2022-09-19 - Be the Means
Notes
Transcript
SLIDE We’ve been looking at this special section in Romans 12, verses 10-13, as pointed and particular instruction for us as believers. In reality these verses fall under the umbrella of how to get along with other believers, which startsSLIDE in vs 4. And as we’ve said before, the entire chapter is a treatise on How to live the christian life.
As we finish the section this morning with verses 12 and 13, i pray that you will attend to what God is saying to you through His word. Let’s read our verses:
SLIDE 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
Romans 12:12–13
What you may see from the first reading, and will definitely wee as we progress this morning is that these verses have a internal and external aspect. vs 13 might seem at first to be a separate thought, but both verses are leading to the same main thought which is that we are to:
SLIDE Be the means through which God ministers to His people
SLIDE Be the means through which God ministers to His people
There are two ways to read the first part of vs 12 which tells us to rejoice in hope. The wrong way is that we should rejoice with hopefulness. The problem with this reading is that what’s it’s saying is that we’ll have a hopeful gladness. Hopeful, but not certain. A very human way of looking at things. In fact the proper way to read this is that we should rejoice BECAUSE of the hope we have in Christ. How can we not be glad and celebrate for all that God has done for us?
SLIDE I. We Have So Much To Rejoice In
SLIDE I. We Have So Much To Rejoice In
Hope has become a positive but rather uncertain term. When someone asks you if you can come to their party, and you reply that you “hope so”, they understand that you pretty much just told them no. Hoping is also looking forward to a thing you’re not sure will happen. “I hope i get the job, i hope my kids behave, i hope i wasn’t speeding when i drove past that police office!”
In a biblical sense we don’t have hope in an uncertain way. Rather our hope is an expectant looking forward to a thing we KNOW will happen. Listen to how paul uses it in
SLIDE Acts 24:14–15 ““But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”
A hope in God that there shall certainly be a resurrection. We may not know the day or time, but our hope is an assurance that what Christ promised will take place, and in that, we rejoice.
SLIDE 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:3–5
SLIDE II. Stand Firm, Come What May
SLIDE II. Stand Firm, Come What May
to persevere is to stand strong and hold fast. when we persevere in tribulations, we are standing our ground, not letting the woes blow us here and there, but holding fast, knowing that the Lord has won the victory, and these worldly troubles will not last forever. And that perhaps they serve a bigger purpose. We trust that God is sovereign.
SLIDE22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
Matthew 10:22
SLIDE 33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
SLIDE 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.
6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
2 Corinthians 1:3–7
directly connected to rejoicing in hope. we can rejoice and be glad because we have hope in the Lord
SLIDE III. Persistent and Powerful Petitions
SLIDE III. Persistent and Powerful Petitions
and yet we’re still called to be devoted to prayer. unlike the “devoted” used in vs 10, which meant to love dearly, the word speaks of power and might, and means to persevere and be attached to something, persisting obstinately. It’s a new way of thinking about prayer. This is prayer with unwavering passion.
SLIDE 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
Ephesians 6:17–18
when we pray in the Spirit, having taken up to sword of the Spirit, the singular “offensive” piece of the armor of God, our prayers are active and powerful as we “fight” for the perseverance of the saints. Our prayers for them are not just a mention of protection, just an active ongoing petition to God on their behalf.
SLIDE IV. There Are No Strangers Here
SLIDE IV. There Are No Strangers Here
this continues the active mindset from vs 11, takes that action and applies it to hope, prayer and standing strong through trials.
we do these things because the world is not our home and there will be persecution, if not from the human race, certainly in a spiritual sense. Trouble will come for all at some point, and this idea of contributing to the needs of the saints isn’t merely a financial idea, though this is needed, he’s referencing what was just said. we do these things with and for fellow believers, with hospitality put in as a reminder that these doesn’t just apply to those saints we know.
Is the contribution merely monetary? No, but to be infectiously hopeful, leading others in that, encouraging others to be strong when trials come, and praying for them.
SLIDE 2“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2
how we are to treat stranger among us goes back to Leviticus and Deut.
SLIDE 34 ‘The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:34
SLIDE 19 “So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:19
when job was listing all of the ways he has lived a life of integrity he says
SLIDE 32 “The alien has not lodged outside, For I have opened my doors to the traveler.
Job 31:32
Hospitality (philoxenia) -combo of words friend (philos) and foreigner (xenos)
Hospitality then in treating a stranger like a friend.
in the context of contributing to the needs of the saints, this affirms the idea that we are like family in Christ. Even if a saint is a stranger or foreigner, we are to treat them as a friend.
Jesus gets to the heart of this kind of treatment of strangers
SLIDE 12 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. 13 “But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Luke 14:12–14