The title of the lesson this
morning is Our Attitude Towards Others. It's not just our conduct
toward others, although that's very important, but our attitude,
the believer's attitude. And we'll see as we go through
these verses, it's not just our attitude towards those who love
us, toward the folks right here in this room, but our attitude
towards those who hate us. And as always, and every time
we talk about the believer's walk and the believer's attitude,
I want us to see this as we go through these verses, that in
all things, we follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what I want us to see in these verses this morning. And we begin
in verse 9 of Romans 12. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil. Cleave
to that which is good. Now, love is the key element
of our attitude, the believer's attitude. Love is the bond, the
cement that holds the living stones together in God's temple.
If you look over Matthew 22, you see that love is the law
of Christ. Matthew 22. Love is the law of
the gospel. Matthew 22, verse 36. In verse
35, Then one of them, which was a
lawyer, asked him, ask our Lord a question, tempting him, and
saying, Master, what is the great commandment in the law? Jesus
said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is
the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets. The believer's attitude and Our
walk can be summed up in one word. Love. Love to God and love
to our brethren. And Paul says, now let your love
be sincere. Let it be without hypocrisy.
Don't let it just be for show. Let it be true love from the
heart. And we show that, if you look
over in 1 John 3, we show that attitude. We show that true,
genuine love from the heart by our actions towards one another.
In 1 John 3, verse 18. My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed, and in truth from
the heart." Let your love be without dissimulation and in
truth. And like I said a minute ago, we are to follow the example
of the love of Christ. He loved His people with a true,
sincere, eternal love from the heart. As He got ready to go
to the cross, what did He tell His disciples? Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
And what did he tell him in the very next verse? And you are
my friends. He called us. He called his people
his friends. I lay down my life for his friends. And he showed his true love from
the heart with his actions, giving his life for his friends. If
you're still in 1 John, look over in chapter 4. This true
love, it must come from Christ. It must come from God, born in
the new man. 1 John 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God,
and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. And this was manifested the love
of God toward us, because the God sent His only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through Him. Here is love,
not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. Now, beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. So let this love,
the love of Christ in your heart, be true without hypocrisy. And
hate that which is evil. Pull back from it, just like
you'd pull back from a hot stove. Just pull back from it, just
instinctively. Now, we know that believers still
I'm not saying that we get to the point we don't sin. We do
still have that sin that's in us, but we hate it. We pull back
from it. We don't condone it. And this
is a whole lot more than not condoning sin out in the world.
We don't condone that. But I'll tell you what's a whole
lot more important. That we don't condone it in us.
That I don't condone sin in me. That we don't practice it. That
we abhor it and pull back from it. And rather, Paul says, cleave
to that which is good. Be glued to that which is good
so that you won't be separated from it. You hold to the truths
that you've been taught from the Scripture. The good truths
of who God is and who we are. Don't go to places that will
hinder your spiritual growth. Go to places that won't hinder
it. Try to go places that will promote
your spiritual growth. And be careful what you fill
your mind with. You know, just like our bodies.
We are what we eat. Well, your mind is what you fill
your mind with. Fill your mind with things that
are good so that you don't deteriorate it. Now, verse 10. He goes on and says, Be kindly
affectionate one toward another with brotherly love in honor
of preferring one another. Now, we know what love all means.
But there is a special love for the brethren. We care for the
people of the world very deeply. But there's a love for the people
here that just goes beyond words. It's brotherly love. It's a love
that you have for your family. You know, as our girls have grown
up, we've told them now, sisters, love each other. You're all you've
got. Act like it. Don't quarrel with one another,
get ugly with one another. Love one another. Act like it. Treat each other like you're
very special. Treat each other like you're
important because you are. There's nobody more important
in this world than the folks in this room. Treat them that
way. And what Paul's referring to
here is what the writers talk about. It's the love that a parent
has for a child. When your children are born,
that baby first comes into the world, that love Just comes so
naturally. It's from the heart. You're just
overwhelmed. You never knew love like that before. That baby comes
in this world. The doctor, the nurse puts that baby in your
arms. Oh my goodness. You didn't know love like that
existed. You don't have to think about
it. You don't have to think, well, I better start loving this thing and wonder
how. No, it just comes from the heart. Oh, you love them. It's
just a natural reaction. That's the way we're to love
one another. Just a natural reaction. And it does come naturally from
the new heart that God gives. You can't conjure it up from
that old dead heart. But it comes naturally from the
heart that God gives. And we're to prefer one another.
To give preference to one another. To honor one another. To prefer
that others get recognition. Rather than ourselves. We're
to look for ways to promote one another. Isn't that what a parent
does? Parents will go all day promoting
their children. I mean, you just give them half
a chance. They'll promote their children and, you know, not themselves,
but their children. Well, that's what we're here
to do with one another. Promote one another. Both in public and
in private. See, this is not just something
we put on as a show when we're out in public. But genuinely. Because this is our attitude.
Not to talk so much about our conduct, but our attitude. If
the Lord gives us the right attitude, our conduct will be just fine,
if it's the right attitude. And we do this publicly and privately.
Henry said this in his outline, this is very good. A man's character
is not always revealed in what others say about him. You hope
somebody says good things about you, but it's not always revealed
in what men say about him, but in what he says privately about
others. That's where you find out somebody's
true attitude, what they say about somebody when nobody else
is around. So have this be the right attitude. And we're warned
now. Don't get a false sense of humility
and say, well, everybody else does things better than me, so
I just won't do anything. No, because look what he says
in verse 11. Not slothful in business, fervent
in spirit, serving the Lord. Not slothful in business. Now,
he's not referring to the workplace where you're going to go tomorrow
morning, although it does apply. When you go to work, you're not
supposed to be slothful. Put in a good day's work. You
know what I'm saying. But what he's referring to here
is not the workplace. It's the church. It's the business
of the church, the activity of the church. Don't be slothful
in those things. If we become slothful about the
business of the church, We'll let the worship of the Lord,
and that's the business of the church, the preaching of the
gospel, the worship of the Lord. If we become slothful about these
things, it'll turn to dry religion. It'll turn to form and ceremony
instead of worship. If we become slothful and careless
about it, supporting the preaching of the gospel, don't be slothful
about that. Don't be slothful about reading
God's Word. Don't just read it because, well,
I've got to read a chapter every day. Don't be slothful about
it. This is precious. Don't be slothful about prayer,
praying to our Father, singing the hymns of praise and worship.
Don't be slothful about preaching. All these things are not to be
done out of habit, because it's what we do on Sunday morning,
but out of a zeal, a fervent zeal for serving the Lord. Wherever
it is God put us, serving. And this again is the example
of Christ, even as a boy. Didn't He tell His parents, I
must be about my Father's business. Look back in John chapter 2. Follow the example of our Lord
in Zeal. John chapter 2, verse 13. And the Jews' Passover was at
hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those
that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money
sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he
drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen,
and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables,
and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence,
and make not my father's house a house of merchandise. And His
disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine
house hath eaten thee up. Now I read that this week and
I thought about it. And I'm not telling us, the Scripture's not
telling us to go look for people to drive out of the house of
the Lord. That's not our business. It's not our business to separate
the wheat and the chaff. That's the Lord's business. But
I tell you what we are to do, we're to drive these attitudes
out of ourselves. Out of my own heart, drive these
attitudes out. that our Father's house is not
a house of merchandise, but that it will remain a house of worship.
That's where we're to be diligent. Now, verse 12, back in Romans
12, he says, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing
instant in prayer. Rejoice in hope. What's the believer's
hope? Salvation in Christ. Forgiveness
of sins in the blood. To awaken the likeness of Christ
one day. Paul said, Christ in you, the
hope of glory. That ought to cause us to rejoice.
That's a good hope to rejoice in. And Paul first lists hope. Then he mentions trials. Be patient
in trials. Now, nothing gives more patience,
especially in trial, than a true hope and a rest in Christ. And
we're to bear trials patiently. I looked up this word patient.
It means calmly without complaint. Secondly, it means not being
hasty. And third, it means steadfast
despite difficulty. That's patience and hope. To
bear calmly without complaint. That takes grace. To not be hasty. I'm a hasty person. I mean, I
am a hasty person. I go through like nine miles
an hour with my hair on fire. and really can't enjoy it any
other way. That's just the way I'm wired. Don't be hasty now. Let this trial have its perfect
work. And be steadfast despite difficulty. It's easy to be steadfast when
the winds aren't blowing. But when the waves come and the
winds blow, then pray for patience. Be steadfast. And we're to bear
this trial patiently. The only way we can bear it patiently
is God's grace is sufficient for us. And again, isn't this
an example of our Lord? How He bore so patiently with
His disciples. How He bears patiently with us.
How patiently He suffered that mock trial. How patiently He
bore the suffering that was His. The cup of suffering. Bore it
patiently. And then, Paul, this prayer.
Now, every believer loves to pray. But I'll tell you, nothing
will drive you to true prayer, like trial. Then we'll pray. And prayer is a necessity of
every single day. Paul told the Thessalonians,
pray without ceasing. But in the day of trial, prayer
is so important. And again, the Lord Jesus is
our example. He was a man of prayer. How many
times do we read about Him going off alone to pray, to pray, to
pray, talking to the Father. It's a necessity to the believer
just like air is to our fleshly body. And then verse 13 says,
distributing to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. Distributing to the necessity
of the saints. If a brother's in need, we do whatever we can
to relieve that need, to relieve his hurting. Whether it's financially
or it could be emotionally, a kind word. Whatever we can do to relieve
that need, that suffering, we do. And if there's real love,
if there's real love in the heart, that's what we'll do. You're
not part of the body of Christ if you don't act instinctively
to help the need of a brother. You ever had a cramp in your
foot? I get cramps in my feet. And when those things come up,
I'm sitting there in the evening, all comfortable, you know, my
feet propped up, watching TV, and I get a cramp in my foot.
I start to see those toes separating. I mean, oh, it hurts. Well, you
know, my hands don't think, am I going to go rub that thing?
My back, you know, is it a thing where I'm going to stoop over
to rub that thing? No, the body acts instinctively
to that part that's hurting to help relieve it. We're the body
of Christ. When one part hurts, we all hurt.
Now, that's not just words. When one part of the body hurts,
we all hurt and that part Other parts of the body instinctively
act to help the part that's hurting. That's what he's saying there.
And we do this out of true love. Look over 2 Corinthians 8. We
prove our love. We prove that attitude by our
actions to help our brothers. 2 Corinthians 8 verse 6. Paul here has been talking about
the churches of Macedonia giving out of their want and necessity
to help to minister to the saints. And he says here in verse 6,
insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would
also finish in you this same grace also, this grace of giving.
Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, and in utterance, and
in knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that
you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but
by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity
of your love. And here is the example that
we follow. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might be rich. And that is the example
that we are to follow. How many times do we read in
scripture of the Lord Jesus feeding the thousands? Destitute, He
feeds them. He'd heal all that needed healing.
That's the example that we're to follow. We're to be given
to hospitality. Love will make believers open
their homes as a hotel for believers. And look over Matthew 25. Here's
the description of the believer's attitude and walk through this
life. They don't do it for recognition. They don't do it for praise.
It's out of love. Love for Christ and love for
His people. Matthew 25, verse 34. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was in hunger, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye
gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took
me in. Naked, and ye clothed me. I was
sick, and ye visited me. I was in prison, and ye came
unto me. And ye know the rest of it. Then shall the righteous
say, When do we do all that? See, they weren't doing that
for recognition. It was out of an attitude of love. And He told
them, in that you've done to the least of these My brethren,
you've done it unto Me. Because we're part of the same
body. We're the body, He's the head. That's the description
of the believer's walk. To give, to do what they can
to meet the need. All those different needs we
read about. Whether they're hungry or thirsty or in prison or sick
or naked. The rest of the body reacted
to meet those needs. Oh, verse 14, back in our text.
Paul switches gears a little bit here. He says, Bless them
which persecute you. Bless and curse not. Now, honestly,
it's easy to love the brethren. It's easy to love those that
love you. It's easy, isn't it? It's easy
to love everyone. We have such a warm fellowship
here. What's easy here? Everybody loves you. How can
you not be nice to them? But what about unbelievers? What about those who are without?
We're to have the same attitude towards them too. And not just
unbelievers. What about those that hate you?
What about those that hate the gospel that you preach? What
about those that hate the Lord who saved you? That's a horse
of a different color. That's not natural to the heart
that we're born with. That's not natural to human nature.
We're to pray a blessing on those people. Even though they hate
you and they hate the gospel that you love, we're to pray
a blessing for them. We're not to pray that the Lord
will kill them. We're not to pray that the Lord will judge them.
We're not to pray that the Lord will send some great calamity
on them that will open the earth up and swallow them up. Although
we might think that would make our life easier, that's not the
way we're to pray. We're to pray that the Lord will
have mercy on them. That's the way we're to pray.
And that's the way Stephen prayed as he was being stoned. He said,
Lord, lay not this tooth there at charge. Why did He pray that
way? That's the example of our Lord. Father, forgive them. Aren't you thankful? Father,
forgive them. That's our only hope, that we
be forgiven. And He's not just talking about
those folks there at the foot of the cross. That would have
been me if I'd have been there. Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. We should be a forgiving people,
shouldn't we? Now verse 15, he says, Now be of the same mind
one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend
to men of low estate, and be not wise in your own conceits. I'm sorry, I skipped a verse,
didn't I? Verse 15, Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep
with them that weep. Believers are part of the same
body. Like I said a minute ago, when one hurts, we all hurt. And when one rejoices, we all
rejoice. Now, don't be slothful about this. Be active. You hurt,
you weep with those who are hurting and laugh with those. The Lord
gives someone reason for rejoicing. You rejoice with them. And again,
this is the example of our Lord. We find Him rejoicing with the
happy couple at the wedding feast. And we find Him at the tomb of
Lazarus weeping with Mary and Martha, with the sisters. Now,
verse 16, He says, Be of the same mind. Be united in mind
and heart and attitude. We can't love all the brethren
with the same degree of love, because some of us just aren't
as lovable as others. Now, we ought to try to be lovable,
but some of us aren't. But we can love one another with
the same kind of love, the same kind of affection. And don't
mind high things. Don't desire the high things
or places of preeminence, especially in God's church. Don't look for
those things. The condescending men of Lowell
stated, you know grace, we call ourselves sovereign gracers,
Ashland Grace Church. Grace ought to make us, prevent
us from being snobs, shouldn't it? Grace should prevent us from
looking down our nose at other people. We claim to believe total
depravity. The first point in Calvinism,
T, total depravity. We need to remember that includes
me. Yeah, I grew up a Calvinist. I've always been a Calvinist.
I've always been a five point Calvinist. I always believed
all men were totally depraved. And one day, Lord, show me I'm
totally depraved. Oh, that changes everything,
doesn't it? I'm totally depraved. Nobody
is below me. I don't have to condescend to
be with anybody. Nobody's below me. We're all totally depraved.
And it do us well to remember constantly how unworthy we are. And we need to remember how valuable
a brother is. Oh, a brother or sister in Christ
is so valuable. A diamond is worth just as much
when it's laying in the dust or it's set on a fancy ring.
It's just as valuable. That's where our brother, wherever
you find him, he's valuable. And the writers say what this
is referring to is travelers taking long journeys. A big group
of them traveling together. Some are younger and stronger
and faster than the others, but they hang back to be with those
who are weak, those who are sick, so that the group can stay together.
And we just need to remember, now as we're pilgrims traveling
through here, hang back a little bit to be with those who are
weaker. Somebody might have a rock in their shoe. Somebody might
have turned their ankle and be limping. We'll help them along. That's what we've seen. And don't
just want to be in the place of the preeminence. Be willing
to do whatever it is the Lord gives us to do, regardless of
if we think it's a low task or not. Didn't our Lord wash the
disciples' feet? How far did the Lord condescend
to save us? How far did He condescend to
come down and take on our flesh? Well, we don't have to descend
near that far to help anybody, do we? And when the Lord blesses,
and He blesses His people, let's remember, that ought not puff
us up with pride. Well, the Lord blessed you. Well,
that ought not puff us up with pride. That ought to humble us
because the Lord gave us something we didn't deserve. Again and
again and again and again. When the Lord promised David,
I'm going to establish your throne. I'm going to raise a son up after
you to sit on your throne. What did David do? He turned
around and said, well, I'm royalty. My family's royalty. We're set.
David fell on his face. He said, Lord, who am I? And
what is my house that you should talk this way about my family?
And don't be wise in your own conceits now. We need to remember
we're never as smart as we think we are. The best we'll ever rise
to is knowing in part. And if we think we're too wise,
you know what will happen? We won't receive instruction.
And if we think we're too wise, we've made ourselves of no use
to God's church, to His people. Don't get too wise now. In verse
17, recompense to no man evil for evil. But provide things
honest in the sight of all men. Getting even. Revenge is human
nature. I mean, we just react to that
to get even just as fast as we do anything. But revenge is contrary
to grace. We'll see more of that here in
just a minute. He says, provide things that are honest. Honesty
and integrity is so important. I stress that to my girls all
the time. Integrity is so important. You keep your word and you do
the right thing. People have a problem knowing
what's the right thing or the wrong thing to do. They have
a problem doing the right thing if it'll cost them. I don't care
what it costs you. You do the right thing now. Integrity. Paul said this in 1 Thessalonians.
He said, abstain from all appearance of evil. Don't even give the
appearance that you're doing something underhanded. And again,
this is in public and in private too. You just keep your integrity. I read this somewhere. Personally,
a good conscience is sufficient. Do you know you've done the right
thing? Personally, good conscience is sufficient. But for our friends
and neighbors, a good reputation is a necessity. that they know
they've seen the things that you've done. Integrity and honesty. Now verse 18, if it be possible,
as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. As much
as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Don't pick a fight
with people. And don't give them a reason
to keep the fight going. Just be a peaceable person. Don't
give somebody a reason to go to war with you. Now obviously,
Doesn't mean that we have peace by compromising the gospel. You
can't do that. You're not going to compromise
the gospel. But that can even be done without fighting people,
being ugly about it. Don't use the gospel as a weapon
in your own personal warfare. Just ignore them as much as you
possibly can. Just ignore them and don't respond.
And eventually they'll quit because they want to fight. If you don't
fight them, they'll go fight somebody else who will. And again,
isn't this the example of our Lord Jesus? A peaceable man. He never gave anybody cause to
hate him. Now, people did, but he never
gave them just cause to hate him. When he was reviled, he
reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not. Verse 19, Now dearly beloved,
avenge not yourself, but rather give place unto wrath. For it
is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.
Therefore, if thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst, give
him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap
coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good. Now revenge not again." Getting
even, tit for tat, all that ever does is escalate hostilities.
Scripture says rather give place to wrath. And what he's talking
about here is if you take a rock and you throw it at a pillow,
the pillow just absorbs the blow. It just absorbs the wrath of
the rock. Unlike a brick wall, it will throw it back. Or a hard
heart, it will throw it back. Just give place to wrath. Give
it some space now. It is a good idea a lot of times
to count to ten before you respond. Just give it a little space.
You'll respond better when tempers cool just a little bit. When
you have people say, what about an eye for an eye? What about
an eye for an eye? Look over Matthew 5. Matthew 5, verse 38. Here's the law of love. Our Lord
says, you've heard that it has been said an eye for an eye and
a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you that you resist
not evil. But whosoever shall smite thee
on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man
will sue thee at law and take thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile with him, go
too. Give to him that asketh from thee, and from him that
would borrow of thee, turn not thou away." That's the law of
love. And remember, vengeance is not
ours. Vengeance belongs to God. He's
got the wisdom. to do right. I'd make a mess
of things. And instead of tit for tat with your enemy, be kind
to him. Kill him with kindness. Because
if he doesn't respond to your kindness, his judgment will be
greater. But that's not our real goal,
is it? To add to his condemnation? Could be he'll melt his heart
and make a friend. And that would be better for
both of you, wouldn't it? See, our anger will never, ever,
ever win the heart of the enemy. But your kindness might. It just
might. And instead of attacking the
enemy and trying to crush him, pray for him. Maybe the Lord
will have mercy. Soften his heart. He did yours.
Maybe He will our enemies too. And aren't you thankful that
the Lord prayed for His enemies? He died for His enemies. Well,
maybe we can learn to pray for Him and be a little forgiving
and give a little bit. And be not overcome. with evil. Don't be overcome of the evil
one. And don't let your actions be overcome by the evil that's
in you. The evil that we're born with.
The evil that we won't put away because the body's in the ground.
Don't be overcome with it. But overcome evil with good.
With the right attitude. Alright. The Lord bless you.