I think most of you were here
last Wednesday night, and I said at the beginning of the message
that the twelfth chapter of Romans is divided into three parts. Verse 1 and 2 gives us a word
of instruction to the believer about worship about consecration
to God, about our personal dedication to him. That's what verse 1 and
2 deals with. And then verses 3 through 8 talk
about the gifts and duties given by God to church officers and
leaders. Now the section that we're studying
tonight, verses 9 through 21, this is what it's all about. Verses 9 through 21 of Romans
12 deals with our general attitude and our behavior toward one another. Verses 9 through 21 concerns
the exercise of grace, the actual practice of grace and duties
that we have one to another. Now let's begin with verse 9.
Let love be without dissimulation. The word dissimulation means
hypocrisy or pretense. In other words, let love be without
pretension. True, sincere love, said John
Brown, is the heart of spirituality. True, sincere love is the cement
of the Church. It holds everything in place
and holds everything together. Without true, sincere love, without
love which is without hypocrisy, love which is without pretension,
without this love, all the profession that we make, all the gifts that
we have, and all the works that we do are to no avail. Now we see that in 1 Corinthians
13. Will you turn over there with me? Now what he is saying
is this. true, sincere love. Let love
be without hypocrisy. Let it be without pretension. Let it be genuine. Genuine love
is the cement of the Church. It holds it together. It keeps
everything in place. And without that love, all the
professions that we make, all the gifts that we have, and all
the works that we do are to no avail. Now look at 1 Corinthians
13. and see if that's not what Paul's talking about. In 1 Corinthians
12 he's been dealing with the gifts of the Spirit. Gifts of
miracles, healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues and so
forth. Verse 31 of chapter 12 says,
covet earnestly the best gifts. Nothing wrong with wanting to
have the gifts of preaching and faith and so forth, but yet I
show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become a sounding
brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and I understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains
and have not love, I am nothing. You see, there's the gifts, and
there is the profession, And now here are the works, and though
I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my
body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Let love be without dissimulation,
without pretense. For all the profession that we
make, and the gifts that we have, and the works that we do, without
this love, are to no avail." Turn to 1 John 4. We hear the
same thing over here written by the Apostle John, 1 John 4,
verse 7. 1 John 4, 7. Beloved, let us
love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth
is born of God, and knoweth God, and he that loveth not knoweth
not God, for God is love. Verse 20, If a man say, I love
God, and hateth his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom
he hath not seen? Now love to Christ, what kind
of love we're talking about here? Now we're talking about love
which is without pretension or hypocrisy. Now to whom is this
love directed? It's twofold. Love to Christ
must be sincere and from the heart And then love to others
must be the same, not in word only, but in deed and truth. And our Lord said, By this shall
all men know you, my disciples, if you love one another. Now
look at verse 9 again. Abhor that which is evil, and
cleave to that which is good. Now everybody knows what the
word abhor means. It means to hate, it means to
despise. The word cleave here has a twofold
meaning. The word cleave here means to
glue, to be glued or to keep company. So read it this way,
hate that which is evil and keep company or be glued to that which
is good. If a man is truly regenerated,
he will hate sin. He will hate the sin that he
sees in himself. and he'll hate the sin that he
sees in others. He'll not hate them, he'll hate
the sin. David said, do not I hate them
that hate thee. He's talking about the enemies
of God. And this is not only in principle,
this is in action. Not only are we to hate in principle
that which is evil, but in action and practice we're supposed to
keep company with that which is good. John Gill says, for
us to be glued to God, who is originally, unchangeably, and
infinitely good, who is the source of all good. Be glued to God's
will, to God's ways, and to God's worship. Be glued to Christ,
through whom every good gift comes. Be glued to the gospel
and to good works, which we're careful to maintain and to promote. Hate that which is evil. and
be glued to and keep company with that which is good. Now
notice the next verse, verse 10. And be kindly affectioned
one to another with brotherly love. Now look at verse 9, which
says, Let your love be sincere. Let it be without pretension.
Let it be without hypocrisy. And then I look down here at
verse 10, where it says, "...be kindly affection one to another
with brotherly love, or in the love of brethren." And I wondered
why the Apostle Paul almost says the same thing twice in two different
verses, divided by these other statements. And I think I found
out, and I'll see if I can pass it on to you. Now, verse 10,
he says, "...be kindly affection one to another with brotherly
love or in the love of brethren. The Christian will in truth love
all men. There is no room in a regenerate
heart for hatred. There is no room in a regenerate
heart for grudges I'm not saying that a regenerated man does not
get angry. I'm not saying that a regenerated
man is free from any malice. I'm saying there's no room for
hatred and grudges to abide in his heart, to stay there. Those
of the same parents, those of the same country, those of the
same race, and those of the same generation from Adam, mankind,
are to be the objects of our concern, our pity, and our love. But this love that Paul is talking
about here is different. It's different. Be kindly affectioned
one to another in the love of brethren. Now, the Greek phrase
here, and I don't like to do this because I'm not showing
off any knowledge I have of Greek. I don't have any. I always have
to look up what I found out about the Greek. But the phrase here,
be kindly affection one to another, is one of the strongest which
the Greek language furnishes, and the type of affection that
is presented here is generally the peculiar affections which
parents have for their offspring. That's the kind of affection
that he's talking about here. He is saying that those who are
born of God, those who are brethren in Christ, those who are members
of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, are to love one another
and are to be loved by one another. with the same kind, tender, affectionate,
mutual, reciprocal love that a parent has for a child. Now
that's exactly what that is saying. That's the difference in verse
9 and verse 10. Verse 9 says, Let your love be
without pretension. Let it be without hypocrisy,
whether it be love for the people out in the world or the people
in the church or whoever you express that concern and pity
and love for. But in the in the body of believers,
they're supposed to be the type of love that a parent has for
his own child, and that a child has for its own parent. And Dr. John Gill adds a further
word. There should be no affection
lacking on either Whether we are of different gifts, different
understanding, different knowledge, different experience, whether
we are high or low, rich or poor, old or young, there is not to
be any affection lacking on either side. It's supposed to be expressed
toward one another. Now look at the next line. In
honor, preferring one another. What does that mean? Turn to
Philippians 2 verse 3. This will help us. Philippians
chapter 2 verse 3. Paul says here in Philippians
chapter 2 verse 3, Let nothing be done through strife or vain
glory, seeking glory for myself. But in lowliness of mind, in
humility, let each one of us esteem the other equal with us,
as good as we are, as deserving as we are. It says, let each
of us esteem the other better than themselves. Paul felt that
way. He said, I'm less than the least
of all the saints. Paul said, I'm not worthy to
be called an apostle. Paul said, I am the chief of
sinners. Now, if we in honor prefer one another and esteem
the other better than ourselves in whatever we do, in the preaching,
teaching, praying, giving, witnessing, worship, or whatever, if we do
it with such humility of mind that we esteem others better
than ourselves, it'll do several things. Number one, it'll destroy
all envy. It'll destroy all jealousy. It'll
curb all gossip. It'll curb all false accusations. It'll promote the honor and respect
of one another. It'll discourage division. It'll
promote and produce unity. And it'll leave us to more important
areas where there's room for so much growth and grace. Be
kindly affection. have affection for one another
as brethren, with the same affection that a parent has for a child,
and in honor prefer one another and esteem others better than
yourself." Now verse 11, "...not slothful in business, fervent
in spirit, serving the Lord." Now then, I'm going to wiggle
out right here. There are two opinions expressed
here, and I'm going to say that they're both excellent. I'm going
to say that I could take either or both of them and feel like
that this is what the verse is teaching, either or both of them. I don't think we'd do any harm
to the text at all to say it means either one or it means
both. If you prefer to say that it
means one and not the other, that's all right, because if
you can do what one says, that's fine. If you prefer the second,
you say it does not mean the first, that's all right too.
If you can do that, that's even better. So here we are, not slothful
in business, fervent in spirit serving the Lord. Now here's
the first opinion. The apostle is saying, serve
the Lord. Make the Lord's glory your rule
in whatever you're doing. Whatever you do, do it as to
Him. If you're engaged in the ordinary
affairs of life, in business, in your labor, in your vocation,
in whatever secular pursuit you may be employed, in whatever
business you may be engaged, remember that you are God's servant
and act in a way that will bring glory to his name and not reproach
to his gospel. Are you engaged in the business
of worship? Are you engaged in the business
of preaching? Are you engaged in the business
of praying? Are you engaged in the business
of teaching? Are you engaged in the distribution
of the gifts of the church? Do it fervently, not carelessly,
but fervently as unto the Lord himself. Now, that's the first
opinion concerning that verse. Not slothful in business, whatever
the business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, remembering
that you're His servant. Whether you are in your own business,
making a living for your family, Whether you're building a house
or whether you're engaged in working for somebody else on
an hourly basis, do it fervently as unto the Lord. Whatever you
do in word or deed, do it as unto the Lord. If you're teaching,
if you're preaching, if you're called on to teach a Sunday school
class of three boys and girls, do it as unto the Lord, fervent
in spirit, not careless. All right, here's the second
definition, and it puts the whole verse in the spiritual realm. It does not refer, according
to this writer, to our secular affairs at all. He says this.
He quotes Christ, who said, I must be about my Father's business.
And he says this, that when Paul says, don't be slothful in business,
fervent in spirit serving the Lord, he is saying, let not the
service and business of the Lord degenerate into cold formalism. Let all your religious duties,
whether it be a discussion of the Scriptures, whether it be
singing, whether it be praying, whether it be giving, whether
it be worshiping, whether it be witnessing, whether it be
daily Let it all be motivated by a fervent zeal for the glory
of God. As my father sent me, I must
be about my father's business, even so send I you." Now you
see when I say both are applicable, that's exactly what I mean. Both
are applicable and both are very good. If I were to take my choice,
I think the first one is saying the same thing as the second
one, and a little more. And it's applicable not only
to our spiritual pursuits, but to our secular duties. I think
a man ought to run his business as if the Lord Jesus Christ was
sitting out in the waiting room, or if the Lord Jesus Christ was
the secretary at the desk out front. I think his business ought
to be run as unto the Lord. I think if a man's working hourly
down at the mill, or whether he's working on a house for someone,
and they're paying hourly wages, I think he ought to work as if
Jesus Christ were his foreman. Not slothful in business. I think
a lazy workman that tries to get out of work and cheat his
employer is a disgrace to God. I don't think it's serving the
Lord at all. I don't think it's fervent in spirit. All right,
verse 12. Verse 12 says, rejoicing in hope. Now, this is talking about the
hope that we have of being like Christ. This is the hope of forever
being with the Lord. And if you'll notice, this rejoicing
in hope is placed right between serving the Lord and being patient
under trial. And one man said this, nothing
tends to motivate the people of God to serve God and to endure
affliction like the hope of being with Christ. Nothing so motivates
a man to serve God fervently with a fervent spirit, the word
fervent is white hot, a burning spirit, nothing so motivates
a man to serve God with a burning spirit and to be able to rejoice
and be patient in tribulation like the hope that he has one
of these days of being like Christ. Paul says that in Romans 8. Look
at Romans 8, verse 18. I reckon that the suffering of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. Now then, look at these three
words here, patient in tribulation, patient in tribulation. not thoughtful in business, fervent
in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in
tribulation." Now, while we are in the world, we must expect
trials. While we are in this world, we
must expect tribulation. Our way to heaven is through
the world. And Christ said, "...in this world ye shall have tribulation."
And these trials are for our good, and we must learn to bear
them. And bear them without murmuring
against God, and number two, without finding fault with the
people who are but his instruments. Now that helped me a great deal
right there, and that's very important. Be patient under trial
and bear them. You know, if you're murmuring
and complaining against God, you're not patient, you're not
bearing the trial. If you assail and find fault
with the people who caused the trial, you're not bearing them
patiently. So he says, in a twofold way,
we must learn to bear our trials, number one, without murmuring
against God, and number two, without finding fault with the
cause and with the people who are but God's instruments. Now
then, continuing instant in prayer. Prayer is needful at all times,
but especially in time of trial, whether it's an inward trial
or an outward trial. We need to learn to live in an
attitude of communion with God. I think the scripture which says,
pray without ceasing, does not mean that a man stays on his
knees 24 hours a day, but rather he lives in an attitude of communion
with God. Verse 13 says, distributing to
the necessity of saints. Now, we are to exhort one another
and encourage one another in spiritual matters, but this isn't
talking about spiritual matters. This is talking about material
needs, distributing to the necessity of saints, or communicating with
those who have need. When a believer is in need, the
people of the Church are to take care of that need. We are to
clothe the naked, we are to feed the hungry, we are to see that
the whole family of God is provided for. We are to be given to hospitality. Somebody said one time, I found
it in a little book today, our homes, which God has given us,
ought to be dedicated as hotels of hospitality. Our homes, which God has given
us, ought to be dedicated as hotels of hospitality. and our
hands always ready to be employed in relieving somebody's distress,
somebody's want, and somebody's unhappiness. Because Christ said,
I was hungry and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave
me drink. I was in prison and you visited
me. Lord, when did we see thee hungry?
When did we see thee thirsty? When did we see thee naked? When
did we see thee in prison? Inasmuch as you have done it
unto the least of these, my brethren, You've done it to me. Given to
hospitality. Distributing to the necessity
of saints. I'm not talking about giving
a fellow everything he wants. He's talking about their needs.
Necessity. Given, distributing, contributing
to the necessity of saints and given to hospitality. The wise
man Solomon said, He who would have friends must show himself
to be friendly. Now verse 14. Bless them which
persecute you, bless and don't curse them. Now down through
the years some Christians have had to endure real persecution. We don't. Some Christians have
endured real persecution by words, by deeds, by imprisonment. loss
of their goods, even death. We don't know anything about
that. You don't, and I don't. But we do have opposition. I'm
not saying that you don't have any opposition. We do have, and
we have some unkind feelings because of the gospel. Well,
we're not to curse these enemies, if they are enemies, but we're
to pray for them, and we're to ask God to bless them. Bless
them which oppose you. Bless them which are unkind to
you. Bless them which persecute you. Bless them and don't curse them. What is it to bless them? Well,
it's to bless them with kind words. It's to bless them with
soft answers. It's to bless them with inaccessory
prayer. As our Lord Jesus prayed from
Calvary's mountain, Father, forgive them. as Stephen prayed while
they stoned the lamp from his body, O Lord, lay not this sin
to their charge." Verse 15, "...rejoice with them
that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep." I like John
Brown's comment on this verse. He says, "...the Christian makes a serious
mistake who allows his faith and religion to produce a morbid,
monkish spirit. We must not withdraw from one
another. We must not withdraw from society. If a person has a peculiar love
and a peculiar relationship, he will have a peculiar interest
And if he has that peculiar interest in others, he will want to rejoice
with those who are blessed, and he'll want to sincerely weep
with those who mourn. The Christian makes a serious
mistake who allows his faith and religion to produce a morbid,
monkish spirit. and to cause him to withdraw
from people. This verse doesn't talk about
withdrawing. This verse doesn't talk about
going up into a mountain somewhere in a cave and eating on my piece
of bread and drinking my water. It talks about being with people.
It talks about rejoicing with them and weeping with them and
entering into their blessing and entering into their sorrows. Listen to this. I plan to jot
this down somewhere where I can read it often. Our joys are doubled and our
sorrows are greatly diminished when we realize we're not alone. That many hearts beat in unison
with us. Isn't that beautiful? Now you
stop and think about it a minute. Our joys are doubled And our
sorrows are greatly diminished when we realize we're not alone,
that many hearts beat in unison with us. Now you think about
that. You've gotten a special morsel
of good news. Somebody's called you and said
that that something good, God has given something good to you,
what's the first thing you want to do? You want to tell somebody
that. Why? Why do you want to tell somebody? You want them
to rejoice with you. And when somebody else knows
about it, your joy is a double. And then when you're in sorrow
and you're in a valley and when you're in despair, what do you
want to do? Tell somebody about it. And your sorrows will be
greatly diminished when you realize you're not alone. You're not
alone. Many hearts truly, sincerely
let love be without hypocrisy now. There's nothing that'll
add to your sorrow like pretension and hypocrisy, and nothing will
diminish that like true affection. You're not alone. You're not
alone. Then verse 16. Be of the same
mind, one toward another. What does that mean? Be of the
same mind, one toward another means to be united in your affections
and in your sentiments and in your goals. You're of the same
mind. The amplified version says, live
in harmony with one another. Now, listen to this, and I've
kicked this around a little while. Somebody said, it's impossible to love every
Christian with the same measure or degree of love and affection. For all are not equally amiable
in that regard. Now think about it a minute. It's impossible to love every
Christian, everybody here. Do you love everybody here with
the same measure of affection? You know better than that. Do
you love everybody in this church with the same degree of affection?
You know better than that. Because everybody is not equally
amiable, is not equally lovable, that's so. And affection should be enlightened
as well as warm, But though we cannot love everybody with the
same measure of affection, we can love everybody with the same
kind of affection. You see what I'm saying? We can
be of the same mind in our affection, we can be of the same mind in
our sentiments, we can be of the same mind in our goals, though
we have not the same degree of affection. That's what he's talking
about there, be of the same mind, one toward another. And mind
not high things, but condescend to men of lower state. What does
that mean? It means be not haughty and snobbish
and exclusive, but be able to adjust yourself to people of
every station in life. Can you walk with kings and not
lose the common touch? Can you walk with the people
of the streets and not lose your virtue and courage? Be ready to adjust yourself to
every man of every station and give yourself to humble tasks.
Let's look at two or three verses. Turn to Jeremiah 45. Jeremiah
45, verse 5. Jeremiah 45, verse 5. Seekest thou great things for
thyself? Seek them not. Seek them not. Turn to 3 John, verse 9. 3 John, verse 9. I wrote unto the church, but
diatrophies who loved to have the preeminence among them, received
us not. Now here's what we're saying.
Romans 12. Mind not high things, but condense
in to men of low estate. Christ our Lord was the friend
of sinners. Christ our Lord was called the
carpenter. Christ our Lord could adjust
to the simplest station in life, to the simplest people in life,
and find among them friends and close associates. And you and I ought to be able
to do the same thing. We ought to have our thoughts
upon, as far as this world is concerned, the simple things
in life. And we're to set our affections on things above. I
realize that, that on spiritual things. Set our affections on
the things of God and the kingdom of God. But if we're not careful,
we can come to the place in life where we just can't be reached
by simple people and ordinary people and poor people and people
of everyday living. You know what I'm saying? And
we ought to be able to be as much one with them as anyone
else. Be not wise in your own conceits. We ought to cherish habitually
a deep sense of our own fallibility and our own ignorance. We ought
to preserve a mind that's ever ready to receive instruction
and rebuke and teaching from whatever source. Now verse 17, Recompense to no
man evil for evil. We're not to repay evil words
for evil words, evil deeds for evil deeds. Private revenge is
forbidden to the believer. Private revenge is forbidden
to the believer. Recompense to no man evil for
evil. Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. We are to be careful to avoid
acting in such a way before the people of the world that will
give them the wrong impression of our gospel. And this means
that before men we are to deal honestly with them in every way. Our clean conversation is to
be observed in talking with them, our conduct, our temperament,
our faithfulness to God in front of them. is not to give them
the idea that our gospel, what we believe in our hearts and
what we do with our hands and with our feet, are two different
things. Now verse 18. If it be possible, as much as
life in you live peaceably with all men, Now John Brown says,
this is descriptive of that state in which a man does not disturb
others and is not disturbed by others. The first is in our power and
the second's not. This state of living at peace
with all men is descriptive of that state in which we do not
disturb others. Now that's in our power. And
others do not disturb us. That's not entirely in our power,
and that's the reason it says, if it be possible, as much as
life in you. We ought not to offer an affront
or inflict an injury on another, and we're to overlook insults
and unkind words which come from them. Now then, here's something
that is interesting. There are two things in our power
which will go a long way toward living peaceably with all men.
Two things. Number one, keeping the tongue
under control. Someone was talking to me the
other night, and they said, the tongue is the most difficult
thing in the world to keep under control. It exercises so much
power and so much influence, doesn't it? And that's one of
the things our author says that will go a long ways toward living
peaceably with all men, keeping our tongues under control. And
the second thing, studying to be quiet and minding our own
business. That's two things that will help
us to live peaceably. We're talking about people outside
the church now, with all men. keeping our tongues under control,
and studying to be quiet, and minding our own business. Now
then, here's the cause of most unrest. Dearly beloved, avenge
not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. When men take
upon themselves to avenge their own wrongs, that's when trouble comes. And
the Apostle lets us know that the Lord will someday right all
wrongs. He says here, Give place to wrath,
for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith
the Lord. What does it mean to give place
unto wrath? Here's what it means. It means to yield to it. It means
do not resist it. It means keep out of its way.
It means to let it spend itself. It means do not brood over injury,
do not nurse your wrath and keep it warm, but just let it die.
Give place unto wrath, just yield to it, let it die, let it go
on and spend itself. And don't keep it warm and keep
it harbored and nurse it in your bosom, but let it go. Let it
go. Therefore, verse 20, if your
enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink.
Your anger will not win his heart, your kindness may. At least your
kindness may break his heart, and his conscience may convict
him of his evil feelings." That's what it means to heat coals of
fire on his head. Your kindness, in return for
his anger, just may reach his conscience and bring him to your
side. Now verse 21, "...be not overcome
of evil." And that's saying several things. Let me give them to you
just briefly. Be not overcome of evil. Don't
let the evil man master, control, and dictate your course of action. Don't let injuries, hatred, hard
feelings get the better of your Christian principles. That's
being overcome with evil. Don't let the injustice of men
exert an influence superior to the love of Christ over you.
Don't let the evil pleasure of revenge displace the divine delight
of forgiveness. Don't be overcome with evil. But overcome evil with good is,
I can't do that. Well, on this principle, God
showed kindness to me. On this principle, my Savior
came into the world. On this principle, Christ took
my sins and died for me on Calvary. On this principle, the Holy Spirit
continued to call until I received and yielded to Christ. And on
this principle, the Lord God of heaven forgives me day by
day. evil with good. Don't let injuries, hatred, and
hard feelings get the better of your Christian principle.
Don't let the evil pleasure of revenge displace the divine delight
of forgiveness. And don't let the injustice of
men exert an influence superior to the love of Jesus Christ in
your heart. Overcome evil with good. Our Father, we rejoice and thank
Thee for Thy Word. It is so great, it is so powerful,
all the depths, all the heights, all the length and the breadth
of the holiness and beauty and truthfulness and treasures of
the Word of God, or all the evil and sinfulness we find in our
hearts, or the inability of attaining thereunto, grant us an extra
portion of Thy Spirit to look into this Word tonight and say,
True Lord, true, true Lord, absolutely true, not to throw up our hands
in despair and not to pretend to be what we're not, but help
us to face this blessed word tonight as truth, and as that
which is spoken by our Lord, and that which is good for us,
and that which is expected of us. And when we've done it all,
we're just unprofitable servants. But let us pray for the