Romans 12:14-18 "Painfully Practical Christianity" - The Men's Bible Study with Steven J. Lawson

well good morning thank you for joining us for the men's Bible study it's this is pretty exciting right now we actually have men in the men's Bible study okay we've been putting the Bible back into Bible study this morning we're putting men back into the men's Bible study so men welcome welcome back we're so thankful that we can now reconvene and it's so much better for me to have people to actually speak to I've just been talking to Kent for like the last two months so it's kind of good to open up the offense and have a few more options here so we're still in the book of Romans if you can believe this I mean it's when you left we were in Romans 11 and as you step back in with us now we're we're in Romans 12 and I think it would be appropriate for me to begin in a word of Prayer so I want to do that so let's go to the Lord in prayer father we pray that as we look into your word today that it would have great penetrating power into our hearts and that means the Holy Spirit must be attending this study and inside of us and doing the work that only he can do so spirit of the Living God we pray that you would cause your word to explode in our hearts both to build us up as well as to challenge us do all of this we pray in Christ's name Amen okay well men take your Bible and step back into the book of Romans with me Romans chapter 12 and as you are let me just greet everyone who's joining us around the country around the world wherever you are thank you every Thursday morning when I'm in town and I pendant down for a long time and we'll be in town for a while we'll be here for this study and so every blessing in the Lord Jesus Christ to you for joining our study the title will we're in Romans 12 14 through 18 14 through 18 and the title that I've put on this study is painfully practical Christianity and I think you'll see why I'm calling it painfully practical because the challenge it is for us to live this way the Apostle Paul is setting the bar very high on what is required of us as we follow Jesus Christ and what Paul says here of course was taught by Christ was taught by the prophets so this this is nothing new beginning in verse 14 bless those who persecute you alright we could just stop right there have a challenging Bible study bless those who persecute you bless and do not curse rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep be of the same mind toward one another do not be haughty in mind but associate with the lowly do not be wise in your own estimation never pay back evil for evil to anyone respect what is right in the sight of all men if possible so far as it depends on you be at peace with all men as I approach a passage of scripture like this one of the challenges for me is not the interpretation so much because I can consult so many different commentaries and I've been teaching the Bible for so many years the chat the most challenging part for me is the application so how does this connect with the lives of the people that I am addressing what are the implications of this for daily Christian living what are the application well the value of this is it's easy for someone like me because the whole section is nothing but application he has taught us sound doctrine for the first eleven chapters of the book of Romans and as we come now to chapter 12 really especially beginning in verse 13 it's just rapid-fire specific application for how to put this into practice in our daily lives and last time we looked at verses 9 through 13 and we saw 13 just rapid-fire staccato points of application beginning in verse 9 let love be without hypocrisy app or what is evil cling to what is good be devoted to one another in brotherly brotherly love just one after another after another after another Paul's just putting the application really on at our very feet and so as we come to verse 14 he picks up with more of the same and we have now nine more duties of love and all these revolve around love and just to give you a reference point this is so much like first Corinthians 13 love is patient love is kind love does not take into account a wrong suffered etc where they're just tightly compacted in just a relative few number of verses well that's that's what we have here it's almost like an omelet and Paul is just putting in as many different aspects of Christian love most of them deal with loving one another in the body of Christ however as we come to verse 14 these extend beyond the body of Christ and many of these will include how we are to show love to those even outside the body of Christ and we think of our Lord's words love your enemies and so our duty to love goes beyond just the body of Christ even to those who are our enemies so what I want to do is reduce each of these 9 to just one word which is what I did last time and these would be like hooks to hang each one of these nine on and they become just a succinct summary a succinct Restatement of each one of these I can't can I could not get them to alliterate to begin with the same letter I know Kent I'm sorry but these will end with kind of an ity or an ID why so I just want you to know since you've been gone I have not become a socialist okay I haven't forsaken the faith so starting in verse 14 the first word I want to give you is edify we're to be always edifying others and building them up even when they are tearing us down even when they are tearing us down we are to be building them up and so in verse 14 he says bless those who persecute you bless and do not curse the word bless is an interesting word from the original Greek language and it comes into our English word English language as eulogy in the Greek eulogy oh it means to speak well of it means to give praise to now not in the sense of worshipping obviously a we're to worship God and him only but the idea is to extend graceful words that complement and NFI and affirm those who are persecuting us and this word persecute it's a very strong word in the original language and we always kind of lose something to go from one language to another language which is why I emphasize some of these word studies and the word persecute here you'll find it interesting literally means to put to flight to drive someone away and the idea is that you drive them out of their normal circles of relationships that you drive them out of their home that you drive them out of their job that you drive them out of town that that's the idea of the persecution and remember now Paul is writing to the church in Rome Rome was the hub of the pagan istic hedonistic Roman Empire and there was persecution at different levels that would exasperate into the end of the first century it has not yet hit the fever pitch that it will shortly like when first Peter was written but nevertheless he is writing this to those who are living under the shadow of Caesar and the the persecution of believers where they certainly are being put out of circles of relationships and being put out of out of jobs and this is a reoccurring theme by the way here in in this in this chapter in verse 17 he will say never pay back evil for evil and that still has the overtones of the persecution but verse 19 never take your own revenge beloved but leave room for the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord verse 21 do not be overcome by evil so this is a a thread that is being woven through this section so we're known not only for our actions but for our reactions as we are being persecuted this is nothing new Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said in Matthew 5:44 love your enemies and pray for those who hears the word persecute you well it's easy for us to love our friends because our friends we're on a common ground with them we share certain things together certain common interests and we're kindred spirit with our friends so that's not really a challenge to love our enemies are you kidding me that would take the grace of God and that certainly does take the grace of God so you and I need to think about how we respond to those who are ungracious and who are unkind and who even threaten our livelihood we need to bless those who persecute us just to give you one more cross reference in John chapter 15 and in verse 18 just so that we know that this is not a new teaching in John 15 verse 18 jesus said if the world hates you and that really could be translated since the world hates you you know that it has hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the world would love its own but because you're not of the world but I chose you out of the world because of this the world hates you so this is just par for the course for us as Christians the world is going to persecute us but we may not respond in like manner we are to bless those who persecute us and then it says and and bless not curse and the idea with not curse that's not saying and not cuss but not curse is to not bring an Invicta v' curse upon them only speak that which would ed aside them well then second let me give you the second word as we move into verse 15 is the word empathy he says in verse the beginning of verse 15 rejoice with those who rejoice and empathy is the ability to share the feelings of others you empathize with someone and here it says to rejoice with those who rejoice and we may think well what's the big deal about that well it is a big deal in this sense that when we see the success of others and maybe in an area where we are not successful maybe we see someone else's children walking in a manner that honors their parents and your children are not lining up nevertheless we're to rejoice with those who rejoice and the ideas not to allow envy or jealousy to come into our hearts or we see someone else in business and they close a deal that we were not able to close it would be very easy in our competitive nature for there to be roots of bitterness that that would build up that that would be very natural but we're called to live supernaturally and so we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and even in a situation where it's to our own disadvantage the word rejoice means to be glad and not with a superficial hypocritical oh I'm so happy for you but the idea is that God would give you a genuine love for that person and that there would be an entering into their joy with them let me give you a cross reference 1st Corinthians 12 and verse 26 if one member is honored all the members rejoice with it and so with the analogy the metaphor of the body of Christ if one member of our physical body is doing well then the rest of the parts of our body should rejoice that one part is doing well because we're all interconnected and you feel what another part of your body feels and it's to be that way so we need to be thinking about how we are to rejoice with those who rejoice part of it begins with being in tune with their rejoicing and their success and what they are grateful for so that means that we have ears that are hope open and that we're receptive and sensitive to what's going on in the lives of others around us in other words we're not doing all the talking it requires that we do some listening so that we can hear their rejoicing and so that we can then rejoice as they rejoice and then this is just practical Christianity that this is how we are to order our Christian steps as believers now the next word as we continue to push our way through this this checklist this punch list I want to use the word sympathy that's on the second half of verse 15 and sympathy goes beyond empathy in that sympathy feels the hurt of those who are hurting it's more the idea you're down in the trenches with them you're in the hospital room with them you're at the sick bed with them and you weep with those who weep that that's what it says literally the word weep that we are to weep is a very strong word in the original language in the Greek and it means a loud expression a sorrow from pain it was used in the New Testament to weep for the dead like you attend a funeral and that is what that is a parent that is a spouse that is a loved one that has passed away and the enormous sense of loss that you feel it can be a synonym would be to wail and to lament and so when he says weep with those who weep it means that we really do get into the skin and get into the heart of the one who is weeping and we we hurt with those who are hurting first Corinthians 12 verse 26 Paul writes still using this metaphor of the body of Christ and one member of the body feeling for another member of the body and if one member suffers all the members suffer with it so it speaks to the unity of the body of Christ that we're not just all independent contractors when we come to church living independent lives that we are connected one to another and that they are nerves that go from one brother to another sister in church in the body of Christ and when there is pain in one member the rest of the members are to feel that and to rally around and to actually weep with those who weep we are to feel pity that's what the word pity and mercy means that you see someone who is in need and who is hurting and you actually feel for them it's what the word compassion also means that that you feel down and down in your intestines down in the depth of your being over the misfortune or loss that someone else feels so to put it another way we're not to be an island unto ourselves disconnected from the circumstances of other fellow believers we are not an island we we are a community of believers who are inseparably fused together by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ we are welded together one to another so that is the sympathy that is required of us and men our wise may be better at this that our wives are better at this we tend to be more project oriented we tend to be more bottom-line oriented we tend to be more detail-oriented and just get the job done whatever the casualties are along the way stepping over dead bodies to get into the office not noticing those who are hurting around us now that's just a general statement many of you men are very tender-hearted but for the most part our wives are better at this than we are and so there is not only a challenge but somewhat of a rebuke that we should feel as as we read this God will not lower the bar or lower the standard for any of our Christian lives to make it easy for us to get over that bar there's always a stretch there's always a challenge where God sets the bar and that's why we are totally dependent upon the grace of God to be operative in our spiritual eyes while we are totally dependent upon the indwelling Holy Spirit to supernaturally enable us to be as Christ I mean think about when Jesus was going through the crowd and there are hundreds of people pressing all around him and the disciples are almost having to be like bodyguards to help him get to the next place and a man named Jairus comes and says my water has passed away would you come and Jesus makes the decision to come he could have just said the word and she would have been raised from the dead but he wants to be involved and to go there and and as he's taking steps to go there he stops and says who touched me then the disciples are like looking at each other like who did not touch you I mean you're surrounded by a mass a sea of humanity but he knew the moment someone had reached out to touch the hem of His garment and the healing power that went into that person with the issue that that's an example of how you and I are to be as we go through the sea of humanity and surrounded by so many emails and phone calls and people reaching out for us to be so sensitive to people around us that when someone genuinely is reaching out we stop and give attention to that no men it's a whole lot easier for me to teach this than to live this so I want you to know this challenge is my socks completely that this is what the Lord expects of me so edify empathy sympathy if that if these were not enough of a challenge in partiality so as we come to verse 16 the beginning of verse 16 Paul lays this down that we must have the capacity to treat everyone the same regardless of their lot in life so he says at the beginning of verse 16 be of the same mind toward one another now when you first read that you would get the impression I did that this means okay we're to have the same doctrinal statement we are to be of the same theological persuasion to be of the same mindset now let me just say this we are to hold to the faith once and for all delivered to the Saints the same faith there's only one interpretation of any passage of Scripture there's the right interpretation and every other is the wrong interpretation so we are to be of the same mind in that regard but that's not what he is driving at here notice the word toward he says be of the same mind toward one another not be of the same mind of one another that little word toward indicates that we are to display the same attitude toward all other people did you get that whatever their social status whatever their economic status whatever their ethnic status we are to see all people the same the ground at the foot of the cross is level there are no stair steps there's no platform raised at the foot of the cross and so he is saying in reality we are to see all people the same and treat them the same that's what he means via the same mind toward one another we are not to snuggle up to certain people because of who they are what they have and there might be an advantage for me as I walk past other people of a lesser stature where there might not be something for me we're not to be shaking hands with one person and looking around the room while we're doing that we're to give our undivided attention to who we're talking to and not be opportunistic looking for other people this is how we are to operate in the body of Christ and in a large metropolitan area like Rome that that had over a million people which in that day and time was just an extremely large city think about just the pecking order of the different levels of society that were present in Rome and as the church gathers together and let me just say this very quickly this is the beauty of the body of Christ the church we are to come from all different levels I personally don't like churches where it looks like they're cut out with a cookie cutter and it in and and you feel like you're in a sorority house or you feel like you're in a fraternity house and it's just all one age group and it's just all one whatever that is no the beauty of the body of Christ is the diversity of people that come together and we now are fused into one body that there is no explanation for this group to be together other than the Lord Jesus Christ he is the one who brings us all together so this is the impartiality and this is a challenge this is a challenge it's a challenge for me I think it's a challenge for you for honest with each other all right let's keep pressing here number five the word equity and this is very much the same that there's some some crossover or it overlaps here somewhat but it's slightly different he says do not be haughty in mind toward one another but associate with the lowly it's a little bit of the same idea this is the ability to treat everyone the same which is what we just said but to go beyond that and to especially do so with those of humble circumstances the lowly when he says do not be haughty the word haughty really means high or lofty and to put it in the vernacular do not have your nose in the air as though you're above others don't be a snob is what are you saying again to put it into vernacular in mind do not be haughty in mind the idea is in your mind how you see yourself in relationship to others he says toward one another and by adding the one another it communicates he's talking about other believers this is one of those one another passages and we're not to be haughty in mind toward one another now this doesn't give us a free pass to be haughty towards us in the world but especially in the body of Christ there is to be such an agape love in the body of Christ when he says towards one another the idea is regardless of who you are or what you know or what you do or where you live or where you're from or what you have whatever your ministry is whatever your position is whatever your visibility is whether it's in the community or in the church or wherever do not be haughty in mind toward one another it is obviously a call for humility he then adds but associate with the lowly and the word lowly here literally means depressed as if they're in a low place that doesn't carry the idea so much as emotionally depressed that we are to associate with those who are emotionally depressed but they are in a lower place in life they they have a low standing they have been brought low in life and we are to associate with the lowly and so in the body of Christ we are to not just reach out but even reach down to those who have been knocked down or who were born down and have stayed down we are to extend gracious Christian hospitality and love to them there's something else here at the end of verse 16 and it's number six teachability he says do not be wise in your own estimation now we aren't to be wise in the things of the Lord we are to be wise in the work in what the Word of God teaches us I mean James 1:5 says if any man lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives liberally without reproach to all men so we are to be wise just not wise in our own estimation you know we can become very opinionated in areas where the scripture really does not speak and our preferences can be so elevated to a level that they almost become convictions that are imposed upon others and he says do not be wise in your own estimation and the caution here is do not be a know-it-all on every subject because you're not a know-it-all on every subject and don't come across as if one call does it all with you that that you've got an answer for everything as you're drawing from your own well nobody wants to be around a know-it-all it's a mark of humility to ask other people how they see something what do you agree with it or not it's a mark of humility to draw other people into the conversation and for them not to be held as a captive audience for you to unload all of your opinions on everything nobody wants to go hunting with someone who shoots at everything okay you don't have to be shooting at everything as you walk through life and as if you're wise on on every subject especially as you are drawing from really your own thoughts because the scripture has not necessarily spoken at this point now that's somewhat subjective to know where to draw this line I'm very opinionated on a lot of things and if I want your opinion I'll give it to you so this is just a caution for someone even like me to be mindful of what others have to say and what they had to contribute in a conversation especially if it's wisdom in my own estimation well let's keep going here I have two more verses for us to look at today just to give you some sense of hope that there that the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train coming at us but but there's there there's the other side for us to get out of the tunnel number seven passivity now I know as soon as you hear the word passivity you probably respond like I do and it's like well who wants to be passive well I don't want you to be passive but we need passivity I looked up the word in the dictionary to give me the green light that okay to use this and passivity means acceptance of what happens without having to retaliate and without an active response now don't think of passivity as in the negative like you're just a couch potato think of passivity is the is the self-control of not having to retaliate when something is done against you so look at verse 17 a he says never pay back evil for evil to anyone and when he throws out to anyone he's opening the lens here not just to believers but even to unbelievers and this is speaking of a personal vendetta now I need to make a differentiation here in the Old Testament it says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and I believe in that and what that means is that the punishment fits the crime and if the idea is is if I knock out your eye I need to replace your eye now that is on a civil level when he's talking here is on a personal level so in other words this is if you have suffered an injury let's say while we're sitting here can't some pickup truck drives through that window and comes crashing into herbs house I don't know who in the world would drive a pickup truck but anyway comes crashing through the window and the guy says well I'm not gonna pay for anything that's on you I think you have a right to take someone like that to court and to hire an attorney and depressed you know to sue and there'll be charges to be pressed and to call the police and to have him write it up that's perfectly legitimate to have litigation like that and i-49 a tooth for tooth but it would be wrong for you to then walk over and for you just a co the guy with your with your fist and then go upstairs and get one of your golf clubs and just start beating the the hood of his car that would be wrong for you to carry this out on a personal level it needs to be carried out through the government officials that God himself has put in place which we'll look at in a couple of weeks in Romans 13 so we need to understand this in verse 17 on the level in which it is intended to be understood this is on a personal revenge personal retaliation no never pay back evil for evil to anyone if your neighbor comes over to your house and saws down your tree you are not to go back over to his house and sawed down his tree to retaliate never pay back evil for evil so to put this in just modern-day Street language he's saying if someone does evil to you do not get even if you get even you're coming down to their level do not retaliate do not seek revenge jesus said in Matthew 5 verse 39 do not resist an evil person but whoever slaps you on the right cheek turn the other to him and first Thessalonians 5:15 see that no one repays another evil for evil so there is a glory in being willing to suffer a wrong that done against you there is a glory in suffering unjustly when a crime or an evil has been committed against you there there have been times that people have have have done me wrong and it is very much a temptation to respond in like manner and that does not honor the Lord and that does not glorify him we have to not respond evil for evil so still in verse 17 number 8 honesty and I'll just tell you this it could be morality I'm trying to decide what's the best all-inclusive word he says respect what is right in the sight of all men and all men again refers to not just believers but even the world the watching eyes of the world he says respect what is right and the word respect here means to take thought for and the ESV translates it give thought to do the word right here is such a inclusive word that there's it's hard for just one word to summarize what this one word means it's translated into my new American Standard as right it's a Greek word Kalos that I'm going to give you a list of synonyms and it's it's it's it's a mortgage this is a more generic word that encompasses a lot and it's just hard in the English language to give just one word that's an umbrella over the whole but these synonyms would be included in this that which is good proper honest honorable fit as defined by the Word of God and is in the will of God so you you need to elevate in your mind what is right in the side of all men John Wooden at UCLA used to have the do right rule on the team and he just told you know everyone from Lew Alcindor to Walton just do what's right that kind of covers the whole field doesn't it just do right and that's a little bit of the idea not to secularize this but to elevate and to have high thoughts of what is right and that will as you elevate what is right that there will be a doing of what is right and so Paul wants us to commend ourselves before even non-christians by doing what is right to do good things so even as you're in business dealings you may have a legal advantage but what is that really the right just because you have a loophole are you doing that person right if you gave your word for something well this leads us now to the last of the nine that we'll look at today and it's in verse 18 and it's the word harmony harmony the ability to get along with others to be a peacemaker and to not be needlessly argumentative and not to be needlessly offensive I mean there's some churches I can go preach in and before I can get to my car in the parking lot so body's trying to pick an argument with me over some little footnote in the message bypassing the fifty truths that were said like you missed dotting one I and and people like that are a detriment to the body of Christ there a black eye to the body of Christ they don't know how to get along with other people in a gracious manner so verse 18 says if possible as far as it depends on you be at peace with all men now the idea there Paul acknowledges you're not going to be able to be at peace with all men but as far as it's up to you be at peace with all men if there is a lack of peace that's on them not on you to be at peace with all men the idea is you really go into things looking for points of common agreement not looking for points of common disagreement in maturity immediately goes to the fly in the ointment maturity looks for the good in others and affirms others and notice he says at the universe 18 with all men and again the emphasis is beyond not just those within the body of Christ but extending out into the world do not be exasperate 'uncle you know how some people just have the gift of disagreement that's their spiritual gift and they know how to pick a scab until it becomes major surgery and all this was was a scrape all this was was what we'd say with our kids and uh oh and put a little pink bandaid on it but you wanted to shoot a mosquito with a cannon and you wanted to so blow this up to where we need to now have the Nicene council deliberate on this again whether this is heresy or not and it's not so this isn't the virgin birth so as far as it is possible as far as it depends on you be at peace with all men jesus said in Matthew 5 verse 9 blessed are the peacemakers there there is the favor and the mercy and the blessing of God that rests upon the head of the person he knows how to let something go and be at peace with another person that this does not need to be a range war Jesus also said in mark 9 verse 50 be at peace with one another so men this is these are verses that that we need to hear I mean we live in Texas and there's a certain macho with the Texas Rangers and and and you know staking out our ranch and putting up the barbed wire and any rustlers that come on our land and and yea we can defend threats to us but there is a mindset that is not always healthy that carries over as we live our Christian life so I'm gonna stop right here and I I hope that that this is helpful for you and your Christian life I guess the last thing really to say by way of application our flesh will always do the opposite of this this is not what comes natural it has to come supernatural and only Christ living in me can reproduce this kind of fruit in in my life as you think about each one of these obviously any one of these could be taken to an extreme this is not saying we're to become a doormat and that people can just run all over us this is not saying that we cannot rebuke or reprove this is not saying that we should not go to a brother who's entangled in sin but this is saying that one on one as we enter relate to one another in the body of Christ the fruit of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and gentleness and self-control really needs to mark my walk with the Lord and and just so you'll know state the obvious I need this more than anyone else in this room today so this is my Bible study for me and if any of this splashes on you then good so Kent let me toss the ball over to you any questions any thoughts do we do we have any questions and yeah start starting here in the questions we had herbs house and min thank you for coming in anyone have a comment and incite a question Steve there are a lot of we have some good questions here but there are these nine attributes characteristics you just went over it's a lot to remember can you sum up can you if we could just walk out of here with a summary in our mind what how would you sum up a mindset or a characteristic that we need to carry with us that really would play out through all of play out all of these well to try summarize this and just put a tight bow around this put this on the back of a matchbook is two words love others hmm and this is so other oriented and we are so naturally self oriented this is others oriented and the word love would really be the umbrella over over all of this and that really begins at verse 9 where he says let love be this really becomes a delineation of what love is to be and and these are really more than distinctives some of these are in imperative verbs where it's really a duty a responsibility on our part but we need to walk out of here loving others is self-denial loving others okay so here's that's the shortest answer I've ever given well what that's good I mean that's good that's a summary so here's a specific one a difficult one how does a wife handle being persecuted from her supposed Christian husband for her conservative Christian views by burning her books by burning her Bible literally and demanding she leave her church after 10 years he doesn't attend yeah I mean that takes the wisdom of Solomon man to know how to respond to that first of all he's not a Christian if she is in reality a Christian and if she is going to a Bible teaching Church now if she is going to some wacko health wealth prosperity church that really is a cult then you know he actually may have good reason to be a little upset now obviously that's going and to such an extreme that's bizarre I mean I would like if I was in in a pastor's office I would want them both sitting there and I would like say so what are these books here burning I'm in are these Kenneth Copeland books well good for you for Bernie here's some gas I'll help you but you're burning the Bible for heaven's sake that's that's a that's wrong and I would want to I just need more information like what are these books that you're burning and what church are you forbidden to go to so it's hard and to give me one sentence where I need to know more of what's behind the curtain to know how to respond but all things being equal if this is if he has no grounds to be doing this you know that's abusive behavior you know and you know that really may call for a separation yeah I'm not saying divorce but that really may call mmm separation until until this this man can get unplugged mm-hmm another question if I've been wronged by an associate pastor at my church and forced out of teaching and leading because of my views my conservative reform views he's very pragmatic how do I deal with that and find another church and worked through that DZ he goes on and said do I just forget it and try to get back into teaching and approached him to smooth it out or you say find another church find another church I mean if you're not allowed to teach the full counsel of God then something's wrong here now I understand not every church is sympathetic to reformed theology and you're gonna have to you know preserve the unity of this church and so you can't just go in here and just blow up the building again I need more info Meishan not just what you taught how you taught it should you have really been more gracious yeah should you have been more patient mm-hmm who are you being sarcastic etc maybe the associate pastor had reason to say hey you need to cool your jets on the other hand maybe you've been handcuffed from teaching the Bible and maybe he is pragmatic and maybe he is semi Pelagian any and and and and and you know really has such a shallow understanding of the Word of God I mean my question is why would you want to be in a church like that mm-hmm I would want to be in a church that teaches the full counsel of God mm-hmm so I would even need to know more so why do you go to church there mm-hmm sure I mean does this involve because your grandmother went to church there is it because you like the music is it because your wife has friends there I mean I need more information you know to give a definitive answer another question these are good good questions as fabulous and often difficult to apply here's the question where do you suggest we start start with what with applying this in our lives well you need to have a come-to-jesus meeting in your heart you know I think it really begins now that the word has been taught it begins in prayer and asking God to do a couple things one to to show you where you have been lacking in these areas and to show you where you know that that's not your natural tendency and also for that's where it begins and to confess that to the Lord and to repent and then in prayer to ask God to integrate this into my my soul and into my mindset into my psyche so that this becomes a part of me I would even suggest possibly even memorizing these verses and and certainly you you could I mean make a photocopy of this page out of your Bible and go back and underline and underscore and be interactive with it and then to be consciously aware throughout the day as you interface with people who can be a challenge to put this into practice I mean I think that's where I would would begin all right here's a hundred-mile-an-hour fastball question you want this one should we ask Richard mile-an-hour fastball I can hit it further because it's the velocity that's what you really think yeah yeah I don't have to generate no no a hundred yeah okay Nolan Ryan should we as Christians protest against our governor for opening up our state from Washington I don't think so for opening up our state all four four four four no well I think they meant for not opening up the state Oh for not opening up the state now that would be the hard one you know I think that we're gonna get into this in two weeks with Romans 13 so maybe wisdom would be for me to defer to her that's a tough one yeah that that is a tough one you know my my my boys have a good saying they say to me I get worked up on certain issues sometimes and they say dad save your gunpowder you know like that really was not blowing up the entire Alamo because one little brick was you know how to sorts wisdom is really not shooting a mosquito with a cannon and choosing your hills wisely that you die on now if if I'm a small business owner like Kent you're a small business owner and I'm told I cannot operate my business now this this becomes personal and this becomes real and I think that there are points that you can cross a line I think we just need to wait in two weeks because it's just right around the corner okay and then then the whole state will be opened up and it won't be an issue okay we got one minute can't let me see do we best love those who hate and persecute us by sharing the gospel with them yeah amen absolutely now I do think that there are each situation is unique and there are times that you do wisdom is to build a bridge to someone who's persecuting you and and you can almost provoke them to anger unnecessarily is is if you respond by jamming a gospel tract you know through their mailbox into their front door I mean you might be better served to have a few gracious words to them before and I would almost ask would you give me permission to share with you what's been the most important thing to happen in my life and that's a part of being a peacemaker however the greatest thing you can do for another person is share the gospel with them so I'm in total agreement with that it's not the what it's the how so we need to be mindful of the how but the what yes and then the second greatest thing you could do for another person to be to pray for them third greatest would be to live out the reality of Christ before them well minutes it's a it's a clock I can't tell you how thankful I am that you have gotten in your pickup and driven here to be with us today for this Bible study so appreciated we'll be here next Thursday morning 7 o'clock and we'll finish out Romans chapter 12 which has been a great chapter and for those of you watching I'll be here with Kent tomorrow morning at eight o'clock Central Standard Time four steadfast hope as will be in the book of Philippians so thank you for joining us today may God God's grace and your life proved to be all sufficient it is all sufficient may you experience the fullness of that as you love others this day god bless you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: OnePassionMinistries

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Length: 66min 23sec (3983 seconds)

Published: Thu May 14 2020