christianity the man who chose to become a Christian chose to face trouble and hardship and persecution. There might well come to him abandonment by his own family, hostility from his heathen neighbors, and persecution from the official powers. It is always a costly thing to be a real Christian, for there is no Christianity without its cross. The answer to this suffering lies in endurance. The Greek word for this kind of endurance is HUPOMONE. The keynote of HUPOMONE is not grim, bleak acceptance of trouble but triumph. It describes the spirit which can not only accept suffering but triumph over it. As silver comes purer from the fire, so the Christian can emerge finer and stronger from difficult days and heartbreaking experiences. The supreme result of all this is that we gain the power to comfort others who are going through their difficult and hard times. Paul claims that the things which have happened to him and the comfort which he has received have made him able to be a source of comfort to others. When we have wept our way through a heartbreaking experience, we have the sensitivity and insight knowledge learned in that time which helps us help others.
Barrie tells how his mother lost her dearest son, and then he says, "That is where my mother got her soft eyes and why other mothers ran to her when they had lost a child.
It is said of Jesus, "Because He Himself has gone through it, He is able to help others who are going through it." (Hebrews 2:18)
It is worth while experiencing suffering and sorrow if that experience will enable us to help others struggling with life's billows.
"Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." Remember, Christians...Others will not care how much you know until they see how much you care!