WWUTT 1341 Do Not Be Slothful in Zeal (Romans 12:11)

WWUTT Podcast

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:01

Romans 12 -11 says, Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the

00:08

Lord. Do not get lazy in your faith, but be on fire for God, when we understand the text.

00:24

You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to sound teaching of the Word of God. For questions and comments, email

00:31

WhenWeUnderstandTheText at gmail .com. And don't forget our website, www .tt

00:37

.com. Here's our host, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study in Romans chapter 12.

00:44

If you want to open up your Bible and join with me there, or if you happen to be driving this

00:50

Monday and you cannot open and read your Bible with me, that's fine. I'll just read it to you.

00:55

This is Romans 12, starting in verse 9. Let love be genuine.

01:02

Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection.

01:10

Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal.

01:16

Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope.

01:22

Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

01:33

We've been taking this a verse at a time. In fact, last week it took us two days to get through verse 9.

01:39

This is a little more meticulous than we've been with some of the rest of Romans. But even though we're taking this a bit by bit, that doesn't mean that this is necessarily like the final word or the most comprehensive study of Romans.

01:53

So much has been said about this theologically rich book. If you were to read

01:59

Matthew Henry's commentary, I think there would be more words dedicated to this than even I'm giving to it. Martin Lloyd -Jones spent

02:05

I don't know how many years teaching through Romans. And I just happened to catch recently that Conrad Mbewe, who is the pastor of Kibwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, it's the same place where Vodibacham has been for the past few years.

02:19

He took even longer than Martin Lloyd -Jones to get through the book of Romans.

02:24

So there is so much wonderful detail that we can give this. And the richness of God's word is going to come out, whether we're looking at it a tiny piece at a time or we're knocking out big chunks at a time.

02:37

Because of course, the first time this letter was ever read, it would have been given to the Romans there at the church in Rome, the

02:45

Gentiles and Jews worshiping together there in Rome. And it would have been read aloud straight through for about an hour, however long it takes to get all the way through Romans.

02:56

I was just listening to somebody teaching from Romans 5 recently, and they made a comment about the doctrine of man, talking about sin having entered when or death having entered when man sinned.

03:10

And there was a great comment that was made in there. I cannot even remember what the comment was now. But I remember when he said it,

03:16

I was like, oh, I wish I could go back and insert that comment in Romans 5. I could probably do this whole study again.

03:24

And even more is going to come out in the time that we have dedicated to this. That's just how deep

03:30

God's truth is. It doesn't mean that we're coming up with new definitions of things.

03:35

It's that it would take us an eternity to cover all of the things that we find in God's word.

03:43

And I believe when we step into eternity, we will be able to explore all of those things, and it will take us all eternity to do so.

03:50

In the meantime, in this life, we keep plodding along, understanding God's word and what he has said through the apostle to this church with timeless truth that still applies to us today.

04:02

As we go through this bit by bit, we've come now to verse 11, where it says, do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit.

04:12

Serve the Lord. It might be easy to tell here that you could divide this up into three parts.

04:20

The first part of this verse is kind of a negative exhortation. Do not be slothful in zeal.

04:26

And then you have a more positive exhortation, be fervent in spirit. And then you sum that up with serve the

04:33

Lord. So let's take this a bit at a time here. The first part, do not be slothful in zeal.

04:38

What does it mean to be slothful in zeal? Well, that word slothful means lazy, right?

04:45

How about zeal? What does that mean? Well, that word could mean diligence or haste.

04:51

Those are two ways. In fact, this word could be translated from the Greek. There was one translation I read.

04:56

I believe it was the King James that translated verse 11 as do not be lagging in diligence.

05:05

So don't be lazy in obedience is basically what the verse is saying.

05:11

Obey God. Now, you know that as a Christian, you are to follow

05:17

Christ and you are to obey his commandments. Jesus said to his disciples in John 14, 15, you will show me that you love me when you obey my commandments.

05:29

John comes back to this again in his first epistle. In fact, right at the very beginning in the first chapter, he says that if you say that you have fellowship with him, but you walk in darkness, you lie and do not practice the truth.

05:44

So the moment you become aware of your sin and need for a savior and Christ is that savior and you are convicted of your sin, you mourn over it, you repent and you follow

05:55

Jesus. When that happens, you know what is in your heart. Now, this new heart that you've been given filled with the

06:02

Holy Spirit of God. You know, in your following of Jesus, that means you must obey

06:08

Jesus and you delight to follow him and obey what he has commanded of you.

06:15

And so do that now. Don't delay in your obedience. Be obedient to Christ.

06:22

Now, I have this weakness in my flesh and maybe you do as well.

06:27

So as I'm going to talk about this regarding myself, perhaps this will convict you also.

06:33

There have been occasions where I have been tempted with something and I think to myself,

06:40

I would really like to do that thing. That sounds like fun that that really would appease my flesh for a little while.

06:47

I would feel good doing that thing that I'm being tempted with. I know it's wrong, though.

06:53

The Bible says not to do that. It would be displeasing to God for me to dabble in this thing that he has said is wicked, is disobedience.

07:04

And there are people who will be judged for this sin. Yet I can go mess around with this and get my kicks, get a good feeling from it.

07:13

Right. And then I'll just ask God's forgiveness later because he's gracious and he's good. So I can experience this sin and the love of God at the same time.

07:22

Maybe my brain doesn't quite go that far with it. That's getting into just just outright, deliberate, rebellious exercise.

07:30

But sometimes we are that wicked. Have you ever had that kind of inner conflict within your brain before?

07:36

There's this thing that I want to do. I can appease my flesh for just a little while. It's not like I'm going to go live in it.

07:42

But you probably think too highly of yourself if that's your attitude about it. You think that it won't consume you.

07:48

It might. You're still playing with fire. You're playing with something that God has said that he will judge.

07:55

Don't be that way. Don't act like I can participate in this in a little bit, get an experience, ask

08:02

God's forgiveness, because once you start to rationalize that, you'll do it every time. I can do it again and ask

08:07

God's forgiveness again. I can do it again. And before you even realize it, you're now walking in it. So I have this this temptation in my flesh.

08:16

It's been there before. Maybe it is for you as well. That's one example of delaying obedience.

08:23

You know that you're supposed to obey Jesus, but you don't. You would rather experience the good feeling that you get in your flesh from giving into this sin.

08:34

And so you become slothful in zeal, that that diligence that you're supposed to have for God's word, walking in it, obeying it, keeping it, sharing it, teaching others in it.

08:48

That's where you're supposed to be on a daily basis, constantly taking your thoughts captive, submitting them to Christ and walking in obedience unto him.

08:58

Do that now. Don't delay in that. Don't think I can still experience some sins and I will just obey later.

09:06

It might be too late later. You think too highly of yourself if you think that you will not be consumed by this temptation that you continuously give into.

09:16

Don't even play with that fire. Do not be slothful in zeal. Do not get lazy in your obedience unto

09:26

Christ. Do not delay obedience. Obey today.

09:31

Remember that part of the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20, right at the very close of the

09:38

Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says to his disciples that they're going to go out and not only baptize, making disciples of all nations.

09:47

They're also going to teach all that I have commanded you. That's what

09:52

Jesus says to his disciples. Teach them all that I have commanded you. And what if the disciples had delayed obedience?

09:59

How bad would that have been for us? Fewer people having heard the Gospel, coming to faith in Jesus Christ, understanding what

10:06

Jesus had taught. And so as the disciples were diligent to do what it is that Christ had commanded them to do, so many more people got saved.

10:18

And that has led to your salvation today. You have come to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ because of the faithful obedience of Jesus' disciples 2000 years ago.

10:29

So do not delay in your obedience. Now, certainly sometimes life can catch up with you.

10:36

Like you just get real busy today and you forgot to do devotions with the kids. Or maybe you chose to play video games a little bit longer in the evening and you didn't pray with your wife like you should have.

10:48

I'm speaking from experience here. We all enter in those occasions when sometimes, yeah, we get a little bit lazy.

10:56

Don't let that discourage you, though, in the sense that like you just give up. Well, I'm never going to get devotions right, so I shouldn't do them.

11:04

Yeah, you got off your devotional schedule. Maybe you've gotten off pace, but don't let that stop you now from doing devotions.

11:11

Pick it up again and keep on going. Sometimes we can get so lazy in the devotions we're supposed to do together with our spouse or time we're supposed to give to prayer, and we just kind of shrug our shoulders at it.

11:24

Well, I've become this lazy at it. Why bother? Why try now?

11:30

So you're just starting to lose that zeal. That's the problem. When you become slothful in zeal, you lose that enthusiasm that you're supposed to have to be in the presence of God.

11:41

To read his word and have him speak to you through the Bible, to speak to God through prayer, sharing your heart and your mind, confessing your sins.

11:51

You need to desire God and be with him in those moments and in those times.

11:56

And if you're a if you're a husband or you're a father, then you need to be leading your family.

12:02

And that is well, the more slothful you get in zeal, the harder it's going to be for you to pick that back up again later.

12:10

So have an enthusiasm for God, desire God on a regular basis, confess your sins to God.

12:16

If you're losing that fire, that's a good place to start. Come before God and say,

12:21

God, forgive me for being slow in obedience. I want you today.

12:29

Give me your spirit. Make me desire your word to want to spend time with you, to want to hear from you, to want to speak with you.

12:39

Do not be slothful in zeal, rather be fervent in spirit. And it's rather it's really the same statement said again.

12:47

But one statement's in the negative and one is in the affirmative. Do not be slothful in zeal. That's the first exhortation.

12:54

Don't be this way. Instead, be this way. Be fervent in spirit. And the word there for fervent is on fire.

13:02

That's what fervent means, that you would have this excitement for God. You're burning for God.

13:08

Paul said to Timothy, fan into flame the gift of God. We have souls that previously were cold, stony and dead, dead in the sins and transgressions in which we once walked.

13:24

But when we heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and believed it, we've been brought from death to life. Our stony heart has been replaced with a soft heart.

13:33

We've been filled with the Holy Spirit described as a fire when the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples in Acts chapter two.

13:41

So we must be fervent in our spirit on fire for God.

13:47

And we have examples in scriptures of those who are described as being on fire for God.

13:55

Apollos being one of them. Acts 18, 25. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit.

14:02

He spoke and taught diligently the things of the

14:08

Lord. This is a man who was on fire for God. Of course, he didn't have the complete gospel that had to be given to him by by Prisha and Akilah.

14:18

And then once he heard the gospel and believed it, then he was even all the more on fire for God. But you have you.

14:25

He had that passion there. That passion and desire did not come from himself. It came from the

14:31

Holy Spirit. And he spoke fervently the way of the Lord. Colossians chapter four, verses 12 and 13.

14:38

The apostle Paul describes Epaphras, who had come to Paul while he was in prison, bringing a word to him about the church that was there at Colossae.

14:48

And Paul said about Epaphras, he is one of you, a servant of Christ laboring fervently for you in his prayers.

14:58

Paul witnessed the desire that Epaphras had for that church there in Colossae.

15:04

He was fervent in prayer for them. You've heard that expression before, right? That we should be fervent in prayer.

15:11

We should be on fire for God to pray that we come to him expressing our heart and our innermost desires unto the

15:19

Lord. He knows every desire that you have even more deeply than you do. And that should that should drive us to come all the more before God and lay our cares before him being fervent in our prayers.

15:35

So there's a couple of examples of persons in the Bible described as having a fervent heart.

15:41

Jesus warned that in the latter days, Matthew 24, 12, he talks about how sin shall abound and the love of many will grow cold.

15:53

That's the opposite of fervent. So that on fireness that we're supposed to have for God, there are many who are going to look that way.

16:02

It's going to look like they have that zealousness for the Lord, but it's going to grow cold.

16:08

The profession of faith that they previously had is not going to be there anymore because they became slothful in zeal.

16:16

They got lazy and that fire they once had went out. That's why we must be very careful.

16:23

I think that's why Paul is so specific to articulate this both ways.

16:28

Do not be slothful in zeal. Don't delay obedience.

16:34

Don't get lazy in your following after the

16:39

Lord and his commands. Be fervent in spirit. Instead, have a fire for God, fan it into flame, grow, be hot for the

16:49

Lord. And then, as I said earlier, this verse is kind of summed up with that third part.

16:56

Serve the Lord. So in all of this, this is unto God. Do not be slothful in zeal.

17:02

We're not just talking about losing your passion, right? Don't lose your passion. What does that mean?

17:08

That could mean anything. You could be passionate for all kinds of stuff. And yeah, you can have like just a general enthusiasm for life that you either have or don't have, but that's not what we're talking about here.

17:19

All of this is being directed in light of Christ. So slothful in zeal means that you're being lazy in your obedience unto the

17:28

Lord. All of this being directed to the Lord. So this is not just a mere statement about don't lose your zest for life.

17:37

It's don't be lazy in following Jesus. Be fervent in spirit. Be on fire for God.

17:43

Be able to say with David in Psalm 119. Oh, Lord, how I love your law.

17:49

It is my meditation all the day. David, there's somebody who was on fire for God, right?

17:56

And then we do all of this in service to our God. I mentioned Colossians a moment ago.

18:01

Let me come to Colossians chapter three. I'm going to start reading here in verse 22.

18:07

Obey in everything those who are your earthly masters.

18:13

Well, I talked about obeying the Lord. This is saying obey your earthly masters. The people on Earth that you work for are those who might have authority over you.

18:23

Obey them in everything. This is a command of God. So this is in obedience unto the

18:29

Lord. As Paul goes on, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart.

18:37

Serving the Lord, fearing the Lord specifically is how that reads there. Verse 23. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the

18:46

Lord and not for men. Knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the inheritance as your reward.

18:54

You are serving the Lord Christ. If we think about all that we do as being to receive the praise from men and we don't get praise from men, well, then we're going to get slothful in zeal and we won't be fervent in spirit.

19:11

Because if our enthusiasm and our desire was to receive praise from other people, then we'll quickly get lazy when we're not getting the thing that we are doing this for.

19:23

But when your passion is for God and you do all things unto the Lord and you know there is already laid up for you an eternity, an eternal reward in heaven, since we are now even now living on this earth, we are citizens of that kingdom, which we are fellow heirs of in Christ.

19:43

When you know this, then you can live the way that you live, obeying what it is that you are supposed to be doing for your earthly masters, obeying what

19:53

God has called you to do, excited for God because you look forward to that kingdom.

19:59

When you will be with the Lord forever in heaven, that's your reward.

20:04

Then you don't have to worry about doing anything to receive anything here on this earth, since the ultimate prize is already destined for you in heaven.

20:15

Do all things unto the Lord and you won't be slothful in zeal. You will have that fervent spirit on fire for God and do all things unto his name.

20:27

You are serving the Lord Christ when we have that ultimate picture in view that it even filters into the day to day stuff that you got to do when you are excited for eternity.

20:40

You can be excited for today in Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the patience and guidance that you give to us daily.

20:49

Forgive us our sins. Forgive us for being lazy, being distracted by so many things in this world, whether it be work or it just feels better to lie around sometimes or playing with gadgets or any of these other things.

21:03

We know what it is that we're supposed to do, but we get tickled with all sorts of little trinkets and entertainments in our flesh.

21:10

Forgive us these sins. Help us to have a passionate enthusiasm for Christ.

21:15

Be driven away from this stuff in the world which has no lasting satisfaction to it anyway and help us to long more for Christ and his kingdom.

21:26

Knowing that our eternal reward is stored up in heaven above and that gives us enthusiasm even for today to serve you today.

21:36

Let us not be lazy, but help us to be fervent in spirit. It's in Jesus name that we pray.

21:43

Amen. This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes.

21:48

Find all our resources online at www .wutt .com.