ROMANS 12 THE CHRISTIANS CODE OF CONDUCT2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Romans 12 The Christians Code Of Conduct

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017. Well, as I was looking at Romans chapter 12 this week, I kept thinking about this sign that I had seen at the crossings, the shopping center over there at Cahalco. And I don't know if you've ever seen this sign. It is a...

code of conduct for customers who are there in the Crossings Shopping Center. And I just want to reflect on this a little bit and give you a little education on what your code of conduct is meant to be when you're shopping at the Crossing. So first of all,

The code of conduct is that you must keep moving in an orderly fashion through the center and not block walkways or store entrances, and groups of four or more will be dispersed. And so their code of conduct says that, well, if there's a group of six of you, they have the right to come in and split you up into groups of three or four and two or however, you know, that they might want to do that. But

But that, you know, there's some order, there's some structure to what's allowed on the property while you are moving around as a group. Number two for the code of conduct is loud and boisterous behavior will not be permitted. Obscene or offensive language will not be permitted. And I think we can appreciate that. And if we were shopping there, we would appreciate that that would be enforced. Number three, no loitering.

Number four, spitting, sitting on the planters, hanging on railings, or throwing objects will not be permitted. So make sure you don't do those things. Then number five, running, inappropriate behavior, vandalism, or any lawful conduct on the premises will be grounds for ejection. Number six, when conditions contribute to an overflow of juveniles, management reserves the right to disperse or eject individuals or groups. Uh,

So we can imagine what scenario they might be thinking of. Number seven, persons failing to be appropriate clothed or wearing apparel which is likely to provoke a disturbance or embroil a group or a person in a verbal or physical conflict will not be permitted and asked to leave. And so if you wear clothes that provoke fights, then you're in trouble. And then number eight, no skateboarding, BMX riding, rollerblading, or scooter riding on the property.

And so that eliminates all the fun stuff that you can do there at the Crossings Shopping Center, right? Well, I was thinking about this sign as I was going through Romans chapter 12, because I really see Romans chapter 12 as the Christian's code of conduct. And so that's why I've titled the message this morning, The Christian's Code of Conduct. Now, if a shopping center can have a code of conduct,

I think for sure, of course, God can have a code of conduct for his people. Now, we can read through that code of conduct and understand the reasons for it and probably not object to any of the items on there. But just recognizing this is private property.

if you're going to be on our property, here's the guidelines that we ask everybody to go by, and they reserve the right to enforce all of those whenever they choose. They don't enforce every instance, of course, but they set those guidelines so that they can, you know, utilize them if there is a need for a situation to be resolved. Well, in a similar fashion, you are God's child,

on God's property. You're relating to God's people and people that God created using resources that God provided and breathing the air that God provides and using the energy that God gives. And everything about you is, well, it's God's. Everything that you have and everything that you do, it's you interacting with what God has provided. And so it

It is absolutely appropriate for God to say, here's the code of conduct for using my property, for relating to my people, for using my resources like air and energy. And it's appropriate for God to have these expectations of how we are to live. And so here in Romans chapter 12, we're moving into the part of the book of Romans that says

moves into application. The first eight chapters of Romans really are giving the doctrine of the gospel. And then chapters 9, 10, and 11 relate to the gospel as, you know, as it applies to Israel and their position and how God still has a plan and a future for them. But

But now as we go forward, chapter 12 begins the application portion. And Paul begins to put things in line to say this is how we are to live as a result of the gospel, as a result of what God has done for us.

us. And so we see that here in verse 1. Again, he says,

Here, Paul, as he begins talking about the application, he says, therefore, connecting all the previous thoughts. And so here's the result of the gospel in our lives. It is that you would present your body as a living sacrifice to God.

And he says it's your reasonable service. It's the only reasonable thing to do in light of what God has done for you, for you to give your body, to give yourself to God as a living sacrifice. But it's not just giving your body. He also says refuse to be conformed to this world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

so that you can understand what God's will is. And so there's this need for us to not just fall in line with the crowd around us,

Because they may not be following the code of conduct that God has set for us. But instead, we are to know and understand what is God's will? How does God want us to behave? How does God want us to live? And as we present our bodies to him and are renewed in our minds and transformed by that renewing, then we are able to walk in the will of God and in the code of conduct that he has set for us.

Now, as you go through the rest of the chapter, you could break it down in a variety of ways. Some have broken it down to 28 points that Paul says. You know, it's a quick fire of all these different applications of how to live, what to do, and the way these things apply. And so I'm not going to have 28 points this morning. That might be a bit much. So 27 points on, no, I'm just kidding, six points on

Six points. It's more than I usually have, but kind of summarizing some of the things that Paul is addressing here regarding the Christian's code of conduct. And so point number one is found in verses three through eight. Here's what God expects of you as a Christian, breathing God's air on God's property, relating to God's people. He expects you to participate in the body. Let's read verses three through eight, and then we'll discuss it. It says in verse three, for I say,

Through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another."

Having then gifts, differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. Or ministry, let us use it in our ministering. He who teaches, in teaching. He who exhorts in exhortation. He who gives with liberality. He who leads with diligence. He who shows mercy with cheerfulness.

Here's the code of conduct that God sets. You're going to live in my world, be my child. Here's what I expect of you, God says. I expect you to participate in the body of Christ. God says, I expect you to be part of this unique thing called the church, called the body of Christ, and that you would fulfill your role in Christ.

body of Christ. Now this is a subject that we have addressed many times over the years, and so I'm not going to spend a lot of time here in these verses. We've gone through them, and I believe that you understand that there is the value and the importance that you have in the body of Christ. But just to reflect on a few things before we move on to the next verses, in verse 3 again,

He connects these thoughts together. He says, for I say, so again, therefore, to present your body as a living sacrifice and be renewed or transformed by the renewing of your mind. And for I say now, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you. So he's saying, look, this is as a result of the gospel. This is your responsibility. Your reasonable service is to

He says in verse 3, not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. And I would just give you the opportunity to consider this morning. Do you think too highly of yourself? He's connecting this thought. He says, for I say, don't think too highly of yourself. Then in verse 4, for as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,

Then verse 5, so we being many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. This idea of not thinking of yourself more highly than you ought is directly connected to, for we are members of one another. The point is to isolate yourself, to not be engaged in the body of Christ, to not be participating in the body of Christ is to think too highly of yourself.

To be distant, to be unengaged, you know, to be doing your own thing and not thinking that you don't need the body of Christ is to think too highly of yourself. You need the body of Christ.

And you need the benefits that come from you participating in the body. Now, we also address it many times saying the body needs you and the body's missing out when you're not a part of it, when you're not involved. But keeping to what Paul is addressing here, he's saying, look, when you are not engaged, when you're not participating, then you're thinking too highly of yourself and you don't realize that

How much you actually need the rest of the believers in the body of Christ and the people that God has connected you to and called you to be a part of their lives and them to be a part of your lives. And you ministering to them benefits you as well as them. And you need that just as much as they need that. And there's this mutual ministering that goes on that God says, don't think of yourself too highly where you think you don't need that.

He's saying every one of us needs that, and it's a reasonable service to be participating in that in the body of Christ. And then he goes on to talk about some of the gifts in verses 6 through 8.

And the point is, he says, we've all been given gifts. We've all been given responsibilities and we've all been given opportunity to serve one another and participate in the body in this way. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4.10, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

And so that's very clear in the scriptures. Every believer in Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified and gifted by God to be a part of the body of Christ, to contribute to the body of Christ, and to not do so is, it's a matter of pride. And it's to think too highly of yourself and to not recognize yourself.

the need that you have for the others in the body and the need that you have to serve others in the body and to be engaged and participating in his church. And so as we talk about the Christian's code of conduct, I would encourage you to participate in the body. This is what God expects of you. As his child, living and operating on his property,

relating to people that God has created and using the resources that God has provided, the expectation is that you also would then use all of those things

to participate in the body of Christ, to fulfill your role, and to be a part of the work that God is doing in the church. And that happens in a variety of ways. And again, I'm not going to go into details in that, but I'll just leave that for you to reflect on and to check your heart to make sure that you're not thinking too highly of yourself than you ought. Well, moving on to point number two, we find this in verse nine and 10. The Christian's code of conduct is

God expects you to love people genuinely. Love people genuinely. Verse 9 and 10 say this, Here Paul talks to us about love.

And of course, love, as you look at it, could be the overarching thing over all of Romans chapter 12, even as Pastor Tom is faithful to remind us that everything is summed up. Everything in Christ, all the expectations from God is summed up in two things, love God and love people. That's really what it boils down to. And so Paul is addressing this love for one another that we are called to have. And as you look at Romans,

you know, what Paul describes, the way that Paul describes love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, you get a good picture of what that kind of love looks like and the way that we are to relate to one another. Contributing to the body of Christ, participating in the body of Christ is

presenting yourself as a living sacrifice to God, and love go hand in hand. All of these things are inseparable. But particularly as we're talking about relating to one another within the church and relating to the people around us, Warren Wiersbe says, love is the circulatory system of the spiritual body, which enables all the members to function in a healthy,

and harmonious way. Love is that flow of blood and things that nourish the body and things that provide the needs and bring healing. It is what is necessary and needed for us as the church. We need to have the love that Christ has for us and extend that towards others. And Paul says, do that without hypocrisy. That word hypocrisy means

It means to be undisguised or sincere. But I like kind of where it originally came from. It originally was used to describe someone who is inexperienced in the art of acting. So if you've ever seen a play, you've ever seen a movie, you've ever seen, you know, kids put together some kind of skit or something, and you go...

Yeah, you need a little bit more experience. You know, you look at the actor who is performing a part and you're realizing, you know, I'm not believing the role. You're not selling it very well. You know, there's those occasions that we see. And that is the idea. That is the way that this would be described. It was with this Greek word for hypocrisy.

And I like that idea, that picture of being inexperienced in the art of acting. So you weren't convincing enough, you know, and they could see through you. In the same way, when he says, let love be without hypocrisy, he essentially is saying, be inexperienced at pretending to love one another. Don't be really good. Are you good at pretending to love people?

Are you good at faking it when it comes to loving the people around you? And you're good at, you know, convincing people that they are loved, but there's not that actual love that you have for them. Paul's basically saying here, don't be good at that. Love people, but not in a fake way. Love people genuinely. Let love be without hypocrisy. Let it be for real.

He goes on in verse 9 to say, And a good definition of love that I like to use is that love is doing what is best for people. When you look at how God loves us and the way that that is expressed and manifested, you can see that God loves us in that he always does what is best for us.

Now, it doesn't always seem that way from our perspective, perhaps because we only have this limited perspective. But when you take eternity into account, you recognize God always does what is best for us. And the very fact that he sent his only begotten son, it's attributed to his characteristic of love. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son. He met our greatest need, did what was best for us,

Because he loves us and sent Jesus to die upon the cross for our sin. And so as we look at love, I think this is a good quick summary of what love is. It's doing what is best for people. And so if we're loving without hypocrisy, well, then we are going to abhor what is evil.

That word abhor, it means to detest with horror. It's this horror that is felt, this, you know, gasp that is experienced. And so there is to be this horror over evil, not just towards ourselves, but towards anybody. Because we have this genuine love, because we want what is best for people, and

When there is evil, it should be something that we detest with horror because, well, it's people experiencing what is not best for them. And he says, cling to what is good. So in contrast to what is evil, it's,

cling to or glue yourself to, to be glued together, cemented, to be firmly joined together, cling to what is good. So keep yourself away from anything that is evil, anything that would, you know, bring harm, anything that would inflict pain. Now, sometimes pain can be good as well. That's why there's discipline and correction, but you understand what I'm saying. Anything that is harmful to somebody, we are to abhor, but then we are to cling and to hold fast to

He continues on in verse 10. And as he talks about love now in verse 10, he expresses it and explains it in kind of a way that we would understand regarding family. That kindly affection is...

that was used to describe the mutual love of parents and their children and how parents love their children and children love their parents or wives and husbands love one another and that kind affection that is expressed and portrayed between them, that is what Paul is describing here in our love for one another that there is to be the

the family connection. And that's why we often refer to, you know, us as a family or we're part of the family of God because, well, God gives us that language and he plants that in us that we are connected together and we are a family and we're to express that in reality, not just express, you know, accepted in theology and in our minds, but

but that there would be this expression of kind, affectionate love, that there would be this family type relationships that we have between us. And so he says, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. And again, there's that family type of relationship and care for one another.

Now, one of the interesting things about family, which I'm sure you know, is that family is, well, they're some of the best people as far as getting on your nerves, right? They can get on your nerves like nobody else, but you still love them. And no matter what, you know, they're still your family and family will make mistakes, but you still love them. And in a similar way,

Yeah, sometimes we do get on our nerves because we spend time together. We know each other and there is those, you know, differences that we have. And yet we're to have this family type of relationship where even though you're super annoying and I can't stand being around you, I have this kind affection for you. You know, you're my brother, you're my sister, and we're to love each other in that way. He goes on in verse 10 to say, in honor, giving preference to one another.

That word honor, it's the idea of attaching value or a price to something. It's assigning a value which is, well, very valuable. And as he says to honor, in honor, give preference to one another, he's saying, consider the people around you to be of great value.

And I think this is one that we always need to keep in mind because it is so easy to get caught up in our own selves and our own needs and our own agendas and wants. And sometimes we forget to really value the people around us, to really listen when they're talking, to really pay attention when, well, they have something going on. It's not just that people around you have great value in meeting your needs, but

But what he's saying here is, in honor, giving preference to one another, he's saying they have great value, so meet their needs. The idea is, if someone, you know, famous came in, or someone perhaps that you've like always wanted to meet, maybe it's someone like a pastor, you know, guy on the radio, maybe it's some type of actor or famous athlete or whatever, right? But if they came in,

and you are around them, they have your attention, right? It's someone you've, you greatly value. You want to hear what they say. You're not going to talk over them. You're not going to be interrupting them. You're not going to be just like, okay, whatever, and go get a donut. Like, you know, there's attention that's being paid because there's great honor that's being applied. In the same way, he's saying we're to, in honor, give preference to one another, give great value and serve one another and give attention to each other because you're valuable, right?

You're valuable. And not just in a way that gets me something that I want, but you're valuable. I highly esteem you. And that's the idea here that Paul is describing. This is the code of conduct for us as Christians. This is what God expects for you and I as believers in Jesus Christ. You are God's child on God's property relating to people that God created and using resources that God provided. So he expects that you will love God.

people genuinely. That you will truly and sincerely look at people and say, you're valuable. You are worthwhile. You're worth my time. You're worth my attention. You're worth my care and concern. And that it would be genuine and not fake. Not just you pretending because you know it's what we're supposed to do. I'm not saying that if you're pretending, you know, you need to up your game so that you don't get caught, you know, because we could see through it. No, no, no.

Let it be genuine. Let it be for real. And if you fall short in that, what if you're not sincere? You know it's the command. You can see it. But what if you don't actually love people? Well, I would encourage you to just start obeying. Love is a command. Whether or not you feel like it is a different thing. The feelings go along with the commands and the obedience. But the obedience comes first. Remember, love is doing what is best for people.

And so you can look at somebody and love them and do what's best for them, whether or not it's, you know, the most favorite thing that you want to do at the moment. You can care for people because it's what's best for them. You can start obeying the command. And I would take you back to verse one and two, that you would present your body to God and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. God does the changing as you obey him.

And so you start to walk and you present your body to God as a living sacrifice in obedience and you start loving and you start transforming your mind or being transformed by the renewing of your mind, reprogramming yourself with what God says and what God has declared. And then as you walk in that, God does the changing work in you. But we start with the obedience. We start with the only reasonable thing to do, to give ourselves back to God and follow his code of conduct and

for us because we're his people on his planet interacting with his creation using his resources and you get the point. And so the Christian's code of conduct to participate in the body, to love people genuinely. Number three, to serve the Lord diligently. Verse 11 and 12.

Verse 11 says, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer. Now, I think Paul is, you know, still on the same train of thought here. He's talking about giving your body as a living sacrifice. He's talking about utilizing your gifts and participating in the body of Christ. He's talking about loving one another. And he's saying, now, don't be lazy in all of that.

Not lagging in diligence, but instead be fervent in spirit and continue on serving the Lord.

Now you guys know I love this verse and I could talk on it for a long time. This is the verse that really first caught my attention in regards to studying, you know, the Greek definitions and understanding the tenses and those kinds of things. This is kind of really where I began to understand a little bit, my first glimpse into what it really meant to study the scriptures. And so this verse says,

has great significance to me, and the Lord uses it repeatedly throughout my life to minister to me. So much so that I've taught on it many times, and as I've gone into this, you know, venture of working outside of the church, and I started my own company, although I'm not actually using it right now, but my company's name is Fervent Solutions, because this is, you know, just the continual thing that God keeps speaking to me. So I'm going to try to keep this part, you

you know, just as in proportion with the rest of the text, but just a forewarning, it's my favorite verse. So not lagging in diligence. Don't be sluggish, slothful in diligence. That's the idea of faithfulness or zeal, specifically zeal that comes or diligence that comes from passion. You know, the things that you're passionate about, it's easy to

to be very diligent in those things. There are some things that I love to do, and I'm very detailed about it, and, you know, to a great degree, because, well, it's something I'm passionate about. I've been doing a lot of programming lately. I know that you want to know all the in-depth information

concepts and nuances, right? Do you prefer to use spaces or tabs when you are indenting your programming lines of code, right? There's big debates about it. I have a very particular, and I'm very diligent, and I make sure that everything is lined up. And there's a diligence that comes from passion, a zeal. In a similar way, he says, look, when it comes to these things, this code of conduct, be diligent. Be passionate about these things. Be

There are a lot of details that I just, yeah, the grass isn't quite green yet. Okay, well, no problem. I'll just keep moving on. You know, it's a detail. Now, other people see that detail and that's really important to them. But we all have those things, right? And Paul is saying, look, make these things, the code of conduct and what God expects of you, make this your passion.

Make this something that is so important to you that you're diligent in it to a great detail that you're not sluggish in it, not lagging in diligence. Another way to say that, I think, is always give your best.

When it comes to participating in the body of Christ, give your best. Don't just get by. Don't just kind of, you know, wing it. But give your best and engage in the body of Christ and in the work of the kingdom of God and the way that God has called you to. And love people genuinely. Give your best. Give it your best shot. Do the best that you can to really love people and value them and honor them and give them preference.

Do the best, do your best to serve the Lord diligently. He says to be fervent in spirit. And that word fervent, it means to seethe or to boil, to boil with heat and to be hot. And again, it's that idea of being set on fire, that idea of passion, to be enthusiastic, to be zealous. Now, to be enthusiastic and zealous on the outside and serving the Lord is

You need to first be enthusiastic and zealous on the inside in knowing the Lord. And so I've always likened it to a pot on the stove boiling water, right? We're the pot, the vessels, and we're filled with the Spirit, but we got to stay in contact with the flame, stay in contact with the Lord. And in doing so, we begin to boil. And then as we begin to boil...

We begin to boil over as the Holy Spirit fills us, as we are filled. And then what results and what comes out is the product of our connection with the Lord. And that's what Paul's describing here is this great enthusiasm in our faithfulness and our diligence to spend time with the Lord. And so he says, serving the Lord, that's the outflow of our relationship with God.

That word serving the Lord, it's in the present tense. It means that we are to be continually, to be ongoing, to be unceasing in our service to God. And it's serving the Lord. It's not just doing stuff and being busy, but it's doing what God directs, doing what the Lord says continually, diligently. That's what we are called to do. I like the way the New Living Translation puts this verse together.

It says, never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. This is what God expects of us. In his code of conduct, as he lists what we're to do, because we are his people living on his property, so on and so forth, that we're to work hard and to serve him enthusiastically and to do so in spite of obstacles. Verse 12 again says, rejoicing in hope and

So we're to have this enthusiasm and diligence with joy for the hope, the promises of God that are yet to be fulfilled, the things that we don't see yet. We're to do this not because we have all the benefits now when we're diligent and serve the Lord, but because we're to have this enthusiasm and diligence with joy for the hope, the promises of God that are yet to be fulfilled, the things that we don't see yet.

But we're to do this because of the promises that God has given to us as his people. And so rejoicing in hope and looking to eternity for that reward for our faithful service to God, but then also patient in tribulation. And so even though there is difficulty and hardship and hurt and pain and sorrow in

we are to continue to be faithful, to be diligent in serving the Lord enthusiastically, and to have that joy even in the midst of the tribulation and continuing steadfastly in prayer that we would not be wavered from our connection to God, but that we would continue and press on no matter what things we might be experiencing in this life.

David Guzik puts it this way, trials do not excuse a lack of love in the body of Christ or a lack of willingness to do his work. You know, sometimes we excuse ourselves from not loving people the way that we should because we have such hard things going on in our lives. And Guzik says, you know, that's not an excuse. It doesn't work. It doesn't count. You can't just say, well, things were hard. And so that's why I couldn't love the way that God wanted me to love. That's why I couldn't serve the way that God wanted me to serve because

No, that's not appropriate. That doesn't work. That doesn't excuse you from the expectations that God has set upon us. You are God's child on God's property, relating to people that God created, using the resources that God has provided. Here's the code of conduct. Here's what God expects of you, that you will serve him diligently. And it's right. It's your reasonable service. It's hard sometimes, right?

And so you need to be renewed by the, or transformed by the renewing of your mind. But as you begin to obey, as you begin to walk, as you take these things and end your failures and your weaknesses to God and let him reprogram you, let him do the work of transformation while you are obedient to him, he will do that work and you will become more and more conformed into the image of the son of God.

Moving on to point number four, we have verse 13 and 14. Point number four is meet needs of saints and enemies. Verse 13 says, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Here's what God expects of us, his followers, his children. He says, meet needs of

of the people around you, whether they be saints or sinners, whether they be fellow Christians or enemies, we are to participate and contribute and meet needs. Now, as we get into this, I just want to make a quick side note and say we are not called to meet every need, and we're not capable of meeting every need. God hasn't given us the resources to meet every need, and we need to use wisdom and be led by the Lord in meeting those needs, but

generally speaking, you need to understand that God's going to want you to be participating in meeting the needs of people around you. And sometimes that's going to involve people that you are excited about meeting their needs and want to. And that's also going to involve people that are enemies, hopefully not on your part, but on their part, they've been against you. And yet, well, the Lord would have you to participate in meeting needs of the people around you.

And so he says distributing to the needs of the saints. That word distributing, it comes from the same word which we get the word fellowship, koinonia. It's that sharing together. It's that joining with somebody and saying, look, I will help you with this problem. I will experience this with you and I will help provide for and meet the need that is there. And so it's the idea of coming alongside as one who will share in

in the burden, in the meeting of the need that is there. And so this is what God calls us to do, to come alongside the needs of the saints, to come alongside other believers who are in need, who are hurting perhaps. And needs can come in a variety of ways. You recognize that. I'm sure you know that. It can come in spiritual things, in emotional things. It can come in financial things or physical, practical things.

There's a lot of ways that we experience needs and our responsibility as believers is to come alongside one another and help meet those needs as God provides and as God is leading us, that we would be part of helping others overcome those deficiencies and lacks and needs in their lives. And Paul says we are to do this being given to hospitality.

The idea of being given too, it's to run after, to flee. It's a pursuit being given to hospitality, not being forced into distributing to the needs of the saints. But that you're volunteering, you're first to sign up, you're first to line up and say, yeah, I wanna help, I wanna be part of that. That there's this willingness, that there's this excitement on your part to be able to,

to participate in the needs of the saints in that way. Again, it's not just for best friends and fellow Christians that we're called to have this attitude. In verse 14, he says, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. And so we are to meet the needs of saints. And Paul, in another letter, tells us to do good to all, but especially to the household of the saints. And so there is the priority of the one another, but at the same time,

There are those who persecute. There are those who curse. There are those who come against. And Paul says, bless them too. Minister to them to meet their needs also. They have needs and you're to show that same kind of love and care and concern because they're people that God loves and cares for and is concerned about. Even if they've persecuted you, treated you poorly, even if they haven't been good friends to you,

They're people that God cares about. And so as he issues his code of conduct, he says, yeah, I understand they've treated you bad, but meet their needs. Help minister to them. Provide for them. Help them overcome issues and things in their lives. Help them in those situations where you can.

It's part of our presenting our body to God. It's part of our being transformed by the renewing of our mind that we, as we submit ourselves to God, are able to participate in the lives of the people around us, whether they're believers or not, and contribute to the needs and the lack and the things that are there that are in need of attention, where there's hurt and sorrow and heartache or loss or whatever the case might be.

It's part of the code of conduct, the way that God has called us to operate. Now, again, this all relates to love and it's easy to be selfish and I don't have time to meet people's needs. I don't have the resources to help people with their needs. You know, I don't have those kinds of things. And it's easy to excuse ourselves because of our own selfishness and our own selfish desires. Now, again, there's a balance. We can't meet every need.

But at the same time, we should be part of meeting needs. And so I would just ask you to consider and evaluate where do you stand as far as meeting the needs of others around you, whether best friends and fellow believers, or whether it's enemies, that there is the expectation of God that you would use the resources he's given to help contribute and share in the needs of others around you.

Moving on to verse 15 and 16, here we have point number five, and that is have empathy for others. Verse 15, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

Here, Paul says, we are called by God to have empathy for others. Again, this is extending this concept of loving one another as we meet each other's needs and serve one another and do this diligently and cheerfully and enthusiastically. We're also to have empathy. Now, empathy, it's an interesting word. The word empathy could be defined this way. The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Empathy and sympathy really kind of go hand in hand and sometimes are interchangeable and sometimes are defined the same way or opposite of each other, you know, depending on which definition you look at. But, you know, these kind of words, they kind of like twist back and forth, empathy and sympathy. And it's something that the Lord calls us to have. We are called to

to have this kind of share in the feelings of another. In verse 15, he says, And weep with those who weep. And then notice in verse 16, he connects it to,

Similar to what we read earlier, to be of the same mind, to not set your mind on high things, but to associate with the humble, to not be wise in your own opinion, that there is this need for us to be connected to others in a way that we share in their experiences and share in their feelings and their emotions so that we rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

As I was looking at and considering this idea of empathy, I came across this example where someone was trying to describe the difference between sympathy and empathy. Now, again, everybody defines this a little bit differently, but I think it's useful for us to consider this example. So sympathy could say, I am sorry for your loss. What can I do to help you during this difficult time?

So you recognize the hurt, you recognize the loss, you recognize the issue that's going on, and you want to be part of helping, and that is the idea of sympathy. Empathy takes it a step further, where it says, I feel and understand your pain. My grandmother passed away last year as well. And so it's not just sympathy.

I recognize that you're hurting, and so I'd like to help, but I recognize that you're hurting, and I know what that hurt feels like, and I'm hurting with you because you're hurting. And that's the idea here that Paul is expressing. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. That we're to be joined together in such a way that

that we actually experience. Now, of course, it's not going to be, you know, exact, and I'm not trying to suggest that we have to experience exactly the same emotion, because some things we just, we don't. But to put ourselves in the shoes of other people, and to try to understand, to try to recognize what it is that someone else is going through.

And this is what God calls us to do in relating to one another. It requires a high degree of love and care and concern for the people around you. And you know, many times I can't feel for you because I'm so consumed with my own self. So I don't have any idea what you're feeling. I don't have any idea what you're going through.

Because I'm thinking about myself and what I'm going through. And you see what God is calling us to do in this code of conduct is to lay ourselves aside and to value people enough to feel what they feel, to see things through their eyes, to hurt where they hurt. But it's not just in the negative type of emotions. It's in the joys as well.

Sometimes it can be kind of hard to rejoice when people are rejoicing because, well, then I'm jealous of what you're rejoicing over. I want that for myself. Why didn't I get that? Instead of participating in the joy that you're experiencing, I could be jealous or sorrowful over my own condition or lack of that same thing. God calls us to really care for one another and to pay enough attention and to invest ourselves enough

to be able to feel and experience the emotions and the things that others around us are going through. Again, you are God's child on God's property, relating to people that God created, using resources that God provided. This is what God expects of you. It's your reasonable service to give this back to God and to have empathy. This is what Jesus has for us, right? In Hebrews 4, verse 15 says,

It tells us, Now this word sympathize, the Greek definition is more like the way that we defined empathy earlier. So don't think of it as a lesser thing, but it's to feel the feelings of another.

And Jesus felt the feelings of us. He understood what we are going through. He put himself in our shoes so much so that he being God became man and died upon the cross for us. You can't put yourself in somebody else's shoes to a greater degree than that. He doesn't just feel bad about your hard situation. He feels what you feel. He knows what it's like. He can relate to the things that you're going through.

whether it be pains and heartaches and sorrows or great joys. Well, finally, point number six, as we finish up in verses 17 through 21, overcome evil with good. Verse 17 says, "'Repay no one evil for evil. "'Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. "'If it is possible, as much as depends on you, "'live peaceably with all men.'"

Again, here's what God expects of you. Even though there is evil, and even though people around you do evil, God says you don't have the right to do evil back.

Repay no one evil for evil. Instead, overcome evil with good. And as always, we have Jesus as the model for this. Great evil was done towards him, but he overcame evil with good. It's never okay for us to return evil because evil has been given to us. You kick me, so I kick you. That's not good. That's not what God expects. That's not what God approves and what God calls us to do.

Make sure that the people who do evil towards you have no real grounds for it. Paul says, if it's possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

If someone does evil to you and then you do evil back, that's not doing as much as possible to live peaceably with all men because then, well, they're going to do evil back and then you're going to do evil back. It's a continuation. You have to stop it. And how do you stop it? You have to be the first one to say, no, I'm not going to retaliate. I'm not going to repay. I'm not going to do evil even though evil has been done to me.

And so he says, don't avenge yourselves. He quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 32. He says, look, that's God's place. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I will repay. God says, that's my domain. You have no business touching that. It's not your responsibility. It's not your job. It's not your right. It's not your privilege. You don't get to repay people for their wrongs against you. God says, that's my job. Leave that to me. Don't touch it. So therefore, he says, if your enemy's hungry, feed him.

Don't laugh at him, you know, don't hide more food so that he has to suffer a little bit longer. No, help him, give to him, provide for him, meet needs. This is what God calls us to do, to not be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. I like this quote from George Washington Carver. He said, I will never let another man ruin my life by making me hate him. If you allow evil to provoke evil in you,

you ruin your own life. And that messes you up in addition to the evil that is done. But don't let people ruin your life by making you hate them. You don't have to hate them. Overcome evil with good. Again, Jesus set the model and the example of this for us. And so this is God's expectations for us as his children, as those who live on his property.

relating to people that he created, using the resources that he provided, God says, here's the code of conduct. Again, if a shopping center like the Crossings can put up a code of conduct and say, this is private property. Here's the expectation. You're here on our property. This is the things that you must abide by. In the same way, God says, look, you're my child on my property here. Everything about you is what I've given to you. And so it's appropriate for him to say, this is what I expect of you.

And it's our reasonable service to give ourselves to God in this way, to participate in the body of Christ, to love people genuinely, to serve the Lord diligently and enthusiastically, to meet the needs of people around us, whether they be saints or enemies, to have empathy, to really care and feel what the people around us are feeling. And even when it's great evil that is done towards us, to overcome that with good.

doing good things. Again, what is love? Love is doing what is best for people. That's overcoming evil with good. That's what God calls us to do, to love like he loves us. And so I would encourage you this morning to consider these things. And where you're out of line, probably there's at least one element, right? We all fall short in probably many of these, but I'll just kind of give you the benefit of the doubt. You're pretty amazing people. So if there's one of them that you're out of line on,

Go back to verse one and two. Present your body to God. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Come back to God and let God do the changing work in you as you obey. You don't have to wait for the change to then start to obey, but you start to obey. And as you do, as you live out in obedience, God will do the changing work within you while you walk with him in obedience.

Well, we want to close our time together in prayer as we usually do. And I'll pray as we close, but then I'll leave it open. And as the Lord leads, you can pray as well in response to whatever God might be prompting in your heart and speaking to you about. But of course, we can be praying for those who will be coming in the next service and the Castanedas who will be heading out to Korea and whatever else the Lord might stir up upon your heart. So let's pray.

Lord, I lift us up to you as we consider these instructions that you have for us here in Romans chapter 12, this code of conduct, which is right and appropriate for you to apply to our lives and to say, this is the standard that we must live by. These are the things that we should behave according to. And God, I pray that you would help us to see these things and recognize that

There is a part of it where it's your work in us that enables us to do these things, but there's also a part of it where we have to make the choice and to choose to obey you and to love the way that you've called us to love and serve the way that you've called us to serve and prioritize the way that you've called us to prioritize. Lord, I pray that you would help us for our part to recognize, Lord, where we are lacking, where we are not

being diligent but we're lagging in diligence, Lord, I pray that you would help us to see those things, to recognize them and to pick up the slack and to get back on track in the zeal and the passion and the faithfulness that you require from us. And Lord, I pray for the other side of it, Lord. There's so much that's out of our control because we do have these corrupt natures and these sinful bodies. And so, Lord, we come back to you this morning and present our bodies to you as a living sacrifice. Lord, would you take us?

and mold us into your image. Would you take us and use us for your kingdom according to what you see is fit and right and appropriate. Lord, would you transform us as you renew our minds and reprogram us and teach us what is truth, what is real, and that we would be able to recognize your will and understand what is best for us.

as well as for the people around us. And so God, I pray that you would draw us near to you, that we might be transformed and renewed in you as we seek to walk in obedience to what you've said. In Jesus' name I pray. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.