[0:00] to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12. If you've been with us over the last few weeks, we have talked about loving one another, being kind one to another, ministering one to another, and today you can see behind me we're members one of another.
[0:32] We're going through some one another. We're trying to remind ourselves what a church is about and what we do together. You know, these passages show us our relationships one to another that we're going to have today.
[0:46] Godly relationships within the church, within our families, with the Lord himself. So as Christians, we're all connected. You think about the connection we have, all of those of you who are visiting here today, you would have no reason to come to this church if it wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ.
[1:10] You'd have no reason to show up here on a Sunday morning if it wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ. And because of what he has done, because he's the head of the church and we are the body, we are members one of another, we can get together like this and have good fellowship together because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.
[1:29] Sadly, there's a lot going on in the world today that makes that very hard. There's a lot going on that makes it sometimes we find people fighting, we find people not fellowshipping, we find people not getting along.
[1:46] And it's not just church. I mean, just look at our world today. There's all kinds of things and you can't just disagree about something. You've got to go after them.
[1:58] So, today we're talking about the fact that we are members one with another. We are a family, we are a body, it works together. You know, God has called us to hire relationships.
[2:13] He's called us to have a relationship one with another and with himself. He wants us to understand the importance of us having a unity in our message, a unity in our commitment, diversity in our gifts, diversity in who we are, but a unity around Jesus Christ himself.
[2:36] Look with me here at Romans chapter 12. We'll begin at verse 1, but we're going to key on verses 3 and on, but start at verse 1. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
[2:53] And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
[3:17] For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, same function. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
[3:33] Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given unto us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering.
[3:44] Or he that teacheth on teaching. Or he that exhorteth on exhortation. Or he that giveth, let him do so with simplicity. He that ruleth with diligence. He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.
[3:56] Let love me without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil. Cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honor preferring one another.
[4:08] Let's have a word of prayer. Father, help us this morning, Lord, as we look at this passage of scripture. Help us to understand the importance of the fact that we are one body.
[4:19] We are unified in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the head. Everything we do comes from what he wants us to do. Because he is the head, all the thought process comes from there.
[4:30] All the actions should come from there. Everything we do should bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ. So Lord, help us to be members one of another working together what Jesus Christ wants us to do and accomplish in this life.
[4:47] Lord, use us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. The first thing he's going to do is he's going to give a warning to believers. He's giving a warning. Look at verse 3 again.
[4:58] He says in the beginning part of verse 3, For I say through the grace given unto me. Stop right there. I say through the grace given unto me. Paul's pointing out that these things that he is writing, these things that he is telling these Romans are not from him.
[5:15] They are from God himself. He's pointing out the fact that everything I'm going to give you I got from God and I'm passing it on to you. Remember the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy that all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
[5:31] In 1 Peter, Peter tells us that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So everything being given to us in scripture we have to remember comes from God.
[5:44] He's giving it to us so we need to pay attention to what it says. The warning in this passage is twofold. First of all, he says be careful of faulty thinking. Be careful of faulty thinking.
[5:55] Verse 3 there says, For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. Stop there. It's a warning about pride.
[6:08] So often we get caught up in pride. So often we get caught up thinking that we have all the answers. We have access to all the answers but I don't have all the answers.
[6:20] I have to go to God. I have to go to his word. I have to learn from what he has written and what he has said to know the answers to the things of life. And how to answer people when they ask questions.
[6:32] You know, sometimes we get so wrapped up in who we are and we think we have all those answers. Reminds me of a story. A young man had just been hired by a large supermarket chain.
[6:48] On his first day of work he went in to one of the stores and the manager greeted him there, shook his hand, smiled at him and handed him a broom. He says, Your first task is to sweep out the store.
[6:59] The guy just kind of looked at him and said, You do realize I'm a college graduate. Oh, I didn't realize that the man said.
[7:11] Here, give me that broom. I'll show you how to use it. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in who we are that we forget we don't have all the answers.
[7:23] We don't know everything. We need to come to God. Galatians 3.6 says this, For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
[7:36] He says, Be so careful. God made us, but God also shows us, leads us, guides us. The Holy Spirit indwells us.
[7:49] The answers we get, we get from God. Spurgeon put it this way, Do not desire to be the principal man in the church. Be lowly, be humble.
[8:00] The best man in the church is the man who is willing to be a doormat for all to wipe their boots on. The brother who does not mind what happens to him at all so long as God is glorified.
[8:14] That's the type of life we're supposed to live. That's the type of direction we're supposed to go. We don't need to be an ego-holic. We don't have to all be about us. What does God want for us to do?
[8:25] Let me illustrate that with those of you who maybe follow basketball a little bit. There was a man by the name of LeVar Ball.
[8:37] LeVar Ball is a basketball dad. He has two or three kids who are playing in the NBA now. When they were in college, he was their number one cheerleader. And that's good, a dad should be that way.
[8:48] But LeVar Ball kind of went to an extreme with some things he would say. In March of 2017, he said this, Back in my heyday, I would kill Michael Jordan playing one-on-one.
[9:05] Now, all of you don't care about basketball. You've heard about Michael Jordan. He says, I would kill Michael Jordan playing one-on-one. Well, the truth is, LeVar Ball played one year of college basketball.
[9:19] He averaged two points a game and two rebounds a game. And you know the statistics on Michael Jordan. Kind of a high inflated opinion of himself.
[9:31] The Bible tells us be humble. Be humble. Realize that everything we have comes from God. Be teachable. Let God work in you. Let God's Holy Spirit show you.
[9:44] Second thing, he says, be careful of forgetful thinking. Forgetful thinking. Again, back there in verse 3, he says, For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
[10:11] God is the source of our gifts. God is the source of our abilities. He says he has dealt to every man.
[10:23] He has given. He has distributed. He has imparted to us a measure of faith. God has given us the ability to do the things that we do.
[10:37] He's the distributor of all that we have. James chapter 1 verse 17 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning.
[10:52] Everything we have comes from God. Ephesians 4, 7 But unto every one of you is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. So every good and perfect gift comes from above and the only source of that goodness is Jesus Christ.
[11:11] He gives that to us. He's warning us to be careful that we don't get filled up with ourselves. We're here for one another.
[11:25] So a warning to believers about faulty thinking and about forgetful thinking. Then he talks about the wonder of believers. The wonder of believers.
[11:35] believers. God has a wonderful plan that he has enacted called the body of Christ. The church. He has given us each other to do the work together as a body of his.
[11:54] And one of the things he points out to us is the uniqueness of each member. Look at verse 4. For we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office.
[12:08] We're all members. That word for members means the idea of limbs, parts of a body. We all have a part of the body but we all have different functions, different things we do.
[12:19] Some people think they might be less important because of their previous background. Maybe it was not the best background. Some may think they're not as important because the gift they have is not as great as somebody else's.
[12:38] God has put us all here for a reason. And I want you to stop and think about God's got a body, the church. Is God putting anything in there that's less than anything else?
[12:52] If you're there it's because God has a purpose for you. If you're there it's because God has a special thing for you to do. When we think of our bodies here a little toe.
[13:05] What is a little toe good for? Finding furniture in the middle of night. Right? That's what little toes are good for. No. That little toe helps you walk.
[13:16] Gives you balance. That little toe helps you run. We had some little girls here today. That wasn't still. That little toe helps you skip.
[13:27] That little toe is important. It may not think like it's much. It may not assume that it's much. Oh I'm less than all the others. No. It's just as important.
[13:40] And just as our physical bodies here in the church no one is less than anybody else. God has called us all to be here. God has placed us all here to have a function.
[13:53] function. That's what the word office means. It means we all have a function. Jesus is the head and we all operate under what he tells us to do.
[14:05] Colossians 1.18 For he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn of the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence.
[14:15] It doesn't matter what you do for service in the church. It doesn't matter what position you hold. All of us are working to give glory to God. That's our job. Whether you're the pastor whether you're a nursery worker whether you're the greeter at the door all of us have a position that God says is important to be done.
[14:38] Hold your finger there in Romans 12 go with me over one book Colossians chapter 12 I'm not Colossians 1 Corinthians chapter 12 sorry 1 Corinthians chapter 12 look at verse 14 it says 1 Corinthians 12 14 for the body is not one member but many if the foot shall say because I am not the hand I am not of the body is there therefore not of the is it therefore not of the body and if the ear shall say because I am not the eye I am not of the body is it therefore not of the body if the whole body were an eye where were the hearing if the whole were a hearing where were the smelling but now have God set members every one of them in the body as it has pleased him and if they were all one member where were the body but now are they many members yet one body notice verse 18 there again look at what it says but now have God set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him
[15:57] God has put us exactly where he wants us God has put us exactly where he has a job that needs to be done by you he has something in mind that you're going to help this church to be what it should be by God putting you where you are so each of us has a uniqueness but in that uniqueness he says there should be a unity in the body a unity we're all important members of the body but we're all to work together if my hand I'm at supper table and I'm eating my mashed potatoes and my hand doesn't work right those mashed potatoes aren't going to do me a lot of good are they going to make a mess see all of us are here for a purpose but we all work together to make sure that the cause of Christ is taken care of
[17:06] I say the name Neil Armstrong most of you know who that is first man to walk on the moon he was interviewed about four or five decades after that happened how many of you watched that when it happened yeah me too that was an amazing time he says this about that time when that happened he said he was aware that there was a cumulation of the work of 300,000 to 400,000 people over a decade he was part he was the one walking on the moon but he was part of a team he didn't get to the moon without that team he didn't get to walk on the moon without that team we're here to work together for the cause of Christ we're here to work together to bring glory to him teamwork in a local church enables the church to fulfill the mission there are people that you know that you can be a testimony to and be a witness to that I will never meet unless they get saved and come to church with you but I'm not going to meet them otherwise
[18:18] I don't want to embarrass her because she's visiting today but Audra over here sitting with Bonnie Bonnie goes to the gym to do some workout for her back and for her legs I'm not a big gym person can you tell but anyway she goes over and does things she met Audra they got talking Audra's visiting with us today I would never have met Audra if it hadn't been for Bonnie going to the gym and talking with her there are others here today I never would have met you if it wasn't for Jesus Christ and what he has done and while I'm up here preaching Addy's downstairs doing junior church normally we would have special music but we had Addy today so we didn't have special music today you know there's people who are all kinds of people doing different things are we being used of
[19:19] God in the way he wants us to be used are we doing what he's called us to do we have a responsibility first of all to in the body we have responsibilities as members individual members we're together to draw attention to Jesus Christ John 13 35 we mentioned this when we talked about loving one another by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one for another see we have a responsibility we have a relationship we have to show love one to another to help the cause of Christ go forward the world the world looks at the church and they should see the love of Christ being portrayed through all of us we so often today are just like the world in so many ways we knit and we pick and we complain and we do all these other things he says no he says the world's going to know there's something different when they look at the church and see the love of God portrayed there we have a responsibility to the body
[20:26] God wants us to be unified in our homes in our churches wherever Ephesians 4 3 says this endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace you know what happens when strife develops when everybody seeks their own direction their own desires then the church is not able to function the way it should we need to be so very careful that we work together for what God has after World War II there was a group of German students who were actually going to school in England and they wanted to help out the German bombs had destroyed lots of different things so these particular students wanted to help out with the rebuilding of a cathedral and so they were helping things at the cathedral while they were going to classes and stuff and they had a large statue of Jesus at this particular cathedral and underneath it it had said come unto me it was his arms wide open and he said come unto me but as they were working on it the hands had been destroyed and they tried putting the statue back together and they did a good job of being able to find pieces and get it back together get it looking sort of normal but the hands were just destroyed so badly there was nothing they could do there they tried to decide how they were going to fix it and they finally decided you know what we're just going to leave the hands off and they changed the inscription from come unto me to Jesus has no hands but ours think about that we are his hands here on earth we are his feet here on earth what are we doing to further the cause of Christ as we are members together of the body of Christ third thing the work of believers the work of believers
[22:34] God has a plan for that unity and he has a plan for us to be used by him look at verses 6 through 8 Romans chapter 12 we're back to Romans chapter 12 verses 6 through 8 having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith or ministry let us wait on our ministry or he that teacheth on teaching or he that exhorteth on exhortation he that giveth let him do so with simplicity he that ruleth with diligence he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness God has given us all unique talents we all possess different things that we can do are we using them for the cause of Christ he has given different gifts he's given he gave temporary gifts that were used back when the apostles were on the on the alive they were going out they were able to speak in tongues they were able to do healings they were able to do lots of different things one thing on the tongues thing let me share with you 1 Corinthians 14 22 wherefore tongues are for a sign not to them that believe but to them that believe not get that when you try to use tongues today as a as a sign of salvation a sign of the filling of the Holy Spirit he says that's not what it was for they would have heard their own language as they were witnessing like they did at the day of Pentecost then there were permanent edifying gifts that people had things that we still have around today things that we can still do things like what was just mentioned in those verses we're supposed to take those and we're supposed to use those and make a work of gracious service a work of gracious service to God those can be divided in two different ways too gifts for educating people and gifts for edifying people educating people prophecy we have discernment we have insight we have knowing right from wrong we know how to take the word of God we go along with teaching where God gives us the ability to explain the word of God and to be able to teach it to others and different teachers and different preachers have different styles of doing things but they're rightly dividing the word of truth that's the important thing are they rightly dividing the word of truth exhorting one another he talks about a person who's a natural encourager we talked about that a little bit in Sunday school do we encourage one another do we lift one another up the last thing I want to do is come to church and listen to people complain
[25:18] I can go anywhere all week long and hear that I can turn on the news for a few minutes five minutes probably good enough I get my entire fill of complaints and things I want to come to church I want to hear people say praise God he's doing this and he's working here and he worked in this person's life and he did this for me this week and God is so good that's what I want to hear then there are gifts of edifying people gifts of ministering we talked about that last week acts of service that we can do you know just simply helping out having a willing heart to serve giving God has given some people the ability to give have you ever met people like that they have the ability to give they just love giving they just love giving things to others and helping them out and you know we're all supposed to give because we're all supposed to tithe 1 Corinthians 16 2 says upon the first day of the week that every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gathering when I come
[26:23] Paul says do your offerings and things giving first I don't want that to happen when I'm there I want you to do it first we're all supposed to give but there are some people who have just been blessed by God they know how to make money they know how to use money they know how to deal with money and they have an opportunity to give there was a man by the name of R.G.
[26:46] Letourneau matter of fact Addie's downstairs Addie's brother Nathan went to Letourneau University down in Texas Letourneau University was named after R.G.
[26:57] Letourneau he was a man who during World War II he built designed and built large earth moving equipment I mean huge trucks huge tractors huge graders all those type of things he could move a lot of dirt in a very short time and because of that he got paid really well so well that he started out saying I'm going to give 10% of everything to God and then it went to 20% and then it went to 30% by the end of his life R.G.
[27:33] Letourneau was giving 90% of what he made to God's work kept 10% for himself he was making that much money that he could live off 10% no problem whatsoever and he was given 90% he says look you have a heart for giving God blesses some people that way then he says ruling the idea of administration can we administrate do you have the gift of being able to coordinate and take care of things apparently like Addy did he's given her that mercy excuse me mercy are we quick to forgive are we quick to show mercy to those who maybe don't deserve as much as we're willing to give them so we're not supposed to work show me the next one Ian work with a great do gracious service but we're supposed to do it with a gracious spirit a gracious spirit 1 Corinthians 13 1 beginning of the love chapter says though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity
[28:47] I am become as sounding brass and tinkling cymbal we can do all kinds of things for God but if we do it without love he says you know what really doesn't amount to all that much what is our heart attitude oh I guess I gotta go to church and help them out again over there they're always got something going on they always want my help they always or do we go and say God thank you you've given me the ability to do these things and I can use it to help your people it's that kind of attitude that we have notice here in Romans chapter 12 verses 9 and 10 let love be without dissimulation abhor that which is evil cleave to that which is good be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another let love be without dissimulation what does that mean dissimulation has the idea behind it of hypocrisy two faced oh I'm going to help and I'll have a smile and I'll do but
[29:48] I've ruined my heart I could have been doing so many other things today I could have been down on the coast today oh wait a minute we live on the coast oh well I could have been somewhere today he says we're to do it in verse 10 in honor preferring one another in your marriage do you prefer one another in your families do you prefer one another I like hanging out with my family we have a great time together love doing that Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4 let nothing be done through strife or vainglory but in loneliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others do we look out for other people do we look out for those around us do we look out for God's people in our church do we take care of the needs that they have there imagine a church for a minute where the members possess all these different gifts a church where they love to serve one another they love to help one another and to get along and think of what
[31:08] God could do with a church like that how can we as a body of believers live up to God's plan we need to humbly recognize that our gifts are from God any gift you have is from God recognize that well I developed my gifts I did this I took lessons for years to learn how to play piano you have a gift from God that you're able to do that second we ought to realize that our gifts are unique we have unique gifts and they're meant to be used in service to one another every member is responsible for maintaining the unity of the church we have to work together in unity to cause the ministry of Christ to go forward and we should put others before ourselves and serve fellow members with a gracious spirit do you go to people and help them and do it because you want to because you love to you know we need to pray that God would have that kind of a spirit here where we would love to help one another just like we would go to help our families we'd help one another here we're going to close this morning with a song come on up
[32:31] Bonnie we're going to close this morning with a song hopefully it's all in all of your hymn books because it's inside the front cover if it's not there grab another hymn book it might be inside of that one but inside the front cover so those of you who rely on the bulletin I'm changing things up to see what that happens that was for all