The Gospel Meddles, Part 2.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. [0:02] Hello once again. [0:03] Welcome to Village Church. [0:04] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Romans chapter 12. [0:08] We’re going to be starting in verse 9 this week. [0:12] This is our 53rd sermon in our series throughout the book of Romans.

[0:16] We’re getting there, and we will finish very soon, maybe, if the Lord tarries, I guess. [0:22] But you know, last week we kind of started in what is a transitional section in Romans [0:28] where He goes from giving us simply good news, which is the information that we need [0:35] about who Jesus is, why He needed to come, what He has done for us, and the power that [0:41] He needs to guarantee the salvation that Jesus brings to this new section starting in chapter [0:47] 12, which is practical application of the gospel.

[0:51] What does the gospel kind of cause inside of us? [0:54] What do we do once we believe in the gospel? [0:57] A couple of weeks ago we took a look at the fact that if we believe the gospel of Jesus, [1:03] we will not just kind of cognitively agree with it, but instead we will give our lives [1:07] over to living for it. [1:10] We will become living sacrifices for God, which through that He gives us life and then

[1:16] begins a process of transforming us throughout our lives as we learn more and more about [1:21] who He is, more and more about who we are, and more of our sin. [1:24] We will turn even more from sin, embrace Him even more fully, and continue this life [1:30] of growing in and following Jesus, who is our Lord and Savior. [1:35] And then last week it moved from that idea to actually begin to meddle in the way that [1:40] we live our lives.

[1:42] And I think that’s kind of where we all begin to be uncomfortable because we have so many [1:47] non-negotiables, and then when faith comes in and we believe Jesus, we then begin to [1:53] have our affections drawn to live for different things, for different reasons, to obey God’s [1:58] commands. [1:59] And then when we look at God’s commands, He demands change in our lives, that He calls [2:04] us to actually commit to a life that’s not steeped in pride that gives us to either

[2:10] self-absorption or over to self-loathing, but instead we trust we are who God says we [2:16] are. [2:17] We are His children. [2:18] We are loved. [2:19] We’re valued. [2:21] We’re called.

[2:21] We’re redeemed. [2:23] And we’re all of those things in order that we might follow God in worship, finding our [2:28] satisfaction in Him and in Him alone. [2:31] And then through that type of life, we then begin to understand that God has given us [2:37] giftings to begin to serve His purpose. [2:40] And His purpose then is the building of His people, the body of Christ, which is the

[2:45] church of Jesus Christ. [2:47] That this is how we were designed to live. [2:51] But the gospel, have no doubt, if you believe it, it will meddle. [2:56] And it will meddle greatly with your life. [2:58] It will change the way that you live your life. [3:01] And in verses 9 through 13, as we move on to this section, what you’re going to find

[3:06] is that it’s going to meddle even more, even challenging the very definitions that you [3:12] have for things such as love. [3:14] So join me in Romans chapter 12, starting in verse 9. [3:17] Here’s what we read from the apostle Paul. [3:20] He says, Let love be genuine. [3:24] Abhor what is evil.

[3:26] Hold fast to what is good. [3:29] Love one another with brotherly affection. [3:32] Outdo one another in showing honor. [3:35] Do not be slothful in zeal. [3:38] Be fervent in spirit. [3:40] Serve the Lord.

[3:42] Rejoice in hope. [3:44] Be patient in tribulation. [3:47] Be constant in prayer. [3:49] Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. [3:56] Pray with me.

[4:00] Father, thank you for your word. [4:03] Thank you for not leaving us to just subjectively try to figure out what it is that you want. [4:11] But instead, by your grace, you’ve been specific. [4:15] And by your grace, you’ve given us through Jesus and through the power of your Holy [4:20] Spirit whom he gives, you’ve given us the ability to be strengthened to actually obey [4:26] you.

[4:27] Will you help us to understand more fully what that means today? [4:31] In the name of Jesus, I pray. [4:33] Amen. [4:35] You know, one of the reasons that we go through entire books of the Bible at a time is so [4:39] that we will not just isolate a section of verses and give it definitions that we want [4:46] it to have.

[4:47] You know, if we just looked at this section of verses and let love be genuine, and I [4:52] went around the room and I said, you know, what is genuine love? [4:57] I would probably get dozens of different definitions from all of you. [5:01] And so sometimes we are tempted to look at scripture through just the lens that we naturally [5:07] have and say, well, today I want to learn as to what I should do. [5:11] And so you go to a section like Romans chapter 12, you start in verse nine, you’re like,

[5:15] oh, well, this sounds great. [5:16] I’ve got to have genuine love. [5:18] I’ve got to hate evil. [5:19] I’ve got to hold fast faithfully to good. [5:22] And I’ve got to love. [5:23] I’ve got to serve.

[5:24] I’ve got to have passion. [5:25] I’ve got to rejoice. [5:25] I’ve got to be patient. [5:27] And we look at all of these things, but we begin to then define those things. [5:33] Just with how we feel or with what we want those things to mean. [5:38] That’s why it’s so important and why I believe it’s so vital for us to look at a section

[5:43] of verses under the lens of what the entire book as a whole means, because then we don’t [5:49] have to have subjective meaning, but instead we can have a fuller meaning. [5:54] And specifically here, I think that is abundantly helpful for every single one of us because [6:00] we’re not left to our own devices to understand what love is. [6:06] Instead, the apostle Paul has literally spent the past 11 chapters unpacking what love is. [6:12] We don’t have to know what it means to show honor to people.

[6:15] He’s already been telling us that this is about using your gifts for the gospel to [6:20] build the church and further the name of Jesus. [6:23] We don’t have to question what kind of tribulation or whether or not we’re going to see tribulation. [6:28] He’s already been very honest about that in chapters 8 and in chapter 6, that we’re [6:33] going to have some struggles in this life. [6:36] Through the entire book, we can have a definition as to what it means to actually be obedient

[6:44] to these calls.

[6:46] And so what I want to start with number one this morning is that genuine love points [6:50] people to God. [6:52] Genuine love points people to God. [6:55] You know, in the heading of many Bibles, right above this final section in Romans chapter [7:00] 12, it might say, these are the marks of a true Christian. [7:06] And I think that’s very accurate and it’s a good assessment of what’s actually going

[7:09] on in this section of verses is that he’s kind of unpacking for us that if you follow [7:14] Jesus, not only can you expect these things to happen to you, but you need to begin to [7:21] point your life in a certain direction so that you will begin to see these things in [7:28] your life. [7:28] They’re not going to happen by accident. [7:31] This section of verses summarizes what should be the norm of the Christian life.

[7:37] And after speaking to us about giving our lives over as living sacrifices to be transformed, [7:43] about using our giftings and having a self-identity that’s formed by the gospel to seek to further [7:49] the gospel and build the church, then he looks to us and he says, let your love be [7:53] genuine. [7:55] He qualifies for us what love actually is so that we will understand that in the context [8:02] of this book as a whole, it’s obvious that love is defined by the gospel of Jesus and

[8:11] it must be based on the gospel of Jesus. [8:14] Any concept of love that I have outside of who Jesus is is a less than definition. [8:21] Verses 1 through 8 were all about giving your life over to God and then in verse 9 he begins [8:26] to deal with the heart behind those actions. [8:31] The purposes of God flow out of a heart of love. [8:35] And so often we use that word in meaningless ways.

[8:39] But here, Paul doesn’t just say love. [8:44] Instead, he qualifies in the text. [8:47] And he says, let your love be genuine. [8:52] And so he obviously has a definition of love that presupposes that there’s going to be [8:58] a wrong definition that you could have. [9:01] There’s a disingenuous type of love that you can have.

[9:05] And Paul is warning us to have a different type of love than might come naturally to [9:10] us. [9:10] One that’s obviously impossible to have without the changes that the gospel of Jesus Christ [9:17] are going to give us. [9:18] And so the definition in this term genuine is very important for us to understand. [9:24] And it means that it is without deception and it is without hypocrisy.

[9:30] And so this is a genuine love that’s truthful, that’s honest, that is not based as a disguise [9:38] for ulterior motives. [9:42] True love is free from all pretense and hypocrisy. [9:48] John Calvin once wrote that it is difficult to express how ingenious almost all men are [9:54] in counterfeiting a love which they do not really possess.

[10:00] So what Paul’s telling us here is that this is a type of love that must be in you for [10:05] it to be true of you. [10:07] And what is that love based on? [10:09] It’s based on faith in Jesus. [10:11] It must be from the context of the whole book. [10:14] If you’ve ever had someone do what seemed to be loving things for you, but then after

[10:20] it was all said and done you found out they had all sorts of ulterior motives. [10:25] There was actually selfishness behind their actions. [10:28] They were trying to sway you towards making a certain decision. [10:32] They were trying to sway you to doing something for them. [10:35] They were trying to sway you to buy something from them.

[10:42] That’s love with ulterior motive. [10:45] And what Paul’s telling us here is that that’s not genuine love.

[10:51] So how do I know what genuine love is? [10:54] Well, first I want to point you to another book in the scriptures. [10:57] It’s the book of 1 John. [10:58] It’s very helpful. [10:59] The entire book is about what love actually is. [11:02] A pastor by the name of Alistair Baig has noted that 1 John is written to ensure that

[11:07] our definition of love isn’t reduced to sentimentalism void of the truth of the gospel, but that [11:14] our allegiance to truth then also must not turn our love into brittle hardness that is [11:20] void of compassion. [11:21] So here’s what he says in two places in 1 John. [11:24] First in 3.16. [11:25] He says, by this we know love.

[11:28] This is a pretty important qualifier. [11:30] He’s like, do you want to know what love is? [11:31] Well, here’s how you can know. [11:33] He says that he, Jesus, laid down his life for us, and we then ought to lay down our [11:40] lives for the brothers. [11:42] Then in 1 John 4.8 through 9, John writes this.

[11:45] He says, anyone that does not love does not know God because God is love. [11:49] And then in verse 9 he says, in this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God [11:55] sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. [12:01] And so there you have the basis for what real love is. [12:05] It starts with understanding why Jesus came, what Jesus did, and the purpose for which [12:13] he did it.

[12:14] But then John is also very clear that these things not only happen to change our status [12:19] to take us from sinners to saved, but it also happens so that it is an example to us as [12:26] to how we should love others. [12:27] There in chapter 3 he says, you also ought to lay your life down for the saints. [12:33] In other words, you elevate others as having significance in your life so much so that [12:39] you’re willing to sacrifice just as Jesus left us an example of sacrifice.

[12:46] And he’s very quick to tell us in 1 John 4 that if you do not have the type of love for [12:51] others that God has for you in Jesus, then you do not know God. [12:58] Because he’s made it clear, he made it manifest all around us in the person and work of Jesus [13:04] Christ and ultimately through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ so that we might [13:11] live through him. [13:14] And so love is to be the basis for which you live now.

[13:18] If you trust in Jesus, love is going to be the direction that your life needs to be [13:24] pointed in. [13:24] And without Jesus, we would not know what genuine love actually is. [13:30] Did you know that you can do a helpful action for all the wrong reasons? [13:34] Do it to further you. [13:36] I’ve got a neighbor who’s got a tree that’s getting a little out of control.

[13:41] And so I’m thinking out of the kindness of my heart of helping him prune that tree. [13:47] Now, I have nothing but ulterior motives because I think it’s ugly. [13:52] And some of the branches are just getting a little out of control. [13:54] And so I’ve got an ulterior motive. [13:57] So often we do things that we kind of say are for the benefit of others, but it’s actually [14:03] we’re the grand beneficiary of all that we’re actually doing and all that we’re actually

[14:08] saying. [14:09] When I was a freshman in college, so naive, I was invited to this pizza party at this [14:15] hotel by one of the guys that was in my hall at the time. [14:18] And I was like, that’s really weird. [14:20] Why would you have a pizza party in a hotel? [14:22] But then in my brain, I was like, well, there’s, you know, we have male dorms and female dorms

[14:26] in my college. [14:27] And I was like, well, maybe they wanted to invite girls. [14:29] I don’t know. [14:29] They’d rented out some space. [14:30] I was like, I’m just going to go eat pizza. [14:32] And I come to find out he wasn’t inviting me out of the kindness of his heart at all.

[14:35] He was trying to get me to join a pyramid scheme. [14:38] Never mentioned anything about it. [14:40] But that was a type of love that had lots of ulterior motives. [14:46] And so often in our lives, we do so many things and we’re just trying to be loving. [14:54] But actually in the end, it’s not really to benefit anyone else. [14:58] It’s really just to get our way.

[15:01] I bribe my kids all the time. [15:06] Some of you are like, that’s not what the baby books had to do. [15:08] I don’t care.

[15:11] Sometimes I just want them to do something and I’m willing to do anything to get them [15:15] to do it. [15:16] I mean, they have broken me. [15:20] So I just bribe them. [15:22] I’m not doing it. [15:23] I’ll be honest.

[15:24] It’s not loving. [15:25] It has all sorts of ulterior motives. [15:26] I just want some peace.

[15:29] I mean, I have literally looked at my children and said, I will do whatever you want. [15:33] Just stop it. [15:34] Please. [15:35] I’m begging you. [15:36] If you’ve never been there, either you’ve got a secret that I don’t know about, or you [15:41] don’t have any children.

[15:43] Those are the only two possibilities there. [15:46] But the reality is that what Paul’s doing here is he’s calling us to a different type [15:52] of action in our lives. [15:54] He’s calling us that there needs to be the presence of a love inside of you that has [16:02] no explanation but coming from outside of you. [16:05] As if it wasn’t there before your relationship with God.

[16:10] As if this is something that God has done inside of you that can only be blamed on [16:17] the gospel of Jesus Christ. [16:19] It’s a type of love that you can’t get any credit for. [16:23] It’s a love that demands sacrifice. [16:27] It’s a living sacrifice that does things for the purpose of God above all to benefit others [16:34] for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[16:38] It’s a type of love that quite frankly, if it weren’t for the gospel, you wouldn’t have [16:44] it. [16:45] And that’s the great work that the gospel is to do inside of us. [16:51] There are many things that you would do if the gospel wasn’t true. [16:57] There are many nice things that you may do even if the gospel wasn’t true. [17:04] But Paul is talking about a different type of ethic that’s going to enter into our lives

[17:08] because of the gospel. [17:09] And that’s the type of love that we have right here. [17:15] And he begins then to give us this list. [17:19] And it’s really unique. [17:22] Some of the things that he’s about to say don’t seem to play off of anything. [17:26] So what he’s really done here is he’s given us, let your love be genuine.

[17:31] And now he’s going to give us a bullet list, a bullet list of things that are going to [17:35] be true of you if your love is actually genuine. [17:40] And some of these things you’re going to say, well, I don’t understand how that’s loving. [17:43] That’s just something that I should do. [17:45] Or you may even look at it and you say, I don’t know how this has to do with loving [17:48] others because this seems to be something that would benefit me.

[17:51] But then in the end, he’s going to bring it all around circle. [17:54] And he’s going to show us that this is about hospitality. [17:57] This is about loving others, that everything that the gospel is going to demand of your [18:01] life ultimately is going to be for the benefit of others. [18:05] And he starts by saying love doesn’t tolerate evil.

[18:10] You know, the term here for abhor, it’s not really a term that we use very much. [18:15] Let’s say, oh, that’s abhorrent. [18:16] And it’s a very negative term, but it’s a synonym for hate. [18:20] He says love is not accepting someone for who they are. [18:28] If that something that they’re defining themselves by is going to hurt them, if it’s [18:34] something that ultimately is going to condemn them, it seeks to correct with kindness if

[18:41] that is what is needed, because he’s just spent all these chapters unpacking why we [18:47] need redemption and the great evil that we’ve done in committing treason against God for [18:52] worshiping other things and even ourselves rather than worshiping God. [18:56] And then he unpacks how Jesus redeems us from it, how Jesus restores us through it. [19:01] And then he says, if you want to have genuine love, you will hate evil. [19:09] He’s not saying you will abhor people.

[19:11] He’s saying you will find evil. [19:14] You will in your heart, as you struggle with sin, you will also hate that sin. [19:23] So if any hope of loving others, your ethics will be conformed to the image of Jesus and [19:31] the guidelines of God. [19:34] The new norm in the culture at large around us is that whatever makes someone happy is [19:39] the basis on which you love them.

[19:42] Frankly, according to scripture, that’s a lie. [19:46] Genuine love flows from the holiness of God and then demands the justice that is found [19:53] in the cross so that we can be transformed. [19:57] It’s not loving to silently sit by or applaud with a grin, condoning someone’s actions. [20:03] If those actions and identities that are seen through those actions are sinful. [20:10] He then uses a great term to help kind of kind of build a foundation upon which you

[20:15] can abhor evil and love someone in that state. [20:19] He says, love others with a brotherly affection.

[20:22] This is familial care that you would go out of your way to aid someone.

[20:30] If you abhor evil, if you hold fast to what is good, that term hold fast means fidelity. [20:37] It means faithfulness. [20:39] You’re not going to let go of the good that God demands of this world or that good that [20:45] God gives you in Jesus Christ. [20:48] And then he underscores and he says, you’re going to love with a brotherly affection in [20:53] that. In other words, you are not walking around just condemning.

[20:57] You are not walking around just being hateful. [21:00] You are not walking around just confronting people for the sake of being obedient to God. [21:06] But he says, you will see people struggling in their sin and you will love them with a [21:13] brotherly affection. [21:15] If you see someone in your family, by God’s grace, struggling. [21:21] You will not just go in them and browbeat someone that’s already hurting.

[21:25] Instead, you will go in and you will love. [21:30] You will care. [21:32] You will support with everything you do. [21:34] You will lay your life down in front of them to aid them even in face of their sin. [21:42] But friends, it’s because of their sin that you will show them that type of kindness. [21:48] But it’s not just saying want to each his own.

[21:52] Oh, well, that’s that’s your life. [21:54] If it makes you happy, it must be pretty good.

[21:58] In light of the gospel, we don’t have that option. [22:01] No, we must correct where correction is needed, but we must do it in the way that Jesus [22:07] did. We must do it with the care that Jesus did and with the attention. [22:13] Oftentimes, when we confront people in their sin, we do it with no thought.

[22:19] We say silly things that that really are offensive and we say we’re trying to correct, [22:25] but in actuality, we’re trying to condemn because we sometimes are tempted. [22:31] And I’m the chief of sinners with feeling a bit self-righteous.

[22:37] But the type of love that Jesus gave, even though he had righteousness, didn’t come off [22:41] as self-righteous at all. But instead, when someone’s caught in sin, they walk away with [22:46] joy because they’re like, I mean, you think about the woman at the well, she walks away. [22:49] Hey, let me show you the guy that showed me all of my sin. [22:54] Have you ever had someone walk away from you that way? [22:56] I know I haven’t. They walk away.

[22:59] Hey, I’m never going to introduce you to that guy ever. [23:01] He showed me my sin. [23:03] But Jesus, he’s got this winsome, loving, kind way in which he confronts with sin. [23:09] He shows where the error is. [23:11] And then the reaction is, well, let’s talk about that some more.

[23:19] And if we grow in Jesus, we may attain that ability. [23:22] We won’t always do it perfectly. [23:24] And that’s why we need grace. [23:26] But friend, the point is, is that to love people, it is literally to hate evil, to hold [23:34] fast, what is good. [23:36] Those are uncompromising terms.

[23:41] Truly does, though, esteem others as more important than you. [23:49] And this is what translates into living for the gospel of Jesus Christ. [23:55] Look at 1st Timothy 1, Chapter 5. [23:57] It helps us to understand how we get on this very generalized road. [24:02] Do you want to love others? [24:03] Then these are three things that need to be true in your life.

[24:06] He says the aim of our charge is love. [24:08] Paul was very clear. [24:09] He says, your aim is to love. [24:12] And then he says, where does love come from? [24:13] Well, first, it comes from a pure heart. [24:16] Second, it comes from a good conscience.

[24:18] Third, it comes from a sincere faith. [24:20] And this is the type of love that you’re trying to give others. [24:23] And where are those three things found? [24:25] Only in the gospel of Jesus Christ. [24:28] Only in the gospel can you have a pure heart. [24:31] Only in the gospel can you have a good conscience.

[24:34] Or you’re not riddled with guilt and shame. [24:36] And only in the gospel of Jesus Christ can you have a sincere faith. [24:39] So how do we get on that road? [24:41] Number two, in following Jesus, you have to fight for passion. [24:44] And following Jesus, you have to fight for passion. [24:47] You know, you need to stoke your affections for Jesus.

[24:51] You ever been around a fire and the fire seems to go out and then someone, [24:56] if they’re smart, they use a fire poker. [24:58] If they’re trying to hurt themselves, they use their hand. [25:00] I won’t tell you which categories I’ve been in before, but they take the poker [25:04] and they’ll poke the wood, they’ll move it around a little bit. [25:07] And the flames begin to grow larger.

[25:12] Well, that’s what you have to do with your affections for Jesus. [25:16] But let’s be clear. [25:18] The text is not moving on from the topic of love here because that would be unique [25:23] in this book. [25:23] It wouldn’t make any sense. [25:24] Paul doesn’t tend to work that way.

[25:26] The text is unpacking for us now a life of love and what it actually looks like. [25:32] And if you want to have a life of genuine love for others, you need to intentionally [25:38] move your passions to Jesus by following him and serving him. [25:43] If you want your life and your love to reflect that of Jesus, then you must build a life [25:48] in which you are growing in Jesus. [25:51] He literally says, do not be lazy in your passion.

[25:58] That’s what he means by not being slothful in zeal there in verse 11. [26:04] He says, don’t be slothful in your zeal. [26:07] Second Peter chapter one, verse five uses the same word for zeal to explain that it [26:12] is effort that’s going to be required. [26:14] He says, for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue [26:19] and virtue with knowledge.

[26:21] That term effort in the Greek is literally the exact same term that Paul uses here in [26:26] Romans chapter 12. [26:28] Zeal is not something that’s just going to happen if you are apathetic about something. [26:35] Zeal is something that actually comes by you intentionally putting forward effort [26:43] to be what you say you are, to follow Jesus, to be transformed by the renewal of your [26:51] mind, as verse two put it a couple of weeks ago.

[26:54] And second, Peter one presents a stepladder of growing in Jesus and uses effort here [27:02] as the synonym.

[27:04] In other words, you need to move your affections intentionally. [27:10] You will not drift towards a passion for following Jesus. [27:15] Drifting without putting forth effort will serve to make you even more apathetic towards [27:21] the Lord than you already are. [27:24] I mean, frankly, if you’re sitting there and wondering or if you’ve ever wondered before [27:29] why you aren’t loving without ulterior motives and why your affections for Jesus aren’t

[27:35] growing, I would point you to what you are putting the most effort in your life towards.

[27:42] Because the things that you put the most effort in your life towards are necessarily [27:47] going to be the things that you are the most passionate about, the things that you feel [27:52] the most zeal about, the things that you are, obviously, because so much effort’s [27:56] going towards them, the things you’re the least amount of slothful or lazy about. [28:01] And Paul’s just giving us good advice here. [28:05] Do you want to love Jesus?

[28:08] Do you want to have a passion for him? [28:10] Do you want to have vibrant worship?

[28:14] Stop being so lazy.

[28:16] Do something for Jesus. [28:19] Do something that will build your passion. [28:21] Do something that will stoke your affections for Jesus. [28:25] And what do you need to do? [28:28] Look at verse 11.

[28:32] Serve the Lord.

[28:36] Three words.

[28:38] Simple. [28:40] Yet I’ll be honest, really difficult in this world.

[28:45] Just serve the Lord. [28:47] He’s being intentional. [28:49] He’s literally telling us in this passage that it is loving to serve the Lord. [28:56] It’s loving to others to serve the Lord. [28:59] Look at what Titus chapter two, 14 says. [29:01] He says, who gave himself, Jesus, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all

[29:07] lawlessness, to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are what? [29:13] Zealous for what? [29:15] Good works. [29:17] The gospel purifies a people who then enter into a lifestyle of serving the Lord. [29:25] What is the lens through which good works are understood in the New Testament? [29:30] The lens throughout the New Testament is that you are giving your life over to God

[29:35] as a sacrifice to use the gift things that he has given you to be and build the [29:41] church of Jesus Christ for the sake of others being a part of the church of Jesus Christ. [29:48] So you cannot have genuine love without that. [29:50] That’s what the message of scripture actually is. [29:53] You cannot have a passion for Jesus without that. [29:57] When serving the Lord as an afterthought to the other things in your life, you can

[30:01] expect your love to have ulterior motives and your passion for Jesus to dwindle. [30:06] I mean, this is just frankly about being honest with yourself.

[30:11] Think about what is God getting out of your life? [30:15] Is he getting the leftovers?

[30:19] We often talk about a generation of children who get their father’s leftovers and get [30:25] their mother’s leftovers because they come home after a hard day’s work. [30:30] And let’s be honest, that makes you tired and you get home and you’re just trying to [30:34] give them whatever you’ve got left over. [30:36] So we are a culture that is steeped at giving people whatever is left over after we’re [30:44] done doing what we want to do or what we think we need to do.

[30:49] And so the apostle Paul is calling us to hear is that we begin to look at life through a [30:53] different way, because remember, what’s the basis for all of this? [30:57] Romans 12 to be transformed by the renewal of your mind. [31:01] And then he gives the negative. [31:02] He says, don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world. [31:07] Now, when you read something like that, do you think it’s not going to try to turn your

[31:12] life up on its head?

[31:16] You probably had some things backwards apart from Jesus Christ. [31:20] What Paul’s doing in this section is he’s trying to write everything up. [31:26] So he’s saying you need to begin to live differently if you want your passions to [31:32] actually be changed to wanting to live for Jesus Christ. [31:38] See, if you’re intentionally having gospel motives for all that you do. [31:43] Where sacrifice is obvious for the sake of the calling of God, you will just naturally

[31:48] and intentionally enter into environments to love others specifically for gospel reasons. [31:54] That is the definition of genuine love. [31:57] Paul seems to be moving us towards saying you’re going to live for different reasons [32:02] than you lived before. [32:04] And if you want to follow Jesus, you can just expect that.

[32:08] You’re going to find yourself wanting to enter into different environments. [32:12] And here’s the key. [32:13] If you’re entering into different environments, what’s logically going to have to change? [32:18] Well, the way you use your time.

[32:23] Because you don’t get more time when you come to faith in Jesus Christ. [32:28] You still got the same 24 hours that everybody else has. [32:31] And so what we’re often conditioned to do is attempt to add Jesus on top of everything [32:37] else. When we do that, naturally, he’s going to get the leftovers. [32:43] This is natural. You can expect that. [32:46] And so what the gospel is doing is calling us to a very hard thing.

[32:49] And I don’t minimize it. It’s the most difficult thing that you’ll ever do in your life. [32:53] To change everything.

[32:57] If you want to follow Jesus, change.

[33:01] You’re going to have to love people with genuine loves based on the gospel and nothing [33:03] else. Well, you’ve never done that without Jesus. [33:05] That’s brand new. [33:07] You have to love people that you never thought you needed love with a brotherly affection. [33:10] You have to abhor evil. [33:11] Well, you never did that before because you were evil.

[33:14] Hold fast to what is good. [33:17] And now he’s saying, don’t be lazy about it. [33:20] It’s like, well, thanks, Captain Encouragement.

[33:23] You just told me to change all this stuff. [33:25] And I said, oh, what’s the problem? [33:26] Are you lazy? Well, stop that. [33:29] Well, OK, thanks, Paul.

[33:32] It’s very difficult. [33:34] This is literally about believing God to the extent that it rewires your affections [33:41] by God’s definitions. [33:43] This is about him being Lord of all of you, including where you find your joy. [33:51] Genuine love finds genuine joy in following Jesus. [33:57] Friends, this is not about denying yourself happiness and pleasure, because I think so

[34:03] often when we get to the actual second part of the gospel, which is sanctification, what [34:09] we kind of think we’re hearing is, well, I used to be happy. [34:13] Now I’m following Jesus.

[34:19] That’s not all what he’s saying here. [34:21] What he’s saying is, is that who you are and what you find your joy in and where you [34:28] find happiness and how you define all of those things is actually going to get rewired [34:34] if you want to follow Jesus. [34:38] See, this isn’t about an ascetic lifestyle where you derive no joy and just give all [34:44] for the sake of others to spite yourself.

[34:48] It’s not what this is about. [34:49] This is about where real joy is, even though you’ve been conditioned by a world to say [34:56] real joy is somewhere else.

[34:59] Gospel love actually finds joy in loving others. [35:03] You live differently. [35:04] Why? Because you want to. [35:06] If you trust Jesus, you obey him because it’s what you want to do. [35:10] It doesn’t get more genuine than that. [35:13] That’s genuine love.

[35:16] You see, friends, passion can only come from a real desire to do it. [35:21] Have you ever tried to be passionate about something that you didn’t want to do? [35:24] I did that all through high school with study. [35:27] I didn’t want to do it. [35:29] I had all these guys around me. [35:31] Oh, I called them nerds.

[35:33] But they were just reading all the time, studying all the time. [35:36] I just wanted to go outside and play baseball. [35:38] And that’s really all I wanted to do. [35:39] That’s what I found. [35:40] I was like, man, this is for the birds. [35:41] Let’s go outside.

[35:42] I’m still kind of like that. [35:44] But the reality is, is that if you want to have a passion for something, there’s going [35:49] to necessitate then for you to have some joy in wanting to do it. [35:54] That’s where faith really comes in, because faith believes that God’s telling the truth. [36:00] Faith says, you know, you don’t know why I’m doing it, because I think God’s telling the truth. [36:03] And if he’s telling the truth and he has pleasures in his right hand ever more, then he’s

[36:07] the source of real joy. [36:09] So following the path that God is on is what’s going to give me real joy. [36:16] That’s why number three is so vital. [36:18] Believing God’s promises motivates us to care for others. [36:24] It motivates us to actually care for others. [36:27] Friend, do you need to live a life finding hope in God’s promises?

[36:32] I mean, note what he says there in verse 12.

[36:37] He tells us to serve the Lord. [36:39] And then you might think, oh, he would change the subject here. [36:41] He says, rejoice in hopes. [36:43] This is a difference. [36:43] He’s not. [36:45] Now he’s giving the basis for why you serve the Lord, because you’re rejoicing in the

[36:53] hope that the father has given you through Jesus. [36:56] It’s a rejoice in hope. [36:57] Be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. [37:00] And then verse 13 brings it full circle. [37:02] Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality, genuine love.

[37:09] And so what he’s doing here is he’s actually taking you down a path with mileposts as to [37:16] what it actually looks like to follow Jesus and love yourself and others. [37:22] It’s all about the gospel. [37:24] It’s all centered upon this hope that we actually have in Jesus. [37:29] It is why you would ever want to obey God and help others. [37:34] You believe God’s telling the truth.

[37:37] Everything that you do as a follower of Jesus needs to flow from faith. [37:41] Faith is believing that God will keep his word. [37:46] And that faith is based on an abundance of evidence, evidence throughout history of [37:52] Israel in the Old Testament that God always keeps his word there. [37:55] But then ultimately, the climax of all hope is Jesus, that God kept his word. [38:02] He sent a Messiah.

[38:03] Jesus died on the cross for your sins, for my sin. [38:07] And then he rose from the dead to give us a brand new life that’s empowered completely [38:12] by God, where God literally says, I will live through you. [38:16] And then he makes demands that he’s going to live up to through us. [38:21] That’s why it’s all of grace. [38:22] But it’s all sourced in faith in Jesus Christ.

[38:27] We obey God because we believe that in the future he will deliver on his promise of [38:33] eternal life of joy with him. [38:35] That’s what it means to rejoice in hope.

[38:38] When all the cards are stacked against you and you still have hope, it’s because of [38:43] the gospel. [38:44] I mean, he even says that you are having hope in the face of tribulation and it [38:51] translates into loving people and practical ways. [38:54] This is no mere academic exercise. [38:57] It begins in the mind with a view of what your purpose is, and then it flows out into

[39:03] a genuine life. [39:04] Following Jesus is the only path of genuineness because it is based on what reality [39:10] actually is. [39:12] Genuine love comes through following Jesus through a real life that creates a life of [39:20] joy and loving others. [39:21] This is it.

[39:22] This is the life that you need.

[39:25] And we may object. [39:28] We say with all that I have going on, all the problems I’m facing, it’s all I can do [39:34] to help myself. [39:36] And I think that’s specifically what Paul is addressing in verse 12 and 13. [39:42] This is your hope isn’t based on present circumstances. [39:45] Because of Jesus, you have patience because of a continuous relationship with God that

[39:52] manifests in the continuous trust of prayer. [39:58] Friends, because your hope isn’t based on the present, but on what God has promised, [40:04] you have what others need. [40:07] They need what you have. [40:08] Therefore, through the toils and turmoils of this life, you will be generous with your [40:14] faith and hope to practically express the genuine love of God to others.

[40:20] And that’s why the New Testament can say without a smirk on its face like it does in [40:25] 1st Peter 4, 9, show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

[40:30] How is that possible? [40:32] I struggle with this. [40:36] Me invite someone over and what immediately happens? [40:39] Anxiety. [40:40] I got to do this. [40:41] I got to do that.

[40:42] I’ve got to actually vacuum. [40:44] Oh, God, dust. [40:45] Is that a cobweb up there? [40:46] How long has that been up there? [40:48] Months. [40:48] I never cared until now.

[40:50] Why do I show hospitality to anyone?

[40:56] Who’s the center of that paradigm?

[41:00] Even my hospitality is selfish.

[41:04] So we’re filled with anxiety. [41:06] We see someone that has need. [41:08] Oh, he thinks he’s got needs. [41:11] He ought to come over to my house. [41:13] I’ve got real needs.

[41:16] It’s all about me. [41:19] I’m the center of everything.

[41:22] See, hospitality isn’t this thing where I have a cookout every week.

[41:28] Hospitality is actually caring for people. [41:31] Sometimes it’ll make you have a cookout.

[41:34] Sometimes it’ll make you know of a need that someone has and with joy say, you [41:38] know what, I can meet that need.

[41:40] Sometimes it sees your neighbor struggling and it’s not going to really [41:44] help you at all to help them. [41:47] But you say, you know what I can.

[41:50] And maybe it’ll lead to a gospel conversation. [41:52] So I will. [41:53] And see somebody right there like, aha, that’s an agenda. [41:56] Yes, it’s the only genuine agenda. [42:00] We are to love others because of Jesus Christ. [42:04] Therefore your loving of others should at some point lead to the gospel of Jesus

[42:09] Christ.

[42:11] It’s not self seeking. [42:14] It’s not all about you. [42:16] It will demand that you change your schedule. [42:19] It will demand that you can’t always go through the same routine. [42:24] It will demand that when someone needs you to help them, that you just [42:28] immediately, instinctively will begin to see yourself saying, I will help you.

[42:33] Oh, but I can’t. [42:33] Well, I don’t want to do that. [42:34] I want to help. [42:36] Why? [42:36] Because Jesus would.

[42:40] And that is what an unbelieving world needs to see from the Church of Jesus Christ.

[42:47] It first needs to see the Church of Jesus Christ love one another. [42:51] Then it needs to see that faith is practical. [42:55] No ulterior motives. [42:56] There’s passion for God. [42:58] There’s constant hope through a relationship with God because he’s [43:01] trustworthy to deliver on his promises.

[43:04] And that translates into what everyone in this world needs. [43:07] Therefore, I look for ways to show it to others in the everyday. [43:14] This is what your neighbors need. [43:17] Friends. [43:17] This is what your family wants, but it has to be real in your life for it to be genuine. [43:25] If it’s not true of you, it can’t be genuine.

[43:28] Friends. [43:29] God loves us to the extent that he literally laid his life down.

[43:36] Therefore, I can lay my time down. [43:40] You know, hospitality points others towards Jesus. [43:43] It really does. [43:44] At Village, we attempt to be clear. [43:47] Everything that we do is with the hope that redemption will be reproduced and the lives of others. [43:53] That is the goal in everything that we do.

[43:55] That is the motive. [43:56] So my hospitality has to have a purpose. [43:59] And that’s why I can do it even if it doesn’t come naturally to me. [44:04] Which, trust me, it doesn’t. [44:07] Not even a minute. [44:11] But because of the gospel, it does.

[44:13] Hebrews 13, 6, here’s the author of Hebrews says, he says, do not neglect to do good and to share what you have. [44:20] And don’t read that others should share with me what they have. [44:25] No, you. [44:28] You. [44:29] But note how he finishes it. [44:30] For such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

[44:33] Friends, don’t reduce this to doing good because it’s good. [44:37] Don’t be so self-seeking as to allow the action to terminate on itself. [44:43] Everything I do in my life must point towards him because that is what we are designed to do. [44:49] And that is what following Jesus seeks to restore. [44:53] It’s all about what God has done and will do through my faith in him.

[44:58] That’s why that second part of that verse is there. [45:02] Because he could have said, do not neglect to do good and to share what you have. [45:06] And we would have been like, I get it. [45:08] That’s what I needed to do.

[45:12] But he put something on the end. [45:14] He doesn’t just want us to do it. [45:16] He wants us to do it with a gospel motive because it’s pleasing to God. [45:22] God is the centerpiece. [45:24] That’s how faith connects all of love. [45:29] Do you want to grow?

[45:30] Serve the Lord. [45:32] Intentionally seek to live differently as designed by the gospel of Jesus. [45:36] Then as you have opportunity and you will have abundant opportunity, let what God is [45:42] doing in your life flow into other people’s lives generously with the joy of Jesus. [45:50] It’s what the world needs. [45:52] And it’s why God saved you.

[45:55] Now, as the band comes up.

[45:59] My hope and my prayer is not that you will hear. [46:03] Okay, I’ve got to do all of these things. [46:06] My hope and my prayer is, is that you will hear because Jesus is so wonderful. [46:12] You get to do all of these things. [46:15] And sometimes that takes a long time to get there. [46:18] Sometimes that takes a journey of blowing it, doing things for the wrong reason, just

[46:22] to get to the right reason. [46:24] Sometimes you try to love and you say all the wrong things. [46:28] You do all the wrong things. [46:30] And here’s the good news of Jesus. [46:32] God knows you’re going to do it that way. [46:34] He knows you’re going to mess it up.

[46:35] He knows you’re going to be imperfect, but that’s why his forgiveness is eternal. [46:40] Jesus for every mistake that you will ever make for every sin you will ever commit. [46:46] Jesus has already died for it. [46:48] He’s already secured your forgiveness. [46:51] And so when I blow it, you know what I get to do? [46:55] I get right back up and let’s do it.

[46:56] Try it again. [46:58] Because I’ve got an entire life to grow in Jesus and by his grace, by the time I die, [47:05] maybe I’ll even be an inkling like our good God, Jesus. [47:10] And if you’re in here and you don’t know Jesus, friend, he’s so good. [47:17] It would be a pity to walk through this life.

[47:21] Because of that, I want you to know, I want you to understand that you can turn from your sin today. [47:26] You can trust in Jesus Christ. [47:28] There are people in the four year that would love to talk about it with you while we’re singing in a minute. [47:33] You can go out and talk to them. [47:35] But if you are a follower of Jesus, I want to invite you to one of the tables in the front or the back.

[47:41] Participate in believers communion. [47:43] What this is, this is a time for people who follow Jesus to reflect on the cross. [47:48] The bread represents his broken body. [47:51] The cup is a representation of his shed blood. [47:54] And when you eat and drink, what it represents is that you trust that the life of Jesus is in your life. [48:02] And if you believe that these tables are open when you’re ready.