Love Manifest In The Body - [Romans 12:9-13]

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The late Donald Gray Barnhouse, when he began his ministry at the 10th
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Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, he began the first Sunday in the
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Book of Romans. First Sunday he got through verse 1, came back the second
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Sunday, picked up where he left off, verse 2. Didn't make it to the end of verse 2.
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Came back the third Sunday, got to the second half of verse 2. For three and a half years, he never took a text out of the
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Book of Romans. So would you please turn with me to that book in Romans chapter 12.
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Now I notice as I shared that story, there were not many shocking looks on your faces because some of you are familiar with that pace.
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Actually this morning I think was an aberration. There was not 23 verses with 1 John 2, it was 25 verses.
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It's encouraging to be going through verse by verse. Romans chapter 12, verses 9 through 13.
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Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
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Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
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Do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit.
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Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation.
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Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
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This portion of scripture is couched in the last major section of the
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Book of Romans. And if you don't get that, you'll miss what Paul is trying to teach us here in these few verses.
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Look back at the beginning of chapter 12 with me, if you would. Paul says there, this is the beginning of the last major section of the
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Book of Romans. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God.
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The weight of that verse makes chapters 12 through the end of the book hinge completely on everything that Paul has said in the first 11 chapters.
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I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by what? By the mercies of God.
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This is typical of Pauline theology. He does it with all his epistles.
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Ephesians is a classic. Spends the first three chapters talking about theology.
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Begins chapter 4, verse 1. As a prisoner of the Lord, therefore, I urge you to walk in the manner worthy of your calling.
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He does it in Galatians also. He does it in Colossians. You see, to Paul, all theology is practical and all practice is based on sound theology.
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Next time I hear somebody say, I don't want to hear any theology. Just give me something practical.
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I'm going to wring somebody's neck because to Paul that made no sense.
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All theology is practical. He spent 11 chapters before he got to chapter 12.
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Let me walk you through them so you understand the weight of what Paul tells us in chapter 12. After his introduction in the first 17 verses, beginning in chapter 1, verse 18, through chapter 3, verse 20,
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Paul talks about condemnation. Condemnation. God's judgment on mankind's unrighteousness.
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That's why in chapter 1 he says, For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who do what?
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Who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Chapter 2, verse 5,
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Because of the hardness in your unrepentant heart, you are storing up for yourselves wrath for the day of God's judgment.
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The classic chapter 3 on total depravity. There is no one righteous.
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No, not one. No one seeks for God. Tell that to the seeker sensitive people.
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No one seeks for God. There is no one who does good.
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No, not one. He spends those first three chapters highlighting
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God's justice in condemning mankind. And then the second part in chapter 3, verse 21, through the end of chapter 5, he talks about justification.
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First, there is condemnation, but then there is justification. Righteousness imputed.
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Listen to some of the mercies of God in this section. We are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
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In referring to Abraham, Paul says, That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.
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But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also.
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It will be counted to us who believe in him, who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
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Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
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Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.
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For while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
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But God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.
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For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners. So by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous.
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That's a section on the glory of justification. How the perfect righteousness of our
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Lord can be credited to our account. But the mercies of God do not end there. From chapter 6 through 8 in the third section,
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Paul talks about sanctification. He goes from condemnation to justification to sanctification.
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Listen to some of the mercies of God here. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
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Having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
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For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry,
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Abba, Father. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
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And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
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And those whom he predestined, he also called. Those whom he called, he also justified.
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And those whom he justified, he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things?
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If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
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Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is
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God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died.
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More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
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And Paul doesn't end there. From chapters 9 to 11, before he gets into the last section we're going to look at briefly.
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He goes into talking about Israel as distinct from the church, and that God has a program for Israel.
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And that's where we get the classic passage in Romans 9 on election. Jacob and Esau, before one of them were born, did anything good or bad in order that God's purpose in election might stand.
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Not by works, but by him who calls. The Jews, of course, as Paul said in chapter 10, verse 3, being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own righteousness.
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They did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes.
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And then he talks about in chapter 11 how the Gentiles, we as Gentiles, are grafted in.
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And he can't contain himself any longer. And he closes these first 11 chapters at the end of chapter 11 with this marvelous doxology.
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Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.
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For who has known the mind of the Lord? Oh, who has been his counselor? Oh, who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?
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For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.
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Amen. Therefore, I beseech you,
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I appeal to you, I urge you in view of the mercies of God, which I just spent 11 chapters delineating.
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So to understand the few verses, 9 through 13, we're going to look at, they are in light of the theology that Paul has outlined for us.
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We have the indicative, the statements of fact, first 11 chapters, and now we have the imperatives.
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It's in light of what God has done for us by his mercy through Jesus Christ.
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But notice, apart from the greater context, the immediate context of our verses. From verses 4 and following of chapter 12,
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Paul says, For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
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Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.
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He's talking about the body of Jesus Christ, the church. He delineates the gifts for the next few verses, and then he gets into these verses that we're going to look at, 9 through 13.
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So the context is within the body, the church of Jesus Christ. Actually, the term one another is used twice.
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In verse 10, love one another, outdo one another. Verse 13, contribute to the needs of the what?
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The saints. Chapter 14 through 15, verse 7, he talks about our liberties, which
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Pastor Mike has highlighted in 1 Corinthians 8. How are we to be towards one another in regards to our liberties?
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For the mutual edification of one another. Verse 7 of chapter 15, welcome one another as you have been welcomed in Christ.
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So the context of verses 9 through 13 are first based upon God's mercies and saving us, justifying us, sanctifying us, but also they are within the context of the local body.
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You see, not only is theology practical, but soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, is inextricably linked to ecclesiology.
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You cannot separate the two. After all, who is the head of the church? Jesus, the one who saves us.
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And when he saves us, one of the marvelous things he does, he places us into the body of Jesus Christ.
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Before we might even become members of a local body, he makes us members of his body.
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And it is in this context that these verses are written. That is why, as those who have been saved, who have been chosen, who have been justified, who are being sanctified, the outworking of that, as Paul highlights in chapter 12 here, therefore
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I appeal to you in view of God's mercy, what I'm asking you to do in verses 9 -13 is to be done within the context of a local body.
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That's where you grow and serve. Not in a vacuum. Not watching church from TV.
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It's an interesting parallel with 1 Corinthians. Paul here in Romans 12 talks about the gifts, verses 6 -8, and then he talks about love.
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He did that in 1 Corinthians 12 where he talks about the body. That one member can't say to the other,
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I don't need you. He talks about the spiritual gifts. And then in chapter 13 he talks about love.
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So this is the context in which Paul is couching our passage tonight.
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The overall arching theme of this passage is love. Let love be genuine.
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Who is the source of this love? None other than God himself. Paul stated that clearly earlier in Romans 5 verse 5.
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God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
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That's why the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5, is what? Love.
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I hate to tell you, but love is not natural to you. It's a supernatural work of the
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Holy Spirit of God. And that's why even in the next chapter, Romans 13, Paul says that we, in the body, the church, we have a debt towards one another.
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And you know what he says that is? To love one another. You are indebted to your fellow members at BBC to love them.
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Love must be genuine. The Greek word anipokritos is simply the English word hypocritical with an
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A in front of it to negate it. It was a reference really to Greek theater.
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When the actors would come on stage, they would wear masks, right? For tragic, drama, comedy.
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That's what they would show their roles to be. What Paul is basically saying here is this is non -hypocritical love.
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It means that we don't wear a mask as we relate to one another. We don't let our love be superficial.
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It's non -hypocritical. The NIV puts it, love must be sincere.
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The word sincere gives us a little more insight into how we are to love one another in the body. It's come from two
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Latin words which are sinasera, which literally mean without wax.
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What used to happen is when people would try to sell vessels or pottery that was broken or cracked.
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In order to cover it up, they would fill the crack with wax. They would do a patch job, if you will.
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And they would try to sell that piece of pottery at a higher price than it should have been sold. Those vessels that were never cracked, they would be stamped with sinasera, meaning without wax.
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People knew that it wasn't cracked. They weren't trying to hide the cracks.
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To love in this way, sincerely, is to love without hiding our love with hypocritical words and actions.
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Why is love so important that Paul would mark it here immediately in chapter 12?
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For a number of reasons, let me give you four. Number one, if you study the one another references in Scripture, encourage one another, as we heard tonight from 1
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Thessalonians 4, forgive one another, be kind to one another, bear one another's burdens, love one another, trumps all of them.
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It's referred to nine times in the New Testament, both in the Gospels and the Epistles.
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The second reason love is important, it's proof of one's salvation.
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It's proof of one's salvation. The apostle of love, whom
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Jesus loved, the apostle John wrote it in his first epistle, chapters three and four, he highlights this reality.
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He says, by this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
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John, tell us how it is, will you? He goes on to say that we know we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren.
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Whoever does not love abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
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And if that was enough, John says, little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.
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By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him.
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Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows
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God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.
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If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar.
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For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
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Love is important because it's the primary one another in scriptures, number two, because it is proof of a genuine saving work of God.
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And number three, love is a testimony to the lost. Upper room discourse,
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Jesus had just washed the disciples' feet. He gives them a new command, love one another.
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By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.
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That's significant because I grew up in a church that went through a church split. I was involved as a pastor in a church facility with five other churches, most of whom had come there because of church splits.
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And finally, love is significant because it is the characteristic of the elect. The characteristic of the elect.
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Notice how Paul himself puts it in Colossians 3, verse 12. Therefore, as God's chosen people, clothe yourselves with, and he goes through a list of attributes, humility and compassion and kindness.
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And he ends it like this. And above all these, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
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Love is significant. It's the overarching theme that Paul wants us to see here in these verses in response to what
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God has done in our lives through Christ by the mercies of God. How is love to be genuine?
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He tells us in verse nine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
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Now, what's interesting in this section, when you read it in the English, these sound like imperatives, but there's no imperative in the original
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Greek. The nouns are all in the dative case. The verbs are participles.
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So really how this would read in verse nine, let love be genuine, abhorring what is evil and holding fast to what is good.
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That term holding fast is the same term Paul used. It's a strong Greek term he used to refer to sexual relations in first Corinthians chapter six.
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It's a term of permanency of holding things together. So that is how love is to be genuine.
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And then he goes on from verse ten to thirteen to list nine manifestations of love.
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And I don't have the freedom as Pastor Mike to say, we'll only get to the first one tonight. We'll go through all nine real quickly.
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Nine manifestations of love. John Murray really helps us out here because he takes all the dative cases and all the participles and gives us this rendering.
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In brotherly love, being kindly affectionated, affection toward one another. In honor, preferring one another.
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In zeal, not flagging. In spirit, fervent, serving the
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Lord. In hope, rejoicing. In affliction, being patient. In prayer, continuing instant.
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In the needs of the saints, partaking. Hospitality, pursuing. Verse ten, what's the first manifestation?
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Love one another with brotherly affection. That Greek term for love is the only time it's used here in the entire
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New Testament. Philosophy, it's really the familial love between parents and children and children towards their parents.
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That's the kind of love you're to have for your fellow members in the body, according to Paul.
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And love one another with brotherly affection. Brotherly affection is Philadelphia, Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
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That's how you're to be towards one another in the body. Why? Don't lose sight of it because of the mercies of God and what he did, outlined in 11 chapters of Romans.
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There are many metaphors of the church, the body of Christ, the branches, the sheep.
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But the term that's used most often in the New Testament is the Greek term adephos, brother. It's used approximately 300 times.
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That's why even Peter says in 1 Peter 2, 17, love the brotherhood, the brotherhood.
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The brotherhood, of course, is for those who have God as their father, not as some liberals would have you think.
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Everyone's your brother because God is your creator. And by using these terms for love,
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Paul here in verses 9 and 10 so beautifully uses all three Greek terms for love in the
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New Testament. The second manifestation of love being genuine is outdo one another in showing honor.
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Outdo one another in showing honor. The Greek has the idea of taking the lead, going before somebody else.
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Not in the sense of being first, but taking the lead to show honor to one another. It's Philippians 2, 3 and 4.
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Do nothing out of selfishness or vain conceit. But in humility, consider others more important than yourself.
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So when you're sitting here next Sunday and you look to the person next to you when we shake hands, you say to yourself,
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I'm to consider this person more important than myself. Paul continues in Philippians 2. Do not only merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of others.
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Verse 5, have this mind in you which was in Christ Jesus. And then he goes into the marvelous passage of the
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Kenosis, how Christ left his glory in heaven and made himself nothing, being obedient even to death on a cross.
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This is what Paul is talking about here in verse 10. The next three manifestations are highlighted in verse 11.
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Do not be slothful and zeal. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Notice that the first one is a negative one.
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The last two are from a positive realm. Do not be slothful and zeal. If we were to apply it with the dative and the participle, it would read, as to what you are to be doing, don't be lazy.
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Don't be lazy. Be zealous. Do not be slothful. Am I really to love one another?
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I guess I have to. Be zealous about it. He continues, be fervent in spirit.
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The Greek term for fervent means to boil. Not in the sense of anger, but to boil over as an overflow of what
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God has done in your life. There's debate over whether spirit means the man's spirit or the
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Holy Spirit. But nonetheless, no one can be boiling over in this kind of manifestation of love towards their brethren if it doesn't come, as we highlighted, from the
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Holy Spirit. And then he finishes in verse 11, serve the
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Lord. Really, it should read, as regards to the Lord, serving. Of course, that Greek term, serving,
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English word is not so good. It's really the Greek word for slave, zealous.
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He is our master. We are his slaves. That's why
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Paul also says in Galatians 5, 13, through love, serve, be a slave, literally, to one another.
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That's how love is manifest in the body. Yes, we are slaves to the master, but likewise, because his slaves are under one head,
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Christ, in the body, we are fellow slaves to one another to serve each other in love.
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He continues in verse 12 with some further manifestations of this genuine love, this sincere love.
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Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
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Rejoicing in hope. We are to rejoice in hope.
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We are to be patient in tribulation. Earlier in the book of Romans, he connects these two.
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These are sort of like triplets in verse 12. In chapter 5, verse 3, he says we rejoice in suffering because we know that suffering produces what?
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Perseverance. Actually, it's the same Greek word, ipomani, as the word patience here.
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There's a connection between joy and patience. And he says to be constant in prayer.
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Sounds like 1 Thessalonians, right? Rejoice always, pray continuously without ceasing, give thanks in everything.
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How does that relate to the body? We are to pray for one another.
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We are to pray for the leadership. When you see, for example,
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Pastor Mike in the front, getting ready to come up, and you know that he's been suffering from whatever sickness he has, you pray for him that God will give him unction to be able to deliver the word of God.
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When you get a BBC announcement, and many of you are already doing this, and I commend you for it, for somebody who's suffering in the body, you pray fervently for them, continuously, and you seek to serve him in any capacity as a slave, as a fellow slave of Jesus Christ.
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And finally, in verse 13, he says, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
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The English might make you think that these are actually two manifestations, but really, in the Greek structure, it's really one.
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Contribute and practice hospitality as simply participles. It should read like this, in regard to the needs of the saints, contributing, practicing hospitality.
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In regard to the needs of the saints, contributing, practicing hospitality.
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Why? Because of the mercies of God. Don't lose sight of that. Eleven chapters worth.
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We need it to be condemned. He chose us, justified us, is sanctifying us, and will glorify us.
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Never lose sight. In regard to the needs of the saints, your fellow slaves, your fellow believers in the body, contributing, practicing hospitality.
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The Greek word for contribute is really the Greek word koinonia, or as I would say, kinonia, where we get the
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English term fellowship to fellowship. You know, fellowship is much more than coffee and donuts.
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You can be having coffee and donuts and talking about the Patriots' loss. I don't know if that's the case. Fellowship, what does that involve?
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Listen to the early church. Acts 2, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers, and all who believed were together and had all things in common.
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That's what the word kinonia means, to have in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing to the proceeds to all as any had need.
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They shared possessions in common. That's what we have in common, as the early church signified. Not only that, but number two, what we have in common is the gospel.
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The gospel. You know, that's what the apostles gave their lives for, was the gospel.
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Not because they believed in a contemporary form of worship versus a traditional one. That's what we have in common, and Paul highlights that in Philippians.
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That's what fellowship is around. He says in Philippians 1 verses 3 -5,
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I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership, because of your kinonia, your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.
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Not only are our possessions in common, the gospel is what we have in common, but third, what we have in common, you should greatly encourage you, is suffering.
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Philippians 3 -10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of what?
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His sufferings. That's why Paul said in the beginning of Philippians 1, it has been granted to you not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.
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It's one package. That's what we have as a body in terms of fellowship.
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Our possessions, we share with one another when in need. The gospel of Jesus Christ and his sufferings together.
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That is contribute. What about the needs of the saints?
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Practice hospitality. It literally means to pursue. It's the same word if you look at verse 14.
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Bless those who persecute you. Bless those who persecute you. Seek to show hospitality.
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Pursue it. Be intentional about it. Just some highlights about hospitality.
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The Greek, of course, means a lover of strangers. But let me give you three highlights about hospitality, what
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Paul is talking about here in Romans 12. Number one, hospitality, watch this, is the natural overflow of biblical love.
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Remember the arching theme in verses 9 -13 is let love be genuine. Hospitality is the natural overflow of genuine love, of this love where we don't wear a mask, where we don't try to hide the cracks with wax.
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Listen to how the biblical writers put it. And in all these passages, you will notice that hospitality immediately follows love.
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Peter says this in chapter 4 of his first epistle, verses 8 and 9. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins.
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Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Hebrews 13.
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Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
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So number one, hospitality, that which we are to pursue towards one another flows out of genuine love.
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Number two, we are to show hospitality because we want to, not because we have to.
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Not because we have to. First Peter 4 .9 again, show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
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That's one of the four things that the Israelites did in 1 Corinthians 10, right? Which we'll get to in a few weeks.
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Without grumbling, without murmuring, without complaining. Of course, hospitality in the
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New Testament times took on many different forms. It was for traveling preachers.
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For traveling preachers. The apostle Paul and others because the times were different and dangerous.
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Hospitality can take on that same form nowadays. When we have a visiting missionary here, we open our home to them.
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We can show hospitality through our fellow members here in the body. We can show hospitality within the body of Christ on a
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Sunday morning. We are to do it all, whether at home or at home in the church body as one another, brothers and sisters, without grumbling.
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Well, I guess I'll have to do it. Pastor Mike said I have to be nice and friendly to newcomers. That's being a
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Greek and wearing a mask. It's not bad to be Greek, don't get me wrong.
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Worse to be a loudmouth Puerto Rican because that's what I was called, remember.
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And finally, hospitality is a qualification for elders. For those of you who are elders and leaders in this church, just check it out in 1st
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Timothy 3 and Titus 1. You are to be hospitable. I think the ultimate example of hospitality is exemplified in this particular husband -wife relationship.
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The wife was always worried that some stranger, some intruder would enter their house.
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So she would always wake up her husband in the middle of the night. Sweetie, I hear something. Quick, go check it out.
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Day after day, night after night, the husband would get up in the middle of the night, go check downstairs.
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If all the doors were locked, everything was secure. There was no intruder. And then sure enough, one night, when she heard something, there was actually somebody at the door.
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It was an intruder trying to break in. The husband takes his bat, walks to the front door, opens the door, and opens it.
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As he opens it, he says to the intruder, to the stranger, welcome. My wife has been waiting for you for a month.
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Now that's genuine hospitality. The Apostle Paul knew hospitality from Lydia, the first Greek, whom
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God opened her heart, Luke says. Right? A Greek heart is hard to open.
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Any heart is hard to open, because it's dead and hardened and unrepentant. He opened her heart, and she believed on the
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Lord Jesus. And she opened up her home right then and there to Paul. How about Philemon?
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What did he say to Philemon? How he refreshed the saints. And he says, prepare a guest room for me, he says to Philemon.
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And the hospitality that Paul is mentioning here in Romans 12, that we are to seek after, whether it's in our homes or within the body of Jesus Christ, towards one another, has nothing to do with your ethnic background.
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Now given, certain ethnic backgrounds tend to be more hospitable. It has nothing neither also to do with where you're from in the states.
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Whether you're from the cold, frozen Northeast, or from warm California.
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And it has nothing to do with your personality either. Whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, all of that fades.
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When I was working as a pastor with other five pastors using the same facility, you can imagine five churches meeting in the same facility trying to make things work.
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Well all the churches that I labored with, not the church that I pastored, but all the other churches were ethnic in background.
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And they carry a lot of their ethnicity with them, which is fine. But we would try to keep things in order.
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So if another service was happening, another church, that the previous one would make sure everything was picked up.
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Food from the Providence was picked up and not spilled over the floor, but it was cleaned up.
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And when I would meet with the other pastors and things were not in order, so to speak, they would say, well that's just how we are, that's our ethnic background.
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And being the youngest in the group, I would rebuke them and say, you are first citizens of heaven and then citizens of Greece and then citizens of Haiti and then citizens of Brazil and then citizens of the
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Philippines. Hospitality knows none of that because this 11 chapters, the mercy of God transcends your personality, your ethnic background, all of that.
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Why is it that charismatic churches who have an atrocious theology are so welcoming?
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Those of us who know the truth should be the most welcoming of all.
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And I have noticed that here for myself speaking and my family. It was not easy for myself after 10 years of trying to pastor a small church that things did not work out.
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And it was much more difficult for my little children because that's all they knew all their life.
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I remember leaving the house and I'm saying this to commend BBC. I remember leaving the house and my youngest one did not for the life of her want to come here and go and sit in the nursery.
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So I every time we'd come to the nursery, she wanted to stay with her and she would signify that by saying,
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Dad, you're going to take your shoes off, which meant I'm staying. Then it happened that she was asking me that question on the ride here way before we got to the church.
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Dad, you're going to take your shoes off. Then she got even better when she woke up in the morning,
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Sunday morning. The first thing she said to me, Dad, you're going to take your shoes off. In other words, don't leave me in there alone.
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And now I see her. She runs by herself. So thank you for your hospitality.
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But there are those who come to the church who come from these kind of charismatic backgrounds who don't know the truth of Scripture.
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When you're sitting there and the ushers are walking down the aisle, first time visitors, raise your hand.
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Your antenna should be up looking around who's getting a new packet. So when it comes time to greet them or even after the service, you make an intentional effort.
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You pursue it, as Paul says in Romans 12. Why? Because of the mercies of God.
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11 chapters worth. Paul couldn't stop. I close with you tonight with this commendation and exhortation that our brother
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Eric read from 1 Thessalonians 4. Now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout
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Macedonia. But we urge you brothers to do this more and more.
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Let's pray. Father, thank you for your imperishable word which has saved us, which sanctifies us, which is living in the active.
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Lord, we praise you for your mercies in light of all that you have done for us, in light of all that we deserved, your righteous wrath and condemnation.
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Yet in your sovereignty you chose us and plucked us out. And because of that,
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Lord, we are to have this kind of genuine, sincere, biblical love towards one another that is manifest in these ways.
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Lord, help us to be the kind of body that you want us to be for your glory in Christ's name.