Turn with me if you would to
Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, this is going
to be a true example of a Sunday school lesson. We're going to
be looking at some of the things that we need to do. The apostle
Paul has listed some things here and I want to take our time with
them and really enter into what he's saying and what he means
by some of these exhortations. Each time that we have been in
Romans 12, we've been in Romans 12, I believe three times already. And we've pointed out that these
exhortations are only the responses to Christ's work. I want to make
that so clear. If anyone was to pick up with
us right now and had not heard the things that we had said previously,
I would want everyone to know that anything that we do, any
exhortation to us, is only a response to Christ's work. It's just only a loving reaction
to what He has done for us. We do not do anything for salvation. We don't do anything. Everything that we do is because
of salvation. Our Lord has recorded many good
works, He calls them. He calls them good works. And
as we even repeat that, we know there's none good but God. Only
one has done good works, the one great work especially. But
we do these things because of His great work, because of His
good works. If we have a heart to do any
of these things, it's only because of Christ. So Christ is the example
in all of this, and we see Christ in all of this. We see the gospel
of Christ. He is speaking to us. And one
man used to make the statement that the scriptures are bifocal,
and it's so true. They show us the gospel message
of Christ, and they speak directly to us in light of the gospel
message of Christ. So He's speaking to us, but we
can see Christ crucified in everything that's said right here. Romans
12, verse 1, Paul said, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service." He is saying that to us. He's saying that to us. Present your bodies a living
sacrifice. Make this body to be a sacrifice
to Him. Everything sacrificed unto Him.
But that's Christ. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's exactly what Christ did. He presented His body. And aren't we so glad? He said,
a body hast thou prepared me. And he presented his body, a
living sacrifice. It was holy and it was acceptable
to God. We can't do that. We can't do
that. Not to the standard of perfection
that God demands, the standard that he will accept into his
presence. So Christ came and did it for
us. He obeyed every command, every
demand of God for us. And in doing that, He made us
acceptable. He redeemed us by His blood. He made us to be a
part of His body, united with Him, a part of His family, a
part of His kingdom. And every soul that he did that
for, he goes on to tell us, Paul goes on to say, that he's given
every member of this body now gifts and abilities, and it's
for the service and the good of the body, as Christ has done
for us. And that's his command to us.
As Christ has done for us, his command, as a loving response
to that is, let's do these things for each other. In verse six,
Romans 12, verse six, the apostle Paul said, having then gifts
differing according to the grace that is given to us. God gives
gifts to his people. And the first one that he mentions
right here is preaching some, he said, they're different to
different ones. And to some, he gives the gift
of preaching. He said, whether prophecy, let
us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Christ was that prophet. He was that prophet. They asked
John the Baptist, are you that prophet? And John said, oh no.
No, Christ is that prophet. And here's the truth of the matter.
Christ is still that prophet. Here I stand, by His grace, I
can do no other. But if we are going to be preached
to this morning, He's gonna have to do it. He's gonna have to
speak to us. He's gonna have to bless the
word to our hearts. But because He was that prophet to us, The
exhortation is, let us in turn preach this gospel of peace to
each other. He'll still have to be the prophet
to whoever we preach it to, but he uses these means to call his
people. That's just our loving response. In verses seven and eight, he
mentions ministering, teaching, exhorting, giving, ruling, and
showing mercy. Every bit of that is Christ.
He said, I didn't come to be ministered to. I didn't come
for you to minister to me. He said, I came to minister.
He came to give. He came to show mercy. And because
of all that, because he did that for us, let us in turn as his
humble servants, out of thanks, out of love, out of obedience
to Him. Let's do that for each other.
Accomplish those things for each other, for the ministry of the
gospel. And Paul is telling us here, let's do it with all of
our might, all of our might. The end of verse one, he said,
this is our reasonable service. All of these things are our reasonable
service. I think about that as I stand
here and preach. I think about that as I study, and what a reasonable service. What a reasonable service. You
know, our Lord had such mercy on that demoniac Gadarean man
living in the tombs, and he said, now, you just go tell everybody
how great things the Lord has done for you. What a reasonable
service. You go tell what Christ has done
for you. Well, that's how it is for all
of these gifts, our reasonable service. Last time I had notes
on all of these and I didn't get to them. We focused pretty
much our whole time on preaching. And I'm glad we did. I believe
that that one perfectly illustrated the fact that all of these gifts
are not given to us to be consumed of ourselves. None of these gifts
are given to us to be consumed of ourselves. They are given
to us to be used in the body. If a man is a true preacher,
I say this slaying myself. If a man is a true preacher,
God has to call him to preach. And God's Holy Spirit has to
give him a message. It has to be of God. And that
is a gift. And I know it's a gift, because
a lot of times I'll think, well, I'm going to sit down and write
out an outline. And it doesn't happen. And I think, and I write,
and I scribble, and I wad up, and I throw away, and I start
over, and I search. And my dad will call me, and
he'll say, what are you doing? I say, I feel like I've turned
to every book in the Bible, searching. And you get to that place where
you realize, all I can do is just fold my arms and wait. and beg, Lord, please speak to
me. And in his time, when he's ready, there's the message. It's
a gift that he gives and that message cannot be consumed on
myself. It is given for the good and
the prosperity and the growth of the body. That's why he gave
it. He gave it for his people. All
things are given for that reason. All things, everything. Paul
illustrated the human body. He said, just like we have so
many different members in this human body, not one member is
working for itself individually. Everything is working together
for the good and the prosperity of the body. And he said, that's
how it is in the spiritual body. Look at verse four. He said,
as we have many members in one body and all members have not
the same office. So we being many are one body
in Christ. And every one members one of
another, having then gifts differing according to the grace that's
given to us, whether prophecy let us prophesy according to
the proportion of faith. So I believe that's clear. God
does not give us these things to be consumed of our own. He
gives us these things to be given to his people. And that applies
to all of these. Now we're gonna pick up with
verse seven. The first one he mentions in
verse seven is ministering. Verse seven says, or ministry,
let us wait on our ministering. Ministry means service. It means work. It means maintenance. Last time I mentioned that, that's
what a deacon does. You know, you hear about men
being made deacons in a church. Well, truthfully, every man and
woman here ought to be a deacon in the church. We're all deacons.
A deacon is a person who handles things. A deacon is a person
who sees something that needs to be done and does it for the
service and the work and the profit of the ministry. What
Paul is saying right here is if God has given us the ability,
that capability to help, then let's help. Let's help all of
us. Let's get involved. He said,
it's our reasonable service. We all have different gifts.
Some of you men, I've had different ones of you try to explain electricity
to me. I don't get it. I just don't
get it. I do get plumbing, but I'm afraid
to do it because I don't have confidence in myself. I don't
feel like I have those gifts, but If you do the plumbing, I
can clean up after you. Or if you need me to run to Home
Depot, I can do that. Whatever it may be, they're all
different. But in whatever way we can, it's
our reasonable service. And not only that, it's our blessing.
It's our blessing. I wanted to be out there yesterday
so badly. I felt guilty for not being there. I was studying,
which you shouldn't feel guilty for that. He was a little bit
selfish because I just wanted to be there. I just wanted to
be with everybody. I'm sure it was a blessing for
all those who were there. Whatever our ability is, we can
always find something for our hand to do. And when we do, we
can do it with all our might and we should do it with all
our might. The ministry needs laborers. The ministry needs
laborers, and a lot of laborers. I think about ants. Buddy, they're
all laborers. Not just one pastor and a couple
of men to do everything. The ministry needs laborers,
laborers. Our Lord is the one who said
that. Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew 9. Matthew 9, verse 36. It says, But when our Lord saw
the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because
they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then said He unto His disciples,
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray
ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth
laborers into his harvest. Now I've always just seen that
as preachers. Always, I have always just seen
that as preachers. But when I turned to that and
read it, I realized he didn't just say preachers, he said laborers. Laborers, the ministry needs
laborers of all kinds, of all ages. Men and women. Let me show you in Romans 16. Turn with me over there. Romans 16, verse 1, Paul said,
I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant of
the church, which is at Sincreia. He said, she's a servant of the
church there. He said, I commend her unto you that you receive
her in the Lord as becometh saints, and that you assist her in whatsoever
business she hath need of you. For she hath been a succorer,
that means a helper. She's been a comfort, she's been
a support. of many and of myself also."
He said, greet Priscilla and Aquila, this man and his wife.
He said, they're my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my
life laid down their own necks unto whom not only I give thanks,
but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet
the church that is in their house, Salute my well-beloved Eponetus,
who is the first fruits of Achaia unto Christ. He said, greet Mary,
who bestowed much labor on us. And then he goes on down, you
can see all of these names. With each one, he's saying, salute
them. Salute all of these people. If you look at the end of verse
12, which labored much in the Lord. labored much in the Lord. I want that to be said of us. I truly do. I want that to be
said of us. They labored much in the Lord. Look with me at
Philippians chapter 4. Philippians 4, verse 3. Paul
said, and I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those
women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also,
and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of
life. Now, how did these men and women labor? We know that
especially the women, they weren't preachers. All these men weren't
preachers. How did they labor in the ministry? They labored in doing the things
that needed to be done for the success of the gospel message. That's what they did. whatever
needed to be done for the success of the gospel message, for the
profitable service of the ministry. I'm not this ministry. It doesn't revolve around me.
It revolves around Jesus Christ. All I am is the mouth of this
particular body. You all are the ear. We're also,
all of us are the hands. May God make us to be the feet.
May God make us to be the heart. But whatever needs to be done
for the profitable service of the ministering of the gospel,
the work of the gospel. If a man desires the office of
a bishop, he desires a good work. That's what this is. A work,
and I'm sure that all of these men and women, I'm sure all of
them, I think about Lydia. Buddy, she wouldn't take no for
an answer. I'm sure Paul and Silas said, we'll grab a hotel.
She said, no, no, no, you're coming into my house. And I'm
sure they all cooked. I'm sure they cleaned. I'm sure
they housed. I'm sure they entertained. I'm
sure they traveled with. That's what Aquila and Priscilla
did. Paul's life was constantly in danger and they ran interference
for him. They helped him escape in baskets
and whatever needed to be done to keep that gospel message going.
And he said, all the Gentile churches thank Priscilla and
Aquila or we wouldn't have these letters. They took care of locally the
things that needed to be done. They took care of their building.
You all do such a wonderful job at keeping this building clean
and maintained. You don't know how important
that is. You just don't know how important
that is. It's obvious that you care what our house of worship
looks like for our worship. It's obvious to me, you men care
about how that yard looks to everybody who drives by. It says,
we're serious about this. We're serious about our worship.
We're serious about this ministry. It tells everybody, these people
care and reverence and honor and serve the God that they're
worshiping. All of you ladies, and now some
of our young ladies, When you keep that nursery down there, in that moment that you keep
that nursery, you are helping me in the ministering of the
gospel. We've all been in congregations
before where they don't have a nursery. And if a congregation
doesn't, I feel sorry for them. I pray the Lord will open up
a way for them to get one. But we know the distractions
that come from having infants in the same room with you. Just
so many distractions. And because of your help, Paul
said, they were helping me. We were doing this together because
of your labor down there. We are, with whatever ability
he'll give us, trying to very clearly preach the ministry of
the gospel. So Paul was telling them, you
salute them, salute them, salute them. Thank you. Thank you for
your labor. I just want to point out that
every service that is done in the service of this ministry,
it is a service of, and it's a service to the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, in as much as you have
done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, or done
it for them, you've done it to me. You've done it for me. So let's keep doing it. Knowing
that, let's just keep doing it. Let's do all that we can in it.
All right, go with me back to Romans 12. The next gift that he mentions
is teaching. Verse seven, he said, or ministry,
let us wait on our ministering. or he that teacheth on teaching. Last time, I just kind of touched
on those. I went through them very quickly,
but I pointed out the fact that teaching needs to be taken just
as seriously as preaching. That goes for any age. That goes
for us adults all the way down to the preschoolers. We need
to study. We need to be prepared. We need
to take this very, very seriously. It has really been impressed
on me as I've dwelt on these and thought about these and studied
these. It's really become impressed on me that if God has called
us to teach His Word to His people, then We need to teach all of
His Word to His people. I'm teaching right now. The Lord
willing in a moment I'll be preaching. But I'm not the only one who
does this here. I'm not the only one who's been given that gift
and called to do it. We have some other men and I
pray the Lord in time will raise up more. And we need to hear
all of us who do it now From the teaching point of view and
all of us who are hearing this and all who may be called to
do this in the future, we need to understand that if God has
called us to teach what He wants His people to know, this is a
huge responsibility. Sometimes we see things and think,
well, we'll just kind of skip through that. Or, uh, you know,
I've heard, especially men who are not true preachers, they'll
get to election. They'll say, well, we'll just skip over that
entirely. We can't do that. We just cannot do that. We must
teach everything that God has to say to his people. We cannot
leave any of it out. And here's the reason why. It will not be good and profitable
for his body. God teaches us things because
we profit from it. We teach our children things
because they profit from it. They grow from it. No matter
how difficult some of these things can be, I know we would all rather
profit from them than not be taught them. It can be extremely difficult
sometimes. I'm speaking on behalf of every
man who's had to stand up here. Buddy, this is a tough place
to be. And it can be extremely difficult
sometimes to stand up here in front of everybody and teach
on the subject of fornication, which is rampant. Or teach on the subject of adultery. Or teach on the subject of divorce. Or teach on the subject of the
absolute vital importance of attending the worship of God.
Or teaching on the subject of money. But here's the thing about it.
Here's the thing about it. If God has called us to from
his word, we're not teaching our opinion on anything. Well,
I think we ought to. No, no, no. If God has called
us to from his word, just tell his people what he has to say
to them, then we must faithfully do it. We must faithfully do
it. We must teach everything that
He has taught us in His Word. We can't tiptoe around what He
has to teach His people in His Word. We cannot apologize for
what He has to teach His people in His Word. It's not our place
to do that. All we are is that answer machine.
You know, used to, you could go to Walmart and buy an answer
machine. That machine had nothing to do with the messenger or the
messagee. It's just a vehicle, just a vessel. And it's not our place. We can't
try to explain away or diminish the importance of what He has
taught His people in His Word. We can't just teach bits and
pieces of it. for the good and the prosperity
of his body. If God has called us to teach
his word, then we must faithfully teach all of it. And in the process,
I'm begging you to remember me and pray for me. Brethren, pray
for us that I might open my mouth boldly as I speak. So pray for
me in this, pray for all of us in this. All right. Well, I did it again. Let's do one more. The next gift that he mentions
is exhorting in verse eight. He that exhorteth on exhortation,
exhorting means inviting. It means calling near. It means
witnessing. Some have truly been given that
gift, but I hope this will be a help and an encouragement to
all of us concerning witnessing. There was a time in my life,
and I believe many will be able to relate to this. There was
a time in my life when I thought that all communication of the
gospel with unbelievers would end up in strifeful communication. I just had my mind set. It's
just going to go bad. You know, the subject comes up
and you just get ready. Here we go. Well, that's a wrong approach.
All right. I was taught. Thankfully, the
Lord used a preacher to teach me. That's a wrong approach. I was expecting men and women
to not believe it. And there has been a time in
all of our lives, I'm sure, when we thought you're not going to
believe it. I'll tell you, but you're not going to believe it.
That's a wrong approach. Let's not do that. When I first
started preaching, one of the things that was said to me, wisely
told to me, was expect men and women to believe it. This is
the best approach. This is the best approach. I
was told when you preach to people and when you witness to people,
do it joyfully. Expecting men and women not to
believe it and love it, not just believe it, but love it. Expect
men and women to love it. The gospel of Christ crucified
is a glorious message. It's the most wonderful message
ever told. The good news of what God has
done for sinners in the blood of Christ. That's what we're
telling. Such great news of what God has done for sinners. It's
a glorious message. And there's no reason for sinners
to hate it. There's no reason, there's no
excuse for a sinner to hate it. It's a message of love. It's
a message of peace. It's a message of a free gift. It's a free gift. And as we witness
it to people, We need to be patient with them. They're going to say
things that are ignorant and arrogant. And so have we. And so have we. But God was patient
with us. He was long suffering toward
us. And as we witness to people, we need to be patient with them.
We need to give everything time to see if God's spirit is going
to bless it to their hearts. He blessed it to our hearts.
He didn't allow us to hate it and reject it. Just like John
Newton said, he said, I'll never despair of anybody since God
saved me. Never. Our Lord told his disciples,
he said, when you come to a house, speak peace to it. And he said,
if they receive it, stay with them and keep speaking peace
to them. I'll show you this real quick
and we'll be done. Go with me to 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2,
verse 24. It says, The servant of the Lord
must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Now God knows who He's gonna
give repentance to, but we don't. We don't know who has a big,
they don't have big E on their forehead, we don't. So just be
patient, wait and see if that's one of the ones that God has
purpose to give repentance to. One more, go to 1 Thessalonians
2. 1 Thessalonians 2. The heading at the top of my
page here says, in what manner Paul preached the gospel, the
way the gospel was brought. Verse 7, 1 Thessalonians 2 verse
7, he said, we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth
her children. So being affectionately desirous
of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel
of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear
unto us. That's a loving witness. It's a loving witness. I pray
God will give all of us that gift. That's a gift. And I pray
he'll give it to us to witness the gospel in that way. Everybody's
not gonna love it. Some are gonna want war. But
let the war come after they hear the gospel. Let's not be the
one who brings the fight in. Let them reject the gospel and
not us. All right, okay, we'll stop there
and we'll pick it back up next time. You're dismissed. I've run over, so we need to
have a quick turnaround.