The Spirit-Controlled Life - Part 3 (Romans 12:9-13)
INTRODUCTION:
We have been in the first half of the final section of Romans 12 for the past three weeks and we will be in this final section a couple of more weeks. Paul in this section gives some 25 exhortations that should be exemplified in the life of a disciplined, obedient, Spirit-controlled Christian. We might call them the virtues of the Christian life, but I believe they are more than just virtues, they are characteristics and duties that we should each strive for in our daily lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. These characteristics cannot be attained in the life of the unsaved because they are supernatural characteristics that can only be obtained by the power and control of the Spirit of God in your life. This power and control are unleashed in our lives when we surrender and submit all that we are—physical, emotional, social, intellectual, moral, and spiritual—to God’s will and control, for God’s glory. When we do this the power and control of the Holy Spirit is unleashed in our lives to produce in us these characteristics that Paul exhorts us to have in our lives.
These characteristics or duties can be divided into 4 categories, in verses 9-13, we have the first two categories, personal duties and family duties. We have covered the personal duties or characteristics that we are to possess and are halfway thru the 10 exhortations that Paul gives us of characteristics or duties that we are to have towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to be devoted to them in brotherly love, we are to love them as we love our own biological family members. We are to consider our brothers and sisters as more important that ourselves, showing humility. We are to serve them and serve with them in diligence, fervent in spirit. This morning we will go on to look at the next five of Paul’s exhortations that concern the family of God. The last two categories are in the final verses of Romans 12 and they concern our duties toward people in general and finally our duties toward those who have declared themselves to be our enemies. Let’s pray and get back into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans 12:9-13. I am going to read the whole passage again to pick up the context, even though we have covered the majority of it. Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Romans 12:9-13,
“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.” (Romans 12:9–13, NASB95)[1]
DUTIES OF A SPIRIT-CONTROLLED LIFE – FAMILY (Romans 12:12-13)
We come back to the second category of the duties of the Spirit-controlled life towards God’s family, our brothers and sisters in Christ. We looked at the first 5 of Paul’s exhortations last week in verses 10-11. This morning we will look at the second five in verses 12-13.
As I said a few weeks ago the Christian life is an accountable life, which means we are accountable to someone for something. We are accountable to God because we are His children, and we are to allow the Spirit of God to develop these characteristics in our lives. These are exhortations from Paul, so that means they are commands, not suggestions. If you are convicted by these duties that Paul exhorts us to have in our lives, to be practicing towards our brothers and sisters in Christ then you need to begin praying that God will develop these in your life, but in doing so it may mean the surrendering or submitting of some part of your life that you have been holding on to and not giving it to God. God wants all of you, not just part but you must be willing to surrender it. Also, do not try and rationalize these duties away if they are not present in your life, they are very straight forward, Paul did not cloak them in some difficult to understand terms. Let’s look at today’s exhortations.
Rejoicing in hope (Romans 12:12a)
Paul beginning in verse 12 exhorts us to be, “Rejoicing in hope.” (Romans 12:12a, NASB95)[2] What is this hope that we are to rejoice in? It is the hope of glory, the hope of our eternal reward, the hope of Christ’s return for the church. Paul had already spoken of this hope back in Romans 8:23-25 when he wrote, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” (Romans 8:23–25, NASB95)[3] Are you looking forward to the Lord’s return? Are you looking forward to the redemption of your body, the realization of our adoption as sons and daughters of God as we are brought into our Father’s heavenly home? John certainly rejoiced in this hope, he wrote in 1 John 3:1-3, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1–3, NASB95)[4]
This rejoicing in hope, the looking forward to our glorified bodies, of being with the Lord forever is what sustains us as believers, believing that His return for the church could be at anytime and we hope for this, we pray for this, and we rejoice that it will take place and it could be very soon. This exhortation of Paul to rejoice in hope of our future reward is closely tied to the next exhortation as we will see in a few minutes. The apostle Paul speaking to the Corinthians of their future resurrection and rapture and the hope that this instilled in them reminded them that while they waited for that hope to become reality, they must be busy and stand firm in their faith, Paul wrote in the end of 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58, NASB95)[5] One day the Lord will return for His bride, the church, to take us home to be with Him, and we will stand before Him and if we have stood firm and immovable in our faith and have abounded in the work of the Lord, we will be rewarded by our Lord and we will hear the Lord say to us, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21b, NASB95)[6] We are to rejoice in this hope because we know, as Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:8, “…in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8, NASB95)[7] Rejoice in this hope, encourage one another with this hope, we have so much to look forward to in our future.
Persevering in Tribulation (Romans 12:12b)
Closely related to our rejoicing in hope, Paul exhorts us to be “persevering in tribulation…” (Romans 12:12b, NASB95)[8] It is because we can rejoice in hope that we can persevere in tribulation, it does not matter the form or the severity of the tribulation. Paul promised Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12, NASB95)[9] Persecution is certainly one kind of tribulation, one which we in the United States have not felt other than some ridicule, but Christians in other countries face severe persecution for their faith, even unto death for many. I believe for those who do as Paul says, who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus, I believe we will face persecution which we have not known in this nation, and I believe it is coming in the near future. There are other kinds of tribulation for those seeking to live for Christ and that could be spiritual in the form of spiritual attack from the spiritual forces of evil. Paul spoke of this in Ephesians 6:10-12, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:10–12, NASB95)[10] Paul says we must be ready for this, to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. We are to put on the full armor of God so that we can stand firm. We do this in part by rejoicing in hope, we have full assurance that the battle is already won, we know the ultimate outcome of our lives and we know Satan and his forces will be defeated. With this knowledge and this hope and in the strength of the Lord we can stand and endure against any obstacle we can withstand any suffering. Paul had spoken of this before in this letter to the Romans, he had declared in Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:1–5, NASB95)[11]
Devoted to Prayer (Romans 12:12c)
How is it that we keep ourselves rejoicing in hope and persevering in tribulation? Paul gives us that answer in the next exhortation where he commands us to be “…devoted to prayer.” (Romans 12:12c, NASB95)[12] I believe tribulation often comes to drive us to the Lord. When we are in the midst of tribulation, we will not just pray occasionally, but in those times, we will be devoted to prayer, but Paul says this devotion to prayer should be a characteristic in our lives at all times. We have been going over the discipline of prayer in our men’s group for the last couple of weeks and learning just how important it is for us as godly men to be devoted to prayer, but it is not easy because prayer is work and war. In that same passage in Ephesians 6 Paul tells us that one of the weapons that we have in our battle with the spiritual forces of evil is prayer. He writes in Ephesians 6:18-20, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:18–20, NASB95)[13] In these verses Paul tells us to use this weapon of prayer in our battle and He tells us how we use it to minister to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we do it by praying for them, praying that they will rejoice in hope and persevere in tribulation, but Paul also asks the Ephesians to pray for him, that he will boldly proclaim the Gospel. This is a ministry that each and every one of us should be involved in, we need to be devoted to prayer and we need to be praying for one another, lifting up each other before the throne of grace where we can find the grace and mercy that we need to persevere in tribulation because we are rejoicing in hope. Paul told the Thessalonian believers in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “…pray without ceasing;” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NASB95)[14] How do we do that? By always keeping that channel open, constantly being in contact with our Commander and Chief, be ready at all times to pray. The Lord is always ready to listen and He loves to hear His children come to Him in prayer and He answers our prayers. A whole lot more could be said about prayer, whole books have been written on the subject, the best way to learn about prayer is to begin praying, if you need something to pray for, pray for me, pray for each and every person in the church. We all need prayer to persevere in tribulation and to rejoice in hope.
Generous towards the Needs of the Saints (Romans 5:13a)
Paul gives us two more duties in verse 13 that we are to practice towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. Many may see these qualities as unimportant, but Paul exhorts us to do them and so we must and in the Lord’s eyes they are qualities we should have in our lives. Paul exhorts us to be, “…contributing to the needs of the saints…” (Romans 12:13a, NASB95)[15] This word “contributing” comes from a Greek word that means to “share in” or “share with.” The noun form of this word is the Greek word which is often translated “fellowship” or “communion.” The root word has to do with having things in common or in partnership. We see this being done in the early church in Jerusalem as they were all together and sharing things, some were even selling property and bringing the proceeds to the apostles to be shared by everyone.
The main point in this verse here in Romans has to do with the giving side of sharing and so it is translated “contributing.” Paul in instructing Timothy about the rich in the church in Ephesus had used a form of this word in the same way that it is used here. He wrote in 1 Timothy 6:17-18, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,” (1 Timothy 6:17–18, NASB95)[16] We looked at some verses last Sunday in 1 John that also spoke to this idea of contributing to the needs of the saints. John wrote in 1 John 3:17-18, “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” (1 John 3:17–18, NASB95)[17] This exhortation by Paul then ties us back to the fact that we need to be devoted to one another in brotherly love and one way we can show our devotion, our love is by contributing to the needs of the saints.
I know that in the eyes of our world we own certain things, but in the eyes of the Lord we own nothing. All that we have belongs to the Lord and He has made us stewards over all that is His. As His stewards one of our responsibilities is to use the resources He has given us to contribute to the needs of the saints. You can use those resources to meet needs within your own church among your brothers and sisters. One way, highly effective way that you can contribute to the needs of the saints is to become a monthly financial supporter of a missionary and help supply their needs on a monthly basis.
Jesus used the parable of the good Samaritan to show us that as believers we have a responsibility to help anyone that we see in need and to help them to the best of our ability, but also to be discerning in doing it especially in the world today where many are just looking for a handout when really what they need is a hand up. Our greater responsibility is to serve the saints in this way. Paul in writing to the Galatians wrote these words, “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” (Galatians 6:10, NASB95)[18]
Practicing Hospitality (Romans 12:13b)
Paul ends this section on the duties of the disciplined, obedient, Spirit-controlled Christian towards his brothers and sisters in Christ with one final exhortation. Not only should we be contributing to the needs of the saints, but he writes that we must be “…practicing hospitality.” (Romans 12:13b, NASB95)[19] The literal meaning of these words in Greek is “pursuing the love of strangers.” In other words, not only are we to contribute to the needs of the saints, but also to look for opportunities to help them when they come across our path. The author of Hebrews wrote this in Hebrews 13:1-2, “Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:1–2, NASB95)[20]
In Paul’s day there was no such thing as Motel 6 or Days Inn, in fact, inns were scarce, expensive, and often dangerous places to stay. So many Christians opened their homes to believers passing through their town or city on their way to somewhere else. Some were itinerant preachers like Paul, although Paul insisted on paying for most of his own expenses. Many though did not have the means to do that and relied on the hospitality of other believers in their travels. In the little book of 3 John the apostle commends a man by the name of Gaius for his generosity and hospitality in this regard, he writes in 3 John 5-8, “Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.” (3 John 5–8, NASB95)[21]
Paul commands you, I encourage you to practice hospitality. When we have missionaries or special speakers who come from a long distance and need a place to stay, open your home to them, I assure you for the most part you will be blessed by having them in your home. We have had many missionaries, speakers, concert pianists stay in our home and we have been blessed by the fellowship we have had with them. Right now, offering hospitality is not possible, but I believe it will be possible again someday and, in the future, it might be necessary for Christians to travel at all. When my family and I had our big road trip two summers ago we relied on the hospitality of many village missionaries. Some let us camp out in the church they pastored, some took us into their home and fed us and let us sleep in their house. We were blessed and we hope that we blessed them when we were in their homes and churches. To all of them we were complete strangers and so they were truly practicing hospitality by pursuing the love of strangers.
CONCLUSION:
I know I have gone long this morning, but I wanted to finish up the first half of this final section. Next week we will go on to the second half of this final section of Romans 12 and look at the last two categories where Paul exhorts us in the duties we are to have. First, to people in general and then the duties we are to practice towards those who have declared us their enemies.
This morning Paul has exhorted us in how we are to be devoted to our brothers and sisters in Christ in brotherly love. We are to rejoice with them in hope, encouraging one another with our future hope in Christ, standing together we are to persevere in tribulation, being devoted to prayer, praying for one another that we might keep our eyes on the reward and stand fast in the strength of the Lord and in His mighty power. That we might be contributing to the needs of the saints and practicing hospitality. Are these characteristics evident in your life? Ask the Lord to develop these characteristics in your life and then begin practicing them.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[18]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[19]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[20]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[21]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.