Acceptable Worship (Serve Like Jesus Part 3)

Notes

Opener

Sons of Aaron

Prophet of old.

The story of Saul offering.

Main Text

Romans 12:9–21 NASB95

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to 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. 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. 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. 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.

Point 1 | Acceptable Worship is Genuine

Christianity 101

Everything in the Christian life must be rooted in God and His Character. For statements like “Love must be without hypocrisy” and “abhor what is evil” and “cling to what is good” to mean something they must be rooted in an objective moral truth.

Christian Philosopher William Lane Craig says we live in a culture where “people do believe deeply that certain moral values and duties such as tolerance, open-mindedness, and love are objectively valid and binding.” But for that to be true it means their must be a source of truth that is outside the individual and greater than the individual. The other alternative is objective morality doesn’t exist. And one man’s love may be other man’s murder. Morality becomes meaningless instantly.

So what the secular person doesn’t understand is that when they are appealing to things like justice and fairness and love is that they are appealing to a higher standard and logically that has to be God.

This is Christianity 101:

Romans 1:20 NASB95

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Genuine

But we aren’t in Romans 1 we are in Romans 12. And God is actually calling us now in Christ to live in accordance with His perfect will. And for the Christian it is not enough to know what is true, they must live what is true:

Romans 12:9 NASB95

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

Richard Longenecker, NT Greek Scholar, says this, “Let love be without hypocrisy” is the thesis statement of everything that follows. Hypocrisy here means not genuine. Paul is saying love must be genuine. God is ultimately concerned with matters of the heart. Actions with wrong motive will never be worship. Knowledge without love will never be worship. Love without knowledge will never be worship. It must be through and through genuine. A genuine reflection of the love God has poured out in our hearts.

Knowledge without love.

And I want to bring this full circle. It is not enough for the Christian to be logically consistent. We know we Worship the living God. We know we have his commandments and that they are perfect and true. We know Jesus is the Savior of the World. Christianity has a monopoly on sound world views. The Christian world view makes sense of why there is evil in the world, the purpose of man, and morality. Its a logically consistent through and through. And we Christians through the years, in our modern era, have been well educated in many of these aspects. Romans 12 turns up the temperature on this though about 1,000 degrees. It says get out of the classroom and into the workforce. It says get out of theory and into practice.

When Paul says, “Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.” He is calling them to right action as much as right thought. It is easy to be an arm chair quarterback and pick apart what the world is saying and doing. It is easy to sit back and go “that’s dumb, that’s dumb and that’s dumb.” And it is. There are biological men competing in the woman’s olympic weightlifting this year. That is dumb. But we can’t sit back and go compared to the lostness of the world I look pretty good. God is looking for something much deaper from the child of God.

If you have purity, that is you are undefiled by the world. You are not letting the culture around us determine right and wrong. You have held your ground. You are without compromise but you lack the devotion and tenacious love toward your brothers and sisters, You are all head and no action! What good is that? Or perhaps even worse you know the wrong things to do but you actually go in the opposite direction.

Augustine said, “With their doctrine they build and with their lives they destroy” referencing some preachers.

Charles Spurgeon said, “We have all heard the story of the man who preached so well and lived so badly that when he was in the pulpit everybody said he ought to never come out again, and when he was out of it they all declared he never out to enter it again.”

CS Lewis said, “Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst.”

Love without knowledge

But the reverse is true as well. What if you have great compassion and you zealously do things for others… but you are full of doctrinal compromise. You make sinners worse sinners. You love people so well in their sin you join them. Unwilling to utter a word of truth or take a stand less you offend someone. What good is that? That is not love either. Not Biblical love. Not God’s love. it may reflect your love but not God’s. And this admonishin from the Apostle Paul is to worship God… not man. So it must reflect His love. It shouldn’t shock us that the command to love is followed by a command to hate. “Abhor”… “hate” what is evil. Now it is becoming fassionable to hate certain things. I do not mean hop on the latest hatred fad. I mean hate what God hates and love what God loves. Have your senses trained to what God values. If you are friends with the world you are an enemy of God. Don’t let our culture train your senses.

What they have in common

Both those who have truth and no love and love and no truth have this in common though. They both are more interested in the approval of man than God. Neither are willing to put themselves on the alter and present themselves as a living sacrifice. For that would cost them something they do not want to give up.

The answer is simple: Love with Knowledge. Love with a genuine love that reflects biblical truth.

Love must be genuine! Do you here it now. Because this isn’t about you ultimately. This is about us having fallen short of glory of God as sinners, then having been redeemed by the blood of the cross, now, by God’s grace, presenting ourselves back to Him in Holy Worship through serving one another. Love must be genuine or it is not acceptable worship!

God must be the object of your Worship. Your presenting yourself to Him!!!

God must be the standard of your Worship. You are only worshipping if you are PROVING the will of God. If you are just doing what you want to do and what you think is right in your own eyes that is self worship and its the worst form of idolatry.

Love must be GENUINE.

Point 2 | Acceptable Worship is Zealous

Romans 12:10–13 NASB95

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.

“Love must be genuine, again, is the Thesis statement to this whole section. This is what genuine love looks like. So lets take a look.

DEVOTED

It looks devoted. The word “devoted” comes from the greek “philostorgos” which John Stott writes: “typically, love of parent for child” and the word for “brotherly love” is “philadelphia” which means exactly what it is translated as. And Stott says this: “Both words were applied originally to blood relationships in the human family, but Paul reapplies them to the tender, warm affection which should unite the members of the family of God.”

Think about the devotion a parent has for their own child. I think about my wife with my kids while I am at work during the day. All the places she takes them, the school work she teaches them, the meals shes makes them, the problems she solves for them and the list goes on and on. She has very much so given up her life for them. She is in a word “Devoted”. Friends God calls us to be devoted to one another. This is worship is it not friends? This is putting your body on the alter.

Acceptable worship is devoted to others!

Outdo One Another

“give preference to one another in honor” can be translated “outdo one another in showing honor.” The idea is your exalting others in honor. Your considering them above yourself. This is the heart of Christ and this is the heart of someone transformed by Christ. Do you want to see others do well. Part of playing your role in the body isn’t about saying how can I be all I was created to be. But it is saying how can I help others be all they were created to be. How can I help them succeed and honor them.

You can’t fake this. If you genuinely begin to honor others above yourself you will be putting yourself on the alter. It is a glorious thing and pleasing to God. Promote others.

Acceptable worship honors and promotes others!

Diligence and Zeal

Romans 12:11 NASB95

11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

This means to not be lazy but also MUCH more than that. To be the opposite extreme of that. To be zealous. To be diligent. The word for “fervent” means “to boil” quite literally. It is being used figuratively. It was used of Apollos in the book of Acts. He was full of passion.

God in the Old Testament and Jesus in the new were full of ZEAL. Speaking of the Messiah Isaiah 9:7 says

Isaiah 9:7 NASB95

7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Zeal is part of the armor of God:

Isaiah 59:17 NASB95

17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.

When Jesus turns over tables and drives out people with his own home made whip it says the Scriptures were fullfilled which read “Zeal for your house will consume me”.

Zeal and passion are a good thing provided they are guided by knowledge.

We need more Zealous Christians. It is frustrating to see Christians that are full of zeal but also immature. In their zeal they can cause alot of problems. Let me speak to the mature saints in the room. We don’t want to throw a bucket of cold water on their fire. We want to help them direct that fire in healthy God honoring way.

Pastor Bryan would often say it is easier to calm down a fanatic then to warm up a corpse. We need more people who are zealous for Jesus. And zealous to serve and love one another. Oh how we need passionate people for the Lord.

I remember a Pastor friend of mine saying one time I hate it when I kid comes home from youth group or from a mission trip zealous for the Lord and the parents throw a bucket of cold water on them. “You will get over it.” “I was like that once… you will see.” “Let me just warn you...” Where there knowledge is wrong please correct. But fan their flame. pour gasoline on their fire. Challenge them to do more for the Lord not less. and let their zeal stir you!

It amazes me what people give themselves to and what they are capable of:

Diana Nyad, a professional swimmer, swam from Cuba to Florida at the age of 64. A lifetime or preperation and devotion.

Eliud Kipchoge became the first athelete run a marathon in under 2 hours. I did a half marathon a few years back in just under 2 hours and i had to be devoted to do that! He went at a pace of about 13 mph.... faster than most treadmills will go! That is every mile at 4min and 35 seconds. That takes devotion and zeal and diligence.

Friends we have something so much more valuable we are living for. We are presenting ourselves to the living God with devotion, diligence and zeal. Lets run the race so as to win the prize shall we?

The Gospel

Titus 2:14 NASB95

14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Being zealous to love and serve one another is the natural outgrowth of the powerful grace of God shown at the cross.

C.T Studd, who gave up his professional sports career to die on the mission field in 1931 said, ““If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

Point 3 | Acceptable Worship Serves God by Serving Others

Parallels

We could go on and on. but I want you to see the parallels. Those with the spiritual gift of leadership were called to be diligent and all Christians here are called to be diligent. Those with the spiritual gift of generosity were called to be generous but all Christians here are called to “contribute to the needs of the saints.” Christians with the spiritual gift of service were called to serve and here all Christians are called to “Serve the Lord.” There are no bench warmers in the Kingdom of God.

We all have a host of things we should and must be doing NOW. No Christian should be stagnant. No Christian should be dormant. We were saved to serve. That is acceptable worship.

Bond Servants

Paul called himself the Lord’s bond servant. James calls himself the Lord’s bond servant. Peter calls himself the Lord’s bond servant. To be a servant is one of your chief callings in The Lord. And it is one of the chief ways you identify with your savior. This gets lived out horizontally. Your service to King Jesus looks like serving the people around you right now.

Jesus is the ultimate servant. He is the suffering servant. and what a joy to be saved by Him to be made an imitator of Him. To be a servant is core to our identity as Christians. There is no such thing as a Christian that doesn’t serve. That does not compute. It is like saying there is water that is not wet. Or fire that is not hot. We are joyful bondservants of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I want you to see this in text of Scripture today. These are imperative after imperative for the Christian to serve the Lord by serving others.

If you lack that. If you lack the motivation. I would just invite you to look at the cross of Christ and ask God for a revelation of what it means to serve.

With that we have some baptisms to do today.