Study of Romans Pt. 10 - Men's Bible Study by Rick Burgess - Oct. 24, 2018

[Music] [Applause] let's go ahead and let's get started and we'll open up with a word of Prayer Lord thank you for today thank you for the opportunity to gather together Lord and just to unpack your word and lord I pray that each and every one of us today well right now just kind of clear out all the clutter and all the things that we may need it may even be dealing with the rest of this day just push all that side for us to listen to what you have to say through your inspired Word to us and what I pray then we take that and we apply it to ourselves and and Lord just continue the process of being refined and sanctified in the name of Jesus we pray amen all right so for those who they were man Church Wednesday night I mean I'm sorry Sunday night we had another great time together the next one will be coming up in January James McDonald will be coming to challenge us and be with us and I hope that you'll start making plans now with the schedule the last Sunday of January for you to be with us for the next man church and then after that we'll go into another round of Bible studies what we're going to do if you're joining us for the first time either listening to this on our podcast or watching it on CR TV the archives are watching it on the YouTube channel whatever the case may be if you're joining us for the first time we're actually finishing the book of Romans we started that in the last session before man church we're going to finish that now for some of you this is continuous so it's not a big deal and then once we finish this we're going to jump into the book of James so that's going to be the things that are going to be coming up here over the next several weeks together and then on into you know the only time you'll see we will get into the holidays during all this so there'll be you know some times that we may not get together on my vacation at the end of the year but we will just continue to go through this and get as far as we can get until the next man church when it when it starts on the last Sunday in January okay so if you have your Bible or something with your Bible only let's go to Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 this is really an exciting chapter of the Bible because certainly we've enjoyed going through that you know some of the history that Paul has talked about we've gone through some of the parts of this book that where people have different theologies and some of the denominational things last week we went into you know the rejection of the Jews except for the remnant of Jewish Christians and then the wild branch of the Gentiles grafted in and all of that has been you know informative I hope you've gotten a lot out of it I certainly did but but this is one of those chapters today and one of those those moments in the Bible where the the probably the most important and most profound question is presented by God through whomever the writer is inspired by the Holy Spirit and asking the question are you really saved I mean can you really say not by what you said or some ritual that you followed can you look at your life and truly say I see evidence in the transformation of my life that the power of the Holy Spirit the power of the Resurrection it's not just a spark that came into our spirit it's a raging fire and have you now been consumed with the raging fire that is the Holy Spirit transforming everything about you and so this is this is going to be and if you want to look for me personally on the call that I think God's I got on my life this is the thing he's been pounding on me about this chapter is right in the center of what I feel like is God's call on my life as a teacher and as a preacher is chapters on Romans chapter 12 it's going to be incredibly convicting and what we have to do is to assess ourself as the Apostle Paul has told us over and over and asked the uncomfortable but incredibly important question am i part of the faith am I truly part of the faith so it chapters 12 through 16 where we're going now you know we've already things that we've looked at prior to this we talked about what God has done for us and and then now the question is presented by Paul through the rest of the book of Romans is what must we then do in response to that in other words we do not try to be good so that we'll be saved but we must be saved so that we can then begin to be good and this is a thing if you've been in here for the three years we've been getting after this you've heard us take this theme and bang on it and bang on it and bang on it and is we we certainly don't do anything to earn our salvation but it is the power of salvation and redemption and reconciliation that should absolutely radically change everything about us and then what we become is the result of true salvation it's not something we earned but certainly and to say otherwise guys and I don't want to I don't want to sugarcoat it to say otherwise is blasphemy like we said I don't know if it was last week the week before and I got an email on it when when we talked about the truth in here the reason why I don't have any problem looking at someone who is completely living in perpetual sin and I had the person say what does perpetual sin mean I thought that was seven explanatory but what that means is you're not having stumbles in your life that you're correcting you're not getting past sin that used to own you and now you're taking on a different sin you're a person that claims they've and can't encounter Jesus Christ and nothing about you has changed you're just like the world the sins you've always had are still there there's no victory over them whatsoever and you're not stumbling being convicted and correcting it and then being sanctified you're living as if nothing has ever taken place in your life is if you said there was something that you did and and and the Bible keeps talking to those human beings and this is in one of those places were all the different denominational and theological disagreements they all cry and still try to answer this problem they've all been they've all been blown away by what do we say about people who claim that they're a member of the church and they claim they've experienced Jesus but they've never changed what do we what do we say about these people and so what you find is you'll find the Methodists say well they fell from grace you'll find more people who are more of a the Baptist's theology along that line they would say well this person never was really saved you'll have Calvinists say where they're not part of the elect you'll have the Church of Christ saying they've maybe they weren't baptized right you know you get into all these things but every single situation that you may come up with they're all saying the same thing it's impossible for somebody to be saved and that like this so what's wrong with them so Paul takes on this question that he now says this is what it should look like it's our response now to God's mercy look he didn't even wait chapter a chapter 12 verse 1 I appealed to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy a very unpopular word and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship so so right out of the gate Paul says look I want to I want to say I appeal to you by the mercies of God meaning it is God's mercy but now we should present ourselves in response to God's mercies our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship Paul now moves from God's initiative to our response because of God's unfathomable love and in light of the mercy which characterizes the discussions that we had in chapters 9 through 11 Paul boldly appeals now to all of us reading this to offer our lives back to God as spiritual worship to present ourselves as a never-ending spiritual response to his mercy to be holy and I love this word acceptable acceptable meaning if we're not holy then it's not acceptable we see throughout the Bible that that God says I mean remember the day we're in here we talked about that God is even saying that one of the prophets I don't even like your songs because the way you're living and you coming here gonna sing some praise and worship song to me I I don't I don't want to hear you sing that song how many times do you see them saying you bring me these sacrifices but I know how you're living and I know who you are I reject the sacrifice and and I really think that you know if you look if you look at this it's really kind of incredible to think about that God would look and say to us is what Paul is saying let's live in a way that doesn't make God look bad somebody says so that's all God can do you don't seem any different than anybody else so why in the world should I be interested in what took place in your life because I don't see that it had any impact on you whatsoever and it's not about earning salvation this is the response to God's mercy it was I was shown a video just yesterday about there was there was a couple that were they were in a situation where they had been praying and praying and praying about you know one day hopefully being able to have a baby and they were not able to have the baby and they start trying to be considered you know for adoption of course the process is what you you you first of all you know have to be approved and then once you're approved you have to actually be chosen to actually do it and they had no idea that this day that they actually had a baby waiting on them and they were in there doing it and they had been rejected over and over and over again and they've been praying and praying and praying and praying and praying and when they walked in with that baby the mother was so overwhelmed with gratitude she couldn't even stand and she just sat there kept saying thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus and they're holding the baby and she almost was afraid to even approach that they did this really happen it's happened he he has finally given me what I've been praying for and I'm overwhelmed with what gratitude I'm overwhelmed with gratitude and and what we can't do Paul says for any part of your life once you've been redeemed and you've been reconciled back to God don't you ever live another minute that you don't have gratitude that you're not constantly saying my life is now a thank you for the grace of Mercy for what you've shown me and and don't miss the word what sacrifice a living sacrifice you know what that means you may not be able to do anything you want to do you won't do anything that would bring shame to God you know Paul talks about all time I might even have the freedom to do some things but I don't mean I should do it because it can be misunderstood a very shame to Christ I'm not going to do it because ultimately my goal is to live in a way that brings glory to Jesus only thing good about anybody in this room if you've truly been reconciled is Jesus that's it and Paul says we should live our lives with that attitude he moves on into the second verse listen to this not to be conformed but to be transformed do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal your mind that by testing you by testing you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect now think about that bottom line on this first is you've heard it many many times what Paul says yes until until Christ returns or we die earthly death he said now you're moving into this this now taught lie that you must walk you are going to be living in the world but you cannot become of the world you can't he says the bottom line is this is you now have to be transformed and never conformed to the world or look anything like the world now you're in the world and I've had people say and I've never been confused about this saying well why does John C 3:16 say for God so loved the world but then Jesus say is to be to love the world is to hate him well you have to understand on John 3:16 what he really is saying if you get the right translation is for God so loved the people of the world he loved the people of the world but we don't love the things of the world you know this is getting back to because the the world is fallen it says the Holy Spirit transforms us as we resist to conform meaning we are going to resist and then the transformation of our minds and our spirit must happen now this thing about the mind is something that has overlooked a lot of times and I I've had this happen to my own life but let me just let me just lay this down we certainly are part of our spirit being transformed in our spirit is justified but there's a sanctification process there must be the transformation of the mind and the way we think because it is the foundation of true change you got to think differently you-you-you got you've got it you've got to now take on the mind of Christ as well what did Jesus say he said you know what is the greatest commandment love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength and with all your mind your mind and you think about this all the time the transformation of the mind why that's the reason why you see the Bible always talking against drunkenness and always talking about you know pharmaceuticals anything or anything we allow to alter our mind then opens us up to what the world think about it I don't know how many of you here might struggle with that I certainly did and when I look back at when I allowed my mind to be altered and my mind was not transformed by Jesus Christ I found myself being drawn into and participating in sin and many times I look back and go man my mind had been right I would have done that you know what you wake up the next day and you got clarity of mind you go man I didn't have clarity of mind and I and I got caught up in all sorts of debauchery that's the reason why I see our spirit certainly belongs to Jesus but our mind must belong to Jesus as well we don't think the way we used to think the transformation of our mind will change our behavior and so in if you don't think that this is not important there's a there's a very famous atheist Frederic and Nietzsche federate Nietzsche said this this is sad I might have believed in a redeemer if Christians had looked more redeemed somebody write that down I might have believed in a redeemer if Christians had looked more redeemed guys I'm gonna tell you that's the reason why I is loving and as kind as we can first of all we start with ourselves is that you may say well look I'm saved by grace I'm certainly don't have to do anything to earn salvation and you're right about that you know but there's a transformation that takes place if you've truly experienced Jesus Christ because of how powerful he is not how good we can be and that's the reason why I try to correct people you know there's so many misconceptions about the church and about Christianity because we just allow anybody to declare that they're Christian we never call them on it you want to do it lovingly absolutely but I'll get into this in a minute where he really gets pretty straightforward about this I think the problem will why the church looks so bad is worse we're so unwilling to declare that somebody is not a member of the church hey you think that guy saved you know I'll say I do not because I don't want to say that I don't want to only be so disrespectful to Jesus I'm certainly not as judge and jury if you're asking though my opinion based on the transformation that Jesus Christ has provided in my life I don't know anybody they can true encounter Jesus and live like that so what you need to do is realize that everything we do people are watching it's just like Paul said when I had somebody who after we did the the thing the other day we were talking about some of the different theological views and I had somebody travelling on social media and take issue with me and I said as I follow these follow the instructions of the Apostle Paul I wish you and I will talk about this in private because the lost are watching the lost are watching and if they see you and me out here publicly having some disagreement on something don't have anything to do with where sometimes we get saved or not you know you and I both are called to make disciples and to teach teach people all that Christ has commanded us you agree with that yeah well then we talked about that publicly now these are those secondary things we sit around at lunches and talk about just cuz we want to sound smart or will you think you've discovered something the Bible there's somebody else that discovered and if I could just get your theology I could become a first-class Christian like you let's take that off to a private place but let's don't do that in front of the children let's don't do that in front of lost because Paul says what don't engaging and confusing conversations and debates in front of the lost because it confuses them so I'll have another thing if we see somebody that is sending a confusing message concerning Jesus don't be afraid to say that's not what the Bible says what this person is doing I'm certainly not their judge and jury but I can tell you biblically this is why that doesn't look like Jesus and then with each other we come to each other and say hey Burgess biblically what you did today didn't know my Jesus and then you show me biblically where where that is true and you know what I have to say thank you so much for loving me enough remember I remember that part about love see we've let the world also talk about this and this is the adversary trying to be so slick I just noticed it with one of my my brothers it was teaching on Jesus and the young rich ruler well in the Gospel of Mark and Mark who interviews Peter about these events and the Gospel of Mark this is covered and two other Gospels been in the Gospel of Mark it says that when the young man came up to Jesus and says you know teacher which already shows he thinks that that end is call him by teacher what must I do you know to have salvation and then Jesus says well you know what the commandments say don't do this do this no he just said I've kept all that and he says and then it says but then Jesus looked at him and he loved him he looked at him and he said he loved him but you like one thing first of all this guy had said that he didn't have any idols but jesus knew he did and it was his possessions first of all the guy said he kept the thing about having no autos but he did really happen because he had a novel it was his possession and what Jesus did is he went to that individual why because he loved him and cared that he got it right and says this is an issue between you and me and if you would resolve this issue then you would truly follow me and it says the young man walked away and he was sad because he had a lot of stuff and Jesus said but your stuff is your problem does that mean stuff is a problem it doesn't I mean it was a problem for him he might look at me and say Rick until you humble yourself because you and I both know that you're too prideful and when you become more humble if you'll deal with that then you can follow me but don't miss it said Jesus identified his problem in his lack of devotion to Jesus he identified the problem because he loved him you see that's completely been lost it says in the Word of God Jesus pointed out the man's sin because he loved him but he always offered her solution so this is what we must consider is how important it is for us to live a life that looks transformed and not conformed and Paul's going to get deeper with this so then we get into Romans 12 chapter 3 I mean verse 12 verse 3 the next thing that Paul tells us after we must be transformed and not conformed he says for by the grace given to me identifying absolutely that is Grace I say to every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think was sober judgment each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned I love this it says as a Christian I must first understand the grace that I have afforded before I can even learn about what I'm supposed to do next the first and most important consequence of righteousness by faith is the existence of Christian Fellowship the church what what he's saying is for you to truly know what's going on I love the first thing he says we participate in that fellowship by the grace given everybody in this room if you're saved you've been saved by grace this means that sanctification as well as righteousness comes by grace through faith to be justified justified by grace gives freedom from the penalty of sin and to be sanctified as sanctified by grace gives freedom from the power of sin and that then opens up the way to proper petition participation and Christian Fellowship our proper participation and the church don't miss that so we have to first understand that we are justified by grace so there's the freedom from the penalty of sin what's the penalty of sin death but then to be sanctified by that same grace will then give us freedom from the power of sin brothers and sisters who may be listening please please please get this right there isn't a sin that the adversary has ever come up with that is stronger than Jesus know the reason why I saw started seeing victory and sin in my life is I was justified by grace just as Paul's porty pointing out I realized the wretchedness and my need for grace then after that took place and I was truly justified I was I was sincerely calling out to Jesus that I repent of sin and I asked for his forgiveness I asked him to make me righteous when the sanctification process started that same power that same grace as I became more intimate with Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit guess what happened I began to love him and as I began to love him I began to love him more than I loved sin and then he gave me power over there's no any sin that you still got is because you still love it more than Jesus it's no more complicating that anything you still struggle with it's because you still love it more you do Jesus because to say that you can be properly in relationship with Jesus Christ and continue to be held victim to the power of sin it's just a lot you know I was listening to you know we were talking about something other night when bill and rich and I had a chance to to go and speak together at event last Wednesday and when rich was telling that story about the professional basketball player that we never can remember his name but who told toad the image of being in heaven and here's Jesus and here Satan and here's the father and and Satan gets up first as we walk up to this councilman himself that it would be any of us walk up before God well Satan just pulls up you know an 18-wheeler and in the back of that 18-wheeler is just rolls and rolls of paper with tiny little writing and Satan takes the first one rolls it out and starts reading you realize that's all your sin and as God is sitting there considering whether you will be reconciled back to his holiness Satan saying it's not possible look at all the things he's done and as he began to read and pulled and read Jesus comes over to stops it and looks at it the father says he's with me then you made righteous so how in the world can Jesus Christ make us righteous and we still love unrighteousness so much how's that possible you know I don't know how anybody sins freely under the authority of Christ with no conviction it's not possible and I think that that we have neglected in the church in general for for driving home this point and we're letting people go on with this unfulfilled life that they just remain captive to sin for the rest of their life and somehow there still won't go to heaven that somehow what what was it said when we did the study on the spirit of the disciplines by dallas willard when he had that guy's quote i came here who said it now but he says I don't believe that Christianity has been tried and found that it's not effective he said I think it has is that Christianity has discovered discovered to be hard and never really tried it hadn't failed it's just very very few people actually ever experienced it because because once you experience it it radically changes everything and if it hasn't and I'm not afraid to say it because I'm gonna be like Jesus and love you enough it if he has it you probably don't have it now I'm not saying that you know that you should have a struggle of any kind and that you're gonna reach perfection I'm not talking about that but it brothers an interview listening right now if you have if you think you've encountered Jesus Christ and the power of the Resurrection has justified your spirit and nothing's changed I take issue that that ever happened I just I just I just got too much respect for Jesus to say that because I certainly can tell you my own life that I remember one time when I played a game that was of cultural Christianity and and all I had was a demonic faith I believed in the concept of Jesus the historical documents of Jesus but I certainly wasn't a follower of Jesus and you know what you know what cultural Christianity didn't change anything you know I might even roll over to an event every now and then but the good news was that they got to the point that I couldn't even go back in the church because I became so dark I'm thankful I don't understand people I really don't I don't no offense I'm as wretched as anybody you ever know but at least when I was living in sin I found it impossible to go into the house of God until I was ready to go in and do something about it I always wanted if my momma made me go I try to get out of it because I knew what was in there I just didn't want it I thought that the world was better than that and I knew what Jesus was gonna take away from me and I didn't want him to have it I knew enough about him on that because I saw people who actually were actually following Jesus and I thought they don't do the things I do and I don't know that I want their boring life but what I didn't understand is their life was much more fulfilling than mine ever was and now that I've experienced that I feel like an idiot that I ever thought otherwise but you don't know that till it happens you don't know that until it happens I will tell you anybody who is sitting there a methodical perpetual sin trying to say that they're a follower of Jesus Christ getting up and pull pits standing up and speaking at conferences I'm telling you those people are wretched those people are wicked those people are evil and you know what they are they're false prophets that's what they are because when I was living in sin I certainly tell people I was saved but you could have never drugged me up to some pulpit that like I was gonna be speaking on his behalf I always believed I didn't even really believe I saved deep down but when you asked me if I believed in Jesus I say yeah but as we as we'll find out in James so did the demons and they certainly haven't been transformed by by just their belief in Jesus so the next thing that Paul talks about is the Christian community Romans chapter 12 now verse 4 and 5 for as in one body we have many members and the members do not all have the same function now listen to this next verse so we though many are one body in Christ but individually members one another one of another meaning yes we're all one community but inside that community we get real specific because God made everybody in this room unique there's not another one like you and let's be honest including me I think we're all thankful there's not many of people like me it may be the end were ending for one body but he said just as the body has different members inside that body we're all extremely unique now let me tell you something but you better hear me on this and this is important we are not all called to the exact same role inside the body but let me be crystal clear there's no such thing as a call to do nothing some people think they're calling the churches to not do anything you know I'm not called to that hey let me ask you said what are you called to well not that well tell me what it is then because you're not called to nothing everybody's called to something and it may not be my call but you better figure out what yours is because there's no such thing as encountering Jesus Christ to him and looking to you go go over on the bench some people I just don't want to do anything you realize that call didn't exist some people say well you know we all got different calls that's right so what's yours well yeah well I'm not called to go on this trip but then what do you call - well I'm not called to be a sensitive teacher well you caught it I'm not called to go help with that thing the church needs what are you cultic i'll not called to that you know if you won't have fun with these kind of people say oh you know what your property culture to give sacrificially to the others that are working and you'll find that ain't their call either but but there-there is no such thing as a call of no call does that make any sense okay he says so the members should compliment one another we should not compete but we should complete and that's a little corny but I kind of liked it I drug it out of some commentary that's almost too corny for me but it does make sense we don't compete with gifts but our gifts should complete the body okay that's part of me did I got a little just little bit core no matter but he says he says we aren't like a body we are the body of Christ that's important we're not when it's not like we're somewhat like a body no we are a body we are a body of Christ for those who have claimed to now be redeemed by Jesus this is this is good is it is it it's no coincidence that when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he summed it up with two things what love of God and love of neighbor love of God and love of neighbor love God and then if you love God the way you should then you love your neighbor and that must be put above programs methods structure of church government Sunday School material the good of the church this is good this is great and this is a human problem the good of the church should always be above the desires of self it ain't about you it ain't about me it's about the church and Jesus loves the church He gave His life for the church and if the church isn't important to you that's a problem he loves the church but the good of his church supersedes anything that's good for you you're here they spend before they want to find a church that does exactly what they want them to do now here's an idea how about let's ask this question I hate to go John Kennedy here let's ask this question on the spiritual saying when's the last time you said what can I do for the church as opposed to what the church can do for me what do you do for the church name one thing you do for the church if it's nothing then something's wrong you must have one of these at the call of no call I mean what how about a church might get better if people who sit around complaining all the time actually says why don't we do something to make it better why don't I become an incredible member of the local body of the church and why don't I come in and say what do y'all got needs to be done I'm not doing this to earn my salvation I'm doing it because of my salvation this gonna be my worship I'm gonna get out here and be part of this because Jesus Christ said as he inspired the Apostle Paul should be I have gifts somewhere what are you using it for let me tell you if you're using your gifts for the world and not for the church it ain't worth a flip it don't mean anything hey I use my gifts to go out and make people better athletes do you make them better follow the Christ why don't you come down to the church and take these same young people and disciple them to be followers of Jesus and if y'all want to do something goes out throw a bunch of balls around that's fine but if all you're doing is teaching them how to try to throw better how to hit better how to tackle better how to shoot better how to how to do whatever better and you had taught them how to be a better follower of Jesus it don't mean anything now you just got a bunch of lost people they're good athletes why not take that and say I'm gonna do this for the church and I'm gonna use this to try to tell you to open the door it's a point these men and women to Jesus whatever you may be coach so what I mean it's so I mean just like I said y'all could say the same thing to me so what Rick if God has talented you has made you talent enough to be able do this thing you do for a living if you don't want anybody for Jesus what good is it it's supposed to be designed to do something for his church the body and we'll talk about that a little bit here so the next thing is Romans 12 6 to 8 look what he says next about this having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us let us use them if profit of prophecy and proportion to our faith if service and our serving the one who teaches in his teaching the one who exhorts in his exhortation the one who contributes in his generosity the one who leads with zeal and the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness so what do you say now is I want to list for you these different gifts and I want to talk to you about whatever it is you think God's gifted you to do do it well and I like this did you know this the Greek word that Paul is using that we translated to English to Greek I didn't know this this is great it's actually a different form of the Greek word of grace now think about that so take the word gift and say grace if God has graced you to be able to do this then do it well if God has graced you in prophecy then do this if God has graced you as a teacher if he's graced you and this graced you and that gives you a whole different feel done it because the only gifts we ever had it from His grace it's not because we came up with so oh and he says spiritual gifts I love this it says are the the spiritual gifts then we'll show in the body the how much grace everybody has actually received he says spiritual gifts are the materialization or the embodying of grace meaning when you see people gifted to do anything for Jesus it's because of God's grace when you see somebody changed I can't believe so once those is the teacher now you'd say that about me wouldn't a Burgess start teaching by the grace of God Wow somebody that they said the church need this and they financed the whole thing when they start doing that I've never known them to give it down to anybody by grace they've been changed by the power of grace see grace has power it changes people and and he goes on to say this he says now it may differ based on needs within the body this is good this is important and this is a human thing that messes everything up the gifts differ based on the needs within the body but they do not differ based on value this is so typical of human beings now we want to choose what gift we want and we did and we decide that some gifts have more value than others you know no they don't you know what I saw here which was very interesting to prove that point on the lift the list of gifts if you won't write this down to if you want to see the list of the different gifts obviously we have Romans chapter 12 because I'm reading it now but make this note to first Corinthians 12 and for time I can't go through all this in Ephesians 4 first Corinthians 12 in Ephesians 4 some gifts seem to be natural talents strengthened by the spirit others appear as unique abilities unrelated to talents possessed before conversion so perfect example we just talked about I've been able to do what I do for a living long before I converted to Jesus but after after I was was converted and I became a follower of Jesus already had this gift and then Jesus told me how to use it for his kingdom he said but other gifts people never send them in their life's ever before and then the conversion brought the gift you understand the difference when they received the Holy Spirit something happened in them that they had never seen in their life before I've got a new gift what what just some natural ability that I now I'm using to advance the kingdom I never had this ability and some of you in this room I'm sure have experienced that I certainly have as well and so what he's saying is there their spirit to get their spiritual gifts and they exist for the spiritual work maybe of serving and building up the body of Christ this is very interesting the first spiritual gift that he mentions is prophecy now keep in mind and when they talked about somebody was a prophet especially from the New Testament all this was not as much as people who can predict the future a lot of people think if you have the gift of prophecy oh you could see the future not necessarily and rarely rarely is that true what it really they're talking about this is a person and you know these kind of people are people say when they hear somebody even teach and preach that person is an evangelist that person is a teacher that person is a preacher that person is a prophet now that doesn't mean this person when they when they get up and speak that they're telling you what's coming in the future what it means is this they have insight into the meaning of God's message for a particular circumstance and they're able to articulate it and apply it to the audience in this moment that's a prophetic word meaning God has a message for this time for this group of people I'm his I'm his messenger I have the message and here it is that's what they were talking about about the gift of prophecy more than being up to look at the future the the Prophet does not have divine insight on every matter rather the word from a prophet is dependent and always guided by the Holy Spirit and it must always be this important guys looking for false prophets it must always be in accordance with Scripture for a particular situation if anybody ever gets up and said their prophet instead of their saying stuff that ain't in the Bible and it doesn't job what the Bible says that's not a prophet that's a false prophet hey listen up you ain't never gonna spot a false prophet if you don't know the word one of the most dangerous things any human being can do even after you've experienced justification is to not be able to discern the teachings that are in the Bible because anybody can lie to you manipulate you there's no way for you to know somebody's not telling the truth if you don't know what the truth is right then we talked about the counterfeit thing when we talk about secret service how they train them they don't show them fake money they show them real money so they become so accustomed to seeing real money when they see a counterfeit they recognize it because they know what the real thing looks like that's how we are looking for false prophets not I'm going to show you a bunch of false theology I'm going to show you real theology and when you know the truth of Scripture then when somebody says otherwise you can recognize a counterfeit amen so he talks about this now the second thing listen to this you talk about spirit that you know when they starts doing the countdown to spiritual gifts prophecy comes first get what guess what second is serving now you wouldn't think any of us would put it second serving is in the number two slot he mentions serving which is any form of help but a head of him talking about teachers and then theology professors he says that that a gift that we should be desiring and nobody in here wants is the spiritual gift of service he puts you right after prophecy but what will we say I'd rather profit Wow well there's prestige with it which by the way there isn't but we think there is I Got News for you a guy who comes there a woman or whatever who has a prophetic word from God to a group of people in a situation there's no more valuable than the person do you realize we took Stephen and gave him what the job of serving in the early church they said go get me top-notch guys that are above repute to go out and take care of the widows and go out and take care of the orphans and be sure everybody's fed and has food sets up the dinners cleans up the fellowship hall and somebody said I'll go get Stephen Stephen so you don't want to be like Stephen Stephen who while he was being stoned it said that Jesus stood up at the right hand of the Father and he said received my spirit and he preached was search fervor that people were plugging their ears and grinding their teeth and they wanted to kill him and he looked up and said forgive them don't hold this against them I still hope they're saved by the way he had the gift of serving as well and nobody wants that you know it's just like I've noticed and we set up the the hierarchy of the church we've taken deacons and we've turned them into church royalty when really deacons are supposed to be the lead servers they're not Church royalty they're supposed to be cleaning up the mess they're supposed to be taking care of the widows and take care of the orphans and finding out they need they're the ones that when the the message is over in the fellowship hall and we had a we had Wednesday night they should be cleaning it up but what we said oh no I'm a deacon that means I get to make the decisions at the church no you don't you're the lead surfers now let me ask you if you really got that right would you anybody write your name down they start asking for people to be nominated you know so but but but how about Paul lists that is number two of the spiritual gifts is serving so then he goes on you can read the others talking about the gift of teaching and talking about the the gifts of theology and all of these spiritual gifts as you look through them they're all none of them is as above another one in value now now here we go now Paul's about to make a turn that is going to be very counter culture to what we have now because I think sometimes we get in a point where we would rather be liked than to be right well as long as you don't declare us mean we'll compromise anything just as long as nobody calls us mean there's nothing mean about standing for the truth now certainly you want to do it in a way that is it sanctimonious and self-righteous but look what Paul says next to those of us that claim to have been transformed by Jesus let love be genuine that's important if you look at this the word that he's using here is the word of God and you've heard this matter of fact if those who go to shades Mountain Danny talked about this not long ago agape love means what that it is it's unconditional he says so let your love be your agape be genuine and and this it means that there that you also are loving people without any hypocrisy of any kind meaning that you know you're not being fake Christian love isn't is it more like a mask it should be a faithful expression of one's intention if I love you I'm not trying to manipulate you I'm not trying to get anything out of it I'm not picking this time to love you because it makes me look good he said I want your love your agape love for each other within the church to be genuine and to be without hypocrisy but then look what's next abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good so he just talks about agape love being unselfish it commits itself to the good or or to another person regardless of cost of self agape love is is of course the kind of love that Christ had for us it distinguishes what is true from what is false so he's talking about this wonderful type of love that every one of us should have for each other and then he says but I want you to abhor which means hate fiercely evil now that this is this is this is where we really got to get this right and we're missing this a little bit of a church if we truly what he says next hold fast to what is good if we truly are to embrace the good that necessitates that we hate the opposite of good I think about that how can you truly love something if you don't hate its opposite you follow that that's why I says abhor hate fiercely what is evil and love what is good and and so if you think about that tolerance is too often incorrectly seen as love refusing to condemn evil or tolerating it when it when it lies within our power to oppose it is not love I'm gonna say that again whenever there's a chance to stand up and oppose evil and we don't do it don't ever define that as love we just talked about Jesus talking to the young rich ruler because he loved him he pointed out he had a problem with this but it also says that we should have hor we should hate fiercely anything that is evil is that what it looks like in your life in my life did you ever find yourself kind of dabbling and evil right what are you talking about I'm talking I just letting it be around you you know entertainment that is twisted and dark and you don't hate it because you actually let it into your life or you let it into your house you know some of these things we talk about I've had people and there's a process that we went through you know concerning and I'm not going to get any kind of legalistic or sanctimonious about Halloween I'm not I certainly it's a good opportunity to interact with your neighbors if you keep it in the right place and look your little kids gonna dress up as Buzz Lightyear and try to get candy from a neighbor I'm certainly not standing up saying that you're in sin and not acting is a good member of the church and if you want to use this tradition to be able to talk to your neighbors and come over the house and cook some hotdogs but I'm gonna tell you what I got a writ what the Bible does have a problem with is when you let your kid dress like a serial killer you let your kid dress like a witch you got you got your kids dressed like monsters you're decorating your house with a bunch of monsters and blood and guts and gore that's not a boring what is evil and certainly the history of Halloween is dark and twisted and I'm not saying that there's no place for you to have a version of this time together that is a that is okay I my family we finally made a decision that we couldn't we couldn't figure a way to walk that line so we don't participate in it at all now that doesn't mean that's what you're supposed to do and if you don't do it one more Christian than you I'm not saying that at all you got to seek this out for yourself but I would put it under the filter of hating fiercely anything that's dark and evil I'd let that be your guide and then you make that decision for yourself dressing your kid up as Satan is wrong dressing your kid up as a witch is wrong dressing your kid up as a serial killer is wrong you want to you want to go and be some kind of little character Cinderella and go see your family and get some candy for your kid okay but but if you can't walk that line why not using this as an example to teach your children what it looks like to be set apart to be holy to love what is good and to hate what is evil hey our neighborhood right now is turning into a bunch of a kind of a wicked place they're kind of celebrating dabbling with evil we as followers in Jesus don't do that we're not casting judgment on them but we are saying that we can not participate in that because we don't think it reflects the way God's called us to reflect this is not light this is darkness and we don't have anything to do with it why well cuz that's what the Bible said baby and and and daddy and mommy wants you to learn what we had learned let's do what the Bible says let's do what God says and hopefully it will bother us enough that we won't wouldn't put ourselves in that situation anyway and to tolerate these things it's not love and you certainly have to oppose them in a way that it's loving but to say I won't go along with it is not love Christian love in action Romans 12 10 through 13 10 through 13 love one another with brotherly affection outdo one another in showing honor do not be slothful and zeal be fervent in the spirit serve the Lord I love that rejoice in hope be patient and tribulation be constant in prayer contribute to the needs of the saints seek to show hospitality guys I mean when you see this you let's talk about the different kinds of love here it's using the the word Philadelphia and grief in Greek which is brotherly love and I love this other in here that I've never heard of before I've heard of the others but when you look at there's another word I can't say it in the Greek that says he's also using here he says brotherly love but another Greek word says I want you to show one another a devoted love a devoted lover are we devoted to each other as members of the church you know one of the things that we do this from time to time and it just kind of overwhelmed me with one of the brothers the just just the other night and we were we were having all these different conversations and I finally looked at him and I'm in it with every fiber of my being I said I'll go through anything with you I'll go through anything where if you think we need to go fight the good fight I'm in if you find yourself in a bind I'm in if you find yourself clinging you don't know how you can get through the day I'm in and you know what no you did the same thing for me I say this every time that one of my brothers comes to me in a time of need and they say you know or I come to them at a time of need and they say hey I want to thank you I said anything me all I'm doing is what you would have done if the role was reversed you do the same thing for me I hope you have those kind of friendships within the church I hope you have that kind of family and I love the list look at the list guys that he's throwing out here love one another with brotherly affection outdo one another in showing honor you've heard this said about in marriage if you really wanna have a marriage that works try to out serve each other well that also works in relationships within the church with your brothers and sisters of Christ try to say I'm gonna show you more honor than you can show me I'm not gonna be a taker I'm also be a giver you all don't always have to pander to me and worship me and show honor to me I'm gonna try to show honor to you more than you can show it to me do not be slothful in zeal where's your passion for the gospel where's your passion you know we always talk about don't be slothful and work whatever you know what Paul saying don't be slothful in zeal remember he said before that he said the Jewish people were we're zealous they were zealous for the law not for Jesus he's not saying that being zealous is wrong just be zealous for the right thing he says don't be lazy and sit around and that like that advancing the gospel and participating in the body and a big deal you know when's the last time that you did anything for the kingdom what do you get it do you you get up and think to yourself really the things of the kingdom is all that really I mean that the rest of this stuff is what I don't have any interests in I have to I have to make myself do that you need to look at your life if you find that the things of the world have your zeal I've got zeal for thee I got zeal for football zeal for hunting zeal for fishing I got zeal for making more money I got zeal for making my number I got zeal for growing my business and you don't have zeal for Jesus something's wrong you're slothful and the zeal for Jesus something's wrong that stuff's gonna bei per eyes what about stuff has eternal impact why don't you get up and work you're excited about that I got to tell your brothers that's all that drives me that's all that drives me somebody's asked me today with I was in watch the World Series there's nothing wrong with that I said there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever I just don't care about it anymore I said I've noticed that my zeal for sports has been reduced but about 70% 60% I just don't care about it in general that much so to try to get me to watch a baseball game and nearly November sure and get my attention now if y'all had it some around around August I might have looked at it the other man I mean I don't I just don't care about it it just don't mean that much to me I'm not gonna plan my day around seeing any sporting event that I don't have a dad coaching or a kid playing and that doesn't mean that that for you to care about it is the problem it's with if you care about it more then you do Jesus I'm not further along because God God's probably dealing with me about sports because I cared about it too much but I'll tell you this he's taken away my zeal for you know if a bunch of man wants everybody talk about football my can we get to Jesus I really rather talk about that were you struggling with what's going on we tell me what's tell me that massaman you've made in your faith what's going on at your church tell me what's good what's God calling you - we think God's doing with you man those kind of conversations man I could sit and talk all day long you know what my favorite thing you know my life Saturday mornings Saturday morning I get up whenever I want to most of the time I don't have to be anywhere and I roll into this little area of our room where there are we have four chairs facing each other and I sit down with my wife and we get a cup of coffee buzz box of course and we get a cup of coffee and we sit down and we open the Word of God and we'll sit there for hours and talk about Jesus for hours it is wonderful it exceeds anything else I could do on a Saturday morning I look forward to I'm time I going to bed Friday night excited but I'm gonna get up and walk in there my wife usually gives up before me on Saturdays and she's gonna be sitting in there and you know with her housecoat on and she's gonna have her coffee she's gonna have the Word of God opened up and I'm gonna ease in there getting me a cup and I'm gonna sit down there with her and we're gonna talk deep about Jesus deep I love it and it exceeds anything else I can be doing I mean it's not even close now if y'all don't think that's changing me then you don't know me very well so the bottom line is he says look he said let's don't be sluggish rejoice in hope rejoice and hope be patient in tribulation you like that one be patient and tribulation can you follow that one be patient in tribulation we talked about it before can you get to the point where you look at tribulation and say Lord what are you teaching me I'm gonna be patient hold me here until I learn what your take don't don't take me out of it until I've been refined by it have you gotten there yet oh here's tribulation the Lord hasn't abandoned us was he teaching us in this world you will face tribulation John 16:33 but when it happens be at peace and have joy in your heart in tribulation guys because I've overcome the world you know what you say in the middle of tribulation I'm patient in here because I still got you Jesus if I got you I don't really care what I'm going through you know don't remember yo Philippians 4:13 again the most misused verse in the Bible other than in Romans 8:28 I can I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me that's not what Paul says it's not some achievement verse he says I can endure all things through Christ who strengtheneth he's in jail he's dying he thinks he's lost 8lc he's lost everything for the sake of Christ he says but because of Jesus I can endure this I can endure this try that verse next time a different way that is much fun is it contribute to the needs of the Saints and seek to show hospitality are you hospitable are you somebody that likes to be around you take care of people do you go to those that are serving and say hey y'all need something I got it you ever bring them over to your house take care of them look after somebody people out there serving the Lord in a lot of a lot of bad places hey you need some you need a break you want my car we got a car we don't need anymore you want it are you hospitable to people you show hospitality do you contribute to the needs of the Saints can they have anything you have hey wherever God's moving that's where you want to be think of all the stuff Rick Burgess I'm talking to me y'all don't have to come along for this one Rick how many things have you thrown money at they did mean nothing just a lot of times all you did is go out and buy another hassle sometimes these things we call blessings ain't nothing but distractions contribute to the needs of the saints at least it's going to do so and then if they don't do with it what they say that's on them but you have about this week you contributed with the right with the right note look at 14 I'm running out of time here I can talk about this for two hours Christian love in the in relationships hate sin not people look at 14 bless those who persecute you bless do not curse them Jesus I need you here rejoice with those who rejoice weep with those who weep live in harmony with one another do not be haughty you ever heard that thing where they say pride comes before the fall that's not what it says it says a haughty spirit comes or the fall pride comes before destruction halt d do not be haughty but associate with the lowly never be wise in your own sight man Wow you how about when he says that about not to be Hall D don't you see yourself better than anybody else Adrian Rogers you ready write this quote down horribly convicting are you ready if you want to know who a man really is watch how he treats people they can't do anything for it whoa somebody somebody anybody convicted by that hey we see somebody this of influence somebody people might want to see us with or somebody might have a dollar if we need it I might better give me that promotion I need I treat him differently than the guy that can't do anything for me but Paul says that's not the way he's supposed to be as Christians to follow Jesus how do you treat the lowly how do you treat the least of these don't be holiday and consider yourself that you're better than anybody else and and how about this rejoice with those who rejoice you do that are you generally happy for people some good happens four are you like me didn't happen to me god I can't even be happy to my cousin happen to me look like weep with those who weep you know when times I saw God comes Jesus you know what he came to Jesus come on break I'm out of town this is this important sherry and I get called any time but somebody's baby dies we get called and not a ministry we won't but praise God for considering us to be able to do it with his help I'm sitting with a man whose little girl just drowned out the beach and he's sitting there and he's not he's not a believer sherry calls me says what are you doing right now so I'm taking the boys home for practice she said where are you and I said Taco Bell she says stay right there I'm coming you got to go see this man and it's already 8:30 or so at night so she'd already talked to the wife and I went in and he's back there weeping and crying and I start telling him I'll make a long story short all the things that God has to say about all this we're now 11:30 midnight on a weeknight he says well I just wish God would give me a sign and I said let me tell you something about me I'm despicable I'm not a good person at all normally I would hear about your daughter's death you know what I would have said at the Taco Bell drive-thru man that's awful and that I would order it to number two I said the fact that I've come to your house and I don't know you and I got to get up in four hours and you and I and I'll sit here with you until the Sun comes up I'm not that good a person I am your son weep with those who weep and he immediately thought well this is abnormal behavior he saw Jesus in that because he knew that I wouldn't kind of person that would do that because I wouldn't I did it because Jesus told me to and he saw that so in these situations Paul says weep with those who weep and he says live in harmony with one another then he talks about repayed no one we get in 1704 evil for evil but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all if possible so far as this is important guys so far as it depends on you live peaceably with all sometimes trouble finds you you can't get around it but it better not be on you you live it with pieces as far as your responsibility in all of it sometimes we won't let you live at peace with them they said but don't you be the one that causes the situation to go in a bad direction if there's somebody else that's fine don't let it be you you learn how to live at peace with other people as far as it is on your responsibility beloved never avenge yourself but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord to the contrary if your enemy is hungry feed him if he's thirsty give him something to drink for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good hmm all right love will always triumph over evil better wrap it up love always triumphs over evil don't ever get down in the gutter with evil retaliation is forbidden we should always work for peace we should always be a peacemaker rather than taking revenge Palka to show kindness and leave room for God to act I never thought about it that way say I want to go get somebody that's come after me and he says now you're not leaving your room for God that do something abnormal that makes that person go why aren't you punching me right now why are you not on there trashing me right now why have you not emailed me why have you not driven over here why are you not destroying me right now because I'm in your face and I'm calling you out and I'm demoralizing you what is this weird response well it may be God hey man I'm even trying to be mad at you now this Kate because I think about how terrible I am and how much God's forgiven me you man you dis act this way cuz you don't have Jesus alright there was a time I'd be punching you in the face right now I said but I'm not going to because of Jesus now he may punch you and then you'll say how far along you are you know what I mean but but but but but but what I'm saying is and how about this here here's here's the hard part you're in for this this is the one that flew all over me studying us I know we're over I'm gonna stop right here just say it but this is big I be sure you're not being obedient because you want God to get them that can't be your motivation yeah see I cannot retaliate if I know God's going to but what if God says don't retaliate and I'm gonna actually forgive them and they're gonna come to know Jesus and they're never gonna face my bended vengeance your enemy is never going to be destroyed by me because of your refusal to retaliate they actually submitted and repented you know so they not gonna get paid back mm-hmm but you know you have to remember God's not 1 pay me back either for what I did to him they offered me reconciliation don't deny there's what God didn't deny us all right bottom line as followers of Jesus Christ Romans chapter 12 screams we should look nothing like the rest of the world look nothing like the rest of the world what people should see and every one of us is something they don't see everywhere else and that's Jesus ain't nothing good about us but the world needs Jesus so let's not go out and send the wrong message let's pray thank you Lord for today I pray if there's anybody here Lord that this fall another conviction of this incredible powerful chapter in the Bible I prayed with it right now they just say Lord forgive me Lord I repent of my sin and I ask you to forgive me I don't live that way I don't see that power in my life I'd I've come to conclusion based on this this standard that I've never been justified I just say the Bible says in the sincerity of your heart Lord forgive me I submit to your authority I repent of my sin and I ask that by the power of the Resurrection you justify me do that first then you can start the process of sanctification if you need any help maybe you prayed that today or today that conviction happened in your heart just reach out to me Rick at Rick and Bubba calm and I'll start walking with you I thank you Lord for these men that are that make this a priority every week and certainly this commitment and this sacrifice has not returned void in the name of Jesus we pray amen thank you guys you

Channel: Rick & Bubba

Views: 1,309

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: burgess, bussey, romans, Bible, New Testament

Id: PO7Z6okwb9M

Length: 65min 56sec (3956 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 24 2018