Proverbs in Romans

Simple But Not Easy

Bless your Persecutors

The word “bless”: εὐλογέω (eulogeō). vb. to bless, speak well of, praise. Typically refers to speech that pronounces or is intended to result in positive circumstances for another person or thing

The word for "bless" here is the same word from which we get "eulogize." When we eulogize a person we speak well of him.

Paul is commanding (under the direction of the Holy Spirit) believers to speak well to, and to act kindly towards those who not just want to cause suffering but actually do cause suffering whether physical or emotional

I made a statement in my Bible class several weeks ago regarding this topic

I mentioned a 100% statement because I knew it was backed by scripture but before I was able to get the scripture several students questioned that statement.

They thought maybe I misspoke... which many times is a great possibility

They were trying to get clarification on what I said.

Surely if someone slaps me in the face I have a right to slap them back.

I brought them to the sermon on the mount when Jesus said

Matthew 5:43–44 KJV 1900

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

They memorized this verse:

1 Thessalonians 5:15 KJV 1900

See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.

Matthew 5:38–40 KJV 1900

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

Joseph is another example

Genesis 50:19–21 (KJV 1900)

And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

I truly believe that the word of God is clear on the subject

When someone treats you wrong, do not return the favor

It goes against our sin nature

Our pride can’t stand letting someone “get away” with treating you like that

Vengeance is the Lord’s

All we can do is control ourselves

That’s what we teach our kids but all of a sudden when we are mistreated we feel like we got to teach those people a lesson

Look at Jesus

Isaiah 53:7 (KJV 1900)

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

Yet he opened not his mouth:

He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,

So he openeth not his mouth.

1 Peter 2:23 (KJV 1900)

Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Oh sure, we can conjure up reasons why He behaved that way but we don’t have to

After all, He knew he had get to the cross to die for the sins of the whole world

So that’s why He didn’t stick up for Himself

He had to Fulfill the prophecy from Isaiah

So that’s why He did not open His mouth

I don’t believe that to be the case

I believe He conducted Himself the way He did because that is how we ought to conduct ourselves in similar or comparable situations

It someone causes us harm

We are to bless them not reciprocate harm back

Luke 23:34 (KJV 1900)

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Very similar to what Stephen said

Acts 7:60 KJV 1900

And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

The principle of nonretaliation for personal injury permeates the entire New Testament. It provides guidance when life brings us up against those who care nothing for us and are in fact opposed to all that we stand for.

Love inevitably desires the best for other people regardless of who they may be.

Simple but not easy

Verse 15

King James Version Chapter 12

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Difference between sympathetic and empathetic

Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

Sympathy: Feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune

Sympathy is a feeling we share with another that is going through a hard time. However, empathy is the ability to understand another person’s emotions as they go through the hardship

Sympathy engages in seeing the suffering of another from your own viewpoint. But empathy is putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and comprehending why they have the feeling that they do

Sympathy embodies the expression of “poor you” or “I feel sorry for you.” it involves a sense of pity for a person and their situation. However, empathy embodies the feeling of the person.

Being both sympathetic and empathetic is good

But make it a priority to rejoice with those who do rejoice

Be happy for others when blessings are flowing their way

Don’t get jealous or envious

Don’t get bitter

And weep with them that weep

Be available and present when a brother or sister is going through a rough time

Encourage and lift the feeble

Keep this verse in its context

Paul just finished discussing that these readers are a body. They ought to be unified

God’s will is that his children become a family where the joys of one become the joys of all and the pain of one is gladly shared by all the others.

An injury to one part of the body affects the rest of the body

The Christian experience is not one person against the world but one great family living out together the mandate to care for one another.

Don’t be like the brother of the prodigal son who did not rejoice when his brother returned

But rather be like Christ who when Lazarus died, He wept.

Illustration

The principle is illustrated by the game of dominoes. "It occurred to me whilst we were playing," says F. W. Boreham, "that life itself is but a game of dominoes.

Its highest art lies in matching your companion’s pieces.

Is he glad? It is a great thing to be able to rejoice with those who do rejoice.

Is he sad? It is a great thing to be able to weep with those that weep.

It means, of course, that if you answer the challenge every time, your pieces will soon be gone.

But, as against that, it is worth remembering that victory lies not in accumulation, but in exhaustion. The player who is left with empty hands wins everything...

"The beauty is that anyone can play the game. You have but to grasp two essential principles.

You must clearly understand in the first place that, at every turn, you must match your companion’s play, laying a six beside his six, a three beside his three, and so on.

And you must clearly understand in the second place that the whole success lies, not in hoarding, but in spending.

Victory lies in paying out the little ivory tablets with as prodigal a hand as possible.

It is better in dominoes to give than to keep. It is better to play a domino with twelve black dots on it than a domino with only two.

Dominoes teaches me to ’measure my life by loss instead of gain, not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured out’...

"And what about Paul? Was not Paul a past master at both the principles that govern a game of dominoes?

He knew that the secret of success was not to save your pieces but to get rid of them.

’Most gladly, therefore,’ says he, ’will I spend and be spent for you.’

And was there ever one as clever at matching his companion’s play?

’I made myself a slave,’ he says, ’that I might win slaves; unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, I became as without law, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to all men, that I might by any means save some.’

That was the greatest game of dominoes ever played!"

Verse 16

States, “Be of the same mind one toward another.”

The whole verse is stating that believers ought not be partial or respecter of persons

The Lord Jesus treated the woman at the well (John 4) with the same consideration, courtesy and compassion as He treated the knightly and polished Nicodemus (John 3). He was as charitable to the dying thief as He was to His own mother. He was as patient with Judas as He was with John.

There can’t be harmony if we think we are higher or better than the next guy

We have in the New Testament the example of Diotrephes "who loveth to have the preeminence" (2 John 9). Such a spirit is foreign to true Christianity.

In fact, Jesus said…Matthew 11:29

Matthew 11:29 (KJV 1900)

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

It has been well said of the Lord Jesus that His life and death are "a standing rebuke to every form of pride to which men are liable.

Pride of birth and rank—’Is not this the carpenter’s son?’ (Matt. 13:55);

pride of wealth—’The Son of man hath not where to lay his head’ (Luke 9:58);

pride of respectability—Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ (John 1:46);

pride of personal appearance—’He hath no form nor comeliness’ (Isa. 53:2);

pride of reputation—’A friend of publicans and sinners’ (Luke 7:34);

pride of learning—’How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?’ (John 7:15);

pride of superiority-I am among you as he that serveth’ (Luke 22:27);

pride of success—’He is despised and rejected of men’ (Isa. 53:3);

pride of ability—I can of mine own self do nothing’ (John 5:30);

pride of selfwill—I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me’ (John 5:30);

pride of intellect—As my Father hath taught me, I speak’ (John 8:28)."

So then, the Christian is to shun pride. "Be not wise in your own conceits," says Paul.

This expression occurs seven times in Scripture: Romans 11:25; 12:16; Proverbs 3:7; 26:5, 12, 16; 28:11.

Solomon says there is more hope for a fool than for such a man. He says such a man is a sluggard.

This sin is a snare for the rich. Only green corn stands upright, ripe corn bends low.