Its All About Honor
Notes
Transcript
Last week we moved into the section of Romans which teaches us how to behave as Christians
we are to be living sacrifices
We are to Love one another
We overcome evil with good
The thought continues into Chapter 13 - lets read it
1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;
4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.
7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
9 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.”
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
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.
12 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.
13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
vs 1-7 Honoring Authority
We live within governing authorities. We have civil authority, Spiritual authority, governmental authority within the church, delegated authority, authority within the family and so on.
God created it.
He told Adam in Genesis 1:27-28 to have dominion over the earth. Throughout sscripture we see what authority looks like.
Jesus himself reminded Pilate that he was not the authority, but that Jesus himself had the authority. He could have called down legions of angels to deal with the injustice if he wanted to.
That sometimes reminds me of Theodore Roosevelt saying- speak softly and carry a big stick. In other words diplomacy is backed up by power.
Authority once lost is very difficult to get back would you agree. Look even to our present politics. Our Presidents biggest problem is he is looked on as old and weak to the world. This translates into little authority on the world stage.
Without authority we would live in constant chaos.
We are to love and be great citizens. We are the hardest working, we are on time, we don’t complain. We have been taught by Christ to serve, so serving we do. We honor the roles of officials. We go the extra mile in service. We even pay our taxes.
Jesus said pay to Caesar the things that are Caesars.
The government is to be the one who brings wrath on the law breakers - those who do evil are brought to justice by the authorities ( or should be) When this does not happen people rebel. The way our country is going if it keeps this track, it will turn into revolution. We can see it throughout history.
When this gets out of kilter we see people rise up against the government
Ex - the illegal immigrants who were kicking the NY cops- Justice would say you need to be held accountable. We now live in a society where our authorities don’t understand there God given role anymore. They are wimpy , weak and woke.
In Paul’s day he had the Pharisees and Sadducee to deal with, the Sanhedrin and the Romans. For him this would not be easy. Remember even Paul was rescued by Roman soldiers and given a free ticket to Rome to state his case.
God has the ability to deal with Rulers as we pray for them. It does suggest that some of these rulers will not obey Gods laws and you might not want to be in subjection.
There are times when people have risen up against the rulers because of the pressure and ungodly ways. You see it in America right now. The corruption in high office is so evident and blatant.
We must allow Gods vengeance to come into play
Scripture says vengeance is mine says the Lord.
Sometimes we honor the position and the one who sits in it will have to deal with God one way or another.
In the Case of Hitler - people were afraid to rise up to this Demon - Bonhoefer wrote a textbook on ethics but also helped a group to get rid of Hitler. If failed and he was hung. He felt it was his God given duty to stand up against evil, not necessary the position of the leader.
vs 8-10 Honoring Your Neighbor
Right after honoring those in authority you also have to love your neighbor
If you love your neighbor you wont steal from your neighbor.
Do no wrong to your neighbor. - In fact you should bless your neighbor, go the extra mile for your neighbor,
Your neighbor should want you as their neighbor.
vs 11-14 Honoring God by Living Right
The return of Christ is near, so purify yourself.Keep yourself in a place of purity.
Don’t create your own blemishes.
When scripture talks about putting on and putting off.
You put on what is appropriate and you cast off what is inappropriate
It is like taking off the old cloak and putting on a new on. Here is the catch - you don’t hang the old cloak up on a hanger and put it back on later. You take that old cloak and get rid of it
Jesus is coming back for his bride and what is she doing - getting ready, putting herself in a state so when the bridegroom comes she is ready to go with Him.
Ill- In Capernaum the son waits until the father says go, but also the bride is ready and her brides maids are ready. She has to be ready because the son could come at any moment.
1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.
2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.
3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.
4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.
7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;
8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.”
12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
14: vs 1-12 -Honoring The Brethren
Those who Paul calls weak in faith are the ones who are tenacious about their faith. You would think it would be the opposite.
The Pharisees would be the ones who are weak in their faith. Sabbath rules were expanded to the point you wouldn’t know what you could or couldn’t do. There was no relationship in their faith.
Be very careful how you judge the brethren.
Our job is to build each other up, not tear each other down.
You should be more concerned about the account you will give before Christ than the one your neighbor has to give.
Be very careful about judging ( form a critical opinion of)( your brother. Remember we are a body and the body parts functions differently.
A few years back there was a lot of criticism
Joel Olsteen story
The world judges and is cruel to each other . Don’t you be apart of it.
Ill - Tammy Fay Baker incident.
In regards to food. How do you handle a different culture?
Ill - Muslims Thanksgiving at the DC
They would not eat Turkey unless it was prayed over before slaughter the Halal Prayer.
I had to order them from San Francisco.
I asked my cooking volunteers if they had a problem with it and they did not.
We cooked it and served it to nearly 100 guests. It actually took the pressure off and we were able to minister to them the rest of the night.
Conclusion
Love Is The Answer