Romans Series # 50 August 07, 2002
Title: A Christian’s "To Do" List Part 2
Website: www.newlifeinchrist.info
Email: pastorsarver@yahoo.com
Introduction: Welcome to New Life in Christ. We are currently in Chapter 12 of Romans as we continue with message #50 of our verse-by-verse study of the Book of Romans.
Read Romans 12:11-13
Opening Prayer
Last week I shared with you how Romans 12:9-21 is basically a Christian "To Do" list. This is a list of 15 practical things the Christian should be living out in their own lives. Last week I shared on five of the 15 things on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
1. Love others sincerely.
2. Hate what is evil.
3. Cling to what is good.
4. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
5. Honor one another above yourselves.
Now let’s continue by looking at the sixth thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
6. Serve the Lord with diligence and enthusiasm.
Read Romans 12:11
In this verse Paul gives us a two-fold description of how we should serve the Lord. First he says, "Never be lacking in zeal." Second he says, "Keep your spiritual fervor." The word "zeal" is the same Greek word translated as "diligence" in Romans 12:8. The word means to give earnest effort. If we were using this word to describe an employee, we would be speaking of the employee who always arrives early, leaves late, and does not slack off throughout the day. If we were using this word to describe an athlete we would be speaking of the football player who never takes a play off, the batter who always goes for the home run ball, or the Olympian who will not be satisfied with anything less than a gold medal.
This intensity or earnestness of effort, this diligence is how we’re always to serve the Lord. This means we’re to give 100% whatever ministry we’re engaged in, whether children’s church, the worship team, helping others, serving, hosting a fellowship, intercessory prayer, senior’s ministry, or helping on a workday, etc... To serve the Lord with diligence means giving 100% in ministry, worship, in meditation on the word of God, in our prayer lives and so forth.
6. Serve the Lord with diligence and enthusiasm.
After telling Christian’s to serve the Lord with diligence (zeal), Paul goes on to say, "Keep your spiritual fervor." This refers not so much to what we do (our actions), as it does to our attitude. "Spiritual fervor" is a reference to spiritual enthusiasm. Not only should we give whole hearted efforts in serving the Lord, but we should be excited and enthused about it. The word for "fervor" here is the Greek word for boiling. It was figuratively used to describe a passionate attitude. This is the attitude of enthusiasm we all should have toward the things of the Lord. We should be passionate in our worship, excited about our time in God’s word, and enthused about serving God with our gifts.
6. Serve the Lord with diligence and enthusiasm.
Sometimes we may think that we just cannot maintain that level of diligence and enthusiasm, especially enthusiasm since that is an emotion. After all we have no control over our emotions, or so we think. I beg to differ with that conclusion. I think that we can decide to give 100% to Jesus and to be excited in doing so. If we could not do that, the Bible would not tell is to be spiritual fervent. I believe the Holy Spirit renews our enthusiasm for the things of the Lord when we to decide to be enthusiastic for Jesus and make efforts in that direction. When you think about it, is it really that hard to be excited about worshiping the living God? Is it difficult to be enthused about reading the words of the Creator of everything? Is it hard to be passionate about praying when we understand that we’re praying to a wise, caring, and powerful God? The answer to all these questions "no."
6. Serve the Lord with diligence and enthusiasm.
Before I move on to the seventh thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list, I want to point out that our enthusiasm is not mindless or directionless, but is focused on "serving the Lord." I say this because sometimes people in the church get caught up in emotional hype that has little to do with the Lord. They’re excited and fervent because of the emotional atmosphere of a meeting or because of manipulation by the evangelist, speaker, or worship leader pumping up people like at a high-school pep rally. Now let’s move on to the seventh thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
7. Trust in and depend on God, especially in difficult times.
At first glance the main focus of this verse seems to be on joy, patience, and prayer, not trust and dependence on God, but when you understand that Paul is telling Christian’s how to respond in times of "affliction", you can see that he is basically calling for an attitude of trust in and dependence on God. A person cannot be joyful unless they are trusting God for a hopeful future. A person can not be patient in difficult times unless they trust that God is in control and will bring them through as over comers. Paul says to "Be faithful in prayer" because there’s no greater sign of dependence and trust in God than to continue to pray to him in difficult times. With all this in mind, I believe the main message Paul was communicating is that we should trust in depend on God, especially in difficult times. This is the seventh thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list. With that said, let’s take a more in-depth look at what the Bible says in this verse.
First verse 12 says, "Be joyful in hope." Joy is one of the hallmarks of being a Christian. It was an attitude that the apostles and early church exhibited, it is a spiritual fruit (characteristic) that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives, and being joyful is something that we are exhorted to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 which says, "Be joyful always." By the way this is the shortest verse in the Bible, not John 11:35 which says, "Jesus wept." The Greek text for John 11:35 has 16 letters but they’re only 14 letters in 1 Thessalonians 5:16.
Christian should be joyful for many reasons. First we’re forgiven of our sins, and that is certainly reason to be joyful. Second we’re continually, blessed by God which is another reason to be joyous. Paul’s concern in Roman 12:12 is that we be joyful in difficult times because of the hope that we have for the future. We must believe what God says about the future being much better than the present; otherwise we will lose our joy and give in to despair. This is why Paul says, "Be joyful in hope."
Through the years we’ve had many ladies become pregnant in the church. I’ve never met one of those ladies who were not joyful despite the pregnancy. How can a woman who has gained 30 lbs., whose back hurts constantly, and who knows of the excruciating pain of labor that lies ahead be joyful? The answer is she knows that the difficulty and the pain will not last forever but rather that the future is bright, i.e. she is "joyful in hope." It is the same with the Christian. We will undergo difficult times, emotional and physical pain, sickness, persecution, etc. but we know by faith that the future is better so we can be "joyful in hope." When we encounter hard times we need to remember the seventh thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
7. Trust in and depend on God, especially in difficult times.
While we recognize the Christian can be joyful because of their hope for the future, we also need to recognize that difficult times may last for awhile. With this in mind Paul gives us a second exhortation concerning how we’re to respond to difficult times. He says, "Be patient in affliction."
Illustration: A man by the name of George owned an apartment complex and had just completed the exterior brick work on the 2nd floor. He had some bricks left over and was trying to decide the best way to get the load of bricks back down to the ground level without breaking them.
He noticed a 55-gal. Barrel on the ground and thought, "I know what I’ll do. I’ll tie some rope around that barrel, hook a pulley to the 2nd floor eave and pull the barrel up to the 2nd floor. Then I can load the bricks into the barrel and let it back down to the ground."
So that’s what he began to do. He tied the rope around the barrel, ran it over the pulley on the 2nd floor and pulled the barrel up to the 2nd floor. Then he tied the rope to the root of a nearby tree. He went up to the 2nd floor balcony and loaded the bricks into the barrel. Then he went back downstairs, grabbed the rope and pulled it loose from the root.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT, HOWEVER, GEORGE HADN’T COUNTED ON! That 55-gal barrel full of bricks weighed about 4 times as much as George! So the barrel shot down like lightning and George shot up like a rocket! As George shot past the barrel, it hit his shoulder, slammed against his hip and hit his kneecap. The barrel crashed to the ground, and George’s head smashed into the pulley above, cracking his skull. THERE HE WAS, DANGLING BY THE ROPE FROM THE 2ND STORY.
When the barrel hit the ground, the bricks were so heavy they knocked the bottom out of the barrel. NOW GEORGE WAS HEAVIER THAN THE BARREL! What a predicament!
Down came George and up came the empty barrel. This time, however, the barrel caught him on the other side. It hit his other knee, scraped his hip, broke his nose and dumped him on top of the pile of bricks.
He turned both his ankles and scuffed up both his shins. George let out a yell and turned loosed of the rope. SINCE THE BARREL WAS HEAVIER THAN THE ROPE, DOWN CAME THE BARREL. And you guessed it, it hit George one more time. As George found himself in the hospital bed: bruised, broken, cut, and sprained, he kept saying to himself, "I DON’T KNOW WHETHER TO FILE ONE INSURANCE CLAIM OR FIVE."
Source: Making Things Right When Things Go Wrong by Steve Shepherd www.sermoncentral.com
Have you ever felt like George? Does it seem like the problems will never end and that one problem only leads to another? If you answered "yes", you are not alone. Many times trouble comes in bunches and is not quickly resolved, so we need to "Be patient in affliction." How can we do that? Again the answer is by faith in God. We can only be patient in difficult times if we believe that God is in control and working everything for our good as Romans 8:28 teaches.
We’re not a patient people as a society. We buy food at a fast food restaurants or cook one minute meals in the microwave. We bank at the ATM because we don’t want to take the time to go inside. One new commercial features Jerry Seinfeld purchasing gasoline with a bank card so that he could save the couple seconds that it would take to pay cash. We live in a society where we are accustomed to and expect everything to be handled quickly, but that will not often be the case with difficult times. We can’t always to just say a prayer or quote a Scripture and our problems are quickly solved! We need to trust God when he is doing a slow work in our lives. We need to learn to be "patient in affliction."
After saying this, Paul tells those going through difficult times to be "faithful in prayer." Why would Paul encourage, prayer in difficult times since this is the time when most people are prone to pray? Well it may be true that most people to pray when hard times come, it is not true that they are "faithful in prayer" during these times. What I mean is that they do not necessarily keep on praying and depending upon God during difficult times. Rather the tendency is to pray a few times about the problem and then quit in discouragement and despair. This is not being faithful in prayer! Many times when I talk to people in difficult times I will ask them, "Are you praying about this situation?" They will answer, "Oh yeah, I’ve tried (past tense) that!" This indicates that they’re not continually and expectantly praying faithfully. It takes genuine trust ii God and a sense of dependence on God to faithfully pray and that’s the attitude the Christian should have in hard times. The seventh thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list is to. . .
7. Trust in and depend on God, especially in difficult times.
Now let’s look at the eighth thing on a Christian "To Do" list.
8. Open your wallet for Christians in need.
Read Romans 12:13a
The Bible says here that we have a social responsibility for our fellow Christians. One of the things that every Christian should do is make the effort and sacrifice for others in the Christian family. I’ve seen people in this church joyfully do this for many years. I commend you because I’ve never known a situation where a need was known and every effort and sacrifice was not made to meet that need.
This sharing with Christians in need may not garner much attention or fanfare in the Christian world such as miracles are large numbers would, nevertheless I believe that it is especially honoring and important to God. Even Jesus said that people would know that we are his disciples by our love one for another. As Paul points out the 1 Corinthians 13, it is love that matters most! The Apostle John also points out in his epistles that we do not love one another unless we’re sharing with those in need! The eighth thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list is to. . .
8. Open your wallet for Christians in need.
Now it is good that we’re doing this already but this does not mean that we do not need to stay alert because our love for one another and to willingness share can subtly disappear, especially in economic downturns where we tend to become more self focused.
Before I conclude this evening’s message, I want to point out that we’re to share with Christians who are "in need." Sometimes people are too lazy to work or too careless with money. Their problem is not being needy as much as it is disobedience to God’s principles. These are not the people to whom Paul was referring when he tells us to share with those Christians who are in need. He is referring to those who’ve lost jobs but are willing and looking for work. He is referring to the single moms, elderly, sick, and those who’ve encountered temporary financial crises. Admittedly we do not always know whose need is legitimate because some people do lie and manipulate Christians. In cases where I am not sure if the need is legitimate, I choose to meet the apparent need to let God deal with if that person is being deceptive. I would rather do this than not meet a legitimate need for a Christian.
Next week we will pick up with the second part of verse 13 which tells us the ninth thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list. Tonight I’ve shared with you the sixth, seventh, and eighth things on the list.
6. Serve the Lord with diligence and enthusiasm.
7. Trust in and depend on God, especially in difficult times.
8. Open your wallet for Christians in need.
Closing Prayer
