Transcription
[Music] we ran a verse-by-verse look at this book and we come to Romans chapter 12. we're gonna begin looking at verse 12, but let's pick it up Romans chapter 12, verse 1. because this essentially sets the stage for not only chapter 12, but for the remainder of the book of Romans all the way through chapter 16. where Paul writes, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
and some translations say "reasonable worship," which is a better translation of the word. the word we get our word "logic" from. it, you could, you could really translate it, "which is your logical worship." in other words, here's what Paul's saying when he says, "I, I beseech you by the mercies of God." what he, what he's saying is, in light of all that God has done, that he's talked about in Romans chapter one, two, three, four, all the way through chapter 11, when a person understands the enormity of what God has done in saving us, the lengths to which God went, the magnitude of God's love, the generosity of God's grace, when a person understands that, as much as is humanly possible for us to do, that immediately, the only logical response to understanding the grace of God is to say, "God, you've done all of that for me. now, the least I can do is give all of me to you. it's not much, but it's all that I have. so I give you all that I am."
that becomes the foundation for presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. saying, "God, here I am. you've done so much for me. it's the least I can do to give myself to you." and once you do that, you'll launch then into walking with God, serving God in a whole new way.
Paul goes on to say this, "Do not be conformed to this world; don't be pressed into its mold, but be transformed." in other words, let what's on the inside shine on the outside. do you realize anytime you and I are serving in a ministry, anytime you and I are loving people with the love of God, and we're walking in love and living love, we're letting what's on the inside shine outside. the Spirit of God does that. he helps us to radiate the love of Christ.
he says, "be transformed by the renewal of your mind." that is, he gives us, one of the things God does is he changes our thinking. actually, renewal has the idea of almost a renovation, if you will, taking us back to what the human mind was like before the fall, like Adam and Eve, where Adam and Eve could sense spiritual reality, they could sense spiritual presence, God's presence, they could commune with God, they would walk with God. and so the Holy Spirit transforms us, renews our mind, that we might discern the will of God, that we might be able to walk in God's will, we might know God's will, we might begin to think like God thinks on a variety of things.
so when you get to verses 3 through 8, the way that plays out is we think differently about ourselves, and we think differently about others, and we think differently about the church. we understand the church is a body, and we're all a part of it. and as a member of the body, we have a part to play in the body. and if we don't play that part, then we're actually contributing to the illness or the weakness of the body. imagine that. you, if any one of us says, "well, I'm not gonna do that. I don't feel like it." what you're doing is, you've just made James River weaker than it ought to be, then God intended it to be, then God designed it to be. if any part of our body says, "I'm out. don't want to do it. don't feel like it. think I'll stay home today." that's not a good thing for the rest of my body, right? that's illness, that's sickness, that's weakness.
so when I have the mind of Christ, I understand my role. I understand it's not about me. I understand that he's given gifts for me to use, primarily to glorify Him, second to build others up, to strengthen the church, because they've got a role to play. then the next thing I realize is that I have a responsibility to walk in love.
and that's where we pick it up, Romans chapter 12, verse 9. "Let love be genuine." in other words, operate in the real deal. don't be a fraud, don't be a fake, don't be artificial love. and we know this. this is the Christian's calling card. Jesus said this in John chapter 13, verse 35, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples." how? if you have a bumper sticker on? no. if you have love for one another. I mean, when you and I walk in love, live in love, when we love one another, when we have that divine kind of love, it speaks to people of the love of Christ.
so as we saw, Paul says this, Romans 12, verse 9, "Don't just pretend to love others; really love them." it's not enough to act like you love people in a certain environment. genuine love goes beyond surface actions. he says, "Let's really love them." and we saw last time, we, as we were looking at genuine love, we're going to divide it into three categories. and we saw, first of all, genuine love, it exhibits passion. and we looked at the first couple of verses. and here are some of the things we learned. first of all, genuine love. it's very interesting that Paul would say, "Don't pretend to love; have real love," or "Let your love be genuine." and what would be the first thing you would present? I would venture to say, not one of us would make this first, but God does. "Abhor what is evil; hate exceedingly what is evil." in other words, when you really love God, you don't want anything to do with what's evil. you don't want to do anything to do with what dishonors Him. you don't want to watch it, you don't want to think about it, you don't want to investigate it. you don't want anything to do with it. rather, what you want to do is, you want to be glued to, you want to cling to, you want to hold fast to that which is intrinsically good, that which is really worthwhile, that which is truly good.
then he goes on and says, "Love one another with brotherly affection." love and love in the original. so it's be lovingly loving. and we love one another in the family of God, because he's talking about the church here. as we go through chapter 12, we're talking about church relationships. and he's saying, we have this family love for one another. why? because when it comes to family love, here's the thing. the wonderful thing about family love, you don't have to earn it. you don't have to deserve it. you don't have to be attractive enough to get it. you just get it because you're family, right? I mean, if your family loves you, not because you're super beautiful, not because you're super charismatic, not because you're super gifted, they love you just because you're you. for better or for worse, they love you. on your good days, they love you. on your not-so-good days, they count you as family. that's the way we're to love one another. we're not, we're loving one another, and we're accepting one another, and we're accepting one another as having good days, bad days. you love your family even when they're not very lovely, right? you know, and some family members aren't very lovely a lot. I mean, they're, there are some family members who are hard to love, but you're like, "Hey, that's just how they roll." but somebody comes to you and starts to criticize them, and you may know part of it's true, but it's like, "Hey, where do you get off? That's my brother. That's my sister. That's my mom. That's my dad. That's son. That's my daughter. Hey, hey, you just give it a rest. I don't want to hear it." that's how we're to love one another. if that's awesome, that the church is a safe place where we have one another's back, where we defend one another.
and then "outdo one another in showing honor." in other words, we set a very high estimate, we, we give a high appraisal of one another's value. we esteem one another's pricelessness as very valuable. and, and we work at doing that.
and then he says, "do not be slothful in zeal." we saw the NIV says, "never be lacking in zeal." so we never take a break when it comes to being passionate. we're passionate when it's time to worship the Lord in church. we're passionate when it's time to hear the word of God. we're passionate when it's time to serve. we're passionate when it's time to go to Life Group. we're passionate about the Lord. when it comes to getting up on Monday morning and headed into work, we're passionate about letting our light shine. we're passionate about inviting people to church. we're passionate about a prayer meeting. we're passionate about loving people. we're passionate about the Word of God. we're passionate all the time. we never take a break. "Never be lacking in zeal."
but watch this, verse 11, "Be fervent in spirit." in other words, being red-hot in the Holy Spirit. don't be cold, don't be lukewarm. be on fire. every Christian being an on-fire Christian. if you're not an on-fire Christian, your love's not genuine. I mean, that's, that's the upshot. because, and the reason why I say that is because too many people are comfortable with their lack of passion, like it's normal. it's not. too many people feel like, "well, you know, this, I just am not, just I'm just not one of those crazy Bible thumper excited James River people. I go there." but no, listen. everybody's excited because it's an exciting thing, right? because what could be more exciting than, watch this, we're boiling out because we're serving the Lord. we're doing it. we're excited because it's a chance to honor the Lord, to serve the Lord with our mind, with our talents, with our body, with our time. we're serving God. it's all about Him. whatever we do, we do it as unto the Lord. whether we eat, you can eat as unto the Lord. you can drink as unto the Lord. you can breathe as unto the Lord. you can go to work as unto the Lord. you can do your job as unto the Lord. you can serve in church as unto the Lord. you can love your families as unto the Lord. you can love church members as unto the Lord. you can love your enemies as unto the Lord. we're just passionate because we're serving the Lord. and honestly, this is a call to Christian enthusiasm, which ought to be the norm. are you excited about the Lord? hopefully. and that's what I love about James River. it's an exciting place, and people are excited. and so I use the word "exciting" a lot because I'm just saying what I see and saying what I feel. and hopefully, you're not living a life where you're more excited about other things more than you are about the Lord. hopefully, you don't get more excited about your hobbies than you do about church. if you do, something's wrong. you have to prioritize your passion. if you're more excited about some sports team than you are about the Lord, something is wrong. because no sports team, no matter how good they are or legendary they are, or sports figure is, they're not as eternally significant in what they're doing as the Lord. now, if they're Christian, they can have eternal significance to the things they're doing, playing the game. but honestly, let's be excited about the Lord first and foremost, and always.
and then we come to verse 12. this is where we pick it up. "Rejoice in hope." rejoice in hope. what's he talking about? what's the hope? the hope is heaven. the hope is that someday you and I are going to receive a reward from the Lord. someday He's going to say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." someday you're gonna leave this life, you're gonna be in the next life, and the Lord is not going to greet you with, "Well, you know what? There's a good things you did, or there's a few good things you did, but you know, there's a lot of missed opportunities, and I think we ought to rewind the tape and at least let you know how many misses." He's not going there. some of you have the idea like you're gonna stand, and when we give an account, like we're gonna give an account for every missed opportunity. I don't believe that at all. I believe He's gonna say, "Here's your awards." you listen, think of it this way. when the Olympic athletes get their medal, when the person gets bronze, kneels down, gets the bronze put on their neck, the, the judge or the person presenting isn't saying, "Now, you know, you get bronze today, and I just want to remind you the reason why is because you know you had a chocolate sundae about six months ago, and that really messed up your training." which, timeout, forget it. you got the bronze. way to go. yeah, you got the silver. you know what I mean? it's a time of celebration. it's a time of reward. heaven, your first, second in heaven, is gonna be more wonderful than you can imagine. and Jesus is gonna reward you beyond what you ever thought possible. I mean, listen to this. Jesus says this, Matthew chapter 19, and verse 29. I think it's so awesome. "Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." Jesus is saying, "There will be nothing you will have given, sacrificed, or done for me that one will not be rewarded and honored and acknowledged in eternity." by how much? a hundred times. that is, let, let's just put it in percent. ten thousand percent. He'll multiply your time back ten thousand percent. He'll multiply your energy back ten thousand percent. He'll multiply your money back ten thousand percent. how much money would you like? if I said, "I've got an investment, it pays ten thousand percent." you know how many would like that? everybody'd be like, "I'm in. I'm on." see the offering, right? so, way it works. I mean, I'm just saying, heaven's gonna be really wonderful.
so we rejoice in hope. at the same time, he says this, "patient in tribulation." patient. we're holding up under, is the idea of that word. we're enduring, we're persevering in tribulation. a very graphic word. tribulus, in the Latin, it's a, it was used as a weight to crush corn kernels of corn. and so the tribulus would be used to smash, to crush the corn. so Paul says, "we endure in the midst of that crushing." and life has its own inherent crushing. that's a part of it. some of it God allows in our life so that you and I might grow. but it can be crushing. some of you maybe today, you feel this crushing. you're like, "Whoa, wait a minute. I thought I'd become a Christian. I thought, you know, timeout. being a Christian doesn't mean you don't have tribulation. it means you don't go alone through tribulation." Paul said this, "Indeed, all those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble; you will have tribulation." James says, "Count it all joy when when you encounter trials of various kinds." in other words, trials, tribulation, trouble, persecution, it's a part of life. and Paul says, "we hold up under it. we keep on going."
you say, "How do you do that?" let me give you three things that I think help us as we're walking through. because sometimes we can ask the wrong questions. so what do we need to do when we're going through tribulation? first of all, don't be surprised by it. don't say, "Well, I don't think this is part of it." no, it's a part of life in general, and certainly it's a part of the Christian experience. so when it comes, Peter says, "Don't let these trials surprise you like, 'Whoa, what's happening here?'" except that it's a part of the Christian experience. remember, number two, that it happened to Jesus. that He set an example for us that we should follow in His footsteps. Jesus experienced tribulation. He said, "Listen, if they're calling me names, they're gonna call you names. If they're mistreating me, they're gonna mistreat you." and what do we do when we think about Jesus? we take to heart what the writer of Hebrews said. it says, "Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, the Perfector, the Trailblazer, if you will, of our faith. Consider Him who endured the cross." I mean, think about what He went through when you're going through trial, trouble, tribulation, and let it encourage you that Jesus blazed a path, that your tribulation, your suffering has spiritual purpose.
third, let me just say this, and this is also very helpful. let it teach you. let tribulation teach you about yourself. let it show you where you're weak. let it show you where you need to grow. let it show you where there are cracks in the foundation of your life. because we know this, we know when you put pressure on a foundation, if there are cracks in the foundation, they will spread apart. you will become more obvious. trials, pressure, crushing, shows us where we're weak, shows us where we need continued development, shows us where we need the glue of the Holy Spirit to come in and seal that up, to make us strong. let it teach you about yourself. let it, let it cause you to develop an empathy and a compassion and a sympathy for people who are going through trials. you know, the fact of the matter is, when you go through a difficulty, you're a whole lot more sympathetic when you see somebody else go through that difficulty. you may have seen somebody else go through it a hundred times before you went through it, but now, suddenly, you've gone through it. so now you understand it. you have a whole different understanding. you can sympathize, you can encourage, you can give them compassion, because you've received compassion from the God of all compassion, right? you can minister to them in a whole new way. and finally, let it teach you about the world. that this world, in this world, you will have trouble. Jesus said. and what happens is, the longer you walk in the world, the more you look forward to heaven and the glory of heaven.
so we're patient in tribulation. and then Paul goes on in the same verse and says, "constant in prayer." constant in prayer, continual in prayer. so hope, the hope of heaven, tribulation, all kinds of troubles, cause us to pray. we think about where we're headed, and we're going through difficulties along the way. we pray, "Lord, let me honor You. Lord, help me." and sometimes God delivers us out of the trouble. sometimes God walks with, walks with us through the trouble. but we pray. Jesus, Jesus said this to the disciples. He told a parable in Luke chapter 18, one that men should pray always and never give up. in first Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul says, "Pray without ceasing." in other words, let your life be a prayer to God. so that you have your personal devotions in the morning, your quiet time with God, but then through the day, you simply are interacting with the Lord all the time. so as you're driving to work, you're praying. you're praying for the people who are passing you. you're praying as you see, maybe you see an accident, or you see somebody pulled over, or you see something happening. you're praying. you get to work, you pray. "Lord, help me to be able to be a light for You in this place." you're praying before that meeting. you're praying for your boss. you're praying for your co-worker. you're, you're praying all the time. you got a big project, you're like, "I don't know how it's gonna work out." you pray. you're praying before that sales call. you're praying all the time. on the way home, you're praying, "Lord, let me bless my family when I come in the door. Lord, help. It's been a hard day, but help me to be able to be up to be the top of my game. Lord, may I be a blessing." you may be blessed by You. pray, pray, pray, pray, constantly in prayer. when you love God genuinely and fervently, you pray constantly.
let me give you another one. Romans 12, verse 13. "Contribute to the needs of saints." so this is love. love lifts out. is all the things we've talked about, as well as contributing, giving to the needs of saints. so the way it plays out is, as you're here in the church, you're, you're watching for people who have needs. so it's never, you know, sometimes people come to me and say, "Just let me know where you see a need." this doesn't say, "Contribute to the needs of saints as your pastor lets you know." there are times we let you know, but honestly, I'm not everywhere. I don't see everything, and I don't know everything. it's not possible in a big church or little church. so the way it works is, you say, "Lord, I want to live a life of generosity, and help me to meet the needs of people around me." so when you see somebody going through a tough time, maybe what you do is, you say, "I'm gonna bring them a bag of groceries." it's a big thing. or you hear somebody say, "You know what? I don't have this, or I don't have that." you, you provide it, if you're able. maybe it's as simple as you walk through the parking lot, you see somebody who's driving a, you see a car, and you're like, "Wow, those tires are bald." so you sit in your car, you wait until the person comes up, you get out, you say, "I'd like to buy you a new set of tires." wow, talk about a big deal. I'm just saying, the needs of the saints, especially the household of God, especially, we should have a heart for the people who are in our spiritual family. not that we don't help people outside the church, we do. we're known as people of generosity. but we're contributing to the needs of the saints, that's believers.
and then it says, "and seek to show hospitality." pursue hospitality. so relationship with others. pursue hosting, pursue helping. this is, I mean, this is Life Groups right there. "I don't want to be in the Life Group." well, you know what? pursue hospitality. get one. show up and say, "Here I am, ready or not. I'm here to pursue hospitality. I'm here to pursue relationship." it's a good thing. that's we're supposed to. we're known as people who love people. we love people, and we want to be around people, and want to interact with people. but in, in this, especially is the word hospitality in the original is "love of strangers." that we love strangers, that we want to help strangers, that we want to do good to them. remember in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus said, "When you did it to the least of these my brothers, you've done it unto me." so we're helping people. we're ministering to people. and who are the people we're ministering to? the people in need. Luke chapter 10, the parable of the Good Samaritan. remember, "Who is my neighbor?" the one who has a need. the Samaritan helped the person who was in need. so we're showing hospitality. and here's the beautiful thing about this. remember in Hebrews chapter 13, in verse 2, what is it? what is the writer of Hebrews say? very interesting. "Be careful to entertain strangers." that's hospitality, entertaining strangers, doing good to people you don't know. why would you want to be careful to do that? what is the writer of Hebrews say? "For in doing so, some have entertained angels unaware." you said, "Then I'd like to see an angel. I'd like to, I'd like to host an angel." then do this, and you will. because if it's in the Word of God, you can be sure it was happening with enough regularity that the writer of Scripture wanted to encourage saints throughout the ages to do it. because there are angels, and somewhere along the line, you have angelic interaction with people because you're entertaining strangers. but if you just, you know, honestly, here's the problem. we live in a day where people are very self-contained. they have their earphones in when they're out and about, and they come home, in their car, hit the garage door, opens, shuts, they go in. they don't know who a neighbor is. they don't know what needs are going on around them. they're like, they just like live their own life and feel like that's okay. and that's good. that's not the way a Christian lives. a Christian seeks, pursues hospitality.
so genuine love, can you see the passion behind all of this? it exceedingly hates evil. it clings to that which is good. it's enthusiastic. it's on fire. it's passionate about serving the Lord. it rejoices. it celebrates. it dances over the hope in heaven. it holds up under persecution and tribulation. it's constant in prayer. it's about meeting needs. it's looking for needs to meet. and I'm telling you, you, you meet people's needs, you'll never forget it, and neither will they. I can remember when we pioneered a church up in Kansas City, and we moved in, we didn't know a soul, you know, when we went there. when I took the job, Debbie's like, "How much are they gonna pay us?" I said, "I don't have any idea." she's like, "Come again?" I said, "I didn't ask." she said, "What do you mean? We got three kids. You didn't ask?" I said, "I knew it wouldn't be enough anyway." I mean, that's, that's the truth. truly, I, I just think when something's the will of God, that's the issue, not the provision. at ten, I think too many people talk themselves out of the will of God because they're too, they're talking too much about the money. but I mean, all that to say this. so, so I said that, and I mean, we're really like, "How are we gonna make it?" and, and I mean, it was, it was interesting. I don't ever remember missing a meal. I do remember the, the, like, the second day we were there, a man pulled up with 17 bags of groceries in his car and brought them to us. I, I'll never forget it. I'll never forget the kindness of people. and I could go down the list of things that people did when we were in a situation where we're financially, there was nothing. I'm just saying, that's, that's the way love expresses itself. and some of you could be an absolutely huge blessing, and you don't need somebody to tell you. you just need to open up your eyes, stop thinking about yourself, and look around. the needs are everywhere.
well, number two, genuine love seeks harmony. it seeks harmony. now, these verses deal again with Christians. so we have a tendency to immediately apply people that are nasty as being outside the kingdom, in the world, and that can be true. but I also think, you know, we need to live in reality. and the reality is kind of like this woman put it this way, "To live above with saints we love, oh, that will be glory. To live below with saints we know, now that's a different story." you know what? as a pastor, I've learned sheep bite. you know, it's true. and I'm just saying that just because we're Christians doesn't mean we're perfect. and just like when a family, you have some members of the family that are a little hard to get along with, if you're one of those, it's hard to get along with. that's not giving you a pass, it's just declaring a reality. till the Lord sanctifies you, and you're growing, and I'm growing, and all of us have times when we're less than we ought to be, could be, or should be, right? we get pressure, we get tired, we've got a lot of things on our mind that we don't, we don't maybe say what we should or do what we should in those times. so the idea is, there's grace there. so they, you know, as you're dealing with Christians who say things about you they shouldn't say. and especially, I think, what blindsides a lot of people in the church, it causes people to get disillusioned, is they expected a level of perfection from others that even they themselves can't live in continually. and so when somebody comes along and says something, does something, you like, and, and it's kind of the punch, you don't see that sends you crashing to the canvas. and, and so you, you have encountered that, and you're like, "And they call themselves Christians." you know what I'm saying? here's how we need to respond in all of that. and the issue is not them, the issue is us. "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them." bless. if a word is repeated, it's for emphasis. it's, it's a catch this. the word there, "bless," is the word in the Greek, eulogia. we get our word "eulogize." so, in other words, the idea is, if you're going to a funeral, and, and somebody asks you to do the eulogy of the person there, you don't get up and tell them all the things that were wrong with them. you know, they were a dirty rat, and they, you know, they, you know, that's not what you do. you say how wonderful they were, right? you talk good about them. that's what this is saying. when people persecute you, you're going to talk good about them. when people are unkind to you, you're going to talk good about them. you're not going to, you're not going to curse them. you're not going to, you're not going to say bad about them. you're not going to wish evil on them. you're not going to wish God would do. you're not even gonna say, "Well, you know what? They did that, and what you sow, you reap." that's cursing. or they did that, and I'm just telling you this, what sometimes we can console ourselves with this side, "What goes around comes around. It'll come back on them." don't do that. because what happens is, when you do that, then you're waiting to do that, and now, the sudden, you've poisoned your spirit, you've poisoned the well, you've caused yourself to hang on to that bitterness, to hang on, and you're setting the table for unforgiveness, for the root of bitterness to grow up in your heart. and Paul says, "Don't do that." that's inconsistent with genuine love. honestly, this is one of the great protections. "Say nice things." he said, "But they, it doesn't matter. Say nice things." "Is that I don't know what to say." "Well, just say they've got a big head of hair." I mean, I don't know what you want to say. say, say something. you know, "Say whatever you know. I got a nice smile, babe." you know, work at it. you might have to pray for an hour, but you come up with your list. the Lord will help you. say nice things. Jesus said this, I mean, Luke chapter 6, "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." if you do that for enemies outside the kingdom, how much more would you do it for family inside the kingdom, right?
then Romans chapter 12, verse 15, "Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep." now, honestly, almost anybody can weep with those who weep. my experience is, very few people can rejoice with those who rejoice. I mean, can you, here it is, can you genuinely celebrate the prosperity of those around you? I mean, when your best friend, who you guys have worked together with for several years, gets a promotion, we're instantly making three times the income you make, and you are more qualified for the job, and you both, you both applied for it, and they got it, but you have the bigger family, and you have the greater need. can you still say, "I am so happy for you"? can you rejoice? can you literally shout for joy? and then, can you be happy? can you be happy for your friend when they get a nicer home, a bigger home than yours? can you be happy when your person scores the deal on that car, and they get like, the deal, deal, deal, and you needed a car, and you were looking for a car, and in fact, you know what? face, you were the one who started the whole idea. you're like, "I need to get a car." and they're like, "Oh, I'll go look with you." and then all of a sudden, Nixon, you know, they roll in with a new car, and they got this blue light special, they never told you about it. you were the one. it was your idea. that's exactly what this is talking about. can you rejoice with those who rejoice? or are you jealous? are you envious? are you critical? "They really think there's something. Even see me, they might want to know. Even know me anymore. You know, I really needed that." and love rejoices with those who rejoice.
and then it weeps with those who weep. sits brokenhearted. you know, here's the idea. love is not just thinking of itself. it's aware of what's going on around. and so when it sees people who are heartbroken, it's heartbroken with them. and when it sees people who are joyful, it's joyful with them. celebrating the good things, celebrating the joys of life, empathizing in the sorrows of life. and this is a strong word, "weeps." it's shedding tears. to truly shed tears. can you really enter into to the tragedy, the sorrow of people who are sorry? ours are you so caught up in your own world, your own agenda, your own, your own going on, that you can't even recognize it? genuine love, it rejoices, it weeps.
now, verse 16. "Look at this. Live in harmony with one another." I put up the New American because it is really closer to the idea of what we're talking about in the original. "Be of the same mind toward one another." the idea isn't just that you get along with one another. the idea literally in the original is that you treat everybody the same. because honestly, what can happen is, depending on a person's personality, and depending on where they're at, and kind of how they're, how they're wired, it's more of a challenge for some than others. but people can have a tendency to cater to the golden ring. so, in other words, like they're super nice to the, to the wealthy, to the influential, to the powerful, to the famous, to the celebrity, and they're trying to find that person and engage that person and be nice to that person and develop relationship with that person. and it's not that you ignore people that have those things as part of their life. it's just that you don't exclusively pursue those people at the expense of everybody else. like, you know, "I don't want to be with them because they ain't got another dollar for me. I want to be with these people over here." no, when you're a believer, you love everybody the same. people are people. and you want to be around the big shot, and the little shot, and every shot in between. you, you, because you love people. and it doesn't matter. you're not being a friend for who they are, what they have. you're a friend because they're a person, and their family, and you treat them that way. you're not to climb the ladder. and then, would you notice it says, "but associate with the lowly." so you're not proud. it's not like you're just trying to climb the ladder. you're so setting with the lowly. "Do not be wise in your own estimation." here it says, "Never be conceited." but the idea is, don't think of yourself more highly than you ought. don't, don't think, "Well, you know what? I'm just so wise, or I've really arrived in my Christian knowledge. It's really good. I'm in this Life Group because nobody knows half of what I know." that's the wrong attitude. maybe the person who knows a fraction of what you know could teach you the equivalent of more than you know. men, sometimes we get too caught up by measuring in ways that creates a competition, a superiority complex. they, that is tantamount to conceit. "Do not be wise in your own estimation."
Romans 12:17 says, "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all." now, again, this is, this is talking about in the church. this is talking, it would apply without saying to people in the world, but we're talking about people in the church. because honestly, I think we give people in the world a pass because we say, "Hey, they're not Christians, so what would you expect?" but then when a Christian does what we never thought a Christian would do, then it really sets us back. "I just can't believe they'd do that. I just, you know, I thought they were a Christian." Christians are imperfect. Christians will knowingly and unknowingly at times hurt you. they will, they will say things, they will do things that are hard to take. so they might wrong you, which is the idea of evil. if they sin against you, that they wronged you, that they say things, that they do things. first Peter says this, "Do not repay evil for evil. Do not retaliate with insults when people insult you." instead, "pay them back with a blessing." in other words, talk good about them. somebody does something unkind to you, talk good about them. here's the thing. every time you rehearse that hurt, that statement, that bad situation, here's what you're doing. you are driving it deeper into your spirit. you're allowing the root of bitterness to take hold, and it will spring up and it will defile many, the writer of Hebrews says. better rather than talking about it and saying it, just to say good about the person. rather than telling, you know, how they did you wrong, say something good about them. say something kind about them. that's what God has called you to do. and watch this. He'll say some good things about you. He'll say some good things over you. how many know you want God to say a lot of good things over you? man, that's my son. that's my daughter. hey, that was, that was good. you know what you did? that, I'll take care of you. I found this, that I can either defend myself, or I can let God defend me. and God does a way better job. so we want to be careful. first Thessalonians 5 says this, "See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people." the idea is, somebody's going to do something. now, see, say something nasty. how are you going to respond to them? how are you gonna respond in that situation? are you gonna recount it? are you gonna, are you gonna say, "You know what? I just, then I just got to get this off my chest. I just got to." and then what you do is, you simply lay it all out from your vantage point, your perspective, but you're essentially trashing them to other people. you say, "Well, I, I am..." you know, better to let it go. better to, better to simply say, "God, You saw it. You know it. And that's it." said, "I'm gonna say good." so somebody says, "Well, did you see somebody there? I guess you were gonna meet. How did that go?" "Oh, you know what? There's a..." and then you say something nice. "You know what? They have such a gift with people. They're so good with people. You know, they got a smile that lights up a room." you know, there's so many things, you know, about them. or you find the one thing that is about them that you say, "You know what? They, they, they're always able to to really..." you know, I mean, I realize sometimes it gets hard. even as I'm sitting here, I realize it's hard. some people like, "Ah, mmm. I have to think about this. What can I say?" they, mmm. I'm back to the hair. They have nice hair. You know, I mean, I got quite a head of hair. You know, I know it's hard. It is. Give me the next scripture here. Romans 12. "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to what is honorable in the sight of all." you know what that's saying? premeditate good remarks. so here's a way, a place. so, you know, like you're getting ready, going for this meeting, and you, you know, or you're around them, and you know before they've done things, they're like, "Every time we're around them, they do X." okay. so here's what you do. you know you're gonna be around them. so you think in advance, "If they do that, what good response can I have?" not good come back to them. what good response can I have that blesses them? and you say, "Man, I just don't know." well, that's why you're gonna pray. this, see, it's all gonna build your prayer life. you'll be at the prayer meeting. you'll be fasting. you'll be, you'll be doing all kinds of things. you premeditate good words. and you know, when you premeditate good words, can I tell you this? it will change how you approach that whole conversation. and you might not, you might be able to say those words way more easily than you thought you could, because the Lord sees in advance what you're going to do.
well, Romans 12:18, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." so Paul recognizes that every now and then, there are some people that are just impossible. no, Paul, Paul, hey, the Lord knows His people. He knows there are some people that only in heaven will they straighten up and fly right, you know what I'm saying? only in heaven will you really be able to get along with them. huh? can't wait for heaven. but if possible, and that covers about 99%. so there's that 1% that you know it's impossible. but if possible, "so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." in other words, never be the source of conflict, never be the source of division, never be the source of cursing, I'm talking about speaking bad about people, never be the source of hurt, never be the source of anger, never be the source of envy, never be the source of gossip, never be the source of slander. live peaceably with everybody.
then finally, genuine love, it exhibits passion, it seeks harmony, number three, it overcomes evil. it overcomes evil. 12:19, "Look at it. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God." this word "avenge" is "punish." never punish people. that's a, that's an interesting thing. never punish people. let God do it. "Vengeance is Mine," says the Lord. verse 20 puts of this was says this to the contrary, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head." so when there's somebody not nice, be nice. you say, "How do I be nice?" whatever their need is, meet it. they need a drink, get them a drink. if they're thirsty, make sure they have a drink. if they're hungry, give them food to eat. and watch this, "for by doing so you'll heap burning coals on his head." that's a, that's a very interesting scripture. I've heard a lot of people who have given different interpretations. so I did a lot of digging on this, and you know, I've heard people say, "Well, you know, and back in that day, people heated their homes with fire, and so the best thing you could do is take some of your coals and you put them, you, you would put them on their head and they'd carry them home." back then, that's dumb. nobody does that. we have no record of people carrying around coals on their head. I mean, that's, think about it. I mean, you have a wicker basket, all of a sudden your hair is on fire. I mean, that is what you do to your enemy, right? so, and if they had a metal can on their head, it'd get really, really hot. you know, so that that's ridiculous. here's what it's saying. it goes back, and it goes back millennia, actually, because you find this saying a thousand years before in the book of Proverbs. look at it. Proverbs chapter 25, "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; if you thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you." so it was a, it was a proverb that had really been around for millennia. and scholars think it goes back to the ancient Egyptians. and a custom in Egypt when Pharaoh, when he would have, so they would conquer various nations or various areas, and that king would then be subservient to Pharaoh. but if he rebelled, and the Egyptians went back in and conquered him again, what they would do is they'd bring that king before Pharaoh, and the priests, and that king would have to do a public repentance before Pharaoh. and what they'd do is, they'd take a fork, and they would drive it through his hand, and then they would affix a metal basin to his head, and they would, they would heap burning coals in it. and the idea is, it would be very painful, and he would apologize for what he had done in rebelling against Pharaoh. here's what it's saying. should go back to Romans. that when you're kind to your enemy, when you feed your enemy, when you serve your enemy, what happens is, you're introducing to your enemy, you're reminding your enemy of the shame of how they've treated you. and that's a painful thing for them. you know what it's loving for us? it's loving for us to hold people accountable. it's not loving to ignore people's wrong. but sometimes what you have to do is, sometimes nothing you say is going to make a difference. you know, sometimes there's people, they're not gonna hear what you say. they're only gonna see what you do. you know, every now and then, you go, "If your brother sins against you, go to him privately. Show him his fault." that that would be preferable. but God acknowledges sometimes there's a gulf, and, and no matter what you say, it'll be taken the wrong way. so in that time, do the right thing. be kind. be good. be gentle. be loving. be merciful. do meet their need. and when you do that, it will be like, it will be painful because it will remind them instantly, they'll be made aware of the wrong that they've done to you. that's God working in their heart.
and then he goes on and he says this in Romans 12, and verse 21, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." you know, today's Palm Sunday, and this week we're gonna be thinking, hopefully, everybody loves the Lord. you're gonna go in the Gospels, you're gonna see what Jesus went through in the days leading up to His crucifixion, and His death, and His burial, and His resurrection. and you're gonna be thinking about that. one of the things you're gonna see is, He overcame evil with good. Peter says this, "For God has called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Jesus suffered for you. He's your example, and you must follow in His footsteps. He never sinned. You never deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered. He left His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly." when they were hurling abuse at Him, when they were calling Him an illegitimate child, when they were, when they were saying He was demonized and doing miracles by the power of the devil, when they were saying He was a charlatan, when they were calling Him a sinner and a drunkard, is what they called Him, slandering Him, He never said a word back. and in fact, as the persecution of Him intensified, you know, they, when they arrested Him, they began to beat Him with their fists. we get the idea that just popped Him a few times in the mouth. the Book of Isaiah says this, Isaiah 52, I think it's verse 14, "His human form, or his human visage, was marred beyond recognition." in other words, if you saw Him, you would not have recognized Him. you wouldn't have been able to make out the features of His face. that's how beaten up He was. and then they, they whipped Him with a Roman whip to the point that it filleted the skin off of His neck, His shoulders, His back, His buttocks, His thighs. He was so disfigured and so brutally beaten that Pilate brings Him out to the people and says, "Behold the man." what He's saying is, "He doesn't even look like a man." "Surely this is enough. Surely He's almost dead. Surely that's enough." and what did they say? "No, no, no, no, no. Crucify Him. Crucify Him." so they nail Him on the cross. and as He suffers that excruciating death, we get our word "excruciating" means "out of the cross," literally. He hangs there. He musters enough breath and enough strength to say seven statements. and what's the very first statement He says? "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He blesses them. He blesses them. listen. He perfectly overcame evil with good, and He gave us an example that we'd follow in His steps. listen, genuine love, it exhibits passion, it seeks harmony, and it overcomes evil with good. and that's what Jesus did. He said, "Zeal for Your house has consumed me." He was passionate. He sought harmony to bring people together. and He overcame evil with good. that's our calling. and when you and I do that, God will bless us.