8 WARNINGS SIGNS ALONG THE HIGHWAY OF LIFE
ROMANS 12:1-21
God has warnings signs along the highway of our lives. They were installed along the way to prepare us to an imminent hazard or peril. You can either pay attention or disregards them at your own risk. There are eight warnings written at Romans 12.
We should not forget that we are just pilgrims in this world. We are expatriates here. Our citizenship is in heaven. And as we pass by at the highway of our temporary life here, there are many dangers, land minds, cliffs and traps of the enemy.
But God gave us some warning signs so we can identify those dangers in our spiritual journey and some of those important signs are written in Romans Chapter 12.
8 WARNINGS FROM ROMANS12:1-21
I - WARNING AGAINST COMPROMISE:
DO NOT CONFORM BUT BE TRANSFORMED
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
If the enemy cannot strike us by persecution, he will entice us with temptation. He will use the life’s style or the pattern of this world to entice us. His purpose is to trap us to commit sin by the luxury of this world. He wants to weaken our spiritual fervor and power by contaminating our Christian life with the life’s style of this world.
For this reason, God is warning us to avoid the traps or the land mines of compromise. If we want to maintain a victorious Christian life, we need to keep our integrity and keep our spiritual life pure and uncontaminated with the temptations of this world. We have to live above the standard of this world. Though we are still in the world but we should be insulated from the pattern of this world.
A - How to avoid compromise?
1. Surrender your body – “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice”
2. Renew your Mind – “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
B - What will be the benefits of avoiding compromise?
1. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is
2. Then you will be able to test and approve what his good, pleasing perfect will
If the enemy is not successful by using the weapon of COMPROMISE, he will use his next tool to defeat us. The name of the next weapon of the enemy is CONDESCENSION. The other word for this is SUPERIORITY COMPLEX. This is the “holier than thou spirit”.
II - WARNING AGAINST CONDESCENSION:
DO NOT EXERCISE SUPERIORITYCOMPLEX BUT HUMILITY
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
Because of the spiritual standard that they have, many Christian falls to the next trap of condescension. They think themselves highly and important than other people. They became isolated and hard to mingle with specially the un-church people. They are like scribes and Pharisee of our time.
This kind of spirit put a bad image to Christianity that soul winning and evangelism become difficult because of the image that this people portrait to Christianity. This people are un-loving, un-caring and do not have the spirit of grace within them. They concern is to maintain the religious standard and not to spread the grace and love of God.
A - Why to avoid this superiority complex?
1. Because we belong to all the others
4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
2. Because we have different gifts, hence everyone has a unique value and purpose
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully
B - How to avoid this superiority complex?
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
1. Love must be sincere
2. Hate what is evil
3. Cling to what is good
4. Be devoted to one another in love
5. Honor one another above yourselves
If the enemy is not successful with the weapon of COMPROMISE AND CONDESCENSION, he will use the next tool, it is the spirit of COLDNESS or passivity.
III - WARNING AGAINST COLDNESS:
DO NOT BE PASSIVE BUT BE ACTIVE
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Passive people attend church only for company and enjoyment. They see church as social club or network for their own enjoyment of life. They are not willing and ready to sacrifice their life for God. There is no real commitment for God and the church. If there is any problems that will occur, they will be easily gone because they have the spirit of coldness or the spirit of apathy. They don’t really care for the church or for other believers.
How to fight spiritual passivity or coldness?
1. Serve the Lord
2. Be joyful in hope
3. Be patient in affliction
4. Be faithful in prayer
5. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need
6. Practice hospitality
The next tool of the enemy is to push us to hate those people who persecute us or those people who are different from our belief. The enemy will try to provoke us and push to us to curse other people.
IV – WARNING AGAINST CURSING:
DO NOT CURSE YOUR OPPRESSOR BUT PRAY FOR YOUR PERSECUTOR
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
We are called by God to bless people and not curse them. And the following are some reasons why we should bless people and not curse them.
Reasons to bless and not curse:
1. To emulate Jesus
2. To circulate blessings and not curse
3. To effect the sowing and reaping principle
4. To break the cycle of anger and hatred
Sometimes God’s blessing will also become a trap for us if we become conceited. CONCEIT is the other tool of the enemy to destroy us.
V - WARNING AGAINST CONCEIT:
DO NOT BE CONCEITED BUT BE GROUNDED
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
One of the symptoms of conceit is the spirit of competition. If we want to compete with brethren with so many things like the blessings, the church attendance or many other things, then we should examine ourselves. If we cannot rejoice with the blessings of our brethren then we should repent and cast out this spirit of competition within us.
HOW?
1. Rejoice with those who rejoice
2. Mourn with those who mourn
3. Live in harmony with one another
4. Be willing to associate with people of low position
The next warning sign is the CONFLICT. Sometimes the enemy will sow conflict within us and if we are not careful, we will be defeated by the enemy.
VI- WARNING AGAINST CONFLICT:
DO NOT USE ENEMIES’ WAY BUT KEEP DOING GOD’S WAY
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Self-centeredness is the hatching spot of conflict. If everyone thinks about his own and does not care for everyone, then conflict will arise.
How to avoid conflict?
1. Do not repay anyone evil for evil
2. Be careful to do what is right
3. Live at peace with everyone
The next weapon of the enemy is COERCION or intimidation by force.
VII – WARNING AGAINST COERCION:
DO NOT PUT JUSTICE IN YOUR OWN HAND BUT IN GOD’S HAND
19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
This kind of spirit is from the point view of the world that we have human right and we have all the right to fight for it. This is the point of view of Peter when he strike one man with his sword at the garden of Gethsemane.
How to avoid coercion
1. Do not take revenge
2. Leave room for God’s wrath
3. If your enemy is hungry feed him
4. If your enemy is thirsty give him something to drink
The next weapon of the enemy is CALLOUSNESS. The devil will use some bad experience lie abandonment, injustice, trials or betrayal of other friends and family to make our heart bitter and hard.
VIII - WARNING AGAINST CALLOUSNESS:
DO NOT GO DOWN TO THE LEVEL OF A FOOL BUT BE COOL
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
We are living in a world where evil is prevalence, immorality is popular and widely accepted, integrity is dead and sanctity has gone. But the true believer of God is now being challenged to live above the standard of this present world, to overcome evil by maintaining and consistently living by the highest standard of biblical truth.
We are still living in the world but we are different. We are the children of light and we must enlighten the world by our testimony. The Lord has given us all the warning signs to avoid the traps and the landmines of the enemy. Let us live victoriously for the glory of our God.
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