“Saints please, promote and praise God by being living sacrifices”
Romans part 21
Opening Illustration: In recognition of the first NFL Games of the season we have a clip honoring the Big Game on Sunday. This illustration should helps us all to have a proper perspective - Sports Sunday by Bluefishtv.com
The Clip showed that the really big Game on Sunday was Worship services all across America.
I picked up Tony Dungy’s book “Quiet Strength” this last week and started reading it yesterday. I could not put it down because it was such a great testimony to the Lord working in his life. Tony is the Head coach of the Indianapolis Colts who last year won the Super Bowl – he was the first black coach to have ever lead his team to a Super Bowl victory.
He opens his book with this Quote in the Introduction: “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” Booker T. Washington
He opens up giving the reader a clear view of what his life is about and what this book is about – Listen to what he says:
“But before we begin, I want to make sure we’re starting at the same place. The point of this book is not the Super Bowl. In fact, its not football. Don’t get me wrong –football is great. It’s provided a living and a passion for me for decades…But football is just a game. It’s not family. It’s not a way of life. It doesn’t provide any sort of intrinsic meaning. It’s just football. It lasts for three hours, and when the game is over, it’s over…It’s the journey that matters. Learning is more important than the test…winning the Super Bowl is not the Ultimate victory. And once again, just to make certain we’re on the same page, it’s not all about football. It’s about the journey-mine and yours-and the lives we can touch, the legacy we can leave, and the world we can change for the better” (xiii-xv).
One of his chapters is dedicated to how he learned to “Put God First” in his life. That’s what matters the most. He used Matthew 6:33 to address this chapter – “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (37).
He also quoted a lesson he had learned from Chuck Noll – Coach of the Pittsburg Steelers and winner of many Super Bowls: “Football is no your life’s work!”
In his chapter on Defining success Tony’s shares with us the definition of success:
“God’s definition of success is really one of significance-the significant difference our lives can make in the lives of others. This significance doesn’t show up in win-loss records, long resumes, or trophies gathering dust on our mantels. It’s found in the hearts and lives of those we’ve come across who are in some way better because of the way we lived” (144).
Thesis: We are to Please God, Promote God and Praise God by serving each other through the spirit of grace. This lifestyle for the saint is practiced by following the two covenants of vertical and horizontal relationships. The vertical is between God and us and the second which is horizontal is between God - us and our fellow laborers in Christ.
Scripture Text: Romans 15:1-16
1We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs 9so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing hymns to your name.”
10Again, it says,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and sing praises to him, all you peoples.”
12And again, Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
the Gentiles will hope in him.”
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
14I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Introduction:
Saints are to be known for their ability to please God, praise God and promote God by living a lifestyle filled with grace and service for one another. Saints are to be known for not only their vertical relationship in Christ but also for their horizontal relationships with one another. These two covenant relationships are based off of what Jesus said, “Love the Lord God with your whole heart mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself!”
The saint must intentionally commit to these two covenants. Jesus placed great importance on them for the “Saint.” When we place our faith and trust in God we keep the vertical covenant relationship with Him. He then promises to give us hope, joy, peace, and the power of the Holy Spirit. But we are given these other gifts so as to pass them on to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We also are to be committed to each other in the Body of Christ because when we accept each other we in turn praise God, please God and promote God. Paul tells us that we must develop our horizontal relationships with each other. This requires us to commit to not pleasing ourselves but to pleasing God. This means that we do not praise ourselves but we praise God for his provision. This means that we promote God by building each other up in Christ. When we build each other up, accept each other, and encourage each other then the spirit of unity takes root and we become a witness to the unbeliever.
Marshall and Manuel noted the following thought about these 2 covenant relationships and the necessity to commit to both:
How critically important for us Christians is the business of commitment to one-another-as vital for the Body of Christ today as it was three-and-a-half centuries ago! There are two great steps of faith in the Christian walk, and they correspond to the two Great Commandments: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The first step of faith is the vertical commitment: once a person had discovered the reality of God, and has experienced the miraculous gift of salvation in His Son Jesus Christ, he then must face the prospect of accepting Christ as his Lord and Master, as well as Savior. To do this means yielding our wills to God: ‘Nevertheless not my will but Thy will be done.’ And it is a covenant relationship, which means there are two parties to the agreement. As long as the Christian obeys His God in humility, God will honor his obedience, often blessing him beyond all imagining. The second step of faith is the horizontal commitment to one’s neighbor, and ultimately to that specific body of Christian neighbors of whom God calls one to be a part. In a way, this second step requires even more faith, because now one has to learn to trust a perfect God operating in and through imperfect vessels. We must do this armed only with the assurance that it is God’s will, that they too are aware of their being called to serve Him together. The vertical aspect of the Covenant has to come first, just as the First and Great Commandment does. But as strong as it is, the vertical aspect alone, without a cross-bar, is not the Cross of Christ. The second step calls one to yield to that local part of the Body of Christ, and to dedicate oneself to that congregation and its work. Indeed, the body’s effectiveness will be magnified to the extent to which its individuals mutually dedicate themselves. This dedication accounted for the soldierly esprit de corps of the early Jesuits, and made them the shock troops of the army of Christ. Alone, their vertical commitment to Christ was unsurpassed –but as the body, they are renowned the world over! Esprit de corps-the literal translation is ‘the spirit of the body.’ This may be one of the reasons why God permits pressures to befall the Body of Christ. For wherever there is pressure of affliction, there is corresponding increase in commitment to one another, as well as commitment to God” (The Light and the Glory, pages 167, 168).
Paul along with other leaders of Christ emphasize that the “Saint” must be committed to both of these covenant relationships if they want to please God, praise God and promote God! Many in the Body of Christ are willing to do the vertical covenant with God and them but they refuse to do the horizontal covenant with each other. If you have one with out the other then you do not create a cross. We must have both to create the sign of the cross in our lives.
The Horizontal dimension is what Paul is stressing in this chapter today and he tells us that we must build each other up in the faith.
How important is it for us to build each other up? Let’s look at the following quotes and see its power:
Quotes on the power of building up others through encouragement:
“One of the highest of human duties is the duty of encouragement… It is easy to pour cold water on their enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet.”
- Donald Bubna
"There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come through encouragement from someone else. I don’t care how great, how famous or how successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause."
– George M. Adams
"One compliment can keep me going for a whole month."
- Mark Twain
"When a person is down in the world, an ounce of help is better than a pound of preaching."
- Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.”
- William Arthur Ward.
The Body of Christ – the Saints need to commit to building each other up so that God is pleased, God is praised and God is promoted. If we choose to tear each other down, to shoot at one another then we will discover that we are not pleasing God, not praising God and not promoting God.
Story: It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then support them when they attacked the city. Phipps’ navy arrived early. As the admiral waited, he became annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby cathedral, so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ships’ cannons. No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the “saints.” (Daily Bread) Unfortunately, the same could be said for many Christians today. When God calls on them to do something great for Him they have nothing left to give for they have used up their ammunition shooting at the saints (From Steve Dow on sermoncentral.com).
Gandhi said, “I like Jesus and his message but I do not like Christianity and its Christians because they do no align with their founder.”
T.S. – Saints are not suppose to shoot at others saints but build them up and in the process we will please God!
Video Clip: Lessons on building from Evan Almighty!
Lesson: Clip remind us how we need to follow the will of God and make a difference in others life by doing building projects for the Lord.
I. Saints please God by building each other up! (vs. 1-4)
a. Saints build each other up in the faith and in turn please God.
b. We who are strong in Christ must give grace to our weaker brothers and sisters and not please ourselves instead we should build up our brothers and sisters in Christ.
i. We should do this because this is what Jesus did for us and role-modeled for us to do.
ii. Jesus never pleased himself he did what the Father wanted him to do.
1. He pleased His Heavenly Father!
2. We also should seek to please the Father by committing to the process of building each other up in our faith.
iii. Jesus dispensed grace to all who needed it and wanted it.
1. The woman at the well.
2. The woman caught in adultery.
3. The lepers He came across and laid hands on.
4. Even to certain religious leaders like Nicodemus.
5. Even to Romans like the Centurion and his daughter.
c. The question can be asked, “How do we build each other up?”
i. The writings of Jesus and the Bible are there to help us live right by showing us how to do it. Paul reminds us in this chapter that we must learn the lessons from the ancient writings – they were given by God to teach us how to live a righteous life and how to build each other up in Christ.
1. The Scriptures empower us to have hope – this hope gives us endurance and encouragement to press on to the end.
2. The Scriptures teach us that we must become servants of truth.
3. The Scriptures fill us with hope which in turn will also produce joy and peace.
4. The ancient writings the Scriptures will also release the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives.
5. Just read the Life of Christ in the Gospels and you quickly discover principles and steps we can take so as to build each other up.
a. Jesus cared about the condition of others because he had compassion for others:
i. Mark 1:41, “Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.”
1. Jesus reached out here and touched a leper which was against the ceremonial law and he did it because he had compassion on this man.
ii. Enduring and impacting relationships always create a positive long range difference and the key component is always characterized by compassion.
iii. Jesus had compassion for others! Do you?
iv. Compassion for others will always cause the Lord to be pleased with us and it will make Him smile.
v. Showing compassion for others will always result in building others up!
b. Jesus built others up by spending time with others over meals.
i. Mark 2:15, “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house…”
ii. You could say as Briner and Pritchard said, “Leaders eat with their troops. Food can be a great catalyst for building relationships and for teaching” (Leadership lessons of Jesus, page 50).
iii. Pritchard and Briner add this thought, “Nothing breaks down barriers like sharing a Coke and a hamburger or a quick breakfast together” (page 51).
iv. Sharing meals together and fellowship together will result in building each other up.
c. Jesus built others up by telling stories.
i. Mark 3:23, “So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables.”
ii. The most effective builders of others in the society are great storytellers. Why? Stories communicate truth and most people love a good story.
iii. Briner notes, “Leading through storytelling requires more than just spinning yarns; the stories must make important, relevant points. Through parables Jesus imparted many of his most vital messages” (82, 83).
iv. Jesus willingness and ability to tell stories helped build up a lot of people for the Kingdom of God.
d. Jesus built others up by remaining calm in the storms of life.
i. Mark 4:40, “He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
ii. Briner notes, “Turbulent times are sure to come, and when they do it is imperative for a leader to be calming, steadying influence. Many appear impressive when everyone is cheering, but a storm is always the true test of leadership mettle. Be ready for the storm; be ready to calm those around you in its midst. Being calm at the center of a storm does not mean being detached or unrealistic. It does mean moving deliberately and positively to handle the situation, instilling faith, and driving out unwarranted fear” (112).
iii. This action will result in building others up in the Body of Christ.
ii. Here are some other lessons on how to build others up. (Adapted from Norman Vincent Peale – “Help Yourself with God’s Help.”)
1. Show people that you like them: If you genuinely like people, enjoy being with them, talking with them, and like being helpful to them, you will find that people generally will like you. And when mutual liking takes place people get along and build each other up.
2. Be a likable person: To be liked and to get along with other people requires a choice on our part. To have friends and to be able to build others up means you yourself have to be likable.
3. Show them that you are interested in their lives: Become interested in the other person’s ideas and interests. Direct conversation to the other individual’s interests, rather than talking about yourself. As you become absorbed in their interests, they will become attentive to yours and in the process you will build each other up.
4. Be easy to get along with: To be able to build others up requires that you are a comfortable person to be around. If people are not comfortable around you then you will never be able to influence their lives.
5. Learn the names of others: Practice the art of remembering names. Focus on the other person, so that the name will register. Remember that a person’s name is important to them. Knowing it will enable you to help build them up.
6. Be sensitive to other people: Practice the art of putting yourself in another person’s shoes and seek to understand their life stage and situation. Do not take advantage of another or be insensitive to their needs because this will only tear a person down and not build them up.
7. Be a doer of the Word: Love people and do things for them. Perform unselfish and outgoing acts of friendship. Such sincere self-giving inevitably leads to strong relationships. And this builds others up in Christ.
a. Matthew 7:12 states, “Do for others what you want them to do for you.”
T.S. – Saints will seek to build each other up in their faith and in turn they will please God. Saints will also seek to deny themselves for the sake of unity and in this process they will actually be promoting God.
II. Saints promote God by living in unity! (vs. 5, 6)
a. Saints will deny themselves for the sake of unity and this in turn will promote God.
b. We as saints must ask the Lord to give us unity so that we may glorify the Father in Heaven.
i. We do this by denying the flesh and by being a living sacrifice for God.
ii. This act of not pleasing the ego in turn uplifts the name of the Lord instead of ourselves.
c. Unity is seen as a testimony to the miracle working power of God.
i. We need to pray for unity from God.
ii. When there is “Unity” in the community then the atmosphere promotes God in Heaven.
1. We need to deny ourselves and crucify the flesh so that unity is a by product of our sacrifice.
2. This act of sacrifice – which points us back to being a living sacrifice sends a message to others that we are promoting God not ourselves.
d. We as the Body of Christ need to have one mouth and one heart when it comes to serving the Kingdom.
i. What happens when there is no Unity: Two case studies from the book The Light and the Gory – written by Marshall and Manuel show how the Puritans of New England in the Bay Colony dealt with this sin:
1. Roger Williams - In the case of Williams we have a man carried off into purism which was carried to impractical ends and led to a judgmental self-righteous attitude toward others. He was in the right and everyone else was in the wrong and filled with impurity! He was zealous for God but to the point of being unrealistic. Roger Williams – succumbed to adamant, intellectual self-righteousness. He went over the balance by deeming everyone but his wife as unworthy to take communion. Later rumor has it that she was found unworthy too. Only Roger was holy and pure which once again reveals a heart filled with pride arrogance and deception. Williams moved on from their colony because of its impurity and with the pressure from the leadership. He of course chose to isolate himself more and more from the defiled ones and received his due reward in Providence. He formed a colony called Providence which came apart at the seams because his rebellion toward authority drew everyone else who was rebellious toward authority. When he started leading this group of rebels he soon became the targets of their rebellion toward his authority as leader and preacher of the Word. The rebels went so far as to rebel against his leadership and used his own words to argue that he had no authority. The community collapsed from bickering ad fighting and Williams moved on. Williams did come around after this disaster and in the end God used him to minister to the Indians of Rhode Island where many came to know Jesus Christ.
a. He coined the teaching “Liberty of conscience” which is, “Nobody is going to tell me what I should do or believe.” Liberty of conscience according to our writers is a vital part of Christianity as long as it stays in balance with the other parts of the Faith. Williams took it out of balance to the point were it disregarded all authority. It also stresses freedom from any commitment to corporate unity. It blocks us from listening to the counsel of others. It sets us up to be the ultimate authority.
2. Case study #2: Anne Hutchinson – She moved into heresy caused by self-righteousness and by elevating spiritual experiences over the foundation of God’s Word and His church leadership. When confronted by the leadership she refused to listen to the counsel of the church. She continued to elevate her so-called spiritual experiences over the Word. She then decided that she was able to tell who had the Holy Spirit and who did not because of her divine insights. She caused a lot of dissension in the colony undermining the leadership of the church and any one who opposed her. However she had a following of deceived people and the dissension started to multiply. The church confronted her seeking repentance which she refused and so they excommunicated her out of the church and the colony. Hutchinson was excommunicated from the colony and she and her family moved to another area. When the first Indian uprising occurred in New England she and her entire family were the first ones slain.
3. These two did not conform to the community and they refused to listen to authority or submit to it. They promoted a doctrine that was not balanced and if left unchecked would have lead many more people astray. The leadership tried to enlighten both of these individuals and help them see the error of their way but these two were committed to doing what was right in their eyes but not what the Word or leadership promoted.
a. The Puritan church always desired repentance and restoration but these two continued to refuse correction.
b. This brought disharmony and forced the church to remove the dissenters! Why? Because they knew that disharmony displeased God and did not promote the Kingdom like He taught in Scripture! Instead it really mocked God and elevated the two dissenters.
c. These two rebellious people did not promote God but themselves.
T.S. – Unity in the community leads to a place that pleases God and promotes God. Disunity brings a slap to the face of the Lord and causes an embarrassment to the Kingdom of God. The Saint must also learn to accept each other because then they will be pleasing God, promoting God and praising God.
III. Saints praise God by accepting one another (vs. 7-16) .
a. Accepting one another in Christ will create a place that will praise God.
b. Our harmony is a song of beauty to the Lord and it ascends into heaven as chorus of praise.
i. When we are untied in Christ it sings a great melody of love to the Father.
1. Illustration: There is a loving father listening to his children playing and having fun together – He smiles and things to himself “There is no sweeter sound!” But hen sweet song of praise turns to a deafening noise because the father hears bickering, fighting, dissension, division, anger and rage coming from 3 little girls. His heart is sickened and the sweet melody is smashed and the moment is gone and the nightmare is playing out in the next room.
2. Trust me I know how this cuts to the heart and what it sounds like to a father when his three little girls are attacking each other in the bedroom. It’s not a pleasant experience!
c. When we accept one another for who we are in Christ then we get infused with hope from the Holy Spirit.
i. This hope gives us joy
1. When people accept each other in a family or church the atmosphere of joy is created for all who abide in it.
ii. This hope gives us peace
1. Share the story of Jim and Avis: They said to Kathy and I once, “Our marriage became an awesome thing when we decided to accept each other for who we were instead of trying to change the other person into what we wanted them to be.”
iii. This hope is power from the Holy Spirit
d. Paul reminds the Christians in Rome that he is convinced that they have what it takes – so they need to use their knowledge, use their goodness and instruct each other in the ways of the Lord.
i. They need to accept each others teachings and insights.
1. The Puritans did this well and this is why their communities succeeded!
2. They believed that they were all one big family so they were very open to the suggestions and insights from others in the Body.
ii. They need to listen to each others godly insight and wisdom.
1. The Puritans did this with business and family issues.
iii. Illustration: The Puritan community in New England in the 1600’s was a community committed to accepting one another out of love and they went so far as love each other enough to help point out the errors of ones way:
1. In Puritan America the town looked over each others souls and would lovingly confront people who fell into sin. Sin was taken very seriously in the early Puritan colonies and dealt with unlike today’s American Christian communities.
a. They cared enough for their brothers and sisters in Christ to remind them when sin started to creep in. This community made a covenant with each other not to allow the sin nature into their brothers and sisters in Christ. They all accepted the fact that we all struggle with sin -- but with help from my brother or sister -- I can recognize it and then be able to repent of it.
i. This meant that they had to be willing to accept others comments, correction and rebuke and then accept the fact that they where right about their sinful actions.
2. Manuel and Marshall noted, “But they had good reason: they knew the very success or failure of God’s New Israel hung on their willingness to deal strongly with sin-in themselves first, but also in those who had been called with them to build the Kingdom. Indeed, there could be no compromise where the presence of sin was concerned…Imagine the reaction of most Americans today would have at the thought that their neighbors might be watching over their souls…So many of our churches are congregations of private people, surrounded by private personal spaces and wrapt up in private thought, until it is time to smile and shake the minister’s hand and get into their private cars. In fact, for many of us Americans, privacy has become our religion, with home as the foremost place of worship. As a result of increasingly temporary and artificial friendships, frequent up rootings, and growing insecurity in the world, we turn more and more for the fulfillment of our needs to family relationships” (page 179, 180).
e. Paul reminds this church that they have a Great Commission to be a light to the Gentiles in Rome and to help them become an acceptable offering to the Lord.
i. This can only be done if the church commits to the second step of faith which is the completing of the horizontal relationship dimension.
ii. The saint must seek to please God, promote God and praise God and it all comes from being living sacrifices for one another in the Body of Christ.
1. These three acts to God are completed when the vertical relationship and the horizontal relationship is occurring in the Body of Christ.
Conclusion:
When the Body of Christ fails to do what Paul teaches in this chapter then we have a disaster in the church like this one.
Story: In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn’t a technology problem like radar malfunction -- or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship’s presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late (Closer Walk, December, 1991). If some churches and Christians continue on their present course, they will share the same fate.
Paul reminds us saints why we need to be a church which is also focused on the Horizontal Covenant:
It’s because of the Grace of God gave us the title “Saints” and when we received forgiveness and mercy from God we got it freely. It then becomes our responsibility to pass it on to others. This brings power to the church and makes it a lighthouse to the lost people in this world. This priestly duty is given to us by God’s grace and we need to honor the Lord by becoming a power house church dedicated to both covenants with God.
The church is called to do the following:
We need to dispense grace to each other and to the lost.
We need to choose to live a life of self-denial so as to not serve our egos.
We are to be a united church for the cause of Christ.
We need to be one voice and have one heart so God gets the glory.
We need to learn from the sacred writings and learn the lessons taught in them.
We need to accept one another’s counsel and teachings.
We need to be beacon of light to the lost of Polk County.
We need to be a church presenting an acceptable offering to God.
We need to be a church that is sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
When the church and her saint’s act as living sacrifices then God is pleased, promoted and praised!
Altar Question: How many people here this morning want to please God, promote God and praise God with their lives?
