Romans 12:9-13 "Christian to Christian Behavior"

Good morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Our Inductive Bible Study registration is now live on our app and website.

Pastor Dan Finfrock is asking for a headcount so he can plan for how many materials to bring.

We are planning on purchasing lunch for everyone on Saturday.

Most likely salads and sandwiches from McAlister’s.

We are also starting to do some advertising with the Chamber of Commerce, but also… please invite your friends and family.

It’s open to the public and we really hope many people will walk away with new insights and a system to study through the word of God.

With my sons… we have customized Tomahawks and Bearded Axes. We took time to study techniques… and invested in tools like Dremels and wood burners… and that’s just for a hobby.

The word of God is far more valuable and impactful on our lives than our hobbies… how much more does it deserves our time to study techniques?

So… please join us on July 18th and 19th. Details are on the app… and fliers are at the info table.

Let’s now continue in our chapter and verse journey through Paul’s Epistle to the Romans… please turn in your Bibles to Romans 12. Romans 12:9-13 today.

In Romans Chapters 1-11… Paul laid a foundation of doctrine that we can stand upon… as we look at the remaining application chapters of Romans… chapters 12-16.

Romans is arguably the clearest and best defense of God’s righteousness and the Gospel… in the entirety of scripture.

Like an attorney presenting a legal case… Paul logically presents the case of mankind’s just condemnation apart from God… roughly in Chapters 1-3.

Then in Chapters 3-5, we see God’s demonstration of righteousness… being just in providing the means of His Son to satisfy wrath on sin… and being the justifier of anyone who trusts in His Son.

In Chapters 6-8, Sanctification comes into focus… being set apart from the world and sin and holy to God.

And by the Holy Spirit we are set free from sin… and become dedicated to God and righteousness.

Chapters 9-11 stands as a great assurance of God’s faithfulness… because for Israel… despite their historical unfaithfulness… God has been faithful… and has a future plan to restore them.

And based on that ironclad case… Paul now… in Chapter 12… as inspired by the Holy Spirit… lets the believers know…

… how WE should respond to all that God has done and is doing for us.

Paul in Rom 12:1-2 exhorts whole dedication our lives to God which is our reasonable service… our rational response… our spiritual service of worship.

And, we are not to be conformed to this world… to the customs of society that are under the sway of Satan…

But, to be transformed by the renewing of the mind… to test and approve the will of God… which is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

After those beautiful verses… last week we looked at vv 3-8, where Paul discussed how we can serve God… and the body of Christ through spiritual gifts.

Paul describes seven such gifts… which are not natural talents, but gifts of the Holy Spirit to be used… as 1 Cor 12:7 states… “for the profit of all”… or as Eph 4:12 states “for the edifying [or building up] of the body of Christ.”

I mentioned last week how the timing was perfect to talk about Spiritual Gifts, because in our Elder’s meeting last week that was part of our focus.

I love when our simple teaching through the Bible coincides with Church life.

NOW… knowing our lives are to be dedicated to God… and our minds are in a state of renewal and transformation… and we are equipped with spiritual gifts for our service to God and the church…

With all that… now in vv 9-21, Paul presents a series of short exhortations… somewhat reminiscent to the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7).

Today and next week… we examine… a list of Christian behaviors which extend to the end of the chapter.

Broken down in two parts.

Today, in vv 9-13… we examine “Christian to Christian Behavior” (our message title today)… where Paul presents 13 exhortations.

Next time… in vv 14-21… another 11 or so exhortations about Christian Behavior in our dealings with unbelievers.

Let’s Pray… and then see what the Lord has for us today.

In reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Romans 12:9–13 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.”

This is a great passage to meditate upon… perhaps to print and put on your fridge or bathroom mirror…

And truly, we could take this portion of scripture and spend several weeks examining the exhortations.

Pastor Damien Kyle of Calvary Chapel Modesto (one of my favorites to listen to)… did just that.

He preached Romans 12:9-21 in 4 sermons.

Romans 12:9 was one sermon alone… and Romans 12:10-11 was the second.

Damien does a great job of taking a verse or two and expanding it out to touch other scriptures and our very lives.

So, perhaps check out his messages on this segment if you want to dive deeper.

These verses… indeed are challenging… and a solid list for us… that stand as instructions of characteristics we should be displaying in our lives.

Ask yourself… when people of the world see me… is this how they see me?

Better yet… ask yourself, when my family… when my spouse sees me… especially behind closed doors… are these the behaviors I reflect?

If so… praise the Lord…

If not… repeat Step 1 in this chapter… “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God”…

In V1, Paul said the offering of our lives should be holy… and in vv 9-21… he gives us some practical examples of what that kind of life looks like.

If you’re living counter to vv 9-21… that’s incongruent with “holy and acceptable” in V1.

So… if you’re struggling here… Pray to God… ask Him to “renew your mind.”

The Holy Spirit is the great transformer of the mind.

A mind transformed… a life surrendered… and a believer using their spiritual gift… should be able to… and should want to… adhere to what we read here in our passage today.

Of course not perfectly… no one can perfectly live out these verses…

We know we’re not sinless… But with grace and the Holy Spirit… day by day we sin LESS.

So, V9… Paul begins, “Let love be without hypocrisy.”

If you remove the italics… which are added by translators to help us in comprehension from the original language to English… we would read “Love without hypocrisy.”

Stated in the positive “Love with sincerity”… is listed first here because love is paramount.

Loving others is the second greatest commandment (Matt 22:39)

Loving your neighbor as yourself is tremendously difficult to do.

The majority of people take care of #1 (ourselves) before we care for anyone else.

Sometimes we even care for others with a selfish motive… some personal gain.

Being that we just looked at spiritual gifts in vv 3-8… it’s worth mentioning Paul’s emphasis on love when practicing gifts in 1 Cor 13.

Exercising spiritual gifts without love profits nothing (1 Cor 13:3).

The NLT renders V9, “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.”

Eezy Peezy. We can all check that box. Right? Not really.

The word “love” here in V1… is agapē. It’s been called the “highest form of love”… “God’s love”… it’s a self-sacrificial love.

It’s not easy to live up to… not by our own efforts.

To have any success here or with any of these instructions… it must be a work of the Spirit in our lives.

It must be a work of the transformed mind… that mind that takes in the word of God…

A renewed mind aligned with God’s word.

The words “without hypocrisy” (one word in Gk anupokritos)…

… is related through a common root word to Gk hupokritēs (meaning “actor”)… from this Gk word… comes our English word “hypocrite.”

A hypocrite in ancient Greece was “an actor”… a “stage player”…

They were called “hypocrites” because they wore various masks during the performance.

And, people are often like that.

In the Jewish Bible… V9 is translated “Don’t let love be a mere outward show.”

If our demonstration of love… and what’s in our heart are inconsistent… that’s hypocrisy.

And this is a tendency. If it wasn’t a tendency… Paul wouldn’t need to mention it.

This whole passage is humbling because the reality is we all stumble from time to time through the behaviors presented in this passage.

Well… maybe not you all… but people at other churches…

Lord help us!

This always fascinates me… The Gospel writer Matthew… he uses the world “hypocrite” more than any other Gospel writer.

Of the 34x the word “hypocrite” appears in all of scripture, 15x we find this word in Matthew’s Gospel… that’s 44%!

7 of these references are in Matthew 23 when Jesus pronounces... “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”

Now… just a theory here… but Matthew’s given name is “Levi.”

The Levites were the priestly line.

Was Matthew born a Levite… thus his intended profession would have been as a priest?

But… due to witnessing hypocrisy… which he was so quick to note and note often… rejected that religious calling?

How many people say, “If that’s Christianity… I want nothing to do with it!”

Did Levi become the polar opposite...a tax collector.… because of hypocrisy?

The modern word hypocrisy is defined as “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform.”

Thus, the hypocrite is much like an actor. The hypocrites projected self and true self are inconsistent.

And, if our love is inconsistent. If the love we project does not match reality…

… then how many Levi’s have we negatively inspired to be tax collectors as well?

But is our love is sincere… how does that kind of love testify of the love of God and the love we have for one another… and draw people to Christ?

Paul continues, “Abhor what is evil.”

Abhor is a strong word. It means hate.

Several bible translations read, “Detest evil” or “Recoil from what is evil.”

Evil means “wrong, wicked, impious, bad, unsound.”

We should not run to evil, but flee from evil… and find it detestable.

It’s all that stands contrary to God and His word.

Isaiah 5:20 warns, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness...”

Woe to the liberal left… and the compromised church… this verse is relevant for them.

Especially for those who claim Christianity… they especially should abhor evil, but as Paul prophesied in…

2 Timothy 3:13 “… evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.

Small beginning that grows very big… and birds nest in it’s branches.

It’s a parable, so interpret that as a positive statement if you like… but I favor the interpretation that the birds are an infiltration of evil in the church.

Just like “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven...”

Does that speak about the dynamic nature of yeast?

Or about its corrupting influence?

Regardless… False teachers are on the rise… and if you don’t know the word of God and sound doctrine…

… you’ll hear something in the culture that sound right… that even sounds biblical, but it’s actually against what the Bible teaches.

Something like… “God is a God of love, therefore all people will experience His grace and enter heaven.”

That’s partly true. God is a God of love, but it’s also false… only those who trust in Jesus Christ enter heaven.

Know truth… and don’t be deceived by evil.

Sadly… many are deceived because… as Paul prophesied… 2 Timothy 4:3–4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Paul exhorted Timothy to “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.”

For evil days are coming. How much closer are the times of great deception… to us?

And, deception springs from the influence of Satan himself.

Satan is titled the “evil one” (Jn 17:15) and the “wicked one” (Matt 13:19).

And, he influences the course of this world (Eph 2:2)… he is the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11)…

In Rom 12:2… we just read “do not be conformed to this world.”

For all that is in the word is the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 Jn 2:16)… these are not of the Father but of the world.

“And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

There is a long list of evils in this world. Last week when we spoke about spiritual gifts… I highlighted evil abuses of spiritual gifts in the church… especially the occultic and mystical practices of Bethel Church.

So then… the next couple days Monday-Wednesday of this past week… Amanda and I… were at the Pastors and Wives Conference for our five state region of Calvary Chapel.

Elli was there too as she and Amanda led worship.

And, I really just want to tell this story… which is SO relevant for last weeks Sermon, but I’m going to work it in under the “Abhor evil” topic.

Anyhow… I met two Calvary Chapel Pastors who formerly were in hyper Pentecostal churches for many years.

And, they described to me that they consistently witnessed the various abuses of the gifts of the Spirit… like barking like dogs… or convulsing…

One of the Pastors witnessed a woman… his friend… lying on the ground in the birthing position.… and another woman was catching.

He asked later, “What was that?” And she said, “We were birthing the Spirit.”

And, with that crossing of the line… he was done… … and walked away from Charismania.

He abhored what was evil.

I asked these Pastors… “what percentage of people do you think were having authentic experiences with the use of gifts and the Holy Spirit?”

One Pastor said 1% and the other 0%. That really shocked me.

In their experience… the people only had their eyes on wanting more of the miraculous. They did not have their eyes on Jesus or His word.

Reminds me the many times people said to Jesus “We want to see a sign from You.”

I was told people would go to multiple churches in town to keep having these experiences… but they were never full.

One of the Pastors… as a kid… his family attended a hyper Charismatic church… and then… he attended a Fundamental Baptist school…

Huge contrast in their view of Spiritual gifts…

But, he said the Baptists were equally a show. They also pressed into the experiential… and made a show of church service.

One time the Pastor kicked over the pulpit… another time he got down into the crowd and stood on a table and was shouting at people.

I was shocked to hear these things.

Hey… this isn’t the Church Show… I’m not here to entertain… and incite emotion.

1 Cor 14:40 states, “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

Which relates to spiritual gifts, but should not church service in general be this way?

I would never stick around at a church where the Pastor was running around yelling at the people and kicking over the pulpit.

Jesus said to Peter, “Feed My sheep.” He didn’t say, “Beat My sheep.”

Last part of this story… so at the Calvary Chapel conference… final night… they was an “afterglow.”

Which is a term Calvary Chapel churches use to reflect a time outside teaching the word… to be open to the miraculous gifts…

To see if the Holy Spirit wants to move giving a word of prophecy… a word of wisdom… a tongue… and interpretation.

And, to practice them according to the guidelines in 1 Cor 14…

It was at one of these in 2012… that I was given a Bible verse that spoke directly into another person’s life.

A stranger to me… but the word was pointed for her situation.

I shared that story last week. Matt 9:16… you can’t put a new patch on an old garment.

Anyhow… prior to the afterglow this past week… I was wondering… “what’s an afterglow with 40 Calvary Chapel Pastors going to look like?”

And, I really wasn’t so much worried about the Pastor, but with their wives there… anything could happen!

But on a serious note… I really considered… “if there is an obvious unchecked abuse of spiritual gifts… how can I remain Calvary Chapel?”

But, that didn’t happen.

Worship began… one of the Pastors invited us to be open to the Holy Spirit and see how He might move.

And he invited us to pray for prodigals and people in our lives. So many prayers were lifted up.

I prayed for a High School friend’s brother. He found out his younger brother David (who is around 42 years old) has been smoking crack everyday for the past two years… and he messaged me to ask if I knew of any programs and requested prayer.

I recommended U-Turn for Christ… a Calvary Chapel addictions ministry.

And, at the conference I prayed for David…

And, besides prayer, we prayed for… laid hands on… and anointed the sick.

Everything was biblical… everything was orderly. It was a sweet time.

I would have liked to see a prophetic word shared, but you can’t force the Holy Spirit to move.

Manufacturing and manipulating… frankly lying about the Spirit moving is evil. And we are to abhor evil.

Oh… on Thursday of this week… David… my friend’s brother… he checked himself into a drug rehab.

So… maybe the Spirit DID move. For sure he heard our prayers.

Paul continues in V9 “Cling to what is good.”

Abhor evil, but “cling”… “hold tightly to”… what is good.

This is the opposite of hating what is evil.

Sometimes Christians find themselves in a place where in their sanctification… their mind and heart is changing… where things of the world that formerly brought joy…

Now do not. Now former sinful… former evil practices feel wrong… because they are.

But, in the process they are not quite in the place where they “cling to what is good.”

They feel like they are in a ‘no mans land.’ I think this especially true for people who did not grow up in a Christian home… and believed in Christ later in life.

They have more experience in the world… then they do in the Lord… and in the church.

I remember my Pastor sharing a story from years ago about how he struggled enjoying Christian music.

He grew up with 70’s music. I’m not sure where he is today… but I understand the illustration and process.

Clinging to what is good is part of the sanctification process…

More and more as our mind is renewed… we both abhor evil and cling to what is good.

God has predestined us to be conformed into the image of His Son.

And as we become more like Jesus we learn to cleave to good… and turn from evil.

God hates evil… and so should we. And all that is good reflects God… and we should run towards those things and lay hold of them.

V10 “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love...”

Again… this first portion… from vv 9-13 address our dealings with fellow believers…

And, Paul instructs us to be “kindly affectionate” which is one word in Gk. philŏstŏrgŏs… which is “tender loving family affection” or “devotion.”

It’s cherishing one’s kindred… and the church is often called a “family of believers.”

And, we should be devoted to one another.

It saddens me when people don’t settle down in a church… especially one that is a Bible Teaching church and rightly dividing the word of truth.

That’s a great family to be devoted to. Like minded believers who love the Bible… and sound doctrine…

Some of you know the intimacy of the body of Christ.

Some of us have greater connection with people in our church body than we do with our regular family.

Sometimes we spend time with family… and can’t wait to get back to our church body.

People who will build us up… and encourage us.

And, if you don’t have that connection with other people in the church… if you feel disconnected from other people…

It’s probably because you are disconnected.

The good news is you can get connected. Many people in this church body have connected with one another by serving… or attending Bible Studies… or events… or just by being intentional to get together with other people.

Relationships take time and intentionality… and I think we have a pretty great group of people here to invite into your life.

The word “brotherly love” in V10… also one Gk word is “Philadelphia.”

The City of Philadelphia is called the “City of Brotherly Love.”

If you go on street view on Google Maps… and tour the streets of Philadephia’s Kensington area (Rocky’s hometown)… or Nicetown (which isn’t so nice)… or the “Philadelphia Badlands”…

When you see these areas…

… you really feel the brotherly love.

There are vibrant paintings on the sides of buildings.

There’s lots of people hanging out on the corners.

People even sleep on the sidewalks.

Lot’s of brotherly love. Great place to visit at night.

But, in Greek… and in V10… Paul exhorts believers to a different kind of brotherly love…

And, when you couple brotherly love with genuine affection… Paul really paints a nice picture of how Christian to Christian relationship should look like in the ideal.

Like friends and family who are love… and even like one another.

At the end of V10 Paul writes, “… in honor giving preference to one another...”

Within the body of Christ… in our affection and brotherly love… we can express this tenderness through honoring each other.

Philippians 2:3 reads, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

In humility and honor towards one another… we find unity in the body.

V11 “… not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord...”

NLT reads “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.”

Apollos was said to be “fervent in spirit.” Fervent means “to boil… to be hot.”

And Apollos (according to Acts 18:24-25) was instructed in the way of the Lord… and spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord… he spoke boldly in the Synagogue (which certainly invited trouble)…

He lived out all aspects of V11… and in his service… he connected to other believers.

Had he quietly lived out his life… Aquila and Priscilla likely would have never taken notice of him.

But… in his service… as mentioned earlier… he benefited in connecting with other believers…

Who even help him in his walk to understand “the way of God more accurately.”

He only knew of the baptism of John… they most likely taught him of the Baptism with the Spirit.

Chuck Smith was a good example of V11. I only heard him preach in person twice before he went home to the Lord…

And, both times… he was on oxygen. Most people would have retired by then. Not Chuck.

There are great benefits to being “fervent in the spirt”… we sometimes state that people like this are “on fire for the Lord.”

However, if you’re not boiling or hot… the bible says you’re “lukewarm.”

In Revelation 2-3… Jesus addresses seven churches… most of them initially receive a commendation.

Two of them do not. Sardis and Laodicea.

Sardis was known as “The Dead Church” and Laodicea as “The Lukewarm Church.”

Jesus said to them in Revelation 3:15–16 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”

The idea here was both hot and cold water served good purposes… contrasted with lukewarm water which served no greater purpose.

Therefore the Lord spit the lukewarm water out of His mouth… which was not a reflection on a loss of salvation, but a reflection on His distaste… His disgust even… with their Christian behavior.

The following verse tells us why they were lukewarm… they said, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing...”

They had become materially wealthy and self-sufficient, but were spiritually impoverished and their lukewarm attitude towards God was disgusting.

I remember being a new Christian and hearing these verse and thought to myself… “I do not want to be Lukewarm.”

And, I did well in that season… until I started making a lot of money in my second career.

Which became my idol… and I became lukewarm.

I fell into the Laodicean trap. Praise God for His mercies…

Because it was in that very season… 8 years later that God called me to ministry. Mercy indeed.

If you’re here today, and you know you’ve fallen into that same lukewarmness.

Once you were on fire for the Lord… you were boiling and now you’re not.

Now you’re disinterested… or your distracted by the pleasures of the world.

Maybe like the church of Ephesus… you’re in a routine of serving, but “you have left your first love.”

You need to confess this to the Lord… and ask Him to forgive you and help you.

Ask Him to once again make you fervent in spirit… to be enthusiastic with the things that align with God.

God already knows where your heart is… He won’t be surprised by your confession.

He’ll be happy that you’re being honest.

Take a step towards Him… and ask Him to give you a fresh vision for serving Him.

A few years ago… Ty came to me because his heart was stirred to read the entirety of scripture publicly.

And he organized some 40 churches and hundreds of Christians to read from Genesis to Revelation in a local park.

Which stirred Bern’s heart to do the same in Bremen.

And that town rallied to do the same.

Bern is retired and has a Caleb-like spirit… “give me this mountain...” He wasn’t worried about giants… if the Lord’s in it… what can stop it?

Maybe the thing that stirs your heart is something we’re not doing yet as a church.

I was talking with a Destiny Rescue representative (a Pastor) at the Pastor’s Conference this week.

And, a lady at his church was inconsistent with attendance… lukewarm for sure.

And then her heart was stirred to rescue children out of trafficking.

It takes $1500 to rescue a child. So, she started a garage sale… and rescued kids.

And now… like 4 years later… her and… I think 200 other people have a 4 day garage sale and raise a lot of money and have rescued many many kids.

And her whole attitude about church and her relationship with the Lord is fervent in spirit.

Maybe something like this example is how you’re called to serve… and as a church we can come alongside you…

Are you called to lead in that space? Pray about it and talk to me if your heart is stirred… and we’ll pray and seek the Lord.

V12 “… rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer...”

Do we have any great hopes to rejoice in as Christians? Of course we do!

1 Peter 1:3 states "he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

We don’t have an empty wish… we have a living hope… an undying hope… Jesus Christ who rose from the dead… and who is presently seated at the right hand of the Father.

Titus 2:13 instructs we should be… “… looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”

The blessed hope of the Christian is the Lord’s appearing for us at the Rapture.

Jesus said to the faithful church of Philadelphia… Revelation 3:10 “… I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

We can look back to Jesus’ finished work and rejoice in hope… we can look forward to the blessed hope of the rapture…

One Scholar reflected on a time of sharing favorite scripture verses at church… and a brother said, “My favorite verse is ‘It came to pass.’ The preacher asked, “How in the world is that your favorite verse?

He replied, “When I have trouble, and when I have problems, I like to read that verse, ‘It came to pass,” and I know that my trouble or my problem has come to pass; it hasn’t come to stay.”

He was looking for a new day out there, and that is what Paul has in mind when he says, ‘rejoicing in hope.’

But, then Paul continues and writes “patient in tribulation”… is there a connection between hope and tribulation…

Tribulation is often rendered as “affliction or suffering.”

There is a connection… If we don’t lose sight of our hope… we will “be patient” meaning “endure in suffering.”

Remember Paul’s words in Romans 5:3–4 “… we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

No doubt it’s no fun to suffer. But, with eyes on hope… and trusting that He is producing in us endurance, strength of character and confident hope.

I like the NLT rendering of Roman 5:3… “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.”

We need not run away from problems… we can face them head on.

And, a major way we find victory here is what we read at the end of V12 by “… continuing steadfastly in prayer.”

Jesus once said in Luke 18:1 “… men always ought to pray and not lose heart,”

And, then He told the parable of the unjust judge… how a widow persistently asked a judge (who did not fear God nor did he care about people)… for justice.

He eventually agreed not for her sake, but just so she would stop nagging him.

And the point of the parable is this… God… who is just… and who does care about people… how much more will He hear the persistent cries of His people?

Sadly… Jesus closed this parable asking, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Jesus’ assessment suggests that at His Second Coming, not at the Rapture… the faithful who believe He will return… and those who persist in prayer.

And, this is all the more reason to persist in prayer… because in the face of persecution and sufferings… prayer is a demonstration of faith in God… and your prayer may be answered…

Or, your prayer may be answered in giving you the grace you need to endure the trial.

Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to depart from him.

And God answered… 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Last week… someone told me my sermon on gifts was one of the best they had heard.

And I thought to myself how weak I was feeling physically… due to a medical issue giving me some trouble last week.

And, I was encouraged by Paul who wrote, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I know it’s not in my strength to be able to reach your hearts… to be able to preach where the word impacts the soul… this is a work of the Holy Spirit.

To God be the glory… because my physical frame is weak. And God loves to use the weak… and the foolish things… and strip down the number of the army to three hundred men… like Gideon’s army (Judges 7)…

Because then God can show Himself strong on our behalf.

Then we know it is the Lord.

And, still we are to pray… we are to raise up our petitions frequently to the Lord… we are to “continu[e] steadfastly in prayer...”

We are to “always pray and not lose heart...”

And, that’s what I did. I told you that earlier this week I was at the Pastor’s conference… and at the afterglow we anointed and prayed for the sick…

I got anointed and was prayed over.

And, I saw improvements in my health as the week progressed.

I want to encourage you all to ask for prayer more often.

At the end of every church service, we have people available on the sides to pray with you for whatever you need prayer for.

I’m in the back of the room and would be happy to pray with you.

Peter’s readers were suffering affliction, thus Peter wrote to them in 1 Pet 5:6-7 “… humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

Prayer is an act of humility where we can entrust our troubles to God.

So, do it. Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.

And, one more thought on V12… one final cross reference that ties nicely to this verse. Paul exhorted in Philippians 4:6–7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding… it doesn’t come from understanding…

… it goes beyond understanding. You get peace even without understanding.

There’s so many situations in this lifetime we don’t understand.

But, we are to be anxious… we are to pray… we are to be thankful… we are to pray…

And, God gives us peace… and His peace protects our hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

In our justification, we obtain “peace with God” through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1)

And, God blesses us with the “peace of God” through our persist prayers.

Wrapping up this segment about Christian to Christian Behavior… V13 “… distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.”

There are times for us to disciple the soul… and there are times for us to meet physical and emotional needs.

During the days of Paul’s missionary journeys, there were times where there were great physical needs for the saints in Jerusalem.

And Gentile churches took up collections to meet their physical needs. (Acts 11:29, 24:17, Rom 15:26, 1 Cor 16:1-4)

Hebrews 13:16 “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

There is a time and place for sharing resources… and there is a link to this charitable act and the next “given to hospitality” in that both help people.

If you have the gifts of giving, mercy or helps… V13 probably resonates with you.

Hospitality means “love of strangers.”

This doesn’t mean you have to host people at your house (though that would be fine)…

But the broader idea is pursuing strangers. Do you go out of your way to welcome a new person at church… and invite them to lunch?

1 Peter 4:9 tells us “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.”

Without complaint… God loves a cheerful giver.

I remembering being on a work trip in Sacramento, CA for two weeks, so I drove down to Modesto to hear Damien Kyle preach.

I was a stranger visiting Calvary Chapel Modesto and they were ‘given to hospitality.’

They had no idea I was coming, but when their children’s ministry Pastor found out I was working in a similar role… he gave me a tour and showed me the systems they use. He let me pick his brain.

A family I met that day… took me to a restaurant and paid for my lunch.

Hebrews 13:2 reads, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”

That’s what I quoted to that family when they were deliberating if they should take me out.

I said to them, “Maybe I’m an angel… you never know.”

(worship team please come)

We’ll wrap up there today… but read ahead… next time Paul will continue with this same theme, but exhorting our heart attitudes and expressions of love towards a world that is not always kind to us.

Put the list from today on your fridge. You many not want to post the list in vv14-21.

Let’s Pray!

Today… we were blessed with a beautiful list of exhortations from Paul…

Challenging, but practical for our life as Christians.

If you need prayer for anything… we’re here to pray with you… and as a reminder Paul said to ‘continue steadfastly in prayer.’

So, we should have a line around the building today.

May the Lord bless you and keep you… may He cause His face to shine upon you and give you peace in the week ahead.