Romans 12:9-21
Notes
Transcript
The How To Continued
In a world that is full of the how to videos, books
Stores are full of how to have a better life, how to have a better marriage, how to raise better kids, how to get out of debt, how to live a better life, how to this and how to that
And yet with all those books we have Scripture right at our head most days
And church we want to continue to be obedient to God and live a life fully committed to God
Because the opposite is dangerous and horrible
The opposite of being obedient to God is the wrath of God
As I was reading my Bible this week
I am in John and this stuck out
36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
So very simple and to the point right
That those who believe in Christ will have eternal life
We have heard that over and over again
Those who reject Christ will have the wrath of God abide on him
Do you understand how important the gospel is at this point
Do you understand how urgent it is to be sharing the Gospel
Do you understand how important it is to live fully committed to Christ and to be obedient to Christ
When we do that we live a life committed to Christ we are believing who He is
When we are obedient to God’s command it shows we are believing Christ is who He says
One commentaries
“It is a list of attitudes and actions that come as a result of the Christian allowing the gospel to shape his or her relationships and ethics.”
We also become a light in a dark world
So that others see Jesus
And so church the How To continues
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Let your love be honest, don’t fake it
Hate what is evil and cling to the good things
Again we hear that and goes it just makes sense
Like if common sense was still common this would be known
remember though when you heart cling to what is good
We like to think others are good
3 Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.
Remember no one is good but Christ alone
So if you want to cling to what is good
Then you will be clinging to Jesus
Do you know how to cling to Jesus
You read your Bible, You pray, and fast, you give, you serve
You spend time in the church, serving, going to Sunday school, Bible study, pray
This is how we cling to the what is good
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
As we are connected to the church
We should be caring for each other
Which means there is no such thing as a lone ranger Christian
You are meant to be part of the Body of Christ
And like we said last week some people are here to be edified or sharpened by your gifts
This is how we love our brothers and sisters in Christ
We shouldn’t be lazy when it comes to serving Christ
Sometimes we have this attitude that others will take care of it
Let me tell you church it doesn’t work like that
We cannot be lazy in our approach to the gospel to the people we know who do not know the Gospel
There needs to be some urgency about doing the Work of Jesus
We need to be fervent about our service and serving
Passionate and urgent in our service to the Lord
Then church like we do here at Maranatha
We celebrate the wins
Rejoicing in the hope that is in Christ
And then when the work get difficult and when the life of walking with Christ gets difficult
Understand that it will
You will experience tribulation and trials and some of it ill because you walk freely into sin
And other it will be more persecution tribulations because of your faith in Christ
Know that you will experience trials and tribulation in this world
We continue on we preserver through to the other side
The way we perserve is to walk with Jesus through reading our Bibles, Prayer and then leaning on the church
That is why this isn’t lone ranger Christianity
But when you come into trials you lean on your brothers and sisters in Christ they are able to help hold you up because they themselves are walking with Christ
We continue on with what He has called us to
We do this in prayer
Church you are to read scripture and pray regularly
So when Paul is reminding the church in Rome to be devoted to prayer
What would happen if we started to be devoted to prayer for each other, for the lost people we know in our lives by name
What would happen when you get the opportunity to take something or someone to the throne room of the God of the universe
Finally in this section Paul reminds the church in Rome to contribute to the needs of the saints
Church to tithe
To give the church and those who serve the church
To tithe is yes to give a 10th of your monies
To give an offering is to give above your tithe
To contribute to the needs of the saints is to also give of your time, your resources, your energies
Then finally to practice hospitality
To be hospitable to invite others into your home and make them feel welcome to help encourage them
To build them up in the faith
To be hospitable is to open your time and resources to others when they need and even when they don’t need but to just love on them
Are you starting to see how this is a hot to about live your life in such a way people see you and glorify Jesus
To walk with Jesus is to practice the disciplines as you live your life out loud and people see Jesus through how you live your life
And so the how to continues
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
To bless those who hurt your
To bless those who talk bad about your
To bless those who lie about you
To bless those who do not give your respect
To bless those who cheat and steal from you
If that isn’t enough of a reminder Paul says it again
In case you didn’t get it
It is bless and not curse
As I was preparing for this sermon
This piece of scripture came to mind
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
If someone wrongs you we are to forgive them
Just when you think you can’t forgive them anymore we continue to forgive them
Why because we have been forgiven of so much!
Because we have allowed the Gospel to seep into our life and change who we are from the inside out
When it does that ir affects the way we live our lives and our actions
So when someone wrongs your and persecutes you because of your faith in Christ
You bless them not curse
The way of the world is to curse them and the way of Jesus is to bless them
Then Paul says rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping
This is part of being connected to the church
To rejoice with your brothers and sisters in Christ when they receive blessings
And then to weep with them when they need to cry
But church this is what it is to be part of the family of God
To share in life with each other the good times and the bad times
I have had my fair share of good times with you guys and rejoicing with you, when you get married or some amazing healing happens in your life, when you and your kids come to know Christ and we get to baptize you and them
And the same could be said for the weeping times, I have been there when family members passed away and so many other times
But that is what it looks like to be part of the family of Christ
Church we are to have respect for people
To treat people no matter if they are rich or poor
We are to treat anyone and everyone with respect and as believers we are to love them as we love ourselves
We are to be of humble mind
Church this is what it looks like to walk with Christ and to live our life out loud for people to see Christ
17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
We are not to pay back evil but we are to offer forgiveness for those who commit evil to use
Then we come to what seems like a simple and easy verse but I believe within the American church it has been difficult
To live at peace with all men so far as it depends on you
To do your best to live at peace with all men
So don’t be hot headed
But have grace and mercy with others within the church and without the church
Sometimes I would bet it may be easier to live at peace with those outside the church
But within the church we have seen people get upset and rather than doing something about it like what scripture calls us to do
We simple take our ball and go to another church
When God has called you to a church if He does not call you away then you need to work out your differences with each other
Which means if we want to live at peace with one another we have a responsibility to go to each other and attempt to work it out
23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
If you are worshipping
Church I would go so far as to say if you know that your brother or sister in Christ as something against you or there is an issue
Then you are commanded to go to them and attempt to work it out
I say attempt because they may not want to work it out
But notice that Paul says so far as it depends on you
Because you cannot control the other people
So because you are part of the problem or issue between you and the other person
You can control you and you must attempt to work it out to live in peace
And might I add that it is so awesome when there is an issue and you are able to work it out together
I think you and the other person grow together in Christ
Paul reminds the church in Rome that not only are to live at peace and to bless the person who persecutes you but you are also not to take revenge
19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Our job is not to get revenge or curse people who wrong us but our job is to forgive them
God will hand out punishment
Our command from Christ is to love our neighbor as our selves when we do that we feed people when they are hungry, give them something to drink when they are thirsty, we care for them when they need it
Even those who are rude and mean and not kind to us
Church in essence we are to kill them with kindness
When people are being rude and mean and nasty to you and I
When they are being cruel and disrespectful
Then church we are to show them the love of Christ
And while they were crucifying Him and hurling insults and mocking Him
Christ offered and asked God to forgive them
Extending His love toward them
Church as we walk through life instead of giving the worldly response to people when they are mean or rude, or persecute us
Let us share with them the love and grace and mercy and forgiveness of Christ by the way we live our lives
So church as we come to a close this morning
The band will come up
As they come up maybe you are here today and you do not know Christ personally
I would invite you to speak with someone about how you can repent of your sin and trust in Jesus and this morning be saved
Or maybe you are here today and you have a personal relationship with Christ
Maybe you haven’t been living like you should and you ned to repent of that
Maybe you need to work somethings out with other people this morning
Or maybe you need to just spend sometime in prayer this morning
The alter is open
Or maybe you need to join this church this morning
Would you be obedient
