INTRODUCTION
• Last week we looked at how important it is for all of us to find some area of service in the church. We looked at how important it is for all of us to work together in accomplishing the work that God has commissioned us with.
• Today we are going to take things a step deeper. We are going to move from action to the attitudes that should be behind the actions we do.
• With God, just doing the right thing is not enough for the Christian; we are to do things with the proper attitude and motivation.
• As we look at what God is calling us to do, it becomes very evident how important Romans 12:1-2 are for us. Without a renewed mind and without making our life a living and holy sacrifice unto God, we would not be able to do many of the things we are called to do in this section of scripture.
• Our motivation for doing what we do is love. We are to be motivated by our love for God and that should motivate us to love others.
• Love requires responsibility. For instance, if I love my family, I have certain responsibilities that come along with that love. I must protect them, provide for them and be faithful to them. This is one of the ways our love is evident to them.
• In our passage today we will see that love requires responsibilities towards ourselves, towards other Christians, and towards those who are lost.
• The way we love others shows how much we God. 1JO 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.
• When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus said, it was to love God and to love our neighbor as our self. (Matt:22-37-39)
• 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that whatever we do, if we do it without love, it means nothing.
• Today, let’s look at the responsibilities love requires of us.
SERMON
I. OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TO OURSELVES (9)
For love to work, there are some things we need to do for ourselves. These things are things that might not show on the outside, but will work on us from the inside. Whatever is on the inside will eventually come out to be seen by all.
1. We have the responsibility to make sure we love without hypocrisy
• We have to make sure the love we have for other people is real. We all have heard about the world says they do not want to go to church with hypocrites.
• A hypocrite was originally used of an actor who acted out the part other than his true character. We need to make sure we do not just ACT like we love someone.
• Love without hypocrisy would be a real genuine love, not a counterfeit one.
• We are to love people for no other reason than the fact that God does and that if they are a Christian, they are our brother or sister in the Lord.
• James 2 deals with situations in the church where people of wealth and position were given preferential treatment. When we love people, our motives must be pure. We have to constantly guard against loving people of the wrong reasons. When we love people for the wrong reason, we really do not love them.
• Our real interest in people will show through our actions.
• We have to commit to loving people without hypocrisy. We must love people for who they are in or who they can be Christ, not what they have or what they can do for us.
2. Hate what is evil
• Our passage tells to abhor what is evil. No word in the original text expresses a stronger aversion to something than the compound word we translate abhor.
• The proper Christian response to evil is to have a strong feeling of horror about it, we are to run from it and stay as far away from it as possible. Our abhorring evil should be a constant habitual action as the rest of the commands in this section are to be.
• I think we walk too close to the line of what is good and what is evil. We have to stay as far from evil as possible, we need to see for what it is and what it does to people.
• Really, this is part of having a pure heart. One of the things missing in our society is an abhorrence of evil. Celebrities do things for shock value and we give them publicity for what they do and we applauded their creativity.
• John McArthur Jr., in his commentary on Romans says, “Hatred of evil is the other side of love, which, by its very nature, cannot approve of or “rejoice in unrighteousness” (1 Cor. 13:6). Evil is the antithesis of holiness and therefore the antithesis of godliness. Just as “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10), “Fear of the Lord [also] is to hate evil” (Prov. 8:13). The child of God abhors evil because God abhors evil.”
• We will hate evil because of our love for God. PSALM 101:4 A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil.
3. Cling to what is good.
• If you are going to stay away from evil in your life, you need to fill it with something good.
• To cling to means to hold on tight, to hold close to.
• Philippians 4:8 tells us, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
• In 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 we are reminded, “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”
II. OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TOWARDS OTHER CHRISTIANS (10-16)
1. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love (10).
• The word devoted word witch signifies the love as a parent has for their children. It is the tenderest kind of love; it is the kind of love that helps even though something bad is done.
• Devoted means we will be there through thick or thin. It reminds me of the mother whose son is about to be put to death for killing several people who is still standing by their son.
• JOHN 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
• Brotherly love is a family type love. Our family can do a lot to us and we will still love them. We are to be fiercely devoted to one another in the church
2. Give preference to others (10).
• GIVE PREFERENCE TO ONE ANOTHER IN HONOR- We are to give preference to others without waiting for them to show it to us. PREFERENCE- to go before and show the way, to lead, to set an example. The command for the Christians in not for us to look for the most honor, but instead to give the most honor to others. Philippians 2:3
• PHI 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
3. Serve with diligence (11-13).
• Serving with diligence is the manner in which we are to exercise our gifts and spiritual service to God and man. LAGGING BEHIND pictures a person who is trying to get by doing as little as possible with as little inconvenience as possible. DILIGENCE- zeal- haste, speed, eagerness.
• FERVENT IN SPIRIT- FERVENT- boil with heat, to be hot. Our temperament is compared to water bubbling and boiling over a flame. (SPIRIT- not HS in this passage). Since we are alive in spirit, we need to allow that spirit to move us to action. We are to be enthusiastic about doing the Lord’s work in our lives!
• REJOICING IN HOPE-The thing we hope for should cause us to rejoice, future resurrection, eternal life, etc. (1 Peter 1:3-9)
• PERSEVERING IN TRIBULATION- Persevering is more than just passively enduring troubles when they come. We are to take hold of the troubles and turn them into spiritual victories. Tribulations come as a result of the world resisting Jesus and His gospel.
• DEVOTED TO PRAYER- Devoted- “persist in” to “adhere to”, “to busy oneself with” The Christian is to do all these things in reference to prayer. If we are going to carry out the work of the Lord with the spirit He wants us to carry it out, this will require a lot of prayer on our part. This will keep us close to God!
• We are to be excited about serving the Lord through serving others!
• CONTRIBUTING TO THE NEEDS OF THE SAINTS- Contributing- comes from the same word as “fellowship”. Joint participation in something. This covers things such as giving money and doing whatever is needed to help other Christians.
• PRACTICING HOSPITALITY- Aggressively seeking to be hospitable is the idea behind this statement. The word “hospitality” comes from a word that means “a love for strangers”. The Christian is not to just wait for people to come to the door, but they are to go out and actively seek those who need help.
4. Bless even where wronged (14)
• When we are wronged by our brothers in Christ, we are to bless them, not try to get back at them.
5. Have a heart for our fellow Christians (15).
6. Check you attitude in at the door (16)
• BE OF THE SAME MIND TOWARD ONE ANOTHER- Philippians 2:3-4 is a parallel. We are to have the same attitude towards our fellow Christians as we have about ourselves. This deals with attitudes that govern our behavior towards one another.
• DO NOT BE HAUGHTY IN MIND- We are not to push ourselves to higher positions out of conceit or for the prestige it affords us. This can disrupt the harmony of the church.
• BUT ASSOCIATE WITH THE LOWLY- We are not only to look for “up front” ways to serve, but we are also to look for the menial tasks that need to be done.
III. OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TOWARDS THE LOST (17-21)
1. Do not pay back evil for evil (17).
• When evil is perpetrated against us, we are not to respond in the same manner. We are called to a higher level of action.
2. Always consider how your action will look to others (17).
• RESPECT WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF ALL MEN- We are not only to worry about what is right in the sight of God, but also we must consider how it will look in the eyes of our fellow man.
• We are to give careful thought to what we do and how it will look. (1 Peter 2:12) We must consider how our behavior will affect others before we act.
3. Try to keep the peace with all (18).
IF POSSIBLE, SO FAR AS IT DEPENDS ON YOU, BE AT PEACE WITH ALL MEN- 2 qualifications are given that limits the attempts toward peace:
• IF POSSIBLE means that peace cannot always be accomplished. There are times when we will vigorously have to defend our faith in the midst of opposition. Peace at ANY price is not a biblical stance.
• SO FAR AS IT DEPENDS ON YOU- This implies you cannot control what others do and think, only yourself. If they break or do not want peace, it is out of your control.
• YOU is emphatic! We are responsible in the matter of peace keeping for ourselves. We are to do all we can to keep peace under the above 2 conditions.
4. Let God settle any scores (19-20)
• Vengeance is God’s right
• To treat a man with kindness instead of revenge is a way to heap coals of fire on his head
• To stoop to vengeance is to be ourselves conquered by evil.
5. Do not be overcome by evil (21)
CONCLUSION
We are called to love. We are called to act in a way that brings glory to God, not react in anger.
Love requires responsibility. It is our responsibility to make sure our motives and actions are pure. We need to be aware that we are to show love to those both inside and outside the church. We SHOW love by what we do for people and by why we do it.
