ROMANS 12: 3-5 "LIVING TO SERVE"

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 12)

3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

BIG IDEA: WE WORK WITH EACH OTHER FOR CHRIST’S GLORY!

WE ARE WHO WE ARE BECAUSE OF GOD’S GRACE...

EPH.2:8 “8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—”

BY GRACE - THROUGH FAITH - GOD’S GIFT!

The Bible Exposition Commentary (Chapter Eleven: Right Relationships Mean Right Living (Romans 12–13)) WEIRSBE:

The gifts that we have came because of God’s grace. They must be accepted and exercised by faith. We were saved “by grace, through faith” (Eph. 2:8–9), and we must live and serve “by grace through faith.”

THOSE SAME THEMES ARE REPLETE IN TODAY’S PASSAGE...

IN FACT, PAUL OPENS: FOR BY THE GRACE GIVEN TO ME...

AS HE WRITES TO THE BELIEVERS IN ROME, HE NEEDS THEM TO RECEIVE HIS WORDS GRACIOUSLY, NOT HARSHLY.

PAUL, AS A RECIPIENT OF GRACE, IS DISPENSING GRACE TO THE BELIEVERS...

YOU SEE, WHEN WE HAVE SOMETHING CHALLENGING TO COMMUNICATE, IT’S BEST TO SATURATE IT WITH GRACE...

SO THEN, GRACE FROM GOD IS UNMERITED FAVOR - UNDERSERVED DELIVERANCE - UNSOLICITED BLESSINGS...

GRACE IS GETTING FROM GOD WHAT WE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW TO ASK FROM GOD...

OK, SOME STILL AREN’T GETTNG IT.

HERE IT IS: GRACE WOKE YOU UP THIS MORNING...

GRACE STARTED YOU ON YOUR WAY...

GRACE GAVE YOU FOOD TO EAT....

GRACE GAVE YOU A PLACE TO SLEEP...

GRACE PUT CLOTHES ON YOUR BACK...

LOOK AT YOUR NEIGHBOR AND DECLARE, “I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT GOD’S GRACE!”

FOR BY THE GRACE GIVEN TO ME, I TELL EVERYONE AMONG YOU NOT TO THINK OF HIMSELF MORE HIGHLY THAN HE SHOULD THINK....

NOW BEFORE WE UNPACK VS. 3, LET’S REFLECT UPON OUR RENEWED MINDS FROM LAST WEEK. REMEMBER, “BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND...”

WATCH THIS: RENEWED MINDS THINK BETTER!

WHEN I’M IN THE MODE OF “NOT-CONFORMING / EVER-TRANSFORMING / BY-RENEWING…” - I THINK BETTER!

(NOT ONLY) RENEWED MINDS THINK BETTER! UH HA - RENEWED MINDS LIVE BETTER!

AS THE SPIRIT OF GOD REGENERATES OUR BODIES AND MINDS, WE NOT ONLY HAVE MORE POWER TO LIVE, WE ALSO HAVE A NEW REASON TO LIVE...

FOR BY THE GRACE GIVEN TO ME, I TELL EVERYONE AMONG YOU NOT TO THINK OF HIMSELF MORE HIGHLY THAN HE SHOULD THINK....

BE HUMBLE.

DON’T THINK OR BE MORE THAN GOD HAS PURPOSED FOR YOU...

THIS IS A COMMON TEMPTATION TO EVERY BELIEVER...

AS GOD’S GRACE ABOUNDS, WE ARE TEMPTED TO BELIEVE THAT THE FAVOR AND BLESSINGS WE WALK IN HAVE BEEN EARNED…DESERVED!!!

WHEN WE MISTAKE GRACE AS FAVOR EARNED, THEN WE MISS GRACE!

BE HUMBLE.

A Definition - “Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all.” - William Temple, “Christ in His Church”

AS I’VE SAID BEFORE, THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRED PAUL TO WRITE THIS THOUGHT, BECAUSE IT IS A REAL STRUGGLE FOR US!

BE HUMBLE.

THE BATTLE IS IN OUR MINDS...

RENEWED MINDS THINK BETTER!

One Greek expositor says this word means to recognize your limits and respect them. In other words, don’t pretend to be more than you are! Recognize your God-given abilities and use them. But when you come to the edge of your limitations, be willing to say, “This is too much for me.”

Micah 6:8: Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

BE HUMBLE.

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Humility, Definition Of)

Andrew Murray gave a near-perfect definition of humility:Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Humility)

Humility

The story is told of two brothers who grew up on a farm. One went away to college, earned a law degree, and became a partner in a prominent law firm in the state capital. The other brother stayed on the family farm. One day the lawyer came and visited his brother, the farmer. He asked, “Why don’t you go out and make a name for yourself and hold your head up high in the world like me?” The brother pointed and said, “See that field of wheat over there? Look closely. Only the empty heads stand up. Those that are well filled always bow low.”

Said differently, “The branch that bears the most fruit is bent the lowest to the ground.”

BE HUMBLE.

NOT ONLY BE HUMBLE. SECOND,

BE SENSIBLE.

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 12)

Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

Y’ALL, HERE’S MY MAMA’S TRANSLATION: YOU BETTER ACT LIKE YOU GOT SOME SENSE!

TO THINK MORE HIGHLY OF ONESELF IS SENSELESS…TO THINK HUMBLY, UNDERSTANDING THAT GOD’S GRACE HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO ALL IS SENSIBLE!

GOD HAS GRACIOUSLY GIVEN GIFTS OF FAITH TO EACH OF US…WE’VE ALL BEEN BLESSED...

NO ONE’S MEASURE OUTWEIGHS ANOTHER...

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Servanthood)

The Navigators are well known for their emphasis on having an attitude of servanthood. A businessman once asked Lorn Sanny, then president of the Navigators, how he could know when he had a servantlike attitude. The answer was, “By how you act when you are treated like one.”

BE SENSIBLE.

RENEWED MINDS ARE SENSIBLE MINDS...

WE MUST ACT AND LIVE WITH SENSE!

GOD HAS IMPARTED FAITH TO EACH OF US, AND GOD HAS IMPARTED SENSE TO EACH OF US…USE THEM BOTH!

WARREN WEISRBE HELPS ME WITH THIS:

For many years I have tried to begin each day by surrendering my body to the Lord. Then I spend time with His Word and let Him transform my mind and prepare my thinking for that new day. Then I pray, and I yield the plans of the day to Him and let Him work as He sees best. I especially pray about those tasks that upset or worry me—and He always sees me through. To have a right relationship with God, we must start the day by yielding to Him our bodies, minds, and wills.

Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 554–555.

THERE IS NO SENSIBLE THINKING OR LIVING WITHOUT AN ONGOING INTIMACY WITH THE SAVIOR! CONSEQUENTLY, WE CANNOT SEE OUR SENSELESSNESS WHEN WE ARE DISCONNECTED AND DISTANT FROM THE SAVIOR...

BE HUMBLE. - DON’T THINK TOO HIGHLY

BE SENSIBLE. - THINK SENSIBLY.

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 12)

4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

BE RESPONSIBLE.

WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST.

WE ARE RESPONSIBLE TO HIM AND TO EACH OTHER...

AS WE EMBRACE WHO WE ARE (MANY PARTS IN OUR SAME BODY), IT HELPS US TO UNDERSTAND CHRIST’S CHURCH (MANY PARTS IN ONE BODY)!

The point is that each member functions to serve the body, not the body to serve the members. The diversity of the many accompanies the unity of the body. Therefore it is important to think soundly about oneself and to evaluate properly God’s gifts and their uses.

BIG IDEA: WE WORK WITH EACH OTHER FOR CHRIST’S GLORY!

· GOD WANTS YOU TO BE A PART OF THE TEAM…NOT THE TEAM!!!

KNOW YOUR ROLE (VS. 6-7) YOUR GIFTS

KNOW YOUR TEAM (THEIR GIFTS)

Tony Evans Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More Than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Body of Christ)

BODY OF CHRIST

SYMBIOTIC growth is the growth that occurs between two organisms where both benefit. Parasitic growth is growth that occurs in one organism because it’s feeding off of another. Christians must ask themselves how they are functioning in the organism of the Body of Christ.Am I a spiritual parasite? Sing to me. Preach to me. Pray for me. Counsel me. Help me, but expect nothing from me. That is a parasite. A Christian interested in symbiotic growth says, “Yes, I have needs, but I’m willing to give too because everyone needs to benefit.”49