Please open your Bibles to Romans 10. The first 11 chapters of Romans gave us the foundation for the Christian faith. Look at Romans 10:9………...
Do you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is your only Savior? Let us say this together: Jesus is my only Savior and Lord!
In Romans 12-16, God gives practical instructions on how to live the Christian faith while we’re still here on earth. The first thing we learned and most important in our lives is the worship of God! We are to worship God with everything! We are to see God wherever we go, whatever we’re doing, we are to praise God and give Him thanks. (show picture) How are we doing with this?
Think about this for a moment: God never sleeps; but God can’t wait for us to get up and say hello to Him! And God planned out our day and He is at the edge of His seat waiting to see how we are going to respond to the wonderful things He has ordained for each one of us personally. Yes, life can be difficult at times, but I guarantee that everyday there is something to be thankful for from God. God loves you and me! The problem of course is we don’t look for God in every situation! Don’t be a Christian Zombie, be a WAMB; Everyday, look for every opportunity to worship God with your attitude, mind, & body!
And the second thing we must do as Christians is not to grieve the Holy Spirit (show yield sign). If you are a true Believer of Christ, you have God the Holy Spirit living within you every moment of your life! And according to Galatians 5:22-23, all we have to do is yield to the Holy Spirit and we will produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
How is our yielding?
Everyday we should take a moment to stop and smell the roses God has given us; then worship Him! Everyday we should look for opportunities to yield to the Holy Spirit!
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth not only to seek and save the lost but also to provide abundant life for Christians while waiting for His return. How are we doing? Before we can proceed with the rest of God’s instructions in Romans 12-16, we must be committed to these 3 fundamental truths: Believe in Jesus Christ, Worship God always, and Yield to God the Holy Spirit. Right where you are, please take a moment to quietly pray and commit to these truths………
Sing along with me:
He is Lord. He is Lord. He is risen from the dead and He is Lord. Ev’ry knee shall bow, Ev’ry tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord
Please open your Bibles now to Romans 12.
We have noted how we are to relate to God, how we are to relate to our family, and how to relate to Christians at church. God now instructs Christians how to relate to people outside the church. Read along with me v14-21…….
v14 tells us, we are to bless those who persecute us; bless not curse. What does this mean? The original Greek word for bless is eulogeo which means to speak well of. The original Greek word for persecute is dioko which means to harass, to trouble, to mistreat. And the original Greek word for curse is kataraomai which means to call doom or evil on a person. How do we react when someone harasses, troubles, or mistreats us? Someone cuts you off on the highway, how do you react? Someone tells you to go back where you came from with your pineapples and coconuts, how do you respond?
You see, God knows that, even if we are Christians, when we are harassed, troubled, or mistreated, we will curse those people. It is the automatic response of the flesh.
But Christians are to say no to the flesh and yes to the Holy Spirit! And so, God tells us Christians to watch our attitudes and our tongues in responding to people who hurt us. Christians are to speak well of people, even those who hurt us! Yes, this is not easy. Why? - because we can not do it by ourselves. We need the help of God the Holy Spirit to bless those who hurt us! If we are not true believers of Christ, if we are not committed to worshiping God, if we are not yielding to the Holy Spirit, we can not bless those who persecute us. Blessing those who persecute you is a sign of your faith in the Triune God!
How can we live this out? May I suggest this: When someone hurts you, just hold your tongue and pray. When God tells you what to say to bless the person, that would be the time to speak, otherwise, don’t say a word!
And according to v15-19, how are Christians to relate with people? Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay evil for evil. Do what is right in everyone’s eyes. Try to live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge. What is the common denominator to all of these? God gives us the specific things we are to do to relate to people but the overarching attitude to all of these things is agape love! Agape love always thinks of the betterment of the other person.
Again, If we are not true believers of Christ, if we are not committed to worshiping God, if we are not yielding to the Holy Spirit, we can not agape love others. Agape loving others is another sign of your faith in the Triune God!
How can we live this out? When you are relating to someone, always think of God’s best for them, then do it!
Don’t just ask WWJD! Ask WWJWD! What Would Jesus Want me to Do?
And remember this logo? (swoosh logo) What does “nike” mean for the Christian?? Christians are more than conquerors! Christians have the ability to always think of God’s best for others, then, just do it! Ask, what would Jesus want me to do, then just do it!
A Believer of Jesus Christ is assured of being glorified and perfected to be with God forever and ever in heaven! But let me ask a question: Even though Jesus Christ overcame the world, death, and the devil, is there still evil in the world?
According to God’s plan and schedule, the devil and the demons are still around today. Also, Christians, even though righteous in God’s sight, still have sinful natures they have to deal with while on earth. Even after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is still evil in the world.
But what does the Bible tell us what is going to happen to all evil? Jesus said in Matthew 13:49-50, This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
One of these days God will say enough is enough and He will totally separate evil from the righteous forever and ever.
There is a place called heaven and there is a place called hell. Are you looking forward to that day when there will no longer be evil to deal with? You should if you truly believe in Jesus Christ. But if you are not a true believer of Christ, please be warned, for God could end this evil world today!
Only God knows the time of the end of the world but we can certainly get a hint of how soon it can happen because of all the sin in the world! How sinful is the world?
Think about this for a moment: In the City of Milwaukee for the first 3 months of this year alone we’ve had 17 murders, 45 arsons, 641 aggravated assaults, and over 7000 thefts! If we project the facts, in one year alone in the City of Milwaukee there will be about 70 murders, 180 arsons, 2800 aggravated assaults, and 28000 thefts! Is there evil in our world? I think you should lock your cars and homes!
But what does God say about dealing with evil as a Christian? It is our Scripture of the Week: Romans 12:21, Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
What does this mean for us?
As the Believer is still living on earth, evil will be there to try and defeat the Christian in doing good work.
And so, what must we do?
1. Do not be ignorant of evil present.
Many Christians today are not watchful enough of evil creeping in their lives. The devil is still alive and well and he is the great deceiver; he can fool people with miracles; he can dress up as an angel of light, when he actually leads people to darkness!
If we Christians are not alert and watchful, the devil will creep into our lives in many subtle ways: through TV, the Internet, books and magazines, even through activities we love to do like shopping, music, sports, and other hobbies; be careful of halloween!!
Two other Scriptures we should always keep in mind: 1 Peter 5:8 - Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour; Philippians 4:8……….. Does halloween pass the test of Philippians 4:8?
2. Run away from evil!
Psalm 1:1 states: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. Run away from evil; do not walk with evil, do not stand by evil, do not sit with evil!
What can’t we understand about this?
Of course, we can not fight evil alone.
What do we Christians have to fight evil??
We overcome evil with good by:
3. Putting on the Full Armor of God - BBSSSHF!
How are we all doing in relating to all the crazy people we meet everyday? Are we loving them or hating them?
Don’t forget 2 important things: If the people you meet are not Christians, they have no real power to stop sinning. And secondly, the people you might hate, Jesus loves them and He died for them as well!
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good!
Please take a moment to quietly pray about these things………
