WWUTT 1342 Be Constant in Prayer (Romans 12:12)

Romans 12:12 and the Call to Rejoice, Endure, and Pray

Romans 12 12 says to us rejoice in hope be patient in tribulation be constant in prayer. And we are able to do this when we keep our eyes on Jesus when we understand the text. This is when we understand the text studying God's Word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

Thank you for subscribing. And if this is minister to you please let others know about our program. Here once again is pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you Becky. We are back in Romans chapter 12 that section of verses we've been looking at since last week.

Verses 9 through 13 the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome. Let love be genuine abhor what is evil hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Do not be slothful in zeal be fervent in spirit serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope be patient in tribulation be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the Saints and seek to show hospitality between today and tomorrow will get through verses 12 and 13.

Each one of these verses could stand alone as their own instructions. But we know that we're following these things in light of Christ. It's because of what he has done for us that Jesus Christ took on flesh and dwelt among us that he lived a perfectly obedient life for us that he died for us on the cross for our sins he rose again from the grave that whoever believes in him our sins are forgiven and we have the promise of everlasting life.

Jesus did this for us. And the Christian life is not a life of perfection. Rather we lean on the one whose life was perfection. And it's in Christ that we can rejoice in hope. We can be patient in tribulation.

We can be constant in prayer. Of course that's verse 12. Now when we look at this in the Greek if you ever go to the Greek and look at it like in a in a parallel where it shows you the English word in the Greek word that corresponds with it it's actually worded a little bit different.

It's worded like this in hope rejoicing in tribulation being patient in prayer being constant. But that sounds a little like Yoda. So to flow a little more smoothly in English we have it worded this way rejoice in hope be patient in tribulation be constant in prayer.

Just like yesterday you've got this verse divided up into three pieces. So just like verse 11 which we looked at yesterday do not be slothful in zeal be fervent in spirit serve the Lord. In all things that we do we are serving the Lord.

And so here you have verse 12 that's divided up into three parts. Rejoice in hope be patient in tribulation be constant in prayer. Now this charge to rejoice in hope the first place I go to just about any time I see Paul say rejoice.

I think of Philippians 4 for rejoice in the Lord always again I will say rejoice and remember that he's writing that from prison and yet he's telling the church in Philippi to rejoice in all things. If Paul can rejoice from prison where he's been put for preaching the gospel so he didn't even do anything wrong.

He was preaching the gospel about the the highest good that you can do right in the will of God. And he gets thrown in prison for that. And yet he still says to the church that he is writing to rejoice in the Lord always.

And he gives the reason for it as well. Verse 5. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. So how is it that we can be reasonable people. How is it that we can rejoice in all circumstances.

Because we know that the Lord is at hand. And when he says here in Romans 12 12 rejoice in hope we rejoice because we have hope. Think back to Romans 8 24. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes for what he sees.

But if we hope for what we do not see we wait for it with patience. And then what's the next part of Romans 12 12. Be patient in tribulation. Likewise Paul has talked about this previously if you go back to Romans 5.

Therefore since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Not only that but we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

So we are patient as we endure these things. We are patient in tribulation because we hope and we rejoice in Christ who gives us our hope. So therefore we can be patient and all of these things that we go through knowing that ultimately the trials and tribulations that we endure are actually leading to something we are being sanctified in the midst of this producing character and character producing hope.

So as we endure through the trials that we go through we are being perfected. We are clinging to Christ all the more we are longing for his eternal kingdom not putting any hope in the stuff of this world.

Because there is no hope in the stuff of this world all of this stuff is transient. As Paul says in 2nd Corinthians. This is 2nd Corinthians 418 we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.

For the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal. Now what does it mean that they are transient. Well it means that they're limited means they're wasting away. They're coming to ruin.

They're coming to perish. So you can't put your hope in stuff that is not going to last. Now the philosophers thought that knowledge superseded everything because knowledge is always there. Yeah the material stuff around us it's gonna waste away and it's gonna come to nothing even a rock eventually kind of erodes down into dust.

So we know all of this stuff is eventually just gonna not be there anymore. So we need to put our or we need to attain to something that's higher than this. So the ancient philosophers thought of knowledge.

They thought that that wisdom and higher thinking was what you needed to aspire toward because that stuff has existed before matter has existed. And when matter is gone then knowledge will still be there.

At least that's that's what the philosopher speculated. I think I said a couple of weeks ago the Mormons think the same thing that knowledge and matter have existed even longer than God according to a Mormon cosmology.

So anyway the philosophers are thinking we need to attain to knowledge. But of course the knowledge that they're after is all worldly knowledge. What's gonna happen to that worldly knowledge. It's going to perish with the rest of the world.

Just because knowledge and wisdom and ideas and thought and things like that just because they're immaterial that doesn't mean that they are something supernatural that they're gonna outlive the rest of the planet.

When God comes when Jesus returns and judges the world by fire even worldly knowledge will be consumed with it. The apostle Paul talks about this in 1st Corinthians 310. He says. According to the grace of God given to me like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation and someone else's building upon it let each one take care how he builds upon it.

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold silver precious stones wood hay and straw each one's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it capital D day.

Talking about the day of judgment because it will be revealed by fire Paul says. And the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives he will receive a reward.

If anyone's work is burned up he will suffer loss though he himself will be saved but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you. If anyone destroys God's temple God will destroy him.

For God's temple is holy and you are that temple. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.

For it is written he catches the wise in their craftiness. And again the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile. So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future all are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's.

So how is it that we can do something or attain to something that is going to outlast the destruction by fire that is to come. We need to put our hope in Christ. Do not hope in worldly things hope in Jesus.

So again even the ideas and the thoughts of man will eventually perish with the judgment that is to come. Paul warned the Colossians not to be taken by worldly knowledge. He says in Colossians 2. For I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

And then verse 8 see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily and you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority.

So if we are in Christ we will outlast even the world's knowledge and wisdom will event with which will eventually come to ruin with the rest of the things that are here in this world. We have so many different philosophers and so on that are presenting their ideas and they think that their ideas are going to outlast this generation.

It's true that there are some things that get presented that last a long time. Let's say for example Darwinism. If you are a Christian if you are a believer in the Bible you know that Darwinism is nonsense and in fact it's just straight-up paganism.

Darwin didn't come up with anything new when he came up with the origin of the species. There have been ancient civilizations for centuries before Darwin that believe man has come from animals. Native American paganism believes that man came from animals that that that goes way back.

So that's nothing new at all. If you believe in the Bible you know that Darwinism is a farce. There is nothing about it redeemable at all. In fact it teaches people that they are accidents. But as much of a lie as we know that this is and and that Darwinism can't even be scientifically proven as much of a lie as we know it is.

There are people that go on believing it. In fact Phil Vischer who is the creator of veggie tales was defending it online a week or so ago he was making fun of Ken Ham the founder of answers in Genesis for believing in creation science.

And he was saying that mainstream science is the way that Christians ought to go. That is just utter foolishness and shame on Phil Vischer. It's really sad to see the direction that he's gone in the last several years.

I've written about this in several places even going back half a decade. But anyway point being we know that Darwinism is wrong. We know that it's false and yet the lie continues though you can't even scientifically prove it.

And though it by the way it has been scientifically debunked still we perpetuate this myth of man having evolved from animals that we come from fish. It is. It was PZ Myers he teaches at one of the schools in Minnesota might be the University of Minnesota but he said that people are fish.

That's literally the way that he said it people are fish. We have evolved from fish. We climbed out of some primordial pool onto land and developed lungs and started breathing and stuff like that's an utter fairy tale.

It's ridiculous. We know that that's nonsense naturally and in just your natural thinking in your common sense understanding. We know that that is utter foolishness. But people continue in the lie. Why do they continue in the lie.

Because they do not give thanks to God and they would rather worship the created things rather than the Creator just as Romans 1 says. We read this back in Romans 1. So we've got these ideas even bad ideas that will continue on for generations.

And yet even though they can outlast groups of people that doesn't mean that they are going to stick around forever eventually this worldly idea that is centered upon man that rejects God will perish by the judgment of God.

So do not place your faith in your trust in anything that you know is not entering into the kingdom of God. What pleases the Lord. What is the wisdom that we have in Christ. It's also in Colossians chapter 2 where Paul says that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

That's verse 3. And then verse 4 says. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. When we know Christ is the greatest thing then the stuff of this world is simply not going to satisfy.

And none of the knowledge will be good enough for us. Because we know that we have the greatest knowledge and it is Christ. And this is by the mercy of God that we see Jesus and his glory that has been shown to us through the pages of Scripture.

Clinging to Christ we can be patient in tribulation. We can endure the things that the world throws at us even the knowledge that Satan uses to try to lead us away from Christ. If we're clinging to Christ that is not going to be convincing to us at all.

And when the world makes fun of us because we will not join them in the ridiculous things that they believe in and live in we endure because we're clinging to Christ. We know that Jesus said to us in this world you will have tribulation.

But take hard. For I have overcome the world. And then as Paul has said previously in Romans chapter 8 in Christ we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. So these things will never have us.

They will never take us away from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Not even life and death can take the love of God away from us. We have it in Christ. And so therefore knowing that we can rejoice in hope we can be patient in tribulation.

And then we have this last part of Romans 12 12. Be constant in prayer. This is another one that we see again in first Thessalonians chapter 5. Pray without ceasing. In fact it goes like this first Thessalonians 5 16.

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I know that I read that verse to you also when we were in Romans 12 12. What is God's will for you that you give thanks in all circumstances in Christ you can rejoice always.

And you can pray without ceasing. Now that's kind of a tall order. Pray without ceasing. How can you possibly do that. Well I don't really think that pray without ceasing means that you're constantly walking around in a constant state of prayer.

It simply means that you need to continue praying until the day of the Lord comes. Paul was addressing a church and in in his letter to the Thessalonians he was addressing a church that was actually concerned the day of the Lord had already come.

Or that they had missed it because with the friends of theirs who had died they thought hey if our brothers and sisters who have. If we have brothers and sisters who died do they just go into the ground.

And they miss the day of the Lord. When we see Christ return will they not be there to join us in that. And so Paul responded to that in chapters 4 and 5 saying the dead in Christ will rise first. We will all be participants on that day when Jesus returns.

And so no one should ever just kind of sit back and go. Well I've missed that day. So what's the point of praying anymore. Why ask for God to intervene or his will be done if all of these things have been determined or even if all these things have taken place which the Thessalonians may have believed.

So Paul gives them this instruction pray without ceasing. We're always in prayer. We pray every day. It doesn't mean as you're talking to somebody that your mind is also in prayer although it's a it would be a great discipline if you could do that taking every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ as Paul says in second Thessalonians.

But rather praying without ceasing means that until Christ returns we are going to continue to pray submitting ourselves unto the Lord knowing what his word says to us. And we speak our hearts unto God that we may be conformed to his thinking that we lift up intercessions and and thanksgivings for all people as Paul instructed Timothy to do in 1st Timothy chapter 2.

So in all of this we are in prayer. We we pray without ceasing. We are constant in prayer desiring that God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's exactly the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray in the Sermon on the Mount.

In Matthew chapter 6 we revere our Father in heaven as being hallowed. When you come to the Lord in prayer and every day rejoicing in just how great his name is. How wonderful it is that you get to speak the name of Jesus from your lips that name to which every knee will bow every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord on that great day of the Lord.

When you know that you have the privilege of saying that and it is received by God for you are a child of God. Then how wonderful it is to come to him every day and speak the name of the Lord to ask that his kingdom would come that that his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

If you love God that much you desire to see his kingdom come and so conforming your mind to Christ who prayed by the way Jesus the Son of God prayed to the Father. So if the Son of God prayed to God how much more should it behoove us also to pray unto his name.

So be constant in prayer until that day comes that we may every day submit ourselves unto Christ serving the Lord again as Paul said in Romans 12 11. In all things we serve the Lord. Let me read to you verse 12 one more time rejoice in hope be patient in tribulation be constant in prayer.

And then tomorrow contribute to the needs of the Saints and seek to show hospitality. Let us do a little bit of praying right now. Heavenly Father we thank you for this good day and I I pray that as I even start that prayer.

Heavenly Father that is that is a name that is so wonderful for us to speak to know that you love us and you want to hear from your children and that we can come to the God of the universe who created all things and lift up our requests.

And you hear us and you listen to us. May your name be great in our hearts as Peter instructed in first Peter 315. In your hearts set apart Christ the Lord as holy. So if that is how we know your name in our hearts may it be spoken that way from our lips.

Guard us from speaking any impure thing. Let our desires be for Christ and for his kingdom for your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We ask that today you supply provide for all of our needs materially physically those things that we need which because you love us you have promised you will give to us as Jesus says in Matthew 6.

But we also ask for those spiritual needs that we receive that nourishment that encouragement in our hearts that we need because the world so weighs down upon us. While we are still here in this world we ask that you forgive our sins and that is you are a forgiving and gracious God to us.

We would forgive others their sins not walking in bitterness or with a chip on our shoulder or holding grudges against one another. But we forgive and praise our God who forgives. Guard us from temptation.

Deliver us from the evil one into your kingdom forever. In Jesus name we pray amen. This is when we understand the text with pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web and we thank you for selecting ours.

But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with the church family. Find a good gospel teaching Christ Center Church to worship with this weekend and join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study when we understand the text.