Results of Redemption

Q: What does the Bible say about the results of redemption?

The Bible teaches that the results of redemption are seen in the transformed life of a believer, manifested through grace-filled attitudes and actions. In Romans 12, the Apostle Paul discusses the results of redemption, emphasizing how the doctrines of grace should influence the believer's conduct. When grace takes root in the heart, it inevitably produces godliness in one's life. This transformation is not merely about external changes but reflects a deep-seated change in motivation and behavior inspired by love for God and others. A true believer's life becomes a living sacrifice, demonstrating God’s mercy through genuine kindness, humility, and compassion in their interactions both within the church and in daily life. Ephesians 4-6 reinforces this message by calling believers to walk in a manner that reflects their calling.

Q: How do we know that grace leads to godliness?

We know grace leads to godliness through the transformation it brings in the heart, which is evident in a believer's actions and attitudes. The connection between grace and godliness can be observed in how believers respond to God's mercy. As shared in Romans 12, when a person has genuinely experienced God's grace, it becomes the driving force for their actions. Grace leads to a life that is characterized by love, kindness, and genuine concern for others. The Apostle Paul emphasizes this relationship, asserting that if grace is in the heart, it will manifest in the life of the believer. This transformative grace doesn't push believers to act out of obligation, but fosters a deep desire to live in a manner that glorifies God and serves others. Therefore, a believer’s life becomes a testimony to the power of grace at work within them, showcasing a life of holiness that stems from a heartfelt relationship with Christ.

Q: Why is humility important for Christians?

Humility is vital for Christians as it reflects Christ's character and maintains proper relationships within the body of believers. In the context of Christian living, humility is known as the crowning grace that shapes a believer's interactions and attitudes. As presented in Romans 12, Christians are warned against pride, which can distort one's relationship with God and others. Humility acknowledges that all believers are shaped by God's grace, and it fosters unity within the body of Christ. The Apostle Paul highlights that all gifts and abilities are granted by God, promoting a spirit of service over self-importance. Without humility, believers can gravitate towards self-righteousness, which diminishes the witness of the gospel. By embodying humility, Christians reflect the character of Christ and truly serve the needs of fellow believers, thereby living out the teachings of Scripture.

Q: What does presenting your body as a living sacrifice mean?

Presenting your body as a living sacrifice means dedicating every aspect of your life to God as an act of worship and service. When Paul urges believers to present their bodies as living sacrifices in Romans 12:1, he calls for a complete dedication to God. This concept goes beyond merely outward acts; it encompasses how one engages their entire being—mind, heart, and body—in service to God. This dedication includes making choices that honor Christ in everyday life, whether at home, at church, or in the workplace. By doing this, believers are not only acknowledging God’s mercy in their lives but are also expressing a heartfelt surrender to His will. It reflects a commitment that is alive and active, demonstrating faith through loving actions and attitudes. This sacrifice is seen as a 'reasonable service,' suggesting that such dedication is a natural response to the love and grace received from God.

Now in chapter 12, the apostle
turns to the results of redemption, that which takes place when these
doctrines of grace become an experience in the heart. And he deals in this chapter
with the believer's life of grace and godliness and generosity. and the believer's attitude and
spirit and walk and treatment of others. And he deals in this
chapter with the believer's conduct, his general conduct in the home,
in the church, in the office, wherever you find a believer.
He does the same thing in the book of Ephesians. Most all of
us are very familiar with chapter 1 of Ephesians. It talks about
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, you know, elect
in Christ, redeemed in Christ. Chapter 2, you who were dead
hath He quickened. Chapter 3, but then in chapters
4, 5, and 6, the apostle begins to single out husbands, wives,
children, parents, employers, employees, servants, masters,
preachers, people, and calls on us to walk in a way worthy
of this vocation. He deals with the attitude and
spirit and life of the believer. There's a pastor of a certain
church very close to me, a very dear friend of mine, And he had
a man in his church who strongly, strongly believed
in what we call Calvinism, five points of Calvinism, with which
all of you are familiar. He believed in total depravity
and sovereignty and election, strongly in particular redemption,
effectual call, perseverance and preservation and these things.
And he loved the preaching of election and sovereignty and
those gospel doctrines that magnified
the grace of God to poor lost sinners. Suddenly turned on the
pastor. Became ferocious. Became an enemy. Tried to get the pastor out of
the pulpit and out of the church. It shocked me. I knew the pastor
real well. Loved him. Appreciated his ministry. Do now. And I knew this man. I loved him. Appreciated him. Been a friend of mine for years.
But suddenly he was like another person. And I couldn't figure
it out. And I talked to the pastor about
it. I said, what's his problem? He said, I don't know. I don't
have the faintest idea what his problem is, but he hates me.
He hates my message, and he's hating you. Now this is not the first time this
has happened. This happened again and again and again, but this
particular time I'm talking about. And I said, well, can you think
back? in any message you might have
preached or anything you might have said that set this man off
like this. There's got to be a point somewhere
in time when this man changed from a friend to an enemy, from
a supporter to a destroyer, from one helping to one doing everything
in his power to hurt. Now, what did you say and what
can you think? Well, some time passed and one
day the pastor came to me and he said, I think I can pinpoint
the time. I think I can. He said, I was
preaching through the book of Romans on Sunday night. Every Sunday night I was teaching
the book of Romans, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter
4, and so on. And he was with me 100%. Whom
He foreknew, He predestinated. Whom He predestinated, He called.
Whom He called, He just right on through. What shall we say
to these things? Romans chapter 9, where He said,
were it not for the Lord of the Sabbath leaving us a remnant,
we'd be like Sodom and Gomorrah. Chapter 10, the ignorant of God's
righteousness going about to establish their own righteousness.
Chapter 11, where it says the gifts and calling of God are
without change. He said, I got to chapter 20. And I preached on the believer's
walk and spirit and attitude. And I read chapter 12. Listen. I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by these mercies of God, these sovereign mercies of God, that
you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed
to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God. For I say through the grace given
unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according
as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. And he
said, I went on down, as I shall in a moment. And he said, his
countenance changed. I remember what he said. I can
recall it. His countenance changed. And he became my enemy. Well, I'll tell you this, one
thing needs to be understood at the beginning of this message. If grace is in the heart, grace
will be manifested in the life, if it's in the heart. If a man
really believes the first eleven chapters of Romans, he'll believe
chapters twelve through sixteen. If he really believes the first
three chapters of Ephesians, he'll walk in accordance with
the commandments of Christ in chapters four, five, and six.
and do it willingly and lovingly and obediently. But the foundation
of this whole thing is a work of grace in the heart. It's love
in the heart. That's where it begins. It's
love in the heart. One thing needs to be understood
at the beginning of this message. One word lies at the foundation
of all grace, of all godliness, and that is L-O-V-E. Love for
God. and love for His Word, and love
for one another. Paul said this in 1 Corinthians
13, he said, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. He said, Though I
understood all mysteries, and of all knowledge, and all faiths,
so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, it profiteth
me nothing. Though I give my goods to feed
the poor and my body to be burned and have not love, I am nothing,
nothing. So let's look at this chapter
and see what the Lord says here about the results of redemption,
about the graciousness that comes from grace. Grace in the heart
producing grace in the life and attitude and spirit. He starts out in verse 1. He
says, Brethren, I beseech you. In other words, I appeal to you.
Brethren, I appeal to you. People who name the name of Christ. People who claim the Spirit of
Christ and the grace of Christ. I beseech you, therefore, by
the mercies of God. I beseech you by the mercies
of God that you present your body a living sacrifice. Now,
whatever we're called upon to do or to say or to give is not
by way of threats. He doesn't say, I threaten you
and I warn you. He says, I beseech you, I urge
you, not for reward, not out of fear, but because of the mercy
of God to you. That's the basis on which he
appeals here, for graciousness and godliness and kindness and
love, I appeal to you by the mercy of God to you, by the mercies
of God. Turn to Ephesians 4 and listen
to this. Ephesians chapter 4. You're familiar
with this verse, but let's look at it again. This is the basis
here. The mercies of God to you. Verse
31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor
and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Put
it away and be kind. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake had forgiven
you. That's the basis. That's the
basis. Do it because of the mercy of
God to you. The kindness and grace of God
to you. Turn to Luke chapter 6. Listen
to our Lord here in Luke the 6th chapter. In Luke chapter
6, verse 31. Luke 6, 31. I beseech you by
the mercies of God, the mercies of God to you, the grace of God
to you, present your body a living sacrifice unto God. In Luke 6
verse 31, And as you would that men should do to you, do ye also
to them likewise. If you love them that love you,
what thank have you? Sinners also love those that
love them. If you do good to them which
do good to you, what thank have you? Sinners also do even the
same. If you lend to them of whom you
hope to receive, what thank have you? Sinners also lend to sinners
to receive as much again, but love your enemies, do good, lend,
hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and
you shall be called the children of the highest, for he is kind
to the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful."
To whom? to you and to me. That's the
basis. Back to Romans chapter 12, I
beseech you therefore brethren, on the basis of God's love to
you and God's mercy and grace to you, present your body a living
sacrifice. Now, Paul is talking about just
what we think he's talking about, our human faculties. Present
your bodies. Not just your your theology and
your mind, but your bodies, my body, your body. Present your
body. Let our tongues be used to comfort. Let our tongues be used to praise
God. Let our tongues be used to speak
kindly and graciously. Present your tongue, your faculties
to God as a living sacrifice. Let your arms reach out to embrace. and to help the needy and the
fallen. Give your body to God. Here am
I. Send me. That's what Isaiah said.
The Lord said, Whom shall I send? Who will go for me? He said,
Here am I. Send me. Let me go speak to this person.
Let me go lift the fallen. Let me go help the needy. Let
me go lend a hand. Let our feet take us to the house
of worship. Let our feet take us to the home
of the sick. Let our feet take us to the place
of the needy. Let our minds and our affections
be set on things above. Present your body a living sacrifice
to be used of God, to be blessed of God, to be a servant of God,
to minister for God. That's what he's saying. And
he said, listen, is this not your reasonable service? Is this not my reasonable service? But that has to be done in here
first. A man cannot do these things. Because he feels it his duty,
it wears thin that way. Because it's something that's
expected of him, or commanded of him, or he's trying to earn
some reward for it. It has to be a change of nature.
If he has us, and he said, my son, give me your heart. If he
has my heart, he has my hands, and my feet, and my possessions,
and myself, and everything. The story is told of the missionary
who was preaching to the Indians many, many years ago. And an
old Indian chief listened intently to the missionary, talking about
Christ and the gospel and redemption, salvation, life eternal. He listened
intently. The missionary caught his eye
as he listened to the message. And the missionary went to his
tent that they had provided for him. He was sitting in the tent.
In a few moments, the flap raised and the old Indian chief came
in. And he came bearing a gift. He had his bow and arrow, handmade,
treasured. He laid it down to the missionary's
feet and he said, Chief, give his bow and arrow
to Jesus. The missionary knew he had to
say something. He didn't know hardly what to
say because he didn't want to offend the old man. He wanted
to be a blessing to him. He said, Chief, the Lord doesn't
want your bow and arrow. He doesn't have any use for your
bow and arrow. The Lord doesn't want my bow
and arrow? Well, he picked it up and left. A few moments later
he came back, and this time he had that beautiful headdress
with all those feathers, you know, clear down to the ground. He took that headdress off and
laid it down. He said, Missionary Chief, give
his headdress to Jesus. The missionary said, well, Chief,
he said, The Lord Jesus doesn't have any
use for your headdress. He doesn't want it. He said, Jesus don't want my
headdress? Nope. Well, he made two or three
trips back with his moccasins and his Tommy Hawk and he just
kept bringing things, you know. And every time the missionary
would turn him away. Finally, the old chief came in. Nothing in his hand. Tears in his eyes. He got down
on his knees. And he said, Missionary, Chief,
give himself to Jesus. And the missionary said, Now,
Chief, you got it. You got it now. He has you. He has your headdress, and your
bow and arrow, and your tomahawk, and your moccasins, and everything
you have. He has you. He has your heart.
This is what I'm saying, that we can get some doctrines
in line, and we can give some gifts here,
and we can have missionary programs, and we can fix this place up
pretty, and we've got the greatest music in the world. But I tell you, Christ wants
your heart. the broken heart, the wounded
heart, the smitten heart, the contrite heart. And He has me
in my heart. He has the rest of it. He has the rest of it. And I
can take anything He says, any commandment. It may cross me.
It may run that plane up the grain, across the grain instead
of with it and cause a lot of splinters, but I can take it. Because I want to glorify my
God. And I don't want to just glorify Him in doctrine. I want
to glorify Him in attitude and spirit. Not just in this pulpit,
but in front of these children. In front of my friend here. In
front of you. And in this town where I live.
I want to walk in a way that's worthy of the gospel I preach.
In spirit and attitude and compassion and tenderness. Isn't that right?
But He's got to have this. And this is what it's saying,
I beseech you, I implore you, I urge you, by the mercies of
God to you, present your body. And listen to verse 2, don't
be conformed to this world. What is this world talking about?
It's nature, it's character, it's opinions, it's goals, it's
attitudes. Don't be conformed to this world.
This world is going to pass away. I may be the one who would profit
me if I gain this whole world and get damned, lose myself. What good is that? I don't know
why we want to act like them and dress like them and walk
like them and talk like them when God is going to condemn
them. Why? Why do we want their approval?
Why do we want the approval of this world? Don't be conformed
to this world. The world seeks the praise of
men. We seek the praise of God. The world seeks acceptance by
the world. We seek acceptance in the Beloved,
isn't that right? The world seeks present comforts. We seek future glory. The world thinks of themselves,
only themselves. Myself, my rights. My rights. And that's destroying our nation
right now, this rights business. It is. It's not my rights, it's
His glory, it's His purpose, it's His will. It's His kingdom. That's what this thing is all
about. I want to be a servant. The way the world thinks of themselves,
we're supposed to think of others. Others, others. We used to sing a song when I
was a kid, Jesus and others and you. Joy. That spelled joy. Jesus
and others and you. Jesus is first. Others are second. And you third. And that does
spell joy. We got that thing around this
way. Y-O-J. Or Y-J-O. But that's not the
way it is. the world's music, the world's
religion, the world's language. I'm not going to accept it. I'm
just not going to accept it. I'm not going to listen to it.
I'm not going to accept it. The world's religion and music
and dress and language is a reflection of rebellion. It's rebellion. That's what it is. That's what
these different signs are. They're signs of rebellion. They're
signs of self. Don't be persuaded to join them. Don't be persuaded. Be not conformed
to this world. If everybody in this world brags
on you, you haven't accomplished one thing. In fact, you've gone
backwards. I want to labor to be accepted of Him, whether I
live or whether I die. I try. where God says, well done,
our good and faithful servant. Don't be conformed to this world.
Well, how can I keep from being conformed? Listen, be ye transformed,
transformed by the renewing of your mind. That's regeneration.
That's a work of grace in the soul, in the heart. That's a
renewing of the mind. That's a gift of life from God. This is a work of the Holy Spirit
in the heart and the mind. Be ye transformed by the... the
renewing of your mind, the recreating of your mind, that you may prove
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now, there is a difference between
a religious Pharisee and a genuine believer. Both of these men, they read
the Bible, believe doctrine, live morally, give gifts. But this man is motivated by another reason. It's merit or
self-righteousness or recognition or applause or praise or acceptance
because of what he does. This man has a new heart. and
a new nature regenerated by the Holy Spirit. And what he does,
he does because he wants to do it, because he lusts to do it,
because it glorifies his God. He seeks no praise or honor for
what he does, but he does it because that delights his soul
and his heart to do it. That's the difference. And this man finds no happiness
because there's no happiness in serving self. You're not conformed to this
world. You know, a lot of religious
people, they touch not, taste not, handle not, you know, but
they're obnoxious to be around. You know what I'm talking about
there. You work with some of them. They're just as religious
and they just turn you off. But now, because those religious
people turn you off, act contrary to the principles of Scripture
to prove that you're saved by doctrine, not by works. In other
words, set forth the image and glory of God by doing it from
your heart. That's regeneration. Let's go
on. I've got to move along. I say
through the grace given unto me to every man that's among
you, Among whom? Believers. Not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think. You know, if love is the
foundation grace, now listen to me, love is the foundation
grace, isn't it? Love motivates us. The love of Christ constrains
me, restrains me, motivates me. If love is the foundation grace,
humility is the crowning grace. Humility is the crowning grace. Pride is the sin God hates. No matter where He finds it.
Isn't that right, Cecil? Wherever He finds pride, especially
in a believer, that's the most inconsistent thing you can ever
imagine as a proud believer. Full of ego. It has to be fed
constantly. My ego has got to be fed. I'm somebody and I want everybody
to know it. And I want to be reminded of
how important I am all the time. That's inconsistent with faith,
isn't it? Isn't that inconsistent? Because I am what I am by the
grace of God. Who maketh thee to differ? What do you have you
didn't receive? If you received it, why do you
glory as if you didn't receive it? God hates pride. Pride is
contrary to faith. Pride is totally inconsistent
with faith. Oh, let not the rich man glory
in his riches. Let not the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom. If any man got any glory to do,
let him do it in me, God said, that he knows me. My chief glory
is I know the God of glory. That's my greatest gift. I may not breathe very many more
breaths. I may, like Job of old, be stricken
down and lose everything and everybody. It may be the laughter
and laughing stock of the community, but I haven't lost anything.
I haven't lost a thing of any value. If I lose his smile, I've lost
something. If I lose the friendship of everybody
in this world, I haven't lost anything. If I lose every nickel
I've got, if I lose my reputation, I don't have one anyhow. I haven't
lost anything. But if I lose Him and His grace,
I'm lost. So that's my treasure. That's
what I glory in. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of Christ. That's my glory. This world is going to pass away.
Let's think, listen, think soberly. According as God had dealt to
every man the measure of faith. Look at verse 4, we have
many members in one body, all members have not the same body,
have not the same office. In this church, this is what,
Paul is illustrating the union of the church by using the human
body. The human body is one. And yet
it has many members, and each member of the body serves the
body. That's what's there for. This
hand is here to serve this body, to protect this body, to feed
this mouth. It's to scratch where I itch.
That's right, this hand serves this, every part of this body
serves the body. That's what's on here for. We
don't have any unnecessary faculties, do we? They're all useful. There's
no unnecessary members here either. But remember, it's just part
of the body. Just part of the body. We've been placed here
by Christ to serve Him for His glory and for the good of the
body. And we don't have the same office. He named several offices.
Here, look at verse 6. He said, Verse 5 says, So being many,
we are one body in Christ, and every one member is one of another,
having therefore, having then gifts differing according to
the grace that is given to us. What is prophecy? What is that?
That is the understanding and preaching of the Scriptures.
That is my office. That is the office of you elders.
Understanding and teaching the Scriptures. Let us prophesy according
to the proportion of faith. Ministry? What is ministry? It
is the service. Any kind of service to the body,
to the church, to the Lord, service. Here's some right down here.
This is service. Serving the Lord. This beautiful
building that Tom and Cecil served. This music, service. Your gifts,
service. Service. Let's wait on our ministry. He that teacheth on teaching.
Teach the Word. Teach your children. You older
women, teach the young women. Everybody's got a teaching ministry.
We've all got a teaching ministry. He that exhorteth on exhortation. Every one of us can exhort one
another, encourage one another, comfort one another. Speak a
word of comfort. Reach out a hand to help. Exhorting. He that giveth, let him do it
with simplicity. Well, giving is everybody's job,
but some are blessed to give more than others because they
have more. Do it liberally. Do it with simplicity. He that
ruleth with diligence. Boy, that's a heavy responsibility.
Leadership. Leadership, whether openly or
quietly. We got leaders around here that
sometimes don't say anything, but they're leaders. They lead
by example. They lead by faithfulness. They
lead by a smile. They lead by a word of encouragement. They're leaders. They rule. These
older men and women here, they're rulers. Faithful examples. Pastor, elders, fathers, husbands,
mothers. Seriously and lovingly leaders.
Listen. He that showeth mercy. Do it
with cheerfulness. Show mercy. This is a gift to
all of us. Kindness. Tenderness. Why don't we resolve that, do
it a step at a time, this day, this night, this week, this month,
resolve to be kind, kind to others. You know, words can hurt. I have
a friend, been my friend a lot of years, but he's got a way
of boiling over like a He doesn't just beep, you know, to let you
know he's hot. He just explodes. Just the top
comes off the kettle and the water boils everywhere. Everybody
around him gets scalded. And then he gets over it. He's well again right quick.
About five minutes later, he's well. But everybody around him
is still burning. They're still hurting. Where
he shot them. Where he said unkind things to
them. Now that just won't do. I've
been guilty of it. We get old too soon, smart too
late, don't we? But we better get smart. We better
get smart. And show the grace of God in
our daily lives, in our conversations. Help people. Speak kindly. You
don't, the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of
God. All I do when I pop off and get mad and throw things
and throw a tantrum and speak harshly, I don't do anything
but set a bad example for my God and my gospel. And people
say, well, what he's got hasn't done much for him. Isn't that
terrible? And I'll tell you, the ones that are recipients
of our anger sometimes are the ones we love the most. Try it. The ones we love the
most. We just lash out and speak so
unkindly. This is when that old boy quit,
when he got on Romans 12. He said, I can take your election,
but I can't take your grace. I can take your doctrines of
grace, but not your grace. Well, God help me. I don't want
to be that way. I want the doctrines of grace
in my head and the grace of God in my heart, don't you? With
these I live with, these I worship with, and these I work with.
I want you to respect me not only for what I preach from here,
but how I act when we're in the office and around the table and
other places. And if you don't, they'll always be trying to preach
to you. That's right, the people in your
home and the people with whom you work don't respect you for
what you believe. You know, he's trying to witness
to them. Is that so? Am I telling the truth? I'm telling
the truth. That's what this says. And I'm
going to give you one thing in close. Here are the Ten Commandments
of the Royal Law. Tom, here's the Ten Commandments
of the Royal Law. We've got Ten Commandments of
the Levitical Law. Now, here's the Ten Commandments
of the Royal Law, verse 9. Let love be without dissimulation. In other words, let your love
be sincere. Let love be sincere without hypocrisy. Number 2,
verse 10, be kind to one another. Be kindly affection one to another
with brotherly love in honor of preferring one another. Let
love be sincere, be kind to one another. Alright, verse 11. Don't
be lazy in business. Don't be lazy. Fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord. What I do, do it as unto the
Lord. People don't have any respect for laziness, trifliness, do
they? Don't be lazy. All right, next. Number four. Rejoice in hope,
patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. Now, the key
here is be patient under trial. God gave me patience under trial.
Well, why didn't He put that first? Patience in trial depends on
if I've got a good hope. Whatever trial comes, if my eyes
are on Him, on the hope I have in Christ, then I can be patient.
Does that make sense to what I'm saying? In other words, whatever
trial comes my way, if I don't have that hope in Christ that
if He sent it and He's going to work it out for His glory
and my good, then I'm going to fail. So I rejoice in hope and
that makes me patient in trial and leads me to continue in prayer.
Alright, the next one. Be generous. Hospitable. Verse 13. Distributing to the
necessity of the saints, giving to hospitality. Be a hospitable
person. This is our joy. What I have
is not mine, it's His. It's His. I'm tickled to share
it with you. It belongs to Him and to His
people. They have a saying in Mexico,
if they really like you, if they really love you and you come
into the house, they say, my house is your house. And they
mean that. My house is your house. Hospitality. Verse 14 is number
6. Bless them that curse you, persecute
you. Don't curse them, bless them.
You know, I tell you, if it weren't for the grace of God, I'd be
cursing. That's what I keep reminding myself. We say, how in the world
can you forgive somebody that doesn't like you? Well, it's
not you they don't like, it's Christ. It's your gospel. And if it weren't for His grace,
you'd be just like Him. And I would too. Our Lord hung
on the cross and He said, Father, forgive them. They don't know
what they're doing. They don't know what they're doing. They
don't have your light, they don't have your wisdom, they don't
have your grace, they don't know what they're doing. Bless them,
don't curse them. Here's the next one, number seven.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep for them that weep.
In other words, be of the same heart. If a brother's blessed,
rejoice with him. If he's in trouble, weep with
him. That's one heart. My heart beats,
should beat for you. be for one another. Oh, that
we could love our brethren like we love ourselves. Wouldn't that
be something? If we could love our brethren
and their families like we love our own. Numbers 8 is verse 16. Be of the same mind. Verse 15
says be of the same heart. Verse 16 says be of the same
mind. Now here, this will help you a little bit. John Brown
said this, and I take a little comfort in this. It helps me
a little bit. Listen. He said, Be of the same mind.
First, be of one heart, but be of the same mind. The same sentiments,
the same goals, the same purpose. It's difficult to love every
believer with the same degree of love, because all believers
are not equally lovable. and amiable. We find that everybody,
some of us ain't quite as lovable as others and amiable as others. And it's just, we love them with
the same kind of love, the love of Christ, but the degree of
love is something else. You see what I'm saying? The
degree of love, the degree. But have the same mind toward
them. Same mind, same goal, same purpose,
same sentiments, same kindness. But now just, you have to admit,
you just have to say, well, I just enjoy this person's presence
because they're so lovable and amiable and so-and-so's kind
of grouchy, you know, and not very pleasant to be around. But
still, have the same affection and sentiments and pray for him
and wish him the best. See what I'm trying to say? Be
of the same heart toward one another and be of the same mind.
Same direction. Alright, here's the next one.
Don't try to get even. Verse 17, don't try to get even. Recompense to no man evil for
evil. Don't try to get even. Oh my goodness. Just don't try
to get even. Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. Verse 18, here's the next one. And if it's possible, as much
as life's within you, live peaceably. Be peacemakers. Be a peacemaker. And dearly beloved, avenge not
yourself. Here's the cause of most unrest.
People taking on themselves to get even, to strike back. This
is our nature. Strike back. Strike back. But
don't do it. He says give place to wrath.
Yield to it. Keep out of its way. Let it spend
itself. I thought this was the best thing
I read. When wrath and when someone said something or done you wrong,
let it wear out. Let it crust. Let it crust over. Let it wear out. Don't keep stirring. Let it crust. Don't brood over
it. Don't keep it warm. We're all
so prone to that. We're so prone to keep thinking
about an offense and keep thinking about it. And after a while,
it works on us. Give place to wrath. Let her
go. Let her go. Not worth it. Vengeance is mine. I'll repay, saith the Lord. I'll
pay day some day. Therefore, if your enemy hunger,
feed him. If you first give him a drink, in so doing, you'll
heat coals of fire on his head and make him feel sorry. That's
right. Be not of evil, but overcome
evil with good. Well, I hope that's a blessing.
I hope it is. I hope God uses it for me and
for you. It makes us different. might come lead us in a song.

Results of Redemption

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How do we know that grace leads to godliness?

Why is humility important for Christians?

What does presenting your body as a living sacrifice mean?

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Results of Redemption

What does the Bible say about the results of redemption?

How do we know that grace leads to godliness?

Why is humility important for Christians?

What does presenting your body as a living sacrifice mean?

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About Henry Mahan

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