Beginning in chapter 12, Paul has been writing a series of practical exhortations to the church.  He started off in ch.12 vs 1 saying that as Christians we have a responsibility to present our bodies to the church as a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service of worship. Now as we have learned, the church is not a building, nor a denomination, but a people.  The church is the eklesia, the called out ones, the assembly of believers who make up Christ’s body in local community.  So we are to physically present ourselves to be a part of that assembly, and give ourselves to that congregation, and render service to the church as our worship to God.

Then Paul spent the next few verses of ch.12  describing the church’s responsibility to each other through the use of our spiritual gifts.  Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to individual members of the body for the building up of others in the body.  Not for your own edification, but the purpose of gifts is the edification of the church.

And then Paul adds that the motivation for utilizing our gifts is our love for one another.  Jesus said “they will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.”  Christians love one another in the church in very practical ways; in hospitality, in service, in giving, in sharing, in perseverance.  Again, the emphasis is not on you feeling loved, not on reciprocation for our love,  but on you showing sacrificial love to others in the church.

Then at the end of chapter 12, we learned about the church’s responsibility to the world.  Never take revenge, but if your enemy is hungry, feed him.  If he is thirsty, give him a drink. Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.

Chapter 13, which we began last week, is concerned with the church’s responsibility to government. And particularly in these days of government oversight and overstepping of their authority, that is a very pertinent section of scripture.  We could summarize the teaching of that passage by quoting the statement by Jesus, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and render unto God the things that are God’s. “

Today we come to the final part of chapter 13, in which Paul tells us what should be the church’s responsibility towards everybody.  In a sense, it’s a summary of all the principles that have been said on the subject of church responsibility starting in chapter 12.  

Now I have used this term “responsibility” purposely as I have summarized these two chapters because that is really what Paul is getting at.  A responsibility is an obligation.  And the church is obligated to respond as Paul has indicated.  We are obligated because of what Christ has done for us.  Our response to our salvation should be one of gratitude for what Christ did for us, when we were the offenders, when we were enemies of God,  When we were unmerciful He was merciful to us.  When we were unloving, He was loving towards us.  When we were unforgiving, He forgave us. When we were unrighteous, His righteousness was counted to us.

So then, having been saved by grace, we have been changed in our hearts, we have received the Spirit of Christ to dwell in us.  And as a result of that transformation, we want to serve the Lord.  We love the Lord.  We want to please the Lord. And Jesus said that the way He wants us to serve Him is by serving one another.  Jesus speaking in a parable about Himself said in Matt. 25:37-40  “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You [something] to drink?  ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, [even] the least [of them,] you did it to Me.’”

Now that obligation to serve others as a means of serving Christ is the basis for Paul’s statement in vs 8, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled [the] law.”  Now Paul isn’t saying here that as a Christian you should never borrow.  Dave Ramsey may think that is always a bad thing, and he may have some valid points on that subject.  But Jesus indicated in Matt.5:42, and Luke 6:35 that borrowing or lending is permissible if done the right way.

What the apostle is saying though is that we have an obligation to love one another, not to take from one another.  Jesus said, It is better to give than to receive.  The world’s attitude is take all that you can get from life. Take  from anyone that can benefit you. But if that’s how you operate, then you owe all those people that you stepped on and took advantage of, that you used for your own purposes, in order to get where you wanted to get in life.

But the Christian is not to be like that.  Rather than being takers, we are to be givers.  The only thing we should owe anyone is love. We are obligated to love.  We must love because He first loved us. Notice that it is a love to anyone. Not love just to people I like.  Nor even love to people in the church.  But love to anyone who crosses my path.  Now this is difficult.  I will grant you that. It’s not natural. And it can only be done when we are in agreement with chapter 12 vs 2, “And be not conformed to this world, (don’t think like the world thinks, don’t think this is just the way the world is) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Renewing there is present tense.  It’s continual.  It’s being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ first of all in our mind, so that we have the mind of Christ.  That comes from meditating on His word.  As we study the word of God His thoughts become our thoughts, so that our mind is renewed.  We have a different way of thinking.  We have a new heart, so that we have new desires.

And so as God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to die on the cross for them, so that sinners might be saved, the unrighteous may be made righteous, the dead might be given life, so we learn to love everyone as Christ loves everyone. Now I have made this point previously, but let me reaffirm it for a moment; Just because God loved the world does not mean that God condones the sin of the world.  No, God loved the world so that even though they were sinners, Christ died for their sin so that they might be saved.  Love does not mean condoning nor disregarding sin.  But the penalty for sin had to be paid, and God paid our penalty on the cross. We love the sinner but hate the sin. Because sin destroys.  And so because we love the sinner we show them the way that their sin can be forgiven.

So our obligation is to love anyone whom we come into contact with.  Showing Christian love is how the world might be saved, and if they are saved, love is how we build them up in their faith.  Love spoken of here is a sacrificial love.  We present our bodies as a living sacrifice to love the church, to love God and to love one another. We sacrifice what’s important to us for what is important for them.  Love doesn’t mean we have to approve of them, or even like them, or like their behavior, but we are to do for them that which is most beneficial for them.  We show love to them by sharing the good news of the gospel so that they can know salvation for their soul, and we share with them whatever earthly needs that they may have.

Paul says in vs 8 “he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”  Jesus said in Matt. 5:17  “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”  As Christians, we are not under the penalty of the law.  Jesus paid that penalty on the cross.  But we are obligated to keep His commandments.  We are not saved by keeping the law, we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ.  But once justified by faith, out of gratitude we should be motivated to do what God wants us to do, to live as He wants us to live.  We should live as Christ lived.  And Christ kept the law perfectly.  The law is God’s standard of righteousness.

So how do we fulfill the law by loving one another as Paul said?  The short answer is in vs 10, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of [the] law.”  Love does no harm to a neighbor.

Now let’s pause for a moment and consider this word neighbor for a moment.  I’m sure you are all familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan.  What you may have forgotten was that Jesus told that parable in response to a lawyer’s question; “Who is my neighbor?”  The lawyer asked that question because he had first asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life.  And Jesus turned him to the law, the man’s specialty.  Jesus said what does the law say?

Luke 10:27-28 tells us the lawyer answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” And Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”  So to justify himself the man said, “who is my neighbor?”  He wanted to limit the concept of a neighbor as much as possible.

So Jesus gave this parable to illustrate who is his neighbor.  He said, ”A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.  And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,  and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on [them;] and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.  On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’  “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ [hands?]”  And the lawyer said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

So your neighbor is anyone who you might come in contact with.  And we should consider how that Samaritan showed love towards his neighbor.  He interrupted his trip to take care of this man. He used his own resources to supply what the man needed, even to paying for future costs to the innkeeper.  He said he would come back that way and check on him and supply whatever more was needed.  He showed compassion for a stranger.  He showed mercy towards his neighbor.  That is what love looks like.

Now I skipped over a verse, vs 9, in which Paul says what love is not.  And to illustrate what love is not, he quotes from the 10 commandments.  He says in vs9, “For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

What that illustrates is that if you love your neighbor, you will not break the law, you will not commit adultery with his wife.  If you love your neighbor, you cannot murder him. If you love your neighbor, you cannot steal from him. And if you love your neighbor, you will not covet his possessions. But rather you will rejoice with him as we saw back in 12:17. 

But as Jesus said, all the law pertaining to man’s relationship with man is summed up in the saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  At the very least what he means by the phrase “as yourself” is the natural tendency towards self preservation.  That tendency means that everything I do is filtered by how it may hurt me, or how it may benefit me.  And both Paul and Jesus are indicating that same metric should be used for how we love our neighbor.  How we may benefit him, how we may avoid hurting him.  So that vs 10 concludes then that love does no harm to the neighbor.  He benefits his neighbor and he does no harm to his neighbor.  That is love.  And love is the fulfillment of the law.  Love is not based on how much you like someone, or how attracted you may be to them, or how you think they might reciprocate towards you.  But love is acting purely for their benefit.

Let me assure you that this is not our natural behavior.  This is learned behavior. This is consciously patterning ourselves after Jesus Christ and deliberately being transformed by the renewing of the mind.  I would suggest that this kind of love  is like the maturation process of  raising a child.  A child is naturally selfish and self centered.  “Mine!” is probably one of the first words a child learns.  So learning to share is a result of maturity, but it’s a learned behavior, it’s not natural.  And I would suggest that Christian love is a discipline that has to be learned as well.  Christian love is not an automatic response, an overwhelming emotion, but love is a commitment.

Then in vs 11, Paul says that there is needs to be an urgency to our love.  He says time is of the essence.  There is a natural tendency on the part of human nature to procrastinate, to put off for another day.  And the degree of commitment to love that Paul is talking about is the sort of thing it is very easy to put off until tomorrow.  

I had a friend that I knew from surfing.  We weren’t that close, but we knew each other for many years.  We surfed together from time to time.  And occasionally he would call me just to talk about surfing.  The other day he called and during the conversation  he revealed that his cancer had returned with a vengeance and he was getting very high doses of radiation and chemotherapy to treat the cancer.  I tried to speak with him about his relationship to  the Lord, but I must confess that what I said was kind of generic.  I didn’t feel comfortable really taking the opportunity to drive home the message of the gospel.  He was kind of weeping at one point, and I just hesitated to push the question of his spiritual condition too far.  So as we finished the conversation I said  that I would be praying that God would help him recover and that I hoped we would be surfing together again soon.  

Later on, I was really convicted that I did not say all that I could have said at that time.  And so a few days later I was driving by one of his stores in Salisbury and I stopped in to ask one of the clerks for his address.   I thought perhaps I could send him a card and write some things to him about his salvation.  But the clerk apologized and said I’m sorry to be the one to tell you,  but  my friend had passed away just a couple of days after our call.  My opportunity to love him the way Christ loved him was gone.

And I think that’s what Paul is getting at here in these closing verses of this chapter.  He says, in vs 11, “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”  Do this… do what?  Love your neighbor as yourself. Do that. Love your neighbor, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep.

I’m afraid that a lot of Christians in the church can be related to a person who is sleeping on the job. We may be present in body, but we are asleep spiritually.  We have an obligation to God, we owe our neighbors, we owe the congregation of the church our love but we too occupied with our own needs. But if we loved our neighbors we would tell them the good news.  We would tell them that whoever believes in Christ will have eternal life, they will never die.  But we  are tired.  We’ve turned off the lights and zoned out.  We are too busy taking care of our deal to think about others.  I’ve often said, the sign of an immature Christian is that they come to church for themselves, when they feel like it, when it’s not inconvenient for them.  The sign of maturity is you come for others, to serve others, to encourage others, to love others.  Paul says the time is critical.  It’s urgent.  Wake up.  

What does Paul mean though when he says we need to wake up because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed? Notice he says our salvation.  Not others salvation, but ours.  We were justified by grace through faith. The penalty for sin has been dealt with. Thats the first phase of our salvation.  The second phase of our salvation is sanctification.  Sanctification is when we are freed from the power of sin.  Sin no longer controls us.  We are transformed, renewed, walking in the power of the Spirit.  It’s the phase when we are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Now that’s a process.  And Paul says in that process we are further along than we were.  

And the final phase of our salvation is glorification.  Glorification is the phase when sin’s presence is done away with.  Glorification comes at the consummation of the age, when Christ returns, and we will be like Him, and sin will be done away with.  So as we progress in our salvation, looking for the day when we shall be with Christ, that day is nearer than when we first believed.  Time for us is short, and growing shorter every day. We don’t know how much time we have left to do what God commanded us to do, but it’s less than we had yesterday.

 Paul says the time is  like the sunrise after a long night. vs12, “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Morning is coming. Jesus Christ the light of the world is going to return soon.  Paul says that the world is in darkness. And the world has been living in darkness since the Light of the world was taken up into heaven.  The world does the deeds of darkness.  That speaks of the sin of the world, the ignorance of the world.  But we that are saved are to be lights in the darkness.  Notice Paul says put on the armor of light.  This is spiritual warfare, and the way to defeat the kingdom of darkness which holds men and women captive is by putting on the armor of light which God has given us.  That light is the truth of the gospel.  It is the knowledge of salvation.  That is the armor of light.  Put it on.  Wear it.

Paul said in Phil. 2:15 that we were to act “so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.”  We are to bear the light, shine the light of the gospel to a world in darkness.  That is love.  That is loving your neighbor.

Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Now Paul describes the deeds of darkness; “Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.”  

Do we even need to expound on those examples of the deeds of darkness? I don’t think we need to explain them.  But what needs to be said is that far too often the saint still hasn’t put off the sin.  Notice the admonition to put off the deeds of darkness is given to us.  He says “let us behave properly, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.”  All those deeds of darkness are  things that the Christian still has to deal with in his own life, has to guard against.  We live in a society today that makes such things seem normal, seem legitimate, and certainly seem desirable.  

But as Peter says concerning those things in 1Peter 4:1-5 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,  so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.  For the time already past is sufficient [for you] to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.  In [all] this, they are surprised that you do not run with [them] into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign [you;]  but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”  That judgment will happen on the day which Paul said was at hand.  Morning is coming.  Jesus is coming back.  Put off the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

And finally, we see that the armor of light is Jesus Christ Himself. vs14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”  Clothe yourselves with Jesus Christ. Put on the attitude of Christ.  Be dressed in the righteousness of Christ.  Put on the gospel of Christ. Put on the love of Christ. Put on the word of Christ. And do not put on any part of that old nature which fulfills the lusts of the flesh.  Don’t put on the attitude of the world.  Don’t put on the clothes of the world.  Don’t put on the deeds of darkness.  As you put on Jesus, the things of this world will fade into the darkness of the past.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse yourself of all ungodliness and unrighteousness and let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

If you were here for the last few weeks in our study of Romans 12, then you will remember that chapter 12 deals with the practical application of the doctrine espoused in the first eleven chapters.  And practically speaking, chapter 12 is focused on the life of the church.  Paul says how we are live out the doctrines of justification and sanctification and glorification is by presenting our bodies physically to the church body, as a living sacrifice which is our worship to the Lord.  

And the dominate focus of the chapter deals with how we live out our Christianity in the church in community with one another.  Paul delineates how we are to exercise our spiritual gifts in the church not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of one another.  How we are to exercise humility in our relationship with one another, and most importantly, how we are to love one another.  And in that context he talks about contributing to one another’s needs as the church.  

So it’s all about the church.  The church is Christ’s body, a corporate, communal, and local assembly of believers who are connected as a family, born of the same Father, filled with the same spirit.  So that as Jesus said; they will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.  Who will know?  The watching world will know.

It’s interesting to notice that in the first NT church, they were all living together in Solomon’s portico which was in the temple compound in Jerusalem, and they had adapted that spot as the site of their church.  They had about 5000 people assembled there and they had all things in common. And though I don’t think the point of that is to teach that communal living is God’s plan for the church, I do think there were a lot of things that we can take away from that.  One is they were studying the word of God at the apostle’s feet daily. 

It says of this church in Acts 2:46-47 that they were “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,  praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”  And the point I want emphasize this morning is that it says they had favor with all the people.  I think that is speaking of the people outside of the church – all the Jews that visited the temple, that were witnesses to this great revival that was going on in their midst.  As they saw this church living together, they saw the love that Jesus spoke of, they saw the way they conducted themselves in the community, they saw a new type of person that was no longer conformed to the world, but transformed, and this church was viewed favorably by the world. And as a result, it says that there were added to their number day by day those that were being saved.  In other words, the church’s daily testimony of life caused the world to want to be saved, caused the world to want what they had.

Now that is appropriate to what Paul is saying in this chapter.  He has urged the church to be transformed, to no longer be conformed to the standard of the world.  He has told them how to live together and love one another. And now Paul tells the church how they are to deal with outsiders.  Those that are outside the church.  How we are to live in the world as transformed Christians. And the point is that we might be like Christ to the world.  We might win the world to Christ by the way we communicate, by the way we respond, by our compassion and by our condescension to the world.  Paul uses that word condescension, but not in the way we think of, which is to look down upon someone, but in the sense of coming down off your high horse and having compassion for the people who are outside of the church. And the goal is that the way we respond to the world is the means by which the world may come to know the gospel and be saved.

Paul then gives a series of exhortations or encouragements in how we are to act towards outsiders, people in the world.  Now the key in this series of exhortations is the same as it was in the Sermon on the Mount.  Paul is talking to, as Jesus also was referencing, a people who have a new nature, who have been born again and are operating in the power of the Spirit.  An indication of that is found back in the first part of the chapter when Paul talks about spiritual gifts.  In order for the church to be able to fulfill this kind of behavior, there must have first been a change of heart, a new nature, having received the power of the Holy Spirit.  Otherwise, the admonitions Paul gives are no better or more effective than the teachings of Socrates or Confucius or any number of other secular and religious leaders throughout history that have taught on the subject of ethical behavior.  And men and women through the ages have attempted to follow such teachings, but for the most part have found it unattainable, and perhaps really only see it as an ideal that cannot be maintained.

It’s possible to have that sort of attitude as a Christian as well. We hear Paul in this passage or Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and we say that such behavior is impossible to maintain and so we claim God’s grace and mercy and don’t even really try to do it.  But these attitudes and behaviors are not given as an unattainable ideology, but they are intended to be a reality in the life of the believer.  And they can be a reality when we do what Paul says in the first verse; to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.  When we die to self and walk in the Spirit. 

But that doesn’t mean that such behavior comes naturally, that it will happen instinctively, that we don’t have to work on these things.  That’s why in regards to the spiritual gifts listed earlier in the passage the indication is that we are to exercise them.  It takes a deliberate, conscious effort to make what we know to be true, a reality in our life.  To do what Jesus commands us to do takes commitment, resolve, dedication, perseverance, even a sense of duty.  And so we listen to this list, but we also must receive it, we must apply it, we must practice it, so that it eventually becomes a part of our nature.  But don’t be deceived into thinking that it’s just going to happen naturally.  This behavior that Paul is talking about is completely alien to human nature.  But it must be learned behavior of our spirit.

Now the first principle in this list of seven sets the standard for all which follow: vs 14, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”  What Paul says here is an echo of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount; Matt. 5:44  “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Anyone that thinks this is easily done simply isn’t living in the real world or they are living in an ivory tower.  Paul is not simply saying to not take revenge.  He will say that later in vs 19.  But this is even more difficult than that.  This is talking about praying a blessing on those who persecute you.  This is praying for God to bless someone that has just stolen from you, or beat you, or persecuted you, or in the example of Christ, someone who just drove nails into your hands. Jesus prayed on that occasion; “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Paul adds, “Bless and do not curse.” We should have not even the slightest desire for vengeance to those who do us harm, not on my part or even desiring God to exact revenge for us.  This is so contrary to our nature that such behavior can only come as a result of a transformed, renewed mind, that has been made new by the power of the Spirit working in us.

He’s not just saying don’t call the offending person a bad name, though using foul language should certainly not be a characteristic of us, but not even wishing ill upon them.  And then even taking it a step beyond that; bless them, pray for them.  

The next principle of how we are to deal with outsiders is in vs 15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”  This is not only to be true with other believers, but with our neighbors, with unbelievers, with those of the world with whom we come in contact with.  I think this is speaking of compassion.  Compassion for the unbeliever not only includes concern about their soul, but concern for their person.  To identify with them, to feel sympathy for them, and then also to be happy for them when things go well for them.  Perhaps that aspect is easier to understand by saying don’t be envious of them when things go well for them.  

I know that it’s easier to be sympathetic with an unbeliever when they are going through hard times than it is to be happy for them when things are going well for them.  When your neighbor who lives a life without a care for God or the things of God, gets a windfall and buys a brand new Mercedes, it’s hard to be really happy for him, isn’t it?  It’s easier to be a little envious of the fact that he was able to live the way he wanted and yet gets to have this great new toy.  Now maybe that illustration is a little too crass for most of you to identify with.  I hope so.  But I believe that if it’s hard to have sincere sympathy and compassion for the unbeliever in hard times, it’s just as hard to be able to rejoice with them when they rejoice.  But real Christian love for the world must have a compassion that is not hypocritical or insincere. 

The third exhortation to love the outsiders of the church is found in vs 16; “Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.”  Now at first glance this seems contrary to the earlier exhortation we were given in vs 2 to not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.  We were told there not to think like the world, and now Paul says have the same mind as those outside the church.  So what are we make of this?

Well, the answer might be in translation. Some of the words in the original might be better understood in one of the other translations.  For instance, in the RSV it reads; “Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited.”  Living in harmony with your neighbor is more in keeping with the general context of Paul’s list here, especially in light of vs 18 which says be at peace with all men.  

How can you be a witness to your neighbor if you are in a war with him?  I have been in a turf war with a neighbor before.  It was long ago, right after my wife and I were married.  We bought our first house and found out later that our neighbor was a stark raving mad lunatic.  I really think that they were the ones who were wrong and the offender.  But I will tell you that regardless of who was right, it was a terrible thing.  After a week or so, it became impossible to even speak to them. 

But had I truly applied this principle right at the very beginning, I think things might have gone differently.  My neighbor would still have been a crazy person, but things might not have progressed to the point that they did.  And it hurt me when I tried to sell my house a couple of years later.  She had put signs and fences up all around my property that rivaled a federal maximum security prison.  No one would buy my house. 

Now the key to living in harmony is found in the remainder of the text; don’t be haughty.  Don’t act out of pride.  Humble yourself in your relationship with others.  Associate with the lowly.  The lowly can mean those that are depressed, or humble, but also those who are of low estate.  That may include those that don’t have very high standards of conduct. They may not be the nicest people, the most refined people.  They may even be a stark raving mad lunatic.  But as one translation says, condescend to such people.  It doesn’t mean look down on them, but yield to them.  Get along with them.  Don’t act like you’re better than them.  If you have a humble attitude towards them, it is much more likely that you can live in harmony with them.

The fourth principle for loving your neighbor is in vs 17, “Do not return evil for evil to anyone.”  What Paul is speaking of here is a desire to get even – vindictiveness.  This is a principle that is often spoken of in scripture.  For instance, in 1Thess. 5:15 it says, “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.” Notice it says for all people.  Not just fellow believers but all people. 

Peter says something similar in 1 Peter 3:9, “not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”  Peter says that when you bless the one who insulted you, you receive a blessing as well. 

Some might say well the OT says there is to be retribution, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  But that was in reference to the public administration of criminal law and it was issued as such in order to discourage the practice of personal revenge. 

Going back to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained this principle saying,  “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’  “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” 

There is no place for vindictiveness in Christian behavior, whether in the church or to outsiders, not even to your enemies.  So tagged on to that principle of never returning evil for evil is the thought that  we must “Respect, or take thought for what is right in the sight of all men.” Here is the principle behind what I said was the characterization of the church in Acts 2, that they were having favor with all the people.  Our attitudes, or conduct and behavior should be right before men, that by living right before men, they might be drawn to  Christ.

It’s telling that the common complaint of most unbelievers about church is that it is full of hypocrites.  People that pretend to be righteous on Sunday morning, but live unrighteously in sight of the community the rest of the week.  Our business dealings should be right, our interactions with the community should be right.  They should see us dealing fairly and right with all that we come in contact with.  Never should it be said that we were vindictive, that we took advantage, nor even that we took revenge.  Never could that be said about Christ, and we are ambassadors for Him and so we should model His behavior.

Along that same line of reasoning is the fifth principle in vs 18 which we have already alluded to; “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”  I am grateful for the practicality of this exhortation.  “If possible, so far as it depends on you.”  There are times when you have done all you can to treat your neighbor or your enemy as God has told you to.  You have tried to be compassionate, you have tried to conciliate, to humble yourself, to do the right thing.  And yet they insist on hating you.  They insist on persecuting you or even making war with you.  

But Paul says as far as it is possible with you,  be at peace with all men.  Do all you can to be at peace, to not give offense, to not be the cause of trouble.  If they insist in attacking you, then so be it, but don’t let it be because of you. The goal is to live in peace with the world. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called the sons of God.  Once again we see the world’s witness to our peace as a means by which they will  know we are Christians.

The sixth principle for how we should love others is found in vs19 and 20: “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath [of God,] for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.  “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

This principle has already been alluded to in vs 14, 17, and now 19 and then again in vs 21. Different applications, but the same underlying principle.  It must be considered then to be of utmost importance.  It is fundamental to Christian living.  

So we should be familiar with this principle, to never take our own revenge, and to that Paul adds, but leave room for the wrath of God.  In other words, we must not play God or take the place of God by usurping what should be HIs prerogative alone.  Paul quotes from the OT here as evidence that in exacting our own revenge we are usurping God’s place.  He quotes from Deut. 32:35, 41, saying, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  God sees all, and He will bring every act, every thought to judgment.  That is the prerogative of the Lord, and we must not take from Him what is His alone to render to every man according to his deeds.

Once again we see Jesus as our example, who according to 1 Peter 2:23  “while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting [Himself] to Him who judges righteously.”  God is the only One able to judge righteously.  That why we are told to judge not, lest we be judged.  God is the judge. 

For our part, we must remember James 2:3 which says that mercy triumphs over judgment. Our part is mercy, by which we hope to save some. Failing that, every man will stand before the judgement seat of God and receive the penalty due for his actions.  And also we, if it were not for the mercy of God, would be condemned with the rest.  But Christ suffered in our place, in our place He stood condemned and suffered and died, so that we might be shown mercy.  So must we show mercy.

And so rather than taking revenge, Paul says, “on the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.”  Show mercy rather than judgment.  Show kindness.  Go with him the extra mile even though he asks too much of you.

“For by so doing you will heap coals of fire upon his head.”  I always thought that this meant that if you treated someone nice who was treating you badly, you were in a backhanded sort of way making hell a whole lot hotter for him.  Now maybe there is a little bit of truth in that, but that probably isn’t the way this should be interpreted. 

The interpretation that I recently came across I must confess I did not care for initially.  But what that interpretation said was it was a reference to a neighbor coming to ask for fire.  In that day they carried live coals with them as a means of starting a fire later. They did not have matches or lighters and so it was a troublesome thing to make a fire.  So the response should be to that person who asks for fire coals, to heap them upon their head.  To fill up a jar full of hot coals which they would then carry on their head back to their home.  

Now I liked my interpretation better.  I liked getting revenge, even if it meant that it had to wait for  hell to do it for me.  But that goes against the admonition to never take revenge.  So I am warming up to the interpretation that it is actually speaking of an act of benevolence, giving live coals to someone in need that is being spoken of here.

Let’s conclude then with the the seventh exhortation, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.” Don’t let the enemy get you down, don’t let persecution or trials get you to sin, to return evil for evil, But overcome evil with good. 

To over evil by good mean to continue living a life of faith in God and have love for everyone, so that when you do good to that person who meant it as evil, they end up becoming your brother.  God did good for us when we did evil towards Him, didn’t He?  How then can we do any less? We can win over our neighbors, and win over even our enemies, by our love for them, doing good to them, even when they meant it for evil. That should be our goal, and the ultimate expression of sacrificial love, that we do good for their benefit, that they might be drawn to Christ, that they might be saved.   Oh, to lead a lost person to Christ so that they might be saved is the ultimate act of love that we can show the world.  Let’s live in such a way with the world that they will want what we have; a new nature, a new way of living by the strength of the Spirit of Christ working in us.

Jesus told His disciples in John 13:34-35 that “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” So in the church we are commanded to love one another, and we will be characterized by our love for one another.

Now Paul is talking to the church in this chapter, giving them practical exhortation on how to live out their salvation. And Paul is saying in this passage that a primary characteristics of the church will be their love for one another. Love is a primary component of this new life in Christ because even though our salvation is inherently spiritual, yet as indicated in vs 1, Paul tells us that the spiritual life will be manifested by our physical life.

For instance, in vs one if we are to offer spiritual service to God, we will do so by physically presenting our bodies to God as a living sacrifice in the assembly of believers, the church. He goes on to say that if we are being spiritually conformed to Christ then it will be manifested by a transformation in our thinking and in our actions. And our actions in the church are made possible by the spiritual gifts that God has given us so that we may serve the body of Christ, which is the church. So that our spiritual gifts result in physical benefits to the church.

But before Paul even talked about spiritual gifts in the church he spoke of the necessity for humility. If we are Christians, then we must be humble, because Christ was humble. In Phil. 2:5 we are told to have the same mind that Christ Jesus had, who although He was equal with God He did not hold onto that, but for our sakes He humbled Himself. And so Paul says back in vs 3 as a precursor to how we act and what we do in the church that we must not think of ourselves more highly than we ought. We should model our thinking after the humility of Christ so that what we do is truly for the benefit of others and not to benefit ourselves, either directly or indirectly.

So then in that context, Paul says in vs9, “Let love be without hypocrisy.” So as we exercise our gifts to the church, we do so without selfish motives, without insincerity, but because of sincere love for the brethren. A hypocrite, according to the meaning of the original Greek word, means an actor on a stage. It’s someone who does something to be seen of men, to win their applause. It’s an act for show. Paul says don’t let your love be for show. Don’t let your spiritual gifts which are given for service to the church be for show to bring attention to yourself but let it be from sincere love.

Now as I said last week and so many times before, love has come to meaning something in our modern society that’s almost totally different than what was intended in the scriptures. In Greek language there were three words that were primarily used to speak of love. In modern English, we use only one to cover every possible meaning. In the Greek there is eros, which means erotic love, phileo which means brotherly love, and agape which means sacrificial love. Paul is using here agape love, which is the type of love that Christ had for the church, and the type of love we are to have for one another. But in English we just have one word -love- which covers any of the various meanings.

But there is a word in archaic English for agape love, sacrificial love, and that is the word charity. If some of you are using the KJV this morning then you will notice that it says charity, rather than love. And I think that is a pretty good word for love, because charity emphasizes the recipient of love, a benevolent love for others. But irregardless of the word that is used, the point Paul is making is that Christian love must be free from pretension, free from selfish motives. It is a sacrificial love which is geared towards other’s needs, and not your own benefit.

I would also say that this type of love is not rooted in emotion, or sentimentality or feelings. We can and we must love regardless of whether or not we find the recipient attractive to us. Agape love is a commitment, not an emotional or sentimental response to attraction. Christian love is similar to the type of love that is sometimes expressed for our country. Sadly, this kind of love is quickly becoming something of the past. But irregardless, it’s a noble love, an honorable love which commands a willingness to serve, perhaps even a willingness to lay down your life in service to your country because you love your country. So this love which is spoken of here is on another level than that which we commonly associate with love based on attraction or feelings.

And Paul says that love must not be hypocritical. It must not be self serving or for show or to get people to notice how nice of a person you are or how spiritual your are but love must be genuinely concerned for others even to the expense of your own needs.

Now in the rest of this section then Paul will tell us what that kind of love looks like. And it’s interesting to notice that juxtaposed against this noble love, Paul says that the Christian must hate. That’s sounds antithetical to Christianity, doesn’t it? It makes sense that Christians should love, but they must also hate?

Yes, if you love, then the flip side of love is hate. Paul says in vs1, “Abhor what is evil.” Some of the most popular Bible translations use the word hate instead of abhor. They mean virtually the same thing. Hate what is evil. You know the Bible talks a lot about hate. The Apostle John says in his epistle, if you hate your brother you are guilty of murder. So what are we to make of this?

Well, notice that our text does not say we are to hate people, but to hate what is evil and cling to what is good. We are to hate sin. We aren’t to hate the sinner, but we hate the sin. Jude distinguishes it this way in Jude 1:22, “And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” So we are not told to hate the person who is sinful, but hate the sin because of it’s polluting, corrupting influence which destroys people.

Listen, hating sin is the key to overcoming addiction. And all sin is addictive, incidentally. You know, I love ice cream. So consequently I eat a big bowl of ice cream every night. I know that’s not healthy. I know that’s bad for me. But I can’t seem to give it up because by about 7:30 on a hot summer night, I just start thinking about this cold, creamy ice cream that is so satisfying and so delicious, and I don’t even think twice. I’ll quit tomorrow. But if I could see what ice cream was really doing to me and how bad it was for me to eat all that cream and sugar every night, then I would hate it. And though I can’t imagine hating ice cream, I can imagine hating dill pickles. I hate dill pickles. You couldn’t force me to eat dill pickles. So what I hate has no hold on me. What I hate cannot control me. But what I love does control me. And that’s the secret to overcoming our addiction to sin. When you start thinking according to the truth of God’s word as we were told in vs 2, when we start seeing sin as God sees it, when we see the pain and suffering that our sin cost Jesus, then we will begin to see the horror of sin, the deadliness of sin, and then we will hate sin, we will abhor sin, and sin will no longer have control of you.

But let’s not lose sight of the context here either. And the context is Christian love in the church. We are to love with a pure heart, but we are to hate sin, and love what is good. We hate the sin, but love the sinner. Now that gives us instruction as to how we are to deal with those whom we love, but who are living in sin. Who are practicing sin. We love the sinner, but we hate the sin. We hate even the garment polluted by the sin. So we cannot condone the sin. Because we love them we must expose the sin. We must call sin, sin. We cannot condone sin because we know that sin destroys, it kills, it pollutes, it corrupts. Sin is corrupting like cancer, a little sin soon metastasises and grows and eventually it completes destroys. A good doctor does not condone cancer or decide not to reveal his prognosis of cancer because he is afraid of losing your friendship. No, but because he cares for you he must expose the cancer and cut out the cancer if there is to be any hope for your future. And so our perspective should be a holy hatred of sin, Paul says, and on the flip side we must have a love of what is good. He says cling to what is good.

God’s word tells us His law is good. Righteousness is good. Holiness is good. Paul says in Phil. 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think on these things.” That reminds us of what Paul said was to be the result of a transformed mind back in vs 2. Not to be conformed to the sinful pattern of the world, not to think like the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind that we might do that which is good, acceptable, and complete in the will of God. We have to guard our affections. Guard what we love. Because as Prov.23:7 tells us, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

John said in 1John 2:15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

Now the fact that as Christians God is our Father makes us brothers and sisters in the Lord. In the church, we are brothers and sisters. When Jesus was teaching, which at that time His brothers did not believe in Him, He was told that His family was outside the house wanting to see Him. And Matthew 12:48-50 says, “But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.’”

So with that perspective, Paul says in vs10, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” He is talking about the family of Christ. We are to be devoted to the church, to our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We have a new family, and a responsibility to this new family. There is a sense in which Christians are to love everyone, even our enemies, but there should be a special relationship, a special devotion to the church. Devoted means having a loyalty, a faithfulness to the church. Not to a building, nor a denomination, but to the people in the church, our church family.

This really goes back to this whole purpose of spiritual gifts. In 1 Cor.12, which is another passage dealing with spiritual gifts in the church, Paul concludes the chapter by saying “I will show you a more excellent way.” And the point he makes in the next chapter is that gifts without love for others in the church are like banging a gong. They only serve yourself and to build yourself up. But the more excellent way is the way of love for the brethren, so that all that we do is done because of love for others and for their benefit.

And so likewise in this text, Paul adds, “give preference to one another in honor.” Paul said it this way in Phi.l 2:3-4 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not [merely] look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” So particularly in the church, give others honor, instead of seeking honor for yourself. Build up one another. Give others the place of honor in the church as James tells us, not according to how much they are worth financially, or according to how you think they might benefit you, but according to the impartial law of love.

How else does Christian love manifest itself in the church? Vs.11 says we are to be, “not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” So if we love one another, if we love the church, then we will serve the Lord and that service will be characterized by diligence. Diligence is doing something whether we feel like it or not, dutifully fulfilling our responsibility. Diligence is love. I think of a mother’s love as being diligent. It’s a diligence in doing the dirty dishes, washing the dirty diapers or clothes, cleaning the house, doing all the things that nobody wants to do. And not doing it because she has to, but because she loves her family. She wants to make things nice for her family and so she works hard, and does the things that need to be done, the unsightly things, the dirty jobs. That’s diligent love. That’s persevering love. It’s love in action.

There is a service to the church that is not found in the glamorous positions. It might be menial service. But in the sight of God it is not menial. Jesus said if you give even a cup of water in His name you will have a reward in heaven. So be diligent in love, fervent in spirit. Fervent in spirit might be better understood to mean in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the source of our gifts, He is the source of our strength. And so we should be careful not to quench the Spirit, but to yield to His leading and enthusiastically work in His power. We quench the Spirit by yielding to the flesh, yielding to sin, but we are filled with the Spirit when we follow His leading.

Furthermore we see in vs 12,, this Christian love for the church means to be “joyful in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer.” I think a common malady of the church is despondency. We become despondent because we don’t often see the power of God manifested in our lives, and in our circumstances. But Christian love is hopeful, it is joyful, even in the midst of tribulation.

So even when, as the hymn the Solid Rock says, “when all around my soul gives way” we are hopeful and joyful because “He still is all my hope and stay.” Jesus is the anchor of my soul. Jesus is the hope of my prayers. He is my advocate with the Father, and all things, all power in heaven and earth are subject to Him. With God all things are possible. And so in spite of everything, in spite of tribulations, we are persistent in prayer. We pray knowing that God hears, that God cares, and that God has told us to come to Him with our petitions.

Listen, I know what it is like to become despondent. I know what it is like to pray for years and years for something, something that we think that is in God’s will, like the salvation of a loved one. And I know what it’s like to become despondent when we don’t see our prayers answered. But God can answer prayer and God does answer prayer.

I was talking to someone the other day who was despondent because they had been praying for a loved one and it looked like that this person they were praying for was going even further from the Lord. And so I told them a story about how my dad had two girls when he went to Bible college shortly after being saved. My brother and I had not been born yet. And my Dad was so enthusiastic about his salvation and the call of God upon him to be a preacher, that he prayed and asked God to give him two preacher boys. As the years went on, he would talk often about that prayer and he would point to my brother and I as proof that God would answer his prayer.

But as my brother and I reached our late teen years, we both went off into the world about as far as we could go. Both of us really got into drugs and a bad lifestyle. My brother went his way and I went mine. I ended up in California, and my brother ended up in a small college in South Carolina. And if anyone would have looked at us during those years they would have laughed at the idea that my Dad had prayed for two preacher boys. In fact, my Dad had long before stopped talking about it. I’m sure he thought that God wasn’t going to answer that prayer. But after a few years, God worked a miracle and my brother got saved. And a couple of years later I got right with the Lord and moved back East. Long story short, in another few years, God called my brother to the ministry, and a couple of years after that I was called to the ministry. But my Dad never lived to see either one of us become preachers. He died before either of us had answered that call by God. But nevertheless, I believe that he is aware that we both are preaching today. But the point is, that God answers prayers. My dad was a preacher, but he wasn’t a perfect man. However, God answered his prayers, and I believe God will likewise answer your prayer and mine if we are persistent in prayer.

Then in vs 13 we see the last of these characteristics of love for the church. In vs13 he says we are to be “contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.” In Matthew 25: 34 Jesus said concerning Himself, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me [something] to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me [something] to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You [something] to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, [even] the least [of them,] you did it to Me.’”

What Jesus is speaking of is what Paul calls practicing hospitality. Years ago, I used to be a manager in the Ritz Carlton Hotels. That field of work is called the hospitality industry. Hospitality then means food and lodging, it means service to those who are in your care for one reason or another. It’s interesting though to note that at it’s root the word hospitality comes from the word hospital. We all know what a hospital is, I’m sure.

I was talking with someone just the other day and I told them that the church should be a hospital, not a showroom. The fact is so many people in the church are hurting in so many ways. We try not to show it. So we put on our church clothes, and our church faces and our church personalities and we come and we go without letting anyone know that we are hurting, and consequently not getting the help that we need. But the church is not a place where we put on a show, or watch a show. The church should be a hospital where people who are hurting find help, where people who are dying find life, where people who are despondent find hope. And God has placed each of us in the church to be His hands and feet in ministering to one another by means of hospitality, contributing to the needs of the saints, of the church.

I don’t always know what you need. I would hope that you would tell me. But maybe there are others in the church that can help you as well. That not only can pray for you but that can come over and work with you or help you with something that you find overwhelming, that can be a friend in time of trouble. God wants the spiritual life to be physically manifested in love for one another. Perhaps there is someone that is financially struggling and could use some help but they don’t want to ask. You might be able to discern that as you minister to that person in Christian love.

You know, the Good Samaritan wasn’t a preacher. He was just an ordinary person on the road, perhaps on a business trip. But he showed hospitality. He helped this stranger that was hurting out of his own expenses. And you shouldn’t need me to tell you that there are a lot of hurting people in the world. There are a lot of hurting people in the church. And God would like you to reach out to your neighbor and love them with a Christian love, a sacrificial love that seeks to honor them, to build them up, to encourage them, to give them hope, and as you do so, you will in fact be found to be ministering to Christ, and serving the Lord.

Listen, this is how we worship the Lord, by sacrificially serving one another, loving one another, we serve the Lord. Remember the exhortation which was given to us at the beginning of this chapter in vs 1, with which we will close; “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship.”

When I look at what a lot of other preachers and teachers and commentators have said about this chapter before us, I think in some respects that many of them are guilty of dealing with  these passages out in a piecemeal sort of way.  What I mean by that is, they take them completely out of context with one another. 

For instance, they look at vs1 and 2 separately from the rest of the chapter and see it as some sort of post conversion consecration of the individual believer.  Then in vs 3-8 they tend to disregard the previous verses and combine these with other passages about spiritual gifts and just focus on what are spiritual gifts.  And the rest of the chapter kind of follows that type of exegesis without the benefit of contextualism.

Now I don’t want to pretend that I am more knowledgeable than most of these other commentators.  But perhaps my ignorance is a benefit in this case.  Because in my ignorance I read through the chapter and I see a principle that ties everything together.  And the principle  that provides the cohesiveness of the chapter is the essentiality of life in the church.

If you were here last week you may remember that I tied verses 1 and 2 to the essentiality of the church in the life of a Christian.  Paul says we are to present our bodies to God.  And I think that he means physically presenting yourself in church to God. Notice he says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice.  I think we need to see that as literally presenting our bodies to God in the assembly.  In the OT, the Jews on numerous occasions had to bodily present themselves to the temple. In many instances they had to literally present a sacrifice to the priests. In their festivals they were required to physically present themselves to the temple at the appointed time.  And so there were many requirements for the Jew to physically present themselves to God by means of the temple.

And I think Paul uses that language purposefully to draw that correlation to our worship. Notice that he says this physical, bodily presentation will culminate in our spiritual service of worship.  That is one of the  primary things we claim to do in church, isn’t it? Now corporate worship doesn’t preclude us worshipping God the other six days of the week as we go about our daily lives, and in fact I think it includes that, but our worship of God on the Lord’s Day, physically in the church serves as a first fruit, or a tithe if you will, of the rest of my time during the week.

So I think that this chapter is really about the church and it’s essentiality to our spiritual life now that we are Christians.  In chapter 12 Paul is no longer concerned with telling us how to be saved. He is now dealing with how we are to live now that we are saved.  And how we are to live spiritually is to be connected with the church which is the body of Christ.  It’s to be in communion with other believers as the church of God. In Acts 2 the first church was doing that literally, day by day in Solomons’ Portico in the temple, listening to the word of God which was being taught by the apostles and having their meals together and having all things in common with one another.  And that continued until the persecution started in Jerusalem which either  drove out or drove them underground.  But the church was not a one hour addendum to the weekend such as we have today, but a communion with other believers which orchestrated the rest of their lives.

That’s part of the problem with the whole public perception of the church’s viability in the midst of this pandemic.  The government for the most part has historically recognized something the contemporary society seems to have forgotten.  And even the church seems to have lost sight of.  And that is the essentiality of the church.  In the plan of God, spiritual life has precedence over physical life.  Spiritual well being has precedence over physical well being. And historically, I think that the founding fathers realized that and so they incorporated certain laws into our Constitution which guaranteed that our religious exercise should not be limited or infringed upon, regardless of whatever situation or even crisis should fall upon us.  Because they recognized that the church was essential to life.

But it’s ironic that the US government, and most state governments said on their closings and restrictions regulations that the church was an essential business,  yet in practice they restricted their operations to the point of virtually shutting down any physical presence at the church. Now my intent today is not to deal with that issue, per se, but to merely point out that in the view of the scriptures, the physical, bodily presence of the individuals together in communion is what constitutes the church and it’s not a debatable quotient, nor a disposable quotient, and in fact the bodily attendance of the believers in assembly together is non negotiable.  You cannot have an assembly without an assembly of bodies.

Dr. John MacArthur released a statement last week regarding this issue which I would urge you to find online and read or you can contact me later and I will send it to you.  But he said this concerning the assembly and I quote; “The church by definition is an assembly. That is the literal meaning of the Greek word for “church”— ekklesia—the assembly of the called-out ones. A non-assembling assembly is a contradiction in terms. Christians are therefore commanded not to forsake the practice of meeting together (Hebrews 10:25)— and no earthly state has a right to restrict, delimit, or forbid the assembling of believers.”

Ephesians 4:12 says the church is the body of Christ. And in Col.2:19 Paul says that Christ is the head of the body, “from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”  So the church is Christ’s church, Christ’s body, and together we constitute that body.  And a body is by definition physical.  Together we are physically the body of Christ on the earth. 

Then in vs2, Paul says as the church we are not to be conformed to the mold of the world. The world is not to regulate our conduct, set the standards for our lives.  We do not yield to the authority of the world view, but we are transformed by the renewing of our mind.  This is how we are the church, how we are to live according to God’s standards.  And that happens by renewing our mind which is done primarily through the preaching and hearing of the word of God.  As we physically present ourselves to God, the Spirit works through the preaching of the word of God to transform our minds so that we have the mind of Christ. All activity begins in the mind.  And having the mind of Christ enables us to do the will of God, that which is good, and acceptable and complete. 

Now this transformation results then in a new way of living, because we have a new way of thinking.  Three times in vs 3, Paul says think. There is a new way to think once you have renewed your mind.  And that new way of thinking is going to be patterned after Christ.  Phl 2:5-8 says in  NKJK, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross.”  Notice that the humility of Christ is emphasized as the mind of Christ.

And that humility is what Paul emphasized in vs 3 as well.  That as we have been transformed by the renewing of our mind through the word of God, we have a new way of thinking that will be characterized by humility.  Paul says in vs 3, “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”  

Humility is not thinking more highly of oneself than you ought to think. The mindset of the world is to love themselves first.  So then everything is decided according to how it will affect me. What is best for me. What makes me feel good. How it will benefit me.  But the renewed mind puts Christ at the center of my thinking. How I may serve Him, how I may please Him.  I sacrifice my priorities for His sake. That attitude of humility is going to be the foundational in how we are to act in the church and our attitude towards others.  As Christ came to serve, so we are to serve, and the people we are to serve is the church which is Christ’s body. All the gifts, all the offices, and ministries of the church are effective only when the participants are humbly and sacrificially serving the church and not themselves.  

There is a present preoccupation in the church today which is unhealthy; and that is the mindset that the church exists to serve me.  It’s almost a perversion of God’s love and grace  towards us to make it all about ourselves.  It’s how the church meets my needs. It’s whether or not I feel like I am getting any thing out of the church.  Or whether or not the church fits my schedule or my priorities right now. It’s all about how much God loves me, but very little about how much I love God.  But that’s why Paul started off with this admonition to present your body as a living sacrifice. The church is not just about you.  When you are immature in your faith, then maybe like a baby has no capacity to help others but must be helped, then so in the church at first it may be all about you being fed and learning and growing.  But maturity is the goal, and when we are mature our focus should be on benefiting the other members of the body, not just ourselves.  So the first thing changed in our thinking should be that we think of others more than we think of ourselves.  We have a love for Christ and a love for others, rather than consumed with loving ourselves.

So out of this new way of thinking comes a new way of functioning. Vs4, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,  so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”  Here is the point: we don’t operate like free agents any more.  When our thinking gets right, our independence is exchanged for interdependence. 

Notice in these verses Paul repeats the phrase one body, one body, and then one another. Paul uses repetition to help us learn. The emphasis is on the body, not the individual members of the body. Individual parts of the body contribute to the overall effectiveness of the body when they are working together.  Paul wants to emphasize not the independence of the believer, but their interdependence upon one another.

The human anatomy is a frequent illustration used in scripture to show how many different members working together  make the body whole and complete and functional.  In the human body none of the members of our body can work independently of one another.  They depend upon each other, and the body depends upon the individual members.  And each of the individual members of the body is essential to the well being of the body.  In our human body we cannot survive without a heart, without lungs, and we are severely handicapped when we are missing legs or hands.  And so it is with the church.

In 1Co 12:12, 14 Paul using the same analogy says, “For even as the body is one and [yet] has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.”  14 “For the body is not one member, but many.” So the church, Christ’s body, is made up of many members, but they must work together to constitute the body.

It’s noteworthy that both in 1 Cor. 12 and Romans 12, Paul uses the analogy of the body with many members to illustrate the diversity of spiritual gifts which are given to  the church. Spiritual gifts are a tool box not a toy box so that the work of the body might be carried out. 

Gifts are to be exercised for the good of the body.  And in vs 6 that application is clear.  It says in vs 6, “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, [each of us is to exercise them accordingly:] if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;  if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;  or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” 

Now as Paul gives instruction concerning spiritual gifts we must make sure first of all that we keep it in context with what he has been saying so far. And in that regard I think the point should be made that the gifts are given for the building up of the church, not the building up of the individual believer.  In the parallel passage about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians, Paul says in chapter 14:12 “So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual [gifts,] seek to abound for the edification of the church.”  And in chapter 12:7 “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

So spiritual gifts are given not for the edification of the believer, but for the edification of the church.  Spiritual gifts are given to build up other members of the body, not to build your own ego or self esteem, or even as evidence of your spirituality. And we are to exercise them or use them for the benefit of the church.

Another thing that must be realized is that this list in Romans 12 is not meant to be exhaustive. It is  generally agreed that there are four lists given in the New Testament of spiritual gifts.  One is here in Romans 12 which shows seven gifts, one in 1 Cor. 12:8-10 which shows nine gifts, then in 1 Cor. 12: 28,29 it gives eight, and finally Ephesians 4:11 it lists four.   And as there is no set number or order, it indicates that there may be more gifts, and Paul said that some gifts will cease from operation which means that there may be less gifts operational today than there were then.

But rather than spend a lot of time discussing the differences in the gifts themselves, I think the context indicates that we should emphasize the fact that the gifts are given on the basis of grace so that we would not be prideful because we think we have some sort of merit or special ability.  Notice that to start with Paul says we have different gifts according to the grace given us.  Grace means undeserved favor.  If you give someone a gift of a car, it would be possible for such a person to think that he is special because you gave him this nice car, but the fact is that if it is s a gift then he did nothing to earn it and so there shouldn’t be any pride in it.

So God gives us gifts not to satisfy our ego, or even to validate our Christianity but to enable us to serve the body’s needs and to equip the body.  Notice this list that we are given here; prophesying, rendering practical service, teaching, exhorting, contributing to the needs of people, leadership, and showing mercy.  There are no gifts in this list that are intended for selfish purposes.  Every gift there depends upon others being benefitted in order to be valid.

And notice that is exactly the point that Paul makes when expressing this list.  In each case, he shows how the application towards others must be done in order to be effective.  Let’s just look at them briefly. He says if you have the gift of prophesying then let him exercise it in accordance with the standard of faith.  To prophesy, if you want the briefest of definitions, means that you say, “thus says the Lord.”  It’s to proclaim the word of the Lord.  In the early church before the New Testament was complete, the written word was very scarce.  1 Corinthians and Romans were written years before many of the other epistles and there were only a couple of other epistles that had been written by that time.  The church mostly depended on the Old Testament scriptures and the verbal traditions of Christ’s teaching handed down through the apostles.  And so there was a real need for prophets who were given the word of the Lord to speak to the church. 

So the benefit to the church would be obvious if in fact such a prophet was speaking the word of the Lord.  Then as now, there were false prophets as well, and so in 1 Cor. 12 Paul lists another gift which is the distinguishing of spirits because there were some false prophets among them.  But Paul doesn’t address this here, but what he does say is let the prophets speak in accordance with the standard of faith.  The standard of faith would be the accepted standard of faith handed down by the apostles which was the foundation of the church.  So their prophecy was to be checked against the standard of faith established by the apostles.

Second on the list was rendering practical service. He says let him serve. It’s a gift to serve others. Then the gift of teaching, let him exercise teaching. You are not given the gift of teaching for your own sake, but for the sake of others whom you are to teach.  And that principle is expressed for each of the gifts on this list.  Each of the gifts he says let him exercise it. Let him put it to work.   It’s not for personal use, it’s for the general good of the church, for others.

Now let me say something else about this list in Romans and that is this is not the popular list. The gift of serving is not a popular gift is it?  Neither is the gift of giving.  The gift of showing mercy is definitely not on the cool list.  When people talk about spiritual gifts they always want to go to the list found in 1 Corinthians 12 because that’s the cool list, the list with the showy gifts.  That’s the list with tongues and healing and so forth which are gifts that can easily be misused to ascribe spirituality or giftedness on the one using it, rather than edification towards others.  

But if you notice in the 1 Corinthian list, Paul interrupts his discussion on spiritual gifts to say that there is something better.  He says, I will show you a more excellent way.  And what is this way that he is speaking of?  He says it is the way of love.  And as I have said previously many times, love would be better translated as it is in the KJV which is charity.  The word love, as used in our modern world has become so misused that in the Christian context it is almost a completely inappropriate translation.  Charity, on the other hand, always has the context of others in it’s application. 

So in 1 Cor.13 then in the KJV Paul says concerning this more excellent way, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.  And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing. Charity suffers long, [and] is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil;  Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

And in our passage here in Romans 12 as well, Paul segues from spiritual gifts in vs 8 to the necessity for love, or charity in vs 9. “Let love be without hypocrisy.”  Do you know what hypocrite means?  It comes from a Greek word which means an actor on a stage who performs for the applause of men. Paul says let your love, let your charity be without hypocrisy.  Jesus said when you give, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  In other words, don’t broadcast your good works to be noticed of men.  

The motivation for all the gifts which the individual members of the church are to use for one another should be love.  Jesus said they will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.  Love as used in this text is the Greek word agape.  Agape is a sacrificial love.  It’s the kind of love Christ had for the church.  And it’s a love we are to have that sacrifices my best interests for the best interests of others.  He says in vs 10 concerning love to “[Be] devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.”  It comes full circle to the humility that Paul started out by saying we must have back in vs 3 if the church is going to be effective and work as God designed it to.  Real Christian love seeks for the good of others, even to the point of sacrificing your own needs.

We are going to talk further about what that kind of love looks like next week as we continue this passage.  But I must stop here for now.  But I hope that you have come to recognize the essentiality of the church and the participation in it which God desires for you. I trust you will seek to employ your spiritual gifts for the mutual benefit of the church, so that the church will be the body of Christ to a watching world.  I pray that all that you do will be done in charity for the edification of the other members of the body. And  I hope that you will come to know that life in Christ’s body is the real life, the abundant life that He laid down His life to provide for us. 

Now [may] the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, [even] Jesus our Lord,  equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom [be] the glory forever and ever. Amen.  (Hebrews 13:20,21)