Today we are beginning a new book of the New Testament, which normally we study verse by verse, and chapter by chapter.  But I am going to break tradition with this one, and start in the middle of chapter one.  I may end up circling back to the beginning material at some later date.  But I am doing it this way because I want to continue in a series of sorts that was begun in our study of Romans which we finished last week.  

As you will remember, starting with chapter 12 of Romans we began to look at a series of expositions about the church.  Practical applications of life in the church.  And we had a series of messages dealing with the church, such as the worship of the church, the essentiality of the church, the love of the church, the edification of the church, the  model for the church, the fruit of the church, and the saints of the church.

Now I had it in my mind that we were going to start Colossians after we finished Romans for quite some time.  However as I was studying the book, I was really taken with this particular passage in chapter one vs 13-20, and it’s theme of Jesus, the head of the church.  And so I felt this passage was a perfect continuation or better, a consummation of this series of messages on the church.  And so I thought I would forego for now the introductory remarks which are at the beginning of this epistle, and jump right in to this passage which makes the case for Christ, the head of the church.

We should all be well versed by now though with the doctrine that to become a member of Christ’s church we do not sign a paper, or submit to a vote by the congregation, or any manner of various means by which people join a church, but if you are to be a member of Christ’s church you must be born again.  Jesus said to Nicodemus that you must be born again to enter the kingdom of God, and that means you are born of the Spirit. 

How you are born again is spelled out in great detail in Romans.  And that rebirth is summarized in Romans 10:9 and 10 which says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

The key to salvation then is believing, confessing Jesus as Lord.  And I would like to lay stress on that for a moment.  Jesus is Lord is the confession of a Christian.  In Paul’s day, the Christians were arrested and charged with treason against the emperor.  They were given the option of saving their life by making the confession “Caesar is Lord.”  Caesar demanded to be worshiped as a god.  And of course, Christians were unable to make that confession and so many of them lost their life.

So to confess Jesus as Lord is to confess that He is God, that He is to be worshipped.  That to Him belongs all power and authority. That from Him is life and peace. If Jesus is Lord, ie Sovereign, Master, Lord of all, then all we have belongs to Him – our life, our possessions, our will, our destiny.  Christ is Lord of all. And we must submit to that.

Christ is Sovereign Lord.  And a sovereign speaks of a kingdom.  Lord is a title given to a ruler. And so as Paul says in vs 13, through salvation God has made us members of Christ’s kingdom.  Vs 13 “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

What that verse teaches is that we once belonged to another kingdom.  2 Timothy 2:25 tells us that we once were held captive by Satan’s kingdom, to do his will.  “with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,  and they may come to their senses [and escape] from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.” So we were held captive by the domain of darkness, or the realm of darkness, the dominion of darkness.  All of which is another way of saying the kingdom of darkness.  Satan is referred to in scripture as the prince of this world, the prince of the power of the air.  And so Satan is the prince of this kingdom of darkness. 

We were once held captive in the dominion of Satan. But through salvation we have been delivered, rescued and made part of the kingdom of Christ.  And I say to you that the kingdom of Christ is no less than the church of Christ. They are one and the same.  They are synonymous.   Jesus said in John 18:36 “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”  The kingdom of Christ is the called out ones, the eklesia, the church of Christ, the assembly of believers, the saints of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see this echoed in Eph. 1:19-23 These are] in accordance with the working of the strength of His might  which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly [places,] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,  which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Notice back in our text that Paul says we were transferred to the kingdom of His Son. The word that is translated “transferred” had a special significance in the world at that time.  When one kingdom conquered another, the custom was to take the population of the defeated empire and transfer it completely to the conqueror’s kingdom.  I believe that is what Paul referred to in Ephesians 4:8 when he said that when Jesus rose from the dead, he took captivity captive.  We that we held captive to Satan’s realm have been transferred completely into God’s kingdom.  Everything we have and everything we are now belongs to Him.  

But this victory was not accomplished without the shedding of blood.  Paul says “In whom we have redemption.”  Redemption means the release of the captive by a legal ransom. And the price for our redemption was paid with the blood of Jesus, securing not only our freedom, but also the forgiveness of our sins.  Christ’s death was the legal satisfaction for the debt of our sin which we could never pay.

Then starting in vs 15, we have one of the most comprehensive statements of Christ’s divinity and His Lordship that can be found in the New Testament. Many Bible scholars think that Colossians 1:15-20 came from a hymn of the early church that described what Christians believed about Jesus. And that seems to be a possibility, but it can’t be proven conclusively.  Nevertheless, it stands as a magnificent statement about the divinity and Lordship of  Jesus Christ. 

Paul says in vs 15, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”  We should all be aware that the Bible states that God is Spirit, and thus He is invisible to the human eye, and that no man has ever seen Him.  But Paul says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. 

One theologian told a story of a little boy who was drawing pictures on the floor one day as his mother was working nearby. And she said to him, “what are you drawing?”  The little boy replied, “I’m drawing a picture of God.”  The mother knew her theology though, so she said, “But no one knows what God looks like.”  The little boy responded, “Well, they will when I get through!” 

The application to Jesus is this.  The life and work of Jesus Christ created an exact image of the invisible attributes of God. What Paul meant was that Jesus was the perfect likeness and manifestation of the nature of God.  He is the great and final theophany.  The word translated image is eikon, from which the word for photography is derived.  So that we might say that we see Jesus as a photograph of God. He is the exact representation of the nature of God.

We find that same description by the author of Hebrews in chapter 1 vs 3; “[The Son] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of the [Father’s] nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”  We cannot see God, but we can see Jesus, who is the exact image of God.  Remember when Philip said to Jesus “show us the Father.” And Jesus said, “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” “The Father and I are One.” 

Then notice that Paul says Christ is the first born of all creation. Some cults have wrongly used this verse to support their belief that Jesus was created.  Some even go so far as to say He is just a higher order of the angels, a brother of Lucifer.  That erroneous view seems to be some of the error of the Colossians to which Paul had written this letter, in an attempt to correct a false theology that was creeping into the church doctrine.

But first born has in this sense as Paul is using it as the heir, the owner, the possessor of Creation.  Dr. Carl Henry, regarded as one of the greatest theologians of his day said, “it should be translated as the Primeval Creator of all created things.” So Jesus is the one who possesses, as heir or owner, all things that are created.

Therefore, when Paul says, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” He’s not saying that the Lord Jesus was the first created.  But in regards to his divine person, he is the eternal Son to whom belongs all things. In the OT, we see in the lives of the patriarchs this principle of the firstborn son who inherited everything of the father’s estate.  So firstborn signifies ownership, being the heir of all things, not a created entity.

This word, prototokos, which is used here for firstborn, is a term that has special significance. It is used in the translation of the passage in Psalm 89:27: “I also shall make him [My] firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.”  Furthermore,  in the Greek language, there was another word that meant first created, which is protoktisis. That word is never used of the Lord Jesus. They never say that he was first created, though the word was available to them. But in Scripture as a whole, when it says that He is the first born of the whole creation, it means that He is the heir of all creation.

Then in vs 16 he says Jesus is the Creator. “For by Him all things were created, [both] in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him.”  Jesus is the creator of all things. Perhaps Paul lays stress on this doctrine, again for the sake of the Colossians error, to emphasize that Jesus was not created, but that He is the Creator of all things.

Notice Paul uses three prepositional phrases.  “All things were created through Him.” “All things were created by Him.” “All things were created for Him.”  All things were created through Him refers to the design of creation. Jesus was the architect of creation.  All things were created by Him refers to the fact that He is the builder of creation. And all things were created for Him means that everything was made for His glory.

One may illustrate it by the construction of a building.  The architect designs and draws the plans of the building. Then the builder  constructs the building according to the plans. And then when the building was finished, the building is used by the owner for their own purposes.

In the case of the creation, to apply that analogy, the Lord Jesus Christ is responsible for this universe as the designer, the architect. Further, he was the builder, all things have been made by Him. John 1:3 says “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” And furthermore this whole creation, not only physically what we see about us, the earth and the heavens that we see, but the whole universe, visible and invisible is designed and built to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then perhaps again as an effort to correct the bad theology pervading the Colossian church, Paul emphasizes that even the invisible angels, described as thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities are created by Him.  Paul uses similar language to describe the dominion of darkness in Eph. 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].”  So that we might agree with the people of Jesus’s day, who said that even the demons are subject to Him.  Jesus created them and thus He has authority over them.

Now he goes on to say, not simply that he’s the architect and the builder and the one for whom the creation has been constructed, but He is superior to all things and He sustains all things.  Notice the 17th verse, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Before all things speaks not only of chronology, but also of superiority.   He is over all, before all, superior to all.  There is no one before Him. Chronologically speaking, He is before all, because He was from the beginning with God.  John 1 says , “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, The same was in the beginning with God.”  So Jesus is before all things and superior to all things and furthermore He sustains all things.

Paul says, “In Him all things hold together.”  He is the glue that holds the universe together.  Do you know that science tells us that the world is traveling through space around the sun about 67,000 mph?  Then in addition to that it is spinning at 1,040 mph.  How does the world keep it together with all these forces moving upon it?  The answer is that the power of Jesus Christ holds all things together.  Now that may be difficult for you to believe.  But I say to you that for me it is harder to believe that scientists say we are hurtling through space at 67,000 mlles per hour while spinning over a thousand miles per hour and yet the hair on my head is hardly moving. I’m not sure which takes more faith, to believe in science or to believe that Jesus holds all things together.  I choose to believe the scriptures. 

So Jesus is the Lord of creation, but he’s also Lord of the new creation. Notice the 18th verse. After having said that he’s the Lord of the first creation, Paul says, “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

Notice Paul says He is the head of the body, the church.  In 1Cor. 12:27 Paul says to the church, “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”  That’s an amazing thing to consider, that we are called the body of Christ. Not just body as in an assembly, but body as a physical part of Christ. That’s hard to fully comprehend.  And yet it is more than an analogy, it’s a reality. The church is a new creation. The Spirit of Christ lives in us, so that we are His body on earth.  We are His hands, His feet, and we do His works, His deeds.  We speak His words. We accomplish His will. 

And Paul says, Christ is the head of the body. That indicates how inseparable the church is  from Christ even as our head is essential to the life of our bodies.  He’s the head of the body. The head and the body are not the same. The church  is called the body of Christ. It’s not called the body of Christians. And the reason for that is very simple because the church is His.  The head expresses ownership. Authority is suggested by head. Control is suggested by head. He’s the head of the body. He’s the head of the church. And consequently he controls the church. He owns the church. He has authority over the church. And also the head  refers to Jesus’ role as source of the life of the church,  similar to how we refer to the head of a river as the source.

So to put it another way the head refers to Christ’s relationship to the church. We are related to the head who is in heaven. And if we are to live a life that is acceptable to the Lord God, we must be submissive to the head, to the Lord Jesus in a personal sense. And as a body of believers who are under shepherds, it’s most important for them and for us to be under Him and to look to him for control and guidance and authority in the things that we do.

He’s the head of the body, the church for this reason, that he is the beginning and he’s the first born from the dead.  He’s the firstborn from the dead, because he’s the first and only one  to break the power of death. He triumphed over death in His resurrection, and He has the keys of death and Hades as a result.  He is head of the church, supreme and sovereign over it. Government is not in control nor does it have authority over the church. Only Christ has authority.  We acknowledge Christ alone as our head.  Not Peter, not the Pope, not the president or potentate.  But Christ alone is the head of the church.

Vs 18 says, “So that He might have first place, or preeminence in everything.”  First place, not second place or third place.  Jesus is preeminent in our worship.  Paul summarizes the doctrine of Christ by saying that Christ is to have first place in everything.  Jesus is fully God. Paul speaks in vs19 of the fullness of deity dwelling in Christ by saying, “For it was the [Father’s] good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.”  The noted theologian Lightfoot says, The word fullness was “a recognized technical term in theology, denoting the totality of the Divine powers and attributes.” So Jesus is fully God.  And because He is God He is to have first place in our worship.  He is to have first place in the church. He is to have first place in our life.

Paul says, “And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself.”  One day, the scriptures tell us, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess Jesus is Lord.  Those who do so today, by faith, receive salvation and forgiveness of sins.  They receive a part in the kingdom of heaven and are transferred into His church.  But one day at the consummation of the age, Jesus will return to earth, and every eye shall see Him, and every knee will bow, and the kingdoms of this world will submit to the kingdom of Christ.  Phil. 2:9-11 says “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

When Paul says Christ made peace through the blood of the cross, that speaks to us of the real, physical death of Jesus Christ in our place, on our behalf, before God by which we are redeemed and receive forgiveness of sin. Faith in HIs  literal death in our place, and the literal judgment He bore on our behalf, is what saves us.  But those who do not believe  will not be saved, but nevertheless, all will one day bow, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

I want to conclude today by proclaiming to you that there is a standing invitation by the head of the church to come and be a part of His body, to confess Jesus as Lord.  At the end of Revelation, after all the warnings and pictures of those who rebelled against the sovereignty of Christ has been foretold, Christ gives an invitation to anyone who hears to come to Him and be saved, to become a part of His body.  He says in Revelation 22:17, “The Spirit and the bride (that is the church) say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”  That invitation still stands.  Redemption has been made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the payment for your sins.  Come to Him today and find deliverance and be transferred into HIs kingdom, His church.

We have come today to the end of the epistle to the Romans.  It’s been a long, somewhat arduous journey.  Romans is a very thorough, very dense, theological treatise in the form of a  long letter to the Roman church from the Apostle Paul.  And as I have said quite frequently lately, the first 11 chapters were almost strictly theological, but the second part of the book beginning with chapter 12 are very practical.

Now they are practical because these last 5 chapters are dealing with the life of the church.  The first 11 chapters tell us how we receive life from God, how we are made a part of the church, that’s the theological section, and the last five chapters tell us how we are to live as the church, that’s the practical application.

Starting in chapter 12 we looked at how we worship as the church, the essentiality of church, the love of the church, the church’s attitude towards the world, towards their neighbor, and towards government.  Then we looked at the edification of the church, the model of the church, and the fruit of the church.  Finally, today we are looking at the saints of the church.  

Now I could just as easily say the people of the church, but I wanted to use saint because the apostle uses that word to describe Christians. Saint means holy one.  We need to understand that there is a difference between a saint and a sinner.  Yes, in one sense we are  sinners saved by grace.  But when we are saved we are no longer sinners, but saints.  We have been set apart, we have been sanctified.  We have been transformed.  We have been changed.  We no longer are controlled by our sin nature, but we are now controlled by our new nature, and that new nature is a new spirit which is born of God.

I feel a need to make that distinction because I see too many people who claim to be Christians and yet they are not living a holy life.  They are still trapped in their sin. They are still living in the world. And that’s evident when you talk to them.  They come to church, they move their mouth when we sing, they may drop some money in the offering box, but when you begin to talk to them it’s apparent that they are still living in sin. Listen,  Christ died on the cross not to make it possible for you to have God’s blessing on your business, not to give you perfect health, not just to deliver you from your crisis, but He died to cleanse you from sin.  He died so that you might have life, spiritual life, a life of consecrated holiness to the Lord.  He died to deliver you from the bondage of sin, to escape the corruption of the world, and to live for Him. And that is why the early church were called saints.  That is why you are called saints.  Dead people are not saints, but living people are saints who live sanctified, holy, obedient lives for God.  That is what the church is populated by, not just people who have a similar economic or cultural or moral background, but a people who have been changed from sinners to saints.

John Newton, who wrote the famous hymn Amazing Grace, was a slave trader before he was converted and eventually became a minister.  And John Newton wrote a famous line which says, ““I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”  I am not what I once used to be.  That should be the testimony of every man and woman here.  And if it is not, then you need to examine whether or not you have been truly saved.

In 1 Cor. chapter 6, Paul talks about sinners, how as unrighteous they will not enter the kingdom of God.  And he describes the unrighteous as fornicators,  idolaters,  adulterers,  effeminate,  homosexuals, thieves, covetous,  drunkards, revilers, and swindlers.  He pretty much covers the gamut of sinful activity.  And then he says and “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”  There was not only a change in position, but a change in behavior, from sinner to saint.  And so in almost all his epistles, he addresses those in the churches as saints.  And so it is in Romans 1, in his salutation “to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints.”

So the people of the church are the saints of God.  A holy people, set apart and sanctified by God.  And as was the  typical format of letters in those days, at the end of the letter Paul addresses certain saints of the church that he knows of, either through prior association with or by reputation. 

Now this chapter is one that is largely skipped over by the majority of pastors, and I can’t say that I blame them.  Just reading the names listed here is difficult enough, much less coming up with a three point outline from this chapter. But I believe there are some very instructive things that are tucked into this final chapter which should be helpful to us as well.  Because the church is the people. It’s not a building, it’s not a denomination, it’s not an organization.  It’s the holy people of God.  And here we have some insight into what that looked like in the first century.

Now there are some general observations that we can take from this, and then we will look at a few particular people, and then a warning and a blessing upon the church.  First some general observations.  From history, and which is also confirmed in this passage, we know that there were not any church buildings associated with the early church until the middle of the third century.  For the first 250 years or so, the saints met in homes of various members.  Probably the more wealthy members of the church had the largest homes, and so they would have likely been the home they met in.

Also, as we can see from this passage, there was usually more than one church home in a city.  There are at least three mentioned here in this chapter, and possibly more. Perhaps they followed the pattern of the Jewish community, where synagogues were regularly spaced throughout the city.  They were not allowed to travel more than a Sabbath day’s journey to go to the synagogue, and so they would have one in every community.  And the standard was that if the community had at least 10 men then they could establish a synagogue.  I think a similar principle would have been in operation in the NT church. Not that they were prohibited from travel, but they were limited in the size of their houses as to how many people could gather together as a church.

I think a lack of understanding about these house churches has led to a greater misunderstanding in regards to church formation today.  When Paul and Barnabas established elders in all the churches in Acts 14:23, some have erroneously, in my opinion, thought that established the principle of a plurality of elders for every church.  But what it  actually says is they established elders in every church.  In other words, every church, every house church, they established an elder, or an overseerer, or what we might call today a pastor. After all, if a church had only 20 – 40 members in it,  if you had the principle that there must be a plurality of elders you would end up with all chiefs and no Indians.  There are some churches today that ascribe to that idea of a plurality of elders, but I don’t see  evidence for that in scripture.

Notice another thing about this church at Rome.  Paul mentions only 29 people by name, but indicates there were more with the phrase “in their house.”  “In their house” indicates there was a church in their house, and we have already said there are at least 3 house churches mentioned in Rome.  Once again, that indicates small, intimate groups of believers who met in homes as a local congregation, with a local pastor or elder.  And yet there would have been a recognition and even fellowship and sense of community with other congregations in the city.

Another thing worth noting in the names on this list is the fact that at least 30 percent are women.  That is striking in a culture that did not recognize women as much more than property.  But we can see that in the church they were highly valued.  They filled important roles in the church.  Not necessarily leadership roles, but then it is important in church that there are workers and not just all leaders. What’s amazing to consider is that God immortalizes so many people in these churches who were just average, otherwise unknown individuals who come from every walk of life.  Commentators tell us that many of this list were slaves, some were nobles, some were civic leaders, some were undoubtedly poor.  And yet they were unified in the church.  There was no recognition of rank or privilege in the church, and if one did have money or position according to natural means, then it was used for the benefit of the church.

What else is amazing is that this list shows us that there was a good amount of travel going on in the Roman culture. Fro instance, Aquila and Priscilla were first in Rome, then Corinth, then Ephesus, and then back in Rome again at the time of this letter. People traveled and lived in various places in the Roman Empire.  They had that sort of freedom under Roman rule, and the famous Roman road system obviously helped in that regard.  In fact,  the gospel was more easily carried throughout the Roman Empire by the fact that Rome had established a sort of peace throughout the known world, and their highway system enabled commerce and travel at an unprecedented pace, all of which contributed to the spread of the gospel. 

Now let’s look at few particulars regarding certain individuals.  First of all, Paul mentions Phoebe. “I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church which is in Cenchrea.”  It’’s widely believed that Phoebe was the one who carried the letter to the Romans from Paul.  It’s likely that she was a business woman, and so by this commendation from Paul the church so that they would accept her and show hospitality to her.  But most importantly, she is described as a servant of the church.  The word rendered servant is the same word from which we get the word deacon.  That doesn’t mean that she was a deacon in position in a church, however.  The word also can simply mean servant, or server. It was used to describe those who served in any capacity.  There are some churches that I am afraid have once again failed to interpret this passage correctly and from it have come to the conclusion that women are to hold positions of leadership in the church in the form of deacons or even ministers.  But that’s the danger of taking a indirect reference such as this and trying to use it as a proof text to substantiate a preconceived objective because of cultural preference. Paul’s letters to Timothy in regards to church organization and it’s ministers’ qualifications makes it clear that it does not permit women in church leadership, but simply to state this woman risked much to serve the church in the capacity of bringing the epistle to them.

Other saints of note in Paul’s epistle are his friends and coworkers in the faith, Aquila and Priscilla. It would seem from the text that they had a church in their house. That seems to be the case with this couple no matter where they were.  They were always serving the Lord and hosting the church in their house, whether in Ephesus or Rome.  Aquila and Priscilla are mentioned about 6 different times in the NT, and sometimes Priscilla is mentioned first, and sometimes Aquila.  And once again some teachers who perhaps have an agenda have tried to say that since Priscilla is mentioned first more often than her husband, that means that she was the one that was the teacher, the leader, and not her husband.  I think that’s another case of trying to find proof for an agenda that the Bible does not support.  I think it might say something about her personality, or about her character, but it is a real stretch to find support for something that 1 Timothy makes quite clear, saying that woman are not to teach in the church.  Scripture does not contradict scripture.  And when it seems to, then you must reevaluate your interpretation, not change Biblical doctrine.

Paul says that Aquila and Priscilla risked their own necks for his sake, and that all the churches owed them a debt of gratitude for their service to the Lord.  He goes on to mention Epaenetus, who was the first one saved in Achaia of Paul’s ministry.  He had a special place in Paul’s heart. 

Then Andronicus and Junia. These were apparently Jews (he calls them my kinsmen) and were imprisoned for the sake of the gospel (my fellow prisoners). They were well regarded among the apostles, having become Christians even before Paul did.  Notice it doesn’t say they were apostles, but they were of note among the apostles.  I think that means the apostles had selected them for special responsibilities to the church.

Then he mentions Amplias, of whom we are told there is found a tomb in the earliest Christian  catacombs with that name.  Then he mentions the household of Aristobulus.  Aristobulus is believed to be the brother of King Herod Agrippa. He was not a Christian himself but many of his slaves evidently were. He mentions Tryphena and Tryphosa, obviously names for ladies. Their names mean dainty and delicate, or something like that. But notice how Paul describes them, “Those women who work hard in the Lord.” So these ladies of likely noble birth, who are dainty and delicate but they work hard in the Lord.

He mentions, “Greet Rufus,” whose name means ‘red’. That’s interesting because in Mark chapter 15 there’s a passage about a man named Simon of Cyrene, who was pressed into service to carry the cross of Jesus.  He had two sons, Alexander and Rufus, and it is believed the whole family came to know the Lord as the result of Simon witnessing the crucifixion of Jesus. Tradition says that Alexander was martyred for the faith, but Rufus is now in Rome as a servant of the church there.  Paul calls the mother of Rufus his mother, indicating that at some point it’s likely that Paul lived with his family and was befriended by them.

Paul continues in vs 14, “Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.” I think it’s interesting to note how often relatives are mentioned together, as well as people who are of the same household.  It’s illustrative of the way the gospel is spread, from one family member to another, from house to house, neighbor to neighbor. I think that kind of ministry is the key to effective church growth.  Our witness begins in our home, with our loved ones, and then to our neighbors, and then to the community. But far too often today I feel our family members are excluded from church rather than included. When our unsaved relatives come to visit, that’s an excuse not to come to church, rather than viewed as an opportunity for them to hear the gospel.

Then note the personal affection Paul says is needed in the church.  Vs.16; “Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.”  I wonder about such statements, whether or not God anticipated the Covid virus.  That must have been such a shock for God, to find out that we can communicate germs to one another if we come closer than six feet. I mean, I think it’s prudent if you’re sick that you don’t sneeze on people, you don’t drink after people, you don’t kiss people if you’re sick.  But somehow, someway, sooner or later there needs to be a return to normal behavior, and that includes shaking hands, kissing, touching, putting your arm around someone, or some form of showing affection.  

I will say, however,  that this kissing was not sexual in nature, but a perfunctory greeting in this part of the world.  And it still is common today in a lot of places.  It was usually a kiss on the cheek, maybe on both cheeks.  But it demonstrates a willingness to let down your guard, to acknowledge in a public way your affection and friendship.  That kind of brotherly love is necessary in the church.  Christian love is not just spiritual, but it also must be physical. Kissing isn’t customary in our society, but shaking hands is, hugging someone is. And Paul indicates here that such a physical sign of affection is essential to the church.

Then in the 17th verse Paul gives a warning to the church. “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.  For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.  For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.” 

Paul is giving a warning against Antinomianism. That is, those who are professing to be Christians but live indulging the flesh. He says you should avoid such men. They seek to advance themselves he said, by smooth, plausible talk, by flattery. They flatter the ego of the saints and thereby lead them astray. It’s very easy for someone who has ulterior motives to appeal to your ego, to speak smoothly and plausibly to you, and to make you their disciple. That still goes on today in the church. From time to time we have people who come in, and after awhile it becomes evident they don’t really want to follow our teaching but instead they want to teach, to develop their own disciples. And Paul warns against such people who use flattery, who appeal to your ego, who appeal to your fleshly appetites, in order to take advantage.

But Paul rejoices in their obedience.  That’s the characteristic of the saint. Obedience to what God’s word teaches us.  That’s the mark of sanctification. That’s the goal of our instruction.  1Tim. 1:5 says, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” The deceivers and false teachers seek another goal, and that is to divide and deceive and lead the people of God astray to follow them, all with the promise that they will find fulfillment. 

He says, be wise in what’s good , and be innocent in what’s evil. That’s a refection of what Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”  False teachers always appeal to some thing of the flesh, some appetite of our baser nature.  Paul urges them to be on guard against such teaching and turn away from those people.

But Paul wants the church to know that God is fighting for the sanctity of the church as well. He says “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”  Note first of all that it is God who will crush Satan.  Secondly, that he will use the church’s feet to crush Satan. And third, that He will do so soon.  God uses the church to accomplish His will.  Way back in Genesis 3:15 God promised to bruise Satan’s head by the offspring of the woman. And Christ struck a mortal blow against Satan at the cross, fulfilling that promise.  But there is also included in this passage a reference to the final crushing victory of God over Satan that will occur at Christ’s return for His church.

There is another list of people that Paul presents at this point, and I am not going to belabor it. These are his personal friends that are with him who send their greetings and prayers up for the church at Rome.  I could spend a lot of time with Timothy, who Paul elsewhere calls his son in the Lord.  But all these people were assisting Paul in his ministry to the church. He calls them fellow workers. Once again we see different types of people all engaged together in a common ministry, serving the Lord and His church. Tertius, the secretary of Paul, Gaius the host of the church where Paul was ministering, Erastus, the city treasurer, and Quartus, probably a slave, who he calls our brother.  God uses people from all walks of life to minister to the church.

Finally, Paul concludes this great epistle with a great doxology.  A liturgy of praise to God and a blessing upon the church.  He says in vs 25, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,  but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, [leading] to obedience of faith;  to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.”

In this doxology Paul manages to incorporate many of the primary theological principles that he has previously delineated in this epistle.  It’s almost a review in liturgical form. He speaks of the blessing upon the church; that God will establish and strengthen them.  He speaks of the gospel of God, which he calls my gospel.  He had so thoroughly adopted it and believed it that it became part of him and was the sole purpose of his life. He speaks of the mystery hidden from long ages past: that mystery being the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Christ died to save sinners from all nations of the world and lives to make intercession for them so that they might have life in Him. He says this mystery is now manifested, it’s made clear through the scriptures, through the word of God and made known to all the nations, leading to the obedience of faith.  Notice the connection between faith and obedience.  Obedience is indelibly tied to justification by faith.  Jesus said; “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Sinners become saints, by faith in Christ and obedience to His word.

So there is it, the gospel, presented by Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. What a gospel!  What good news!  And Paul says it is all for the glory of God through Jesus Christ.  There is salvation in none other.  No man can come to the Father except through the Son. The fact that God has chosen to send His Son to die on the cross for our sins, so that everyone who believes on Him might be saved and be a part of His church and His kingdom, is a marvelous thing that Paul rightly ascribes wonder and amazement to.  And I trust, it is something that 2000 years later we as the church of God can still say “Amen!” to as well. I pray that you will find inspiration in these testimonies of the saints of the church at Rome, and will likewise be found to be working for the Lord as holy, consecrated servants of God.

We are coming to the conclusion of our study of Romans. And as I have said previously, the last few chapters of Romans, starting in chapter 12, are not doctrinal so much as they are practical application. And that application is particularly focused on the church. In these three chapters, Paul has written concerning the life, worship and fellowship of the church in great detail. Now at the end of chapter 15, he speaks about what might be called the fruit of the church. At the beginning of the epistle he stated that he wanted to see some spiritual fruit from the church at Rome back in chapter 1vs 13. Now in vs 28 of chapter 15 he speaks again of this fruit of the church.

Now spiritual fruit is a desired outcome of our faith, isn’t it? Spiritual fruit is the desired outcome of spiritual life. It is the purpose of spiritual gifts, to produce spiritual fruit. The question though is what is spiritual fruit? A lot of times we tend to categorize conversion as spiritual fruit. But actually, the scripture indicates fruit is not the beginning of spiritual life, but the result of spiritual life. As the Holy Spirit lives in you and leads you and works in you He produces spiritual fruit in you. Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

So in these closing remarks to the church of Rome, Paul is going to emphasize four areas of fruitfulness in the church, which should be applicable to all churches. That’s not to say that these four are the only four fruits of the church, but they are ones that we should be exhibiting if we are truly a fellowship of believers.

The purpose of the church is not just to house a gathering of people who enjoy each other’s company. You can have fellowship at a ball game. But Christian fellowship is a body or a group of believers who are connected in spirit and united in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Fellowship in the things of Jesus Christ is the reason we are in communion together, and that sort of fellowship will produce spiritual fruit.

Now there are four areas of spiritual fruitfulness that are described in this passage. I have managed to ascribe alliteration to them for the sake of helping us in our study. The first fruit is providence, the second fruit is the present, the third is prayer, and the fourth is peace. Paul starts out by talking about providence. Now providence as a word does not show up on any list in scripture of spiritual gifts. But I think it encompasses the fruits of faithfulness and patience and goodness. Providence speaks of the will of God, the plan of God, worked out among His people. When we speak of providence, we mean an act of God, which is worked out in the affairs of men through their circumstances and their plans. A lot of times as Christians we want God to perform the miraculous. We want Him to interrupt the natural order of things and impose a supernatural event in answer to our prayers. But providence is no less than a miracle. In fact it may be more of a miracle for God to work through His foreknowledge and work through our circumstances to bring about His will.

William Cowper wrote a hymn in 1774, which has the famous line; “Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.” And John J. Murray, a noted Scottish theologian wrote a sermon almost 200 years later with part of that line as his title. And he goes on to describe providence this way; “Providence is an old fashioned word and has a strange ring to modern ears. Yet when we break it down into its parts the meaning becomes clear. It comes from the Latin video ‘to see’ and pro ‘before’, meaning ‘to see beforehand’. In our lives we plan beforehand but we do not see what is going to happen. God has planned everything for His creation and because He is the sovereign God everything will come to pass as He purposed. Providence is that marvelous working of God by which all the events and happenings in His universe accomplish the purpose He has in mind.”So providence includes not only the plans of God, but also the plans of men.

Now remember that Paul did not found the church at Rome, it had been founded by others. And so consequently he did not regard it as one of the churches he had planted. He wanted to visit Rome to help them, but as he stated in vs 20 his plan was not to build on another’s foundation. So he says, “I want to visit Rome, I want to see the believers there, I want to have some time with them, but I want to pass on to Spain.” He wanted to pass through Rome and have fellowship with them and so he’s speaking of his plans.

But Paul did not consider his plans as something of human origin. In fact, he says in vs 18, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed.” In other words, “I don’t want to speak about anything except the things that Christ has done through me.”

Paul glorifies the Lord in what he accomplished. Paul had plans and he speaks of his plans. He wanted to come to Rome. So he speaks of these plans beginning with the 22nd verse through the 24th verse. It’s a very interesting picture, I think, of faithfulness in ministry. It’s important if we are to be faithful that we are strategic and deliberate in our plans to serve the Lord. We need to be strategic and deliberate in our evangelism, and yet the fruit is the Lord’s. Paul said elsewhere that I planted, Apollos watered, but God causes the growth.

But in regards to the overriding principle of providence, we see Paul’s plans were flexible. They were changeable as the will of God was manifested in his experience. He was persistent, he had wanted to come to Rome for a lengthy period of time and he kept after it and ultimately he will get there, but not as he had anticipated. But he appealed to the church to help him in prayer that he might accomplish the things that he felt led to do.

He said in vs 22, “For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you.” In one of the other epistles of the apostle he speaks of being hindered by Satan and in the earlier part of this epistle in the 1st chapter he says also that he was hindered from coming. He doesn’t tell us exactly why but implies that it was because of his missionary journeys. He says in vs 19, “from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” If you look at a map that’s a rather tremendous amount of ground that he had covered. Fourteen hundred miles between those two points as the crow flies, but Paul had covered so much more territory than that, zig zagging all over Asia Minor to preach to every significant city in between.

So the fruit of trusting in providence encompasses the spiritual fruits of faithfulness, of goodness and patience in ministry. Making plans, being strategic in our evangelism, being deliberate, but also leaving room for the will of God and the direction of God. As Prov. 16: 9 says, “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” We are the Lord’s church, the Lord’s people, and we are to be about the Lord’s business and so we trust in His providence as we make our plans to serve Him.

The next spiritual fruit of the church that Paul talks about is what I have called “the present.” A present is a gift, and in the context of the church that gift is an offering. I believe there are some things that this passage teaches us in relation to Christian giving. Giving is a spiritual fruit which correlates to the fruit of kindness or compassion and love. It’s evidence of spiritual maturity. As a Christian grows in their walk with the Lord, they should grow out of the gimme stage, and grow into the giving stage of their faith. Jesus said it is better to give than to receive.

Paul talks about this gift of the church in vs25. “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased [to do so,] and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.”

Now there are a couple of principles that we can learn from this passage in regards to giving. First of all, I want you to notice that Paul never makes an appeal for money for his own benefit. He mentions in other places that certain churches had supported him, but whenever he mentions collecting money, it is always in relation to others and not himself. This business of churches and Christian ministries always begging for money is not biblical. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that giving is not biblical, but that asking for money is not biblical.

In fact Paul makes clear the principle of giving here by saying if you share in spiritual things from someone, then you are indebted to minister to them also in material things. He says in Gal. 6:6 that “The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches [him.]” And in many other places he emphasizes the principle of Christian giving. But he doesn’t make an appeal for offerings to benefit himself. The offering is being collected in this case for the church at Jerusalem, who because of persecution were experiencing poverty.

The Old Testament law of tithing is different than what the New Testament teaches. 2Cor 9:7 says, “Each one [must do] just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” So to whom do we give? The New Testament says we support those in the family who are needy so that they might not be on public support, we support needy fellow Christians, we support the church, we support those who teach us, we give liberally as God has given to us. We are not limited to the tithe, or 10%, we give proportionally according to the way the Lord has prospered us.

I read of a great example of sacrificial giving in the case of the famous minister John Wesley; the first year he had thirty pounds for his income, he lived on twenty-eight and gave two pounds to the Lord. The next year he had sixty pounds, he lived on twenty-eight and gave thirty-two to the Lord. The next year he had ninety pounds, he lived on twenty-eight and gave sixty-two to the Lord. The next year one hundred and twenty pounds and he continued to live on twenty-eight. When John Wesley died he had practically nothing. He had given away over thirty thousand pounds which was a significant amount of money in those days. That’s the kind of giving that lays up treasure in heaven.

But Paul considers such giving to be voluntary and not under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver, but at the same time he calls it an obligation for those who benefit spiritually to respond with material things. And that kind of response is a spiritual fruit. Notice that he calls it a fruit in vs 28. “Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.” This present to the church at Jerusalem Paul considers a blessing of Christ. Material things can be the means of spiritual blessings.

Next, another fruit of the church that Paul talks about is that of prayer. Prayer is a spiritual discipline that needs to be exercised often to be effective. It needs to be practiced. And the apostle Paul was a fervent believer in the efficacy of human prayer. In his mind he saw no conflict between divine foreordination and the determination that all things happen according to the counsel of His will and at the same time this earnest exhortation to pray. Prayer is a ministry of the church that everyone is called to do. Not everyone is called to preach or teach, but all are called to pray.

He says in vs30 “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and [that] my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find [refreshing] rest in your company.”

Now we know the Bible says that God always answers our prayers. But sometimes we forget that the Bible never tells us that he answers our prayers as we wish them to be answered. He always hears our prayers and he answers them. But His answers are His answers and are not always our answers or the answer we want to hear. We find that illustrated when we compare this passage and Paul’s earnest prayer that he might be delivered from the unbelievers in Jerusalem and that his ministry might be acceptable to the saints as we compare with it what actually happened as recorded in the Book of the Acts.

But notice that Paul is imploring the church to pray for him. He was very concerned about his journey and the dangers that were ahead of him, as well as the possible reception by the Jews. He urges them to join in his struggle by praying for him. Prayer is a struggle – it is part of our arsenal for spiritual warfare, according to Ephesians 6.

It’s also interesting that he enjoins the entire Trinity in his prayer. He says by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit. He gives the full title and name of Jesus, encompassing both His office of Lord, and Messiah (Christ). And when he says the love of the Spirit he is referencing the love which the Holy Spirit has poured out into the hearts of those who belong to Christ. So we see that prayer is a fruit of the Spirit, as a result of our love for one another. We hear so much in the NT about love, and how we are to love one another. And yet it’s hard to sometimes put a finger on how we can do that. I would suggest Paul says that love for one another is accomplished by praying for one another.

Paul calls it a struggle. Prayer is a means of engaging in spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].” And then it lists the spiritual armor we are to put on; the sheild of faith, the helmet of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the Spirit and having shod your feet with the gospel of peace. But then immediately it adds the following, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.” Prayer is essential to this struggle, and it is the fruit of love, because of the love of the Spirit which is poured out in our hearts towards our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now he prayed, he said in verse 31, “That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Jerusalem.” Here is the great apostle, the great apostle of prayer, telling us that he prayed that he might be delivered from the disobedient in Jerusalem and that his ministry might be acceptable to the saints there. What kind of answer did he get? Acts tells us the rest of the story. When Paul got to Jerusalem he was in difficulty immediately. The saints went out and said “look Paul, you have a reputation of being a person who’s against the law and against the temple and that kind of thing and so you better take a vow.” So Paul took a vow but he was seen in the temple area and immediately there was a riot and if it were not for the intervention of the Romans the apostle might have lost his life in the city of Jerusalem. He prayed, “O God deliver me from the disobedient in Jerusalem,” and the answer was, “No.”

He was arrested, but while in confinement the Lord appeared to him and said, “Paul, you’ve ministered to me in Jerusalem and I’m going to give you a ministry in Rome.” What kind of ministry? Well the apostle went down to Caesarea, stayed two years in prison there, finally under the pressure of the trial said, “I appeal to Caesar.” And so they sent him to Caesar. So in confinement he left and went to the city of Rome in chains. God answered Paul’s prayer in God’s way and in God’s timing.

When he got to Rome it says in the Book of Acts that he dwelt two whole years there in his own hired house and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God with all freedom. He saw great fruitfulness there even though he was in prison. That’s the fulfillment of the word that God gave to him when he was in confinement in Jerusalem. But far beyond the apostle’s anticipation God gave him deliverance and acceptance through the epistles he wrote while in prison that continue to bear fruit for the Lord 2000 years later throughout the whole world. That’s the way God does things. He answers our prayers. Sometimes with a no, sometimes with a yes, sometimes with a wait, but according to His providence and plan.

There is one more fruit that is mentioned here in the closing line of this chapter. And that is peace. Peace is one of the spiritual fruits mentioned in Galatians. The Bible speaks much of peace, and it can have a variety of applications. But at least here Paul indicates that the God of peace is the God who is the author of peace. Apart from peace with God there is no peace. Basic to peace is reconciliation with God through the death of Jesus Christ. Peace is knowing that your sins are forgiven, God is working all things together for good, and nothing can separate us from the love of God.

But I think also indicated in this blessing of peace on the church is peace within the church. When love is the operating principle in the church, when others needs are considered as more important than your own, when unity of doctrine is prevalent, then there is peace in the church. So when Paul expresses the blessing of peace upon this church he means that his desire is that the God of peace will provide peace in their lives as they rest in the providence of God, in the midst of whatever toils and dangers or trials and tribulations they may encounter. Peace coming in knowing that God works in mysterious ways but we can trust His providence.

As we yield ourselves completely to God, we can trust in God to work His will in us and through whatever circumstances we may encounter. I want to close our time together this morning by reading the hymn written some 200 years ago by William Cowper, as we trust in the providence of God.

God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs, And works His sov’reign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flow’r.
Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.

In the epistle to the Romans, Paul spends the first 11 chapters talking about the theology and doctrine of the church. Not the doctrinal distinctives of a particular type or denomination of a church, but the general theology and doctrine which believing through faith leads to salvation, through which you are made a part of Christ’s church. You cannot join this church, you must be born again to be a member of this church. And Paul uses the first eleven chapters to teach the doctrines of being born again, which is the doctrine of salvation. That doctrine is what is called the gospel. Belief in the gospel is what qualifies you for salvation, which is the means by which you are a part of Christ’s church.

That’s why at the very beginning of the epistle, Paul says in chapter 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel is the power unto salvation, which is the means by which you are made part of Christ’s church.

Then starting in chapter 12, Paul shifts gears to focus on the practical aspects of being the church. The first 11 chapters teach how to become a part of the church, and then starting in ch 12 it deals with what it means to be the church. I don’t have time this morning to summarize all the messages we have given on the church in chapters 12, 13, 14 and now 15, but suffice it to say we looked at the worship of the church, the essentiality of the church, the love of the church, the church’s attitude towards outsiders, towards your neighbor, towards the government, the edification of the church, and so forth. These 4 chapters are all about life in the church.

Now as Paul winds up his letter, as he approaches the conclusion to this very detailed, dense doctrinal essay which is called the Epistle to the Romans, he gives this last bit of exhortation or admonition concerning the model for the church. Now he tends to refer to it as his ministry, but that is essentially in this context the church. And so Paul gives us a model for church, and illustrates certain principles by which it is to operate.

So many books and seminars and so forth have been written or presented on this topic. How to have an effective church. How to have a relevant church. How to grow your church. How to plant a church. To paraphrase what the Apostle John said, “the world could scarcely contain the books which are written” about the church, by supposedly the experts of the ecclesiastical world. I can’t tell you the number of pastors I have heard about that have modeled their church after the prototype presented in one of those kinds of books. And they may achieve a certain measure of success if you are evaluating it from a human perspective, or especially from a business model perspective. But what really counts is whether or not it is successful from God’s perspective. Does it follow God’s template? I would suggest that God does indeed have a template for the church, and it is not according to man’s wisdom but according to God’s. In fact, it is often considered foolishness to the world. 1 Cor. 1:21, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

Now if anyone should know about how the church should look and operate it should have been the Apostle Paul. His entire life was devoted to the church, to planting churches all over Asia Minor, and establishing churches by his letters and missionary travels. It’s ironic that the Catholics revere Peter as the founding father of the church, but in actuality, Paul deserves that title much more so than he. And I believe in this closing part of this chapter Paul gives this template for the church, or as I have titled this message; “A model for the church.”

Starting with vs 14 then, Paul acknowledges that these Roman Christians are a part of Christ’s church. And he does so by acknowledging their salvation. He characterizes their salvation by saying in vs14 “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.” Paul cannot be saying that these Romans were inherently good people. That cannot be what Paul is saying because he spent the first 3 chapters of this epistle telling them that all were sinners by nature, that there is none righteous, not even one.

So then what is he saying? Paul is acknowledging the evidence that they have been justified. They have been given the righteousness which comes as a gift from God on the basis of faith in Christ. The word rendered goodness is perhaps better translated as uprightness. According to Galatians 5:22, goodness or uprightness is one of the fruits of the Spirit. So their life is evidence that they have received righteousness and as a result are living righteously. That’s evidence of their salvation. That they have been made a part of Christ’s church.

The second evidence he says is that they are full of knowledge. What Paul is referring to is the knowledge of salvation. The very things he has been talking about in this epistle – the theology of God, the doctrines of the gospel. It’s the knowledge of God according to the truth of God’s word. To know the truth is essential to salvation.

And because they have that knowledge, they are able to teach one another, or admonish, as Paul says here. So they have all the requirements necessary for the church. That’s what Paul is recognizing, that they are believers, who are growing in knowledge and are able to teach.

But hen he adds that it was necessary for him to write them regarding certain points of the gospel in order to remind them again. It’s important that as Christians we don’t neglect the teaching of the basics of our salvation. We need to be reminded of what it means to be saved, and how we are saved, and what the purpose of our salvation is. That serves to strengthen our faith, and we run into trouble when we think we have progressed to the point where we no longer need to hear about salvation and our need for a Savior.

Now at this point, Paul gives a synopsis of his own ministry as an apostle to the Gentile church. And while we don’t have apostles in the church anymore – they were a one time gift to establish the church, to be the foundation for the church according to Ephesians 2:20 – we do have pastors. Pastors do not have apostolic authority, they are not inspired by God to write the scriptures, but they are given the authority to preach the inspired scriptures. And they are given to the church for the edification of the church. Eph. 4:11-12 says, “And He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] evangelists, and some [as] pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”

So we can correlate the ministry of the apostle Paul to the ministry of pastors, at least to some degree. Now Paul says concerning his ministry first of all that it was because of the grace of God. In other words, Paul’s ministry was a gift of God. Being a pastor, a preacher, is a spiritual gift, a calling of God upon a man’s life. God has to call a pastor, and He has to equip a pastor. And so Paul rightly recognizes that his ministry is a gift from God. I believe there are a lot of pastor’s in churches today that are probably not called by God. They may have been called by a church, but they are not called by God. For them being a pastor is a profession. They got a degree at a seminary, they became ordained by a denominational board, and were called to fill a position in a church by a pastor’s search committee. And as a result, they answer to the people who hired them. And their preaching is evidence that they were called by men and not by God.

Notice though that Paul says that he is a minister of Christ, vs 16, to the Gentiles. Not a minister of the First Baptist Church. But he is a minister of Christ. He is an under shepherd of Christ. Pastor means shepherd, by the way. Christ is the Great Shepherd of the sheep, but the local pastor is an under shepherd of Christ. He is not a hireling of a church, but a minister of Jesus Christ.

Not only a minister of Christ, but even more specifically, he says, ministering as a priest of the gospel. This is a very interesting analogy. In the old covenant priesthood, the priests offered sacrifices on behalf of the people. They were ministers of God in the temple. But in the church, the people are the temple of God. Back in Eph 2:19-22 Paul makes that clear; “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner [stone,] in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

So Paul is ministering in a priest like fashion the gospel in the church “so that [his] offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” So in accordance with 12;1, which talks about our offering of our bodies as a living sacrifice which is our acceptable service of worship, Paul says that the church of which he is a minister is to be an offering, a living sacrifice to God. And the gospel which he is preaching is accomplishing that sacrifice to be acceptable by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.

That shows us that the preaching of the gospel is the means of sanctification in the church by the Holy Spirit working through the word of God. That’s why it’s so important that we submit regularly to the preaching of the whole counsel of God as a church. The preaching of the gospel is essential to the church. It is the main thrust of the church. So that the church might become knowledgable in doctrine, mature in their walk, sanctified, living godly, acceptable, upright lives in the midst of a perverse world. Eph 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” The washing with the word sanctifies the church.

Notice that Paul uses the word “acceptable” in regards to his offering of the church. That is a direct reference to 12:1, where the living sacrifice of our bodies is our acceptable service of worship. Do you realize that not all offerings which are given to God are necessarily acceptable to God? Do you remember that God did not accept the offering of Cain, for instance? Do you remember the way God rejected the strange fire of the priests Nadab and Abihu, and in fact the Lord struck them dead as they were supposedly ministering to God? Let us be clear, God does not accept all offerings of worship. It must be acceptable, holy, good, and according to the will of God. So Paul by his preaching of the gospel makes the offering of the church acceptable.

I think it’s clear that the preaching of the gospel is job one as far as Paul is concerned. “Therefore,” Paul goes on to say, “in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.” What Paul is saying is that the of preaching the gospel has resulted in being able to give praise to Christ who has brought about this sanctification of the church. It isn’t Paul’s wisdom, or his eloquence as a speaker, or his charisma, or his power of persuasion that has brought about these things in the church. But it is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ working through him.

I’m afraid that far too often the pastor of a church is selected or chosen according to the wrong criteria. He is chosen on the basis of his sense of humor, his eloquence, how he looks, how his wife looks, or whatever. The success of his church comes down more to a popularity contest rather than whether or not he is truly called by God and given the gift of God to preach the gospel. As Paul warned in 2Tim 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but [wanting] to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

But Paul’s preaching and teaching was intended to sanctify them. To complete them so that as a priest he might offer to God the Gentile church as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. A sacrifice was to be holy, without spot or blemish. And the church is made righteous, acceptable, holy in position, in practice by the preaching of the gospel.

So Paul is able to boast of the Gentiles, not because of his own work, but because of the sanctifying work of the Spirit which worked in them through the gospel which Paul administered. The result being, in vs 18, that the Gentiles were obedient. That is the completion or perfection of faith. Obedience to the truth, to the gospel. Not simply stopping at justification, being saved by faith, but growing in sanctification, by being obedient to the truth. Not just righteousness imputed resulting in justification, but righteousness worked out, resulting in sanctification.

Now Paul was able to affect this transformation on the part of the Gentiles by four methods, none of which are independent of the others, but which all work together synchronistically. The first method utilized by Paul to affect this change in the Gentiles is his word and deed. The first method is the personal example of his life; his word and deeds. How Paul conducted himself in his day to day life as a Christian served as a living sermon that was evident by the way he spoke and conducted himself on a daily basis. So that Paul was able to say elsewhere, “be imitators of me.”

Listen, there is no expiration date on your personal testimony. How you live in your day to day life is a much more telling testimony of your salvation than simply words. We had a couple of men in the church give their testimony recently of how they were saved at one of our Wednesday night Bible studies. And the whole purpose of that was to illustrate that it’s important that we are able to verbalize what brought about our salvation and what that means in order to help others to come to the knowledge of the gospel. But, what is a fundamental precursor to their spoken testimony is the realization on the part of other people who are watching their lives, that there has indeed been a change in these men. That their words and deeds are manifest witness to having been saved.

Secondly, he says another method God used to bring the Gentiles to obedience of the truth was in the power of signs and wonders. Now that phrase has become problematic in 21st century churches. There are some denominations out there who feel that signs and wonders are existent in the church today, and that they are vital for a vibrant Christian life. What they really are teaching through this though is the idea that God is the equivalent to the genie concept of a deity, a genie that exists to grant my every wish, my every command.

Rather than God’s control over my life being evidenced by my words and deeds, as Paul indicated his life was visibly different, visible righteous living – they think that God must manifest Himself in me through some mental or physical or spiritual experience that proves to me that He is real. And furthermore, that we can expect and even demand of God that He overturn earthly crises as I see fit. So that I can heal, I can raise the dead, I can move mountains, or do whatever I think is necessary. I can harness the power of God to do whatever I name and claim it in the name of faith.

Listen, that expectation and demand on our part to see God manifest His power is not of faith. That which is seen is not of faith. That which is unseen is of faith. We err in unbelief when we expect and demand that God do what we want Him to do. We demote God to the form of a genie who is under our authority as long as we use the magic formula. That’s not the God of the Bible.

This whole problem with signs and wonders goes back to the issue of the apostles. There are no apostles today in the church. But in Paul’s day, signs and wonders were a sign of being an apostle. Acts 5:12 says, “At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico.” Signs and wonders were the purview of the apostles to establish that they were speaking the word of God. And that’s stated even more clearly in 2Cor. 12:12 “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.” Paul makes it clear there that the sign of a true apostle, that they were truly speaking for God, was that they performed signs and wonders. But when the age of the apostles faded away with their deaths, so did the age of signs and wonders.

But don’t be deceived, Satan is able to give the power of signs and wonders to his ministers as well. Jesus warned in Matt. 24:24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.” It can be dangerous to follow someone just because they do signs and wonders. And Paul made it clear in 1 Cor. 13 that many of those gifts of the Spirit which were at first manifest in the church would eventually pass away.

But let me tell you something which I am sure you already realize. There is no greater miracle than the miracle of salvation. There is no greater sign than the sign of someone’s changed life. I visited a certain denomination’s pastors conference many years ago and heard a charismatic missionary speaking about a mission trip in Africa where they went from village to village preaching the gospel. And according to him, everywhere they went the whole village would end up getting saved. He said thousands of people were saved as they traveled through these small villages preaching the gospel. But then one day they were at a river doing a baptism after a service, and for some reason, (I could hardly understand him because of his accent), but for some reason a woman came forward holding a baby who had just died. And he said he took the dead baby from the mother and baptized it, and the baby began to cry. The baby came back to life from the dead.

Now I have a lot of questions I would like to ask about that story, and to say I am skeptical is to put it mildly. But what really was troubling was when he said that the baby came back from the dead, the entire auditorium of these charismatic preachers stood up and gave a standing ovation. And I could not escape the irony of what they were in effect saying. Just a moment before, the same man gave testimony that thousands of people were saved, transferred from death to life. And no one even said amen, much less clapped and gave a standing ovation. But one baby was supposedly raised from the dead and that warrants a standing ovation. I could not help but think that they did not truly understand the miracle of salvation.

So I do believe we still have signs and wonders operating in the church today, but it may not be of the kind which we are looking for. And in fact, many signs and wonders are not indicative of God’s presence, but are very likely indicative of a great deception in the church.

The third method given in Paul’s ministry is the power of the Holy Spirit. This shows the power of the Holy Spirit is not always equated to signs and wonders, is it? Because Paul lists it separately. In fact, signs and wonders may not be of the Spirit of God at all. But it is essential that the power of the Spirit is working in the church. But how He works is not always in visible ways. He works in our inward parts, in our minds, in our hearts, in our consciences. The Holy Spirit works through preaching, He works through the word of God. He works through prayer. And if He is not working then I can guarantee you that the church is not Christ’s church. And if He is working then He will make what we do effectual.

Listen, no one is saved without the Holy Spirit leading that person to the knowledge of the truth, without Him opening the spiritual eyes and hearts of the blind. No one is given new life without the power of the Holy Spirit. No one is able to be taught by God without the power of the Holy Spirit. No true church is ever established without the power of the Holy Spirit. No one is able to walk the Christian walk without the power of the Holy Spirit.

When you read about Jesus’s ministry in Luke 3 and 4, when He came up out of the water the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and it says that He went out to do ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. And likewise Paul constantly referred to the leading of the Spirit in his travels, in where he went and does and what doors are opened to him. It is essential that we lean upon the Spirit for wisdom, and that He will open doors that no man can shut, that He will open the eyes of the blind, He will give us the words to say, and He will soften the soil of the heart to be responsive to the truth.

The last method Paul mentions of his ministry is the preaching of the gospel. He says in vs19; “so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was [already] named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; but as it is written, “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.”

Paul had a desire, a calling to preach the gospel, not just to those in Jerusalem, but to the far regions of the Roman Empire, to take the good news to people who had not heard. Paul’s ministry was unique in some respects to that missionary aspect. Today it is difficult to find people anywhere in the world who have not heard something about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that is in large measure due to the zeal of the Apostle Paul in the early years of the church.

But nevertheless, those who have heard and have not believed have just as much a need for salvation as those who have never heard. And our ministry is to proclaim the good news. Our mission is to take the gospel to our family, then to our neighbors, then to our communities, and from one person to the next we will end up taking it to the world.

The church is to be about the business of the kingdom of God. We are to be ambassadors for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to be actively pursuing those who are lost, who have not heard, who have not believed, persuading them regarding the truth of the gospel. And we do so through sound doctrinal preaching of the word, through righteous living, through the miracle of the new birth, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray that God will use us, each of us, in the ministry of the gospel. Not everyone is called to be an apostle, not everyone is called to be a pastor or teacher, but all of us are called as the church to go and tell others the truth of the gospel. Let us be the church of Jesus Christ and accomplish that mission by prayer, by following the leading of the Spirit, by the power of the word of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit working in us through the gospel which we proclaim.

Starting in chapter 12, Paul has basically been giving a series of admonitions regarding life in the church.  The church is not a building nor an organization, per se.  It is an organism, a living, breathing community of believers who are connected in spirit, soul and body.  The church is the temple of God, of which  indwelled by the Spirit of God. 1Peter 2:5 says, “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” And beginning in chapter 12, Paul has been teaching practical ways in which the church is to minister as the body of Christ in the world.  And the primary way that the church will be manifested in the world is by our love for one another, and by our love for our neighbor, and even by our love for our enemies.

Then in chapter 14 and the first half of 15, Paul has been trying to instruct us in practical terms how as members of Christ’s church we are to fulfill the second commandment, which is to love one another in the church.  As I have emphasized so often in the past, Christian love is not based on attraction, it is not based on emotion or sentimentality. Christian love is not based on the principle of  reciprocality.  In other words, Christian love is not based on how others respond to you.  Christian love does not say, “I will love him or her as a long as they treat me the way I want them to treat me.”  Or, “I can’t love that person because they don’t treat me right.”  That’s not Christian love.  That may be the world’s perspective of love, but it is not God’s perspective on love.

Christian love is by definition a sacrificial love. It is interested in the benefit of others MORE than your own benefit. Christian love seeks for the benefit of the other person, without considering how you can benefit from it, or how they might make you feel.  Christian love is the kind of love that Christ had for the church, as He laid down his life for her.  His sacrifice was not based on our ability to reciprocate, but based on His love for us.  And that type of sacrificial love is what we are to have for one another in the church.

But in the church, Paul recognized that there were varying backgrounds and traditions and convictions on the part of it’s members.  These factions could be categorized by two characterizations, what he calls the  strong and the weak.  The strong, for the most part were comprised of the Gentile Christians in the church.  And the weak were more than likely the Jewish component of the church.  And yet Paul, speaking through the Holy Spirit, wants both factions to be united as one.

This goal for the church is stated in vs 5 “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,  so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  The goal is that they have the same mind, connected to one another, with one accord, and with one voice glorify God.  That unity is essential to the goal of the church.  The church could not glorify God if they were dishonoring one another, if they were fighting among themselves, if they were separating over non essential issues.

So their differing backgrounds, their differing traditions, their different nationalities, different races, different convictions about certain non moral issues about Christian life, threatened that unity.  And so he has been trying to show them what they need to do and how they needed to act towards one another so that the church could have the unity that it was designed to have.

We preached two messages about chapter 14 which covered all the ways that the church is to consider others needs, and if necessary to restrict your own liberties for the sake of edifying the other, and to keep from putting a stumbling block in front of someone else.  And to be truthful, I don’t know why the Holy Spirit has made such an issue out of this principle. It seems to me that it could have been stated in 3 or 4 verses.  But instead, He has spent one and half chapters talking about this issue. I can only imagine that unity in the church is very important to the Lord.  And also I believe God is very concerned over the possibility that a believer could be discouraged and possibly be caused to stumble or even fall because of discord in the church, or a bad example being set before a weaker believer by a stronger believer, which may cause the weaker believer to have a shipwreck in his faith.  

But I don’t want to spend our time today reviewing what we have already said in our previous messages, and besides, they are available online if you need to be reminded of what we covered so far. But even better than that, in vs 1 Paul gives a two verse summary of what has been said up to this point concerning this matter.  Notice vs. 1and 2, “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.  Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.”

So there are two rules of thumb for when you have to decide whether you should exercise your liberty in a certain area, or restrict your liberty for the sake of someone else’s convictions or different perspective on a non moral issue.  And let’s be sure we are clear about this.  Paul is not addressing sinful areas which the Bible makes clear are sinful.  He is not saying that there can be differences in perspectives on what is sinful and what is not, say in the matter of adultery, or coveting, or lying and so forth. Those areas are well defined in scripture.  He is speaking of believers who are sincerely attempting to live the Christian life in a way that honors God through the observance of certain restrictions in their diet, in their observance of certain days, or in their liberty or restraint in regards to traditions and ceremonial aspects of worship, that have been influenced perhaps by their upbringing or certain teaching that they have received, but which are not clearly stated in the Bible, or yet fully understood in regards to their Christian liberty.  And though with the Jews and the Gentiles it basically had to do with eating certain foods and observing certain religious holidays, in our culture, the principle can be applied to a whole host of potential areas of Christian life in the church.  The key principle which I think is at the heart of this argument, is not to let anything in your life be a stumbling block to others, but to sacrifice what you think may be fine for you,  for the benefit of others.  That’s really the point of this whole passage.

So when we are faced with any potential point of disagreement in the church, the first rule of thumb for maintaining Christian love and unity is to make the decision to please your neighbor rather than yourself. Don’t insist on your way of doing things; be quick to do what is best for them. This is what love does. Love does not insist on its own rights.  1 Cor. 15: 5 says “love does not seek it’s own.” Therefore, if you let love guide your approach to disagreements, you will adjust and adapt to others views so that you may encourage them and not hinder them.  Notice again vs 2, “Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.”  Seek the other one’s good rather than your own.  That is love.

The other rule of thumb is found in the first verse, which is that the strong is to bear the weaknesses of the weak and not just please ourselves.   That doesn’t mean that we bear with people, as in put up with people with a kind of disdain because we think they are weak, or they haven’t gotten as far along in their walk as you have.  But it may be correlated to Galatians 6:2, which says “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.”  We are to help them in their weakness.  To bear their burden with them so as to relieve them, even if it means we are burdened with them.

Now to encourage us to love one another in this way, giving preference to the other rather than yourself, he gives us three factors that can help us when we encounter these problems. The first one is the encouragement of example that comes to us from the past.

Vs 3,4: “For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.”  For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

The first example that Paul gives to us is that of Jesus himself. Jesus encountered these kinds of problem even though he was perfect. Even though he never on any occasion conducted himself in a way that was in the slightest degree displeasing to God the Father, nevertheless, he ran into these kinds of difficulties. And Paul says that Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures that predicted that those who did not like God’s methods would take it out on him. Paul quotes Psalm 69:9, saying, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”  The Lord Jesus bore the insults intended towards God.  And in the same way, we should follow Christ’s example, and bear the weaknesses of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Love requires that we suffer with them, rather than cause them to suffer, so that they might receive benefit.

Not only do we have Jesus’s life as our example, but as vs 4 tells us, the Old Testament also provides many examples of yielding up our privilege for the sake of another. Remember when Abraham and Lot were to divide the land among them, and Abraham, who was the older of the two, and the one who, by rights, should have had the first choice, gave that choice to Lot?  Lot chose first, and he chose the beautiful, well watered areas of the Jordan valley, leaving Abraham the barren hills. Abraham is an example of love in action; he gave up his privilege to benefit his nephew.

Then there is the story of Moses who gave up his place as a prince in the household of Pharaoh for the sake of his people. As Hebrews 11:25 says, he gave up his position as a prince of Egypt in order that he might “suffer reproach with the people of God for a season.” Also remember David and Jonathan who were such close friends? We see Jonathan yielding his right to the throne to David, because he knew God had chosen him. Jonathan was willing to give up his privilege for David’s benefit. And yet none of these men who gave up their rights ever lost anything. God was glorified, and they themselves ultimately gained an eternal benefit, because, in giving up, they achieved the goal that God was after. 

So we get encouragement from the past, in the example of Jesus and in the examples from the Old Testament figures. But not only do we get encouragement from the past, but Paul goes on to show us there is encouragement now in the present. 

Vs 5,6: “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,  so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What that verse teaches is that God is able to help us work these sort of disagreements out if we are His church.  Paul is expressing a prayer for unity in the church.  And our prayers are also to be for this unity. Our prayer is that God would grant us to be of the same mind with each other.  And when we pray for this unity, God can and will grant it to us.

Notice that he says the same mind is according to Christ Jesus.  What he means in that is that as we are in agreement with Christ, we can be in agreement with one another.  As both sides adopt the mind of Christ, then we will find we are both on the same page.  This shows us that we need to be under the sound teaching of the whole gospel of Jesus Christ.  We find unity in the truth.  Not unity at the expense of truth.  But as we study the gospel, we are conformed to the mind of Christ, and as we are conformed to the mind of Christ, then we become of the same mind with one another.

Jesus as He prayed in the Upper Room on the night before His crucifixion, prayed for unity, and said that unity would be the factor by which the world would come to know the gospel. John 17:22-23  “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;  I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

The second thing Paul says is that we find unity in the exercise our faith together in the community of the church, praising God with one another. We are a new family, a new community, bound together by the Spirit of God.  We are brothers and sisters in Christ.  And when we come together to worship the Lord we confess the truth of the gospel and we offer praise to God.  We become united in the truth as we proclaim it in the church.

The point is this, when we come together as a church, to praise and glorify God in worship, we are united in one accord, in one voice.  Rather than focus on the things that divide us, we focus on the things that unite us.  And coming together physically is much to be preferred over separating physically.  How can you love one another if you are not together? If we go off on our own and lick our wounds, we don’t heal our relationships, we don’t grow in our relationships with one another, but we allow those wounds to fester, to become entrenched in our attitudes.  Separation doesn’t repair relationships.  Coming together in Christ repairs relationships.  So the church corporate is a present means that we have of securing peace with one another. 

So we are given encouragement from the past, and encouragement from the present, and now Paul tells us to be encouraged by what the future holds. 

Vs 7-12 “Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises [given] to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, “THEREFORE I WILL GIVE PRAISE TO YOU AMONG THE GENTILES, AND I WILL SING TO YOUR NAME.”  Again he says, “REJOICE, O GENTILES, WITH HIS PEOPLE.”  And again, “PRAISE THE LORD ALL YOU GENTILES, AND LET ALL THE PEOPLES PRAISE HIM.”  Again Isaiah says, “THERE SHALL COME THE ROOT OF JESSE, AND HE WHO ARISES TO RULE OVER THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE.”

What Paul is saying here is that God is already working out a great program of redemption that involves reconciling the Jews and the Gentiles. God has promised that he is going to do that, and he will bring it to pass. It has already started. It started when Christ accepted both Jews and Gentiles on the basis of faith, regardless of the great differences between them.

The Jews traditionally held the Gentiles in contempt; they called them dogs. They would have nothing to do with them. The Jews even regarded it as sinful to go into a Gentile’s house and they would never dream of eating with a Gentile. Of course, the Gentiles retaliated with the same kind of disdain for the Jews. They hated the Jews. They called them all kinds of names; they looked down on them. These were opposing factions who hated one another, and would have nothing to do with one another, Yet, Paul says, as bad as that is, that kind of division God can heal by the work of Jesus. 

Vs 8 says that Jesus began that work of reconciliation by becoming a servant, or minister of circumcision.  Most modern versions translate that text as having become a servant of the circumcision, which was another way of speaking of the Jews.  They had so identified with the rite of circumcision that it was used as a euphemism for the Jews.  But some commentators point out that the “the” is not in the original text, and  what Paul is talking about here is the customs and rituals and ceremonies of the Jews.

So what Paul is saying is that the Lord healed this division between the Jews and the Gentiles by taking on the burden of the Jews and limiting his own liberty. He is the Creator, He is Lord.  He was not subject to the laws of Moses.  The rituals and ceremonies spoke of Him.  He was not under compulsion to them.  But because of His love for the Jews, and because of His desire to bring Gentiles to salvation, He subjected Himself to the laws and customs of the Jews, even the rite circumcision.  He was without sin, and yet He subjected Himself to the baptism of repentance for our sakes.  

Philippians tells us what Christ gave up so that He could win both Jews and Gentiles. Phil. 2:6-8, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Vs 8 says that Christ became a servant of the circumcised for the sake of God’s truth.  The truth of God is the gospel of salvation, which was made possible by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, so that all men might receive mercy.  Salvation is by faith in Him and the work that He has done in paying the penalty for sin, that men might receive mercy not in accordance with keeping the law, but according to faith in Him.

Paul then gives a series of quotations from the Psalms,  from Deuteronomy, and from Isaiah, all intended to show that God can through Christ create a new body of believers that are unified in Him. So you have the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings all agreeing that God can eliminate even these endemic kinds of differences between Jews and Gentiles in order to create His unified church.  It is a promise that God has made and that He will fulfill.  Jesus said “I will build My church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”  God is creating the bride of Christ, and one day Christ will return to consummate that marriage at the marriage supper of the Lamb, which will be populated with a vast multitude from every tribe and tongue and nation.

So no matter how great the disparity, no matter how deep the divide, the disagreements, God is able to bring them together in unity as His body, and we have encouragement from the past, the present and the future that gives us hope.

So Paul concludes with a great benediction of hope for the church in vs 13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  All the great promises of the Christian faith appear here: hope, joy, peace, and faith, and finally, the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of God working in us change us and mold us into the image of Jesus Christ, that we might be one, and with one accord, and one voice, enable us to glorify God by the testimony of our lives and our love for one another.  

Romans 12:1-2  “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.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

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. 4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. … 9 [Let] love [be] without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 [Be] devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 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. 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

I believe that in chapters 12 through 14 of Romans what we have is Paul addressing some practical considerations for how the church is to show love towards one another.  It is one thing to say that you should love one another, and that you should love your neighbor, and you should even love your enemies.  But it is another thing to work out how we do that in real life.  In each of these aspects of love, Paul is explaining the way love is worked out in the church and through the church.  Even in chapter 13, when Paul dealt with the church’s submission to governing authorities, the ultimate issue is still love, even sacrificial love towards others.

In chapter 14 then Paul is addressing how some practical considerations in the way the church acts in love towards one another.  In the historical context, there were some problems that presented themselves in the church which threatened to destroy their unity, to cause strife between various factions, and to ultimately cause the church to not to love as it should.

The two major ethnic distinctions in the church in Rome were the Jews and the Gentiles.  It seems that for a while the Jews had been expelled from the capital of Rome by Claudius, and in their absence the Gentiles in the church had become comfortable in living out their freedoms in Christ without having to consider the Jews tradition.  But at the time of this writing, the Jews had come back to Rome and were active again in the church.  This was a transitionary time in the church when Jewish conversion to Christianity was happening, but they were used to certain regulations in Judaism in regards to worshipping God,  and it was difficult for them to forsake some of those things such as certain foods and certain holidays that had been a standard of their lives for so long.

So Paul writes this section with this conflict in mind between the Jews and the Gentiles in the church.  It was important for them to be unified and act in love towards one another and this aspect of traditions and culture from their past threatened the church from within.  Now it might be easy for us to disregard such a passage today because we don’t have most of these particular issues in the church anymore, at least not to the degree that they did. But nevertheless, we can learn certain principles which should be applicable to other areas in our lives, which are important if we are going to get along with each other and be able to act in unity as the body of Christ.  

In this passage it would seem that in a general way Paul classifies the Jew as the weak brother, and the Gentile as the strong brother.  The weak brother, or the Jew, was still convicted by his conscience about holy days and certain foods and drink.  The stronger brother, the Gentile, embraced freedom in regards to food and drink and holy days. The result was that each group looked with disdain upon the other group.

So Paul admonishes them in vs 1, to “accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.”  Last time when we looked at the first section following this opening verse, we saw that there were four reasons he gave why they should accept the weak, or accept the strong.  First, because the Lord accepts us, 2, because the Lord sustains us, 3, because the Lord is sovereign to each of us, and 4th, because the Lord alone is the judge, not us. 

Then starting in vs 13 Paul makes the point that rather than judge one another, we are to edify one another.  We are to build up one another.  Not only are we to accept each other in the sense that we tolerate our differences, but we are to do that which constructively edifies each other, strengthening and building up each other.  There will be differences in spiritual maturity among Christians in the church.  There will be various ethnic traditions and cultures that exist in the church among it’s members.  There will be members of the church which have different convictions and standards which are different from others.  Not sinful issues, not issues which the Bible clearly states are sin, but attitudes and behaviors and convictions which are non-moral, but nevertheless important to each person.  And what Paul is saying is that we are not to tear down one another over such things, but build one another up.  Looking out for what the other person needs rather than flexing my liberty at the expense of everyone else.

Paul’s concern, as we come to verse 13 and all the way through the section, is not encourage the strong to stand up for their rights and exercise their liberty.  His point is not to have the strong flaunting their liberty, defining and demanding their rights, but it is to teach the strong to restrain their liberty for love’s sake.

And the key to the whole section is found in vs 15, where Paul says if you exercise your liberty and your brother is hurt, you are not walking in love. The point there is really the point of the whole passage.  What you want to do is be sure that your conduct in the exercise of your liberty is not unloving, is not insensitive to other believers.  If we can just  boil this down to a principle, we would say that the objective of Christian living in the church, the goal of a strong believer is to conduct himself in love toward a weaker brother.  

In that regard, Paul shows us six ways in which we can avoid offending and build up each other.  The first one is in verse 13 which is, “not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.”  The picture here is of a brother or a sister walking through their Christian life and somebody putting an obstacle in their path to cause them to fall.  We don’t want to be the source of stopping them in their onward progress, causing them to trip up and fall.

In 1 Cor. 8:9 Paul says, “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”  What may not be an issue for you, might be an issue for someone else.  But the fact that you, as a strong Christian, are doing a certain thing that is a real temptation or a problem for the weak one, may be all the incentive that they need to do the same thing, and in so doing, cause them to fall back into sin.  I can tell you from years of experience that weak Christians look to other Christians who they may think are mature, as an example of how they are to act. I’ve seen many young or weak Christians stop coming to Bible study, for example, because so and so, the strong Christian, stopped coming to Bible study.  Leaders lead by example, and the weaker ones will follow your example.  

Jesus warned of a severe punishment for those that put a stumbling block in front of others. He calls the others little ones, but He could just as easily say weak ones.  He’s not just talking about children, but about people who are weak or young in the faith.  He said in Mat 18:6-7 “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of [its] stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!” So we need to make a serious commitment that we will never do anything which could be a stumbling block to others who are weaker in that area.

Next, Paul says not only are we not to cause our brother to stumble, but secondly, we are not to grieve our brother. vs 14,15  “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.  For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.”

Now Paul is talking about food here.  We need to make that clear. He is not giving us permission to arbitrarily decide what is sinful or not. He is talking about food, which in itself is not sinful.  But certain foods were originally prescribed by God in the Mosaic law as either clean or unclean.  However, in the NT all foods were declared clean and available for food.  Last week I told you the story of Peter on the rooftop and how he saw a vision with all sorts of animals coming down out of heaven in a sheet.  And the Lord said, “Arise Peter kill and eat.”  And Peter answered, “Not so Lord, for I have never eaten anything unclean.”  And the Lord said, ““What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

Also we have the testimony of Paul in 1 Tim. 4:4 “Everything God created is excellent and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”  So Paul says in our text that no food is unclean in itself. But if your conscience tells you that it’s unclean, and then you eat it because your stronger brother encourages you, or you follow his example, then your conscience will be hurt.  And the stronger brother who encouraged you to go against your conscience has not acted in love.

The Lord wants us to have a clear conscience.  You never want to train anybody to violate conscience.  We looked at that last week.  You don’t want to learn to violate your conscience.  By following your instruction or your example, he does what he believes is wrong and then has to live with the remorse and the guilt of his conscience.  He not only forfeits the peace and joy of his Christian walk but he also risks searing his conscience which is a tool that the Holy Spirit uses to lead us and guide us in righteousness.  So we don’t want to do something which may cause a brother to grieve his conscience.

The third point is also in vs 15, “Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.” Don’t make him stumble, don’t grieve him, and by all means, don’t destroy him over something like food.  Christ was willing to die for that person.  Shouldn’t you be willing to limit your liberty to keep from destroying someone?  Sin is a destroyer.  And it doesn’t have to be some major sin that causes destruction.  I’ve seen someone’s Christian walk destroyed over what seemed to be a trivial issue to me.  But obviously it wasn’t a trivial matter to them.  Once they took a step in a particular direction, the next steps followed in quick succession.  Once you go against your conscience in one area, you’re more easily tempted in other areas and you no longer seem to have the spiritual resistance to stop the downhill slide.

Fourthly, don’t allow your liberty to cause you to forfeit your testimony. It is possible to so abuse our liberty among ourselves that we create such conflict between the weak and the strong that the world in general is turned off to Christianity because of what they see.  

Vs 16, “Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Paul is talking about the world watching the church.  When a church falls, or has a falling out of it’s people, the world is watching and using that as an excuse to reject the gospel.  It’s important that if necessary we set aside our liberties for the sake of our testimony to a watching world. 

The Jews were accused of causing the world to blaspheme God because of the way they conducted themselves in the world.  And I’m afraid that the majority of Christians are guilty of the same kind of thing.  So that the world says they have no use for church, in fact, they would prefer hell over church, because the church is so full of hypocrites.  Why do they say that?  Because we are too consumed with our rights, our liberties, our freedoms, and in so doing we ruin so many that are hurt by our actions.

Furthermore, Paul says that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  In other words, the evidence of your Christianity is not found in a strict list of do’s and don’ts. The evidence of our salvation is not food and drink.  Fighting over non-essential, non-moral convictions is all too common in the church and probably a key reason so many people reject the gospel.  I’ve seen churches split over things like the Sunday School budget or the color of the cushions on the pews. 

The Kingdom is not about what we do or don’t do as Christians.  The Kingdom is righteousness and peace and joy in Christ.  Righteousness means I live in such a way as to honor God, and peace means I live in harmony with my brother.  And joy comes to the one who is right with God and at peace with his brother.  Joy is knowing God, experiencing forgiveness, grace and mercy and love.  And that kind of environment is created a by self-sacrificing love that does not exercise its liberty at the expense of offending somebody else.

Peter confirms this principle in 1Peter 2:15-16 “For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.  Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but [use it] as bond slaves of God.”  Our actions, by the limitation of our freedoms, by the avoidance of all things unseemly, serves to shut the mouths of our critics.   

Back to vs18 of our text in Romans 14, “For he who in this [way] serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.”  Our love for others, which is evidenced by our willingness to sacrifice our liberty for the sake of others, is actually serving Christ, and it brings approval from men.  Isn’t that what Romans 12:1 and 2 says?  “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  God is pleased when we sacrificially restrict our freedom for the sake of serving others in the church.  And such sacrificial service also finds approval from men.

Paul said in 1Cor. 9:19-22 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.  To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;  to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.”  That’s the goal, the furtherance of the gospel, that I would not do anything to hinder someone from coming to the saving knowledge of the gospel.  If we truly loved our neighbor, we would do everything possible to see them come to salvation, even sacrificing our freedom or our liberty for their sake.

Then in verse 19 of our text, he says, “Therefore, let us pursue the things which lead to peace and the building up of one another.”  Let us pursue  two things; one, the things that make for peace.  You know what leads to peace?  A desire to see my brother’s needs met, thats more important than having my rights protected. That takes humility.  It takes a sacrificial love for one another.

And secondly, we are to pursue the things which build each other up. So I consider doing whatever it takes to build them up, not to satisfy my ego, or to exercise my rights, or to fill my appetite.  But I want to see them strengthened.  I want to see them edified, even more than I want edification for myself. In 1 Corinthians 14:12 Paul says, “So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.”  Rather than exercising your liberty which may cause them to stumble or be hurt, or to be destroyed, or which may cause a loss of testimony, seek to build them up.

Fifth, don’t tear down the work of God.  Vs. 20: “Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense.”

When you cause a brother to be offended, you’re tearing down the work of God.  Food is symbolic of any discretionary thing that you might think you have a right to do. It can apply to many things besides food.  But here he has the idea of the offending the Jew with food that wasn’t kosher or offending a Gentile with food that had been offered to idols.  But food is symbolic of anything that might cause offense.  Don’t let your liberty destroy the work of God.

That person in church you think is weak, who is hung up on legalism, who is offended by what you’re doing is a work of God. Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.”  God is at work in every Christian, even the weaker brother is a work of God. it is the work of God you’re tearing down for the sake of enjoying your liberty. 

Verse 20 reminds us all food is clean.  All things refers to food, that’s evident from the rest of the sentence.  But it can apply to anything that is not sin in and of itself.  Things that are not immoral are clean, they are permissible for us.  But it can become sin for us if we eat and it causes the weaker brother to be offended. We have caused him to stumble, and to cause a stumbling block to others is sinful. 

So he says in verse 21, “it’s good neither to eat meat, nor drink wine, nor anything by which thy brother stumbles.”  None of those things may be sinful in themselves, but when I do something which causes my brother to stumble it is sin.  And so I must avoid it.   Notice also that now the apostle identifies wine as the source of the problem with drinking. He is not saying wine is sinful, but it becomes sinful when it causes someone else to stumble. Your weaker brother may have come out of alcoholism.  And you should be willing to restrict your liberty for the sake of a brother.  I read a statistic the other day which said that 14.4 million people in America has a drinking disorder. You may think you’re ok, but you need to consider others.

I remember not long after I quit drinking my wife and I were invited over to dinner at the pastor’s house of a church we were attending. And they served wine with dinner.  It was a temptation for me.  After all, the pastor was drinking and offered me some.  But I am the type of person that isn’t going to drink a glass once in a  blue moon and that’s it.  I’ll drink that glass, and then I’ll take the bottle.  Thank God I haven’t had a sip of alcohol in over 25 years.  And I didn’t fall that night either, but I shudder to think what my life might be like today if I had decided that night I would just have one little drink. “It’s better neither to eat meat, nor drink wine, nor anything by which thy brother stumbles.”

Then the last point, don’t flaunt your liberty.  Do you have faith that you can eat or drink or do something that you see as Christian liberty?  Great!  Just keep it to yourself before God. Vs22 “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.”  I used to misunderstand that verse.  I used to think it meant that whatever I approved of, whatever my convictions were, that was fine.  As long as I am happy.  Different strokes for different folks. 

But it doesn’t mean that.  It means my convictions are between me and God. I don’t insist on my freedoms at the expense of others. Paul says, “You should keep between God and yourself that conviction that you have.” And then he adds, “Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.”  Meaning; inwardly happy is that person, the strong believer, who avoids bringing God’s judgment upon himself by insisting on the exercise of his freedom at the expense of harming a weaker believer. 

Let your liberty be between you and God.  That’s vertical.  But horizontally only allow yourself freedom which does not offend your brother, does not put a stumbling block in front of another person.  

On the other hand, verse 23, “He that doubts,” that’s a weak Christian, “he’s going to be condemned if he eats,” his conscience is going to condemn him, because he doesn’t believe he should eat.  “And whatever is not of faith to him is sin.”  So, to the weak Christians, don’t try to emulate the strong until you have come to understand your freedom or you’ll be condemned by your own conscience.  Don’t go against your conscience.

The bottom line is that we are to love one another with a sacrificial love.  And when we serve one another and build up one another in the church we are serving God.  He is pleased.  That is our acceptable service to God.  And it also commends us to men.  The watching world sees that Christians are different.  They will know we are Christians by our love.   Love does no wrong to a brother.  Let us love one another as Christ loved the church, and laid down his life for her.

That’s the law of God.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  And I will just conclude with a quote from Paul in another passage, 1Cor. 10:23-24 “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.  Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.”

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.”