Chardon church of Christ

Using Our Gifts - Part 2

Using Our Gifts, Part 2

Romans 12:3-8

Good morning.   Today we are going to continue to look at Romans 12.  This morning I would like to continue in our study of this chapter beginning at verse three and continuing through verse 8.   Please turn there with me now.

Romans 12:3-8 – “3. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5. so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7. or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8. he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

In our last lesson we looked closely at the first part of these verses and talked about Paul’s admonition to humility. We cannot think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. True humility is the environment for serving one another and for serving God. That was the lesson last week, to have a proper attitude for service.

In the continuation of our study I want to look two other aspects of service that are contained in these verses.  First is the proper relationship of serving.  God has placed us in a relationship with Him and with one another. That's the perfect environment in which we can serve Him and each other.   Second we will look at the activity of serving.    Paul gives us a list here that talks about different activities which are to be involved in serving one another and serving God.   These activities flow from the attitude and the relationship that he just discussed.

Using Our Gifts - Part 1

Using Our Gifts, Part 1

Romans 12:3-8

We’ve already talked about presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to God.   We talked about not being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds.   We saw that there is no middle ground, if we do not become transformed by the renewing of our minds we will be conformed to the world.   This morning I would like to continue in our study of this chapter beginning at verse three and continuing through verse 8.   Please turn there with me now.

Romans 12:3-8 – “3. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5. so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7. or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8. he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

It has been said that even the brightest people use only about 11% of their brains capacity.   When I think about that particular statistic I realize how many use much less than that!   It makes one wonder, what kind of place would this world be if we all used more of our brain?   What if we used 100%?   Certainly it would be a different world.

I wondered, if we get by as well as we do by using only this small portion, what if we could access all there is to access in the human mind and put it to use?   Then I thought about that in terms of God’s word as well.   If we do as well as we do using only small portions of the resources that God has placed before us, (what Paul describes here as gifts), what could we do if we used more of what He has given us?   What would it be like if we would use, to the full extent, the gifts that God has given us as individuals?   I strongly suspect that things would be different.

Contributing to the Needs of the Saints

Contributing to the Needs of the Saints
Romans 12:9-13

The text we have been studying the past few weeks is Romans 12:9-13 and let me just read that to get us started. “9. 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.” [NKJV] The NAS words verse 13 as: contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

We've seen as we have read these passages that they contain several short, very concise admonitions.  These can be viewed individually and we can also consider them in the larger context of Romans Chapter 12.  They should also be considered in the even larger context of the first eleven chapters of Romans that led up to the statements.  I would recommend as we conclude our look that we should resolve, each of us, to do just that. With these admonitions in mind, take the time to study the pervious chapters of Romans.

In addition it might be of benefit to look at what Paul commands here both individually and as they are linked together.  Paul was pleading with them on the basis of the things that he said in the very beginning of the chapter. In verses 1 and 2 he beseeched them by the mercies of God that they be not conformed to the world but they be transformed by the renewing of their mind. In that call for a transformation Paul was being comprehensive.

Hope - Tribulation - Prayer

Hope, Tribulation, Prayer  

Romans 12:10-13

We are continuing in our study in the book of Romans chapter 12. We looked at verse 9 and examined what love is and what hypocrisy is.   We saw that love is biblically described in terms of activities, actions, unlike the common view in the world today as a feeling.   We saw that hypocrisy was in direct opposition to love. I would like us to now read Romans 12:10-13 – “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.” 

The apostle says; “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.”  Three phrases.  These three phrases are part of a series of admonitions.   These three phrases contain words that often occur in scripture, rejoice, hope, patience, tribulation, steadfastness, and prayer.   There is a lesson in each one of these words; of what rejoicing means, what hope is and what patience is, what tribulation means to us.

In the larger context of Romans chapter 12 these three commands are vital ingredients to a spiritual life.   To develop spirituality, we need to know how we obey these commandments and what they mean to us in our spiritual growth.

Withstanding the Pressure of Being a Christian

Withstanding the Pressure of Being a Christian

Matthew 7:13-14

“13. "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14. "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”    In these verses we find Jesus basically divides the world into two categories.  There is a broad way, or path and there is a narrow way and you're on one of these two ways.  Make no mistake about it.   Everybody on the face of the earth falls into one of these two categories.  

There are two ways; there is the broad way and the broad way that leads to destruction.

He states in the reality of the world there will be many that go this way.    The truth of the matter is the vast majority of mankind has always traveled the broad way that leads to destruction.

Then He tells us about another way.   Jesus says it's a narrow way.  It's a difficult way but this narrow, difficult way leads to eternal life.  In describing this narrow, difficult way, He says there are few that find it.

Bless and Curse Not

Bless and Curse Not
Romans 12:14

In our study of Romans 12 so far we have given a lot of attention the various commands and admonitions that are given with a very real sense of imperativeness for the Christian.   These are things that make up spirituality and none of them are optional, there are none of these commands that Paul presents in this chapter that we can simply ignore.

Paul is talking about being transformed, about a renewal, not only outwardly in the use of our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, but also as a renewing of our minds.  A revision in the way we use our mind both in the way we view the world and our understanding of the Creator.   These verses that follow this admonition are not simply disconnected commands.  They provide an overall character description of what the transformed person looks like, what the renewed person looks like, the Christian.

Look with me at Romans 12:14 – “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”    What Paul says here may very well be far more transforming for some of us then anything previous.   By that I mean, it is one of those attitudes and actions that is intensely difficult for us in the world in which we live. 

Practicing Hospitality

Practicing Hospitality
Romans 12:9-13

There is a lot in Romans Chapter 12 to help us in our daily pursuit of being more spiritual.  We are to give ourselves as living sacrifices to God; we are to renew our minds that we might prove what is the perfect and acceptable will of God. 

Romans 12:9-13 – “9. 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.”

Paul concludes verse 13 by saying “be given to hospitality”.   He says practice hospitality.  What is hospitality?  How do I practice hospitality and how much of an impact does it make in the life of the Christian by doing what Paul commands here?  How can we know whether or not we are hospitable people?

Love Without Hypocrisy - Part 3

Love Without Hypocrisy – Part 3
Romans 12:9-10

In our study of verse 9, where Paul says “Let love be without hypocrisy”, we looked at love and saw the biblical definition of love in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 and some other places.   We recognize that love is a vital part and maybe the most vital part of our relationship with God.    Not only that we love Him, but first and foremost that He loves us.   

We learned that it is love that makes everything meaningful and that the original language describes the facets of love with verbs, action words.   Love is not a feeling in biblical terms but activity.  

Let's turn our attention to the qualifying phrase of that first part of verse 9.   Paul says “Let love be without hypocrisy”.   The hypocrite is a common topic in the Bible. There are a lot of passages about hypocrisy and the place of the hypocrite.    Jesus spends a lot of time rebuking the religious leaders of his own day because of hypocrisy.

Let’s look at hypocrisy and define it from the standpoint of what the Bible says, then consider some applications of our own.    I will let you know right off that I am apprehensive when talking about hypocrisy because there's a tendency to deal with this subject from the standpoint of; that hypocrite out there somewhere.   That other person, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Scribes, the people that Jesus talked to in His own day, those are people that are beyond me.   I think there's a real tendency and perhaps temptation to talk about hypocrisy as something that doesn't apply personally.   I want to be very careful about that because that would be the most hypocritical thing that we could ever do, to talk about hypocrisy as though it could not possibly apply to us.

Love Without Hypocrisy - Part 2

Love without Hypocrisy – Part 2 
Romans 12:9-10

Paul says “Let love be without hypocrisy”.   In part 1we looked at love in general and what the Bible teaches us about the nature of and the definition of love.  

The Bible has a very concrete use for the term love particularly in the examples of love. Contrast that with society today and even our language where we use love in a very general or abstract way.    We talk about a lot of different things that don't all have the same meaning.  We talk about loving a certain kind of food or loving our new house.  We love our puppy or our spouse, or our mother,… and we love God.  We use the same English word to describe all those things, all those connections yet those connections are not all the same.  

Those connections certainly don't carry all the same intensity nor do they describe in anyway the same activity.   In the practical language of the Bible though, when God calls us to love one another, it is based upon the love He has already expressed to us. Because of that there is a practical foundation for God's demand that we love one another and that we love Him in the same way that has already been clearly defined for us.

 

Love Without Hypocrisy - Part 1

Love without Hypocrisy – Part 1
Romans 12:9-10

 It's our focus through this quarter where we are looking at the apostle describing for us what it means to give ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.   Our study this morning takes us to verse 9.

Romans 12:9 – “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”    I think it's important for us to recognize, particularly as we look at the rest of the chapter, how all of the information, the admonitions, reflect back on what we read at the beginning of chapter 12 where Paul called upon them, and us to give our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice before God.  

We learned that part of the process of being a living sacrifice was for us to recognize and use the gifts that God has given us as Christians.    The person who exercises their spiritual gifts and offers themselves to God as a living or continual sacrifice is going to live differently.   They are going to be evidence of a different lifestyle from those around them, for their life will be Spirit filled and Spirit lead.   We don't use that terminology in a mystical way or to promote a new denominational teaching.     We are to recognize that the Bible does teach clearly, that the Christian needs to be led by the Spirit of God and their life is to be filled with the His spirit.

Roman chapter 12 verse 9 is the beginning of a series of short, concise admonitions that we might describe as a synopsis of spiritual living.   Romans 12:9 – “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”