I would like to call your attention this evening to verses 14 and 15 in the 12th chapter

Paul's epistle to the Romans which we read at the beginning.

Bless them which persecute you.

Bless and curse not.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. Now as we resume our studies in this

great epistle, it is important that we should bear in mind the context of these two verses

which I've just read to you.

Perhaps I ought to remind those interested in statistics that this is our 326th study in this great epistle.

And as we finished at the end of May,

we had come to the end of the 13th verse.

And so we start now with this 14th verse. That was a kind of junction, a kind of the end of a little subsection in this chapter. But it's important, as I say, that we bear in mind the general arrangement of the matter. I'm constantly making this point, and it is very vital that one should do so. It's important with all scripture. It is

particularly true with the writings of this Apostle Paul. There is always a logical coherence in everything that he does, and it is

dangerous to pick out a verse of a statement without bearing in mind its context. So let's remind

ourselves again what is happening. In the first 11 chapters, the apostle has been dealing with

great doctrine. I needn't recapitulate that for you.

The essential doctrines of the salvation are in the first eight chapters. And then in verses 9, 10, and 11,

he deals with the peculiar and special problem of the relationship of the Jews as a nation

and as a people to this great salvation.

And he finishes that at the end of chapter 11. Now then at the beginning of chapter 12,

there is a new theme. Here's a new section of this entire epistle. And the section runs on to the very end, virtually to the end of the

epistle itself. There are some final salutations and so on. But now this last section,

this last major section, beginning in verse 12, is the section in which the apostle applies

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