(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen, okay, go ahead and keep your place there in Romans chapter 12. So here we are 12 chapters in Romans chapter 12. So keep your place in Romans chapter 12. There's a lot of different things covered in Romans chapter 12 I'm going to try to capture The main theme of the of the chapter tonight if I've done my job turn to 1st Thessalonians 1st Thessalonians while you keep your place in Romans chapter 12 and I'm just going to get right into it and start off with verse number one where the Bible reads I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world But be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God and first Thessalonians go to chapter number four? chapter number four So why is this preaching all of this preaching, you know important is What we're talking about in the first couple verses here Paul says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice And he says that you know, he wants you to to conform to that perfect will of God So what is that look at first Thessalonians 4 and verse number three? And it'll give us a clue for this is the will of God even your sanctification They should abstain from fornication then he goes on but he basically says this is the will of God even your sanctification So we know from previous chapters And previous sermons that we've preached here that I've preached here that the will of God is that all men would be saved all men Would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ But here we say that even further than that the will of God is that you would be sanctified You would be sanctified you would walk in the spirit you would you would do the things that God commands you even after salvation Okay, so that's why you know, that's your duty as a Christian is what verses number one and number two Say here if he's just number four says, you know for the perfecting of the Saints That's why God gave preachers and teachers and evangelists, right? So, you know, that's why you have you come here and you hear me, you know Yell the Bible at you so you can be perfected So you can be sanctified is what the Bible says, you know in the and I like how Paul words this in verse number one Where he says I beseech you He says so that's why you know, I'm up here and I'll get excited sometimes and And I'll and I'll get passionate about certain things because I'm I'm beseeching you To Beseech you means I'm trying to compel you I'm trying to wake you up You know, that's what Paul is begging them. You say I beseech you he's trying to compel them to be sanctified and For what reason so you can be this awesome Christian so you can say that you you've you've done it and you're the you're the best and you've figured out the Bible and You've got your life together. No because it's your reasonable service he says it's It's what's just expected of you as a saved believer at the least is what that means so I beseech you to be sanctified because it's your reasonable service and When you look at what God has done for you, it makes perfect sense that you would At least attempt to sanctify your life Right. So that's what Paul is talking about when he's beseeching them. He's trying to compel them. It's your reasonable Service flee fornication learn the Word of God practice these principles in your actual life be Doers of the word and not hearers only is what he's talking about We could go on and on, you know to not be conformed to this world Which is the opposite of the things that you will hear preached, you know from this pulpit Be not conformed to the world. It's your reasonable service. It's the least that is expected of you So think about that look down at verse number three For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think himself more highly than he ought To think so don't think that if you start to sanctify your life that you are suddenly some wonderful Christian It's just your reasonable service. He's continuing that thought But to think soberly according as God had dealt to every man the measure of faith Remember that statement for as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office So we being many are one body in Christ and every one members one of another Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us whether prophecy Let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith So we see there's a measure of faith and then there's a proportion of faith or ministry Let us wait on ministering or he that teach it on teaching or he that exhorteth on exhortation He that giveth let him do with simplicity he that ruleth with diligence He that show with mercy with cheerfulness I could go into all these different details But I want to capture the main theme of these verses right here when he's talking about, you know, these these differing gifts We all have different gifts the Bible's teaching us here. We don't all have the same gifts and thank God because The church wouldn't need you know 20 pastors the church wouldn't need you know Everyone to be an usher the church wouldn't need you know, everyone to serve in the AV ministry things like this I mean a church the body of Christ needs all different gifts and that's what God has provided He's provided men women with different gifts is what he's saying here and It's by the measure of faith or the proportion of faith. Now. What what in the world does that mean? Does anyone know? Because I don't know now, let's look at it. Okay, let's figure this out What does this measure of faith or proportion of faith mean turn to Ephesians chapter 4? I want to look at this So it says that these gifts are given to you in a certain measure Okay by a certain measuring stick basically is what it's saying in Ephesians chapter 4 in verse number 7 We're gonna go all over the Bible tonight. I'm sorry to do that to you, but I'm not really sorry to do that to you Ephesians 4 7 the Bible says but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of The gift of Christ. So if you're saved tonight You have enough grace from God to get to heaven Okay, you have enough if you're saved if you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ you have enough grace To get you to heaven. All right turn to Ephesians chapter 2 in verse number 8. You probably don't even need to turn there For by grace are ye saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God If you're saved tonight, you have at least enough faith to get you to heaven Okay, you have at least enough So your measure of your faith if you're saved is at least enough to get you to heaven That's the promise that God has made you okay that turns to James chapter 2 The Bible says that you can increase you can improve on this faith You can improve on it So, let me ask you a question if I measured your faith today. I if I had a measuring stick for your faith, and I measured it today and Then over the next two months you improved on it and then I measured it again Would it would it measure the same No, it would measure different. It would be a different measurement. Right? Look at James 2 in verse 22 What does the Bible say See that how faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect So you have enough faith Always if you're saved to go to heaven, but you can make your faith Perfect. And how do you do that? your faith wrought with your works Becomes more perfect is what the Bible is teaching. So your works matter To make your faith perfect. We've gone through this in James chapter 2 Already so we know that God gives us different gifts and we know that those gifts are Measured out by this measure of faith of this proportion of faith turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 12 Let's look at this these these gifts in a little bit more detail. All right, I Want To throw a number of concepts out there and then we'll wrap them up together. Okay in Romans chapter 12 We see this diversity of gifts Let's look at 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and start in verse number 4 in Romans chapter 12 It says in verse number 6 having then gifts different according to the grace that is given to us and in 1st Corinthians Chapter 12 in verse number 4 the Bible says now there are diversities of gifts But the same spirit so now we see another concept thrown in on top of this. Okay stick with me and There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord and there are diversities of operations But is the same God which worketh all in all but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all For to one is given by the spirit the word of wisdom he's talking about all these different gifts okay, he's talking he's gonna go through different gifts just like he did in Romans chapter 12 and he's saying but For one is to given by the spirit the word of wisdom. That's a gift To another the word of knowledge by the same spirit To another faith by the same spirit to another the gifts of healing by the same spirit To another the working of miracles to another prophecy to another discerning of spirits to another diverse kinds of tongues to another interpretation of tongues But all these worketh that one and the self same spirit dividing to every man severally as he will For as the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body So also is Christ So once again, we're all these different members of the body of Christ and we have all these different gifts But in 1st Corinthians, we see that these gifts are administered by the same spirit capital s That's the Holy Spirit Okay, so we know that if you're saved you have enough grace to get you to heaven Grace is the mechanism. God is it's the it's the Characteristic of God that he uses to give you the gift of eternal life. Okay, let's be clear about that But we know that if you're saved you have enough faith Regardless of your works, we know that you have enough faith to get to heaven You have enough of it if you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ Now your gifts that God has given you are revealed through the Spirit is what first Corinthians is telling us By your measure of faith if we tie that into Romans chapter 12 So as you strive to make your faith perfect what I'm trying to get you to understand Your faith is directly proportional with this spirit in you Okay So at the one thing you can control in your life the Bible teaches the one variable that you have to play with is your faith and How do you play with that with your works your works? rot with your faith and they make it perfect they make it stronger and as that faith gets stronger the Spirit gets stronger in you you see See, let's look at the spirit in your life. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1 say I don't believe you you just made that up Turn to Ephesians chapter 1 so right now just like you have enough grace you have enough faith You have enough of the spirit to get you to heaven No matter what if you're saved you have enough of the spirit to get you to heaven because God has put a down payment He says of the spirit on you To get you to heaven in Ephesians chapter 1 look at verse 13 In whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation In whom also that after ye believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, but let's keep going Which is the earnest the down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased? possession unto the praise of his Glory, so as your faith increases your spirit will increase You have enough of the spirit to be saved because God put a down payment that he used to seal you That's the earnest of your salvation That's a proof of eternal security by the way because God's not going to abandon his Holy Spirit He's going to you know come back for it God has actually sealed you himself Okay Turn to Acts chapter 11 So I'm trying to get you to understand this as you will be you will be as you perfect your faith You will be filled with the Holy Spirit is what the Bible teaches look at Acts 11, and let's look at this Let's see how your faith and the spirit are tied together Acts chapter 11 look at verse number 22 Then the tidings this is talking about Barnabas Then the tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church that was in Jerusalem And they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch who when he came he had seen the grace of God Was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord for he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith and Much people was added unto the Lord so you see how Barnabas his his being filled with the Holy Ghost or being full of the Holy Ghost was directly Proportional with his faith and the strength of his faith you see how that works together So if you have this variable in your life that you can control and you say hey I want you know the Holy Spirit in my life to have power to fill me up and to give me power my life well perfect your faith That's what the Bible is teaching And you can control that through your works Okay Now go to Ephesians chapter 5 Let's look at this a little bit more. Let's look at being filled with the Spirit for a couple minutes So faith and the Spirit go together Ephesians chapter 5 look at verse 18 We'll see more proof of that here the Bible says and be not drunk with wine where is in excess but on The other hand be filled with the Spirit, so he's talking about works which will perfect your faith and If you get your works right in this case, it's alcohol and being drunken If you get your works right you will be filled with the Spirit you see You see how the works here will rot with your faith make your faith more perfect, and you'll be filled with the Spirit Isn't that wonderful? Acts chapter 9 Let's look at more people being filled with the Holy Ghost Acts chapter 9 verse 17, this is when Paul has lost his sight or Saul has lost his sight And the Bible reads in verse 17 and Ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him said brother Saul the Lord even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way has thou comest hath sent me that thou mightest Receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost So Paul was a man of pretty strong faith We know that and we know that Paul throughout his life was filled with the Holy Ghost now. Here's what's interesting turn to John chapter 3 Let's just look. It's an interesting Point here real quickly John chapter 3 Let's look at Jesus and What kind of measure Jesus had of the spirit because we're given these things by measure the Bible says and it's dependent on How perfect our faith is are you following me on this? But let's look at Jesus John chapter 3 in verse 34 the Bible reads for he whom God hath sent Speaketh the speaketh the words of God for God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things Into his hand Jesus had it all You see nothing was given by measure to Jesus Jesus had all of the spirit all of it He did not have to perfect anything because he he was God He was God in the flesh. Look at John chapter 4 You say that's one verse. Let's get another one John chapter 4 I mean it makes perfect sense, but it's just interesting that you know The Bible just details all these things for us John chapter 4 in verse number 1 and Jesus Being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He wasn't being filled. He was full the Bible says now turn to Acts chapter 7 certain men in the Bible achieved this fullness in Their life Certain men in the Bible achieved what the Bible details as being full of the Holy Ghost I want to point out one instance in Acts chapter 7 in verse 55 This is the story of Stephen right before he is killed Stephen Of course preaches this great sermon and then he is executed afterwards And if you look down at verse number 55 right before he's about to be killed the Bible says but he Stephen being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and Said so he starts talking He's full of the Holy Ghost and then he speaks. I want you to remember that he says behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the right hand of God and they cried out with a loud voice stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and Stoned him and the witness laid down their clothes at the young man's feet whose name was Saul This was later to be Paul and they stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus Received my spirit and he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice notice what he says Notice what he says he doesn't say God get me out of here God, please make this stop God You take me out of this horrible situation look what he says Right now this man is full of the Holy Ghost the Bible says and he says lay not this sin to their charge and When he said this he fell asleep his last words were To try to get God to not lay this sin upon the people who were actually killing him with stones at the time But he was full of the Holy Ghost Now here's what I think is interesting turn to Luke chapter 12, here's where I'm going with this Here's what I think is interesting if you read Stories of the martyrs in books like martyrs mirror and and other accounts of either the Apostles Because they all died horrible deaths and you read read stories about you know, the martyrs throughout The the history of you know, the Roman persecution and the Catholic Church persecution and you read these things You know when I think about the brutality and I won't list it for you now but those books detail the brutality of what happened to those men and women and There was a part in martyrs mirror where it basically said something along the lines of the ways that they would torture People and kill people and break people's bodies. It's as if it's as if the creativity of man Was was run out Because they got so creative and so sadistic in how they could inflict pain and everything and when I think about those men and I think about the accounts of those situations and women by the way When I think about the accounts of those situations, I think about man. Can I go through something like that? one of the things that that would cross your mind is Boy, I hope that I wouldn't deny Christ or I hope I wouldn't scream Out in pain or or say something that is against my Lord and Savior in those weak moments But none of those men did and none of those women did They went through all those things and as they were on their last breath and they were being burned to death or they were being Flayed alive or they were being boiled or they were being cooked slowly or whatever. It was they they refused To recant the Lord Jesus Christ and look down at Luke chapter 12 and the Bible gives us the answer on why that is that's not because they were Exceptionally tough people it's because God helped them and if you look at Luke chapter 12 in verse 11 the Bible says and when they bring you onto the synagogues and Unto the magistrates and the powers take ye no thought How or what things ye shall answer or what ye shall say for the Holy Ghost Shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say and I believe that all those men that were saved and that were killed for Christ were Full of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost brought them through those moments just like that's why we have the account of Stephen in the Bible and that's why Stephen to his last dying breath Said the words that he said Instead of crying out for himself for making make it stop or anything like this. He You would think that one person would get in the flesh. We have the flesh until we're dead right, you would think one person out of these martyrs would get in the flesh and Say something stupid, but no all of them is documented They just would they would not deny Christ and they said things like Stephen said You know lay this not to their charge and the people it and you know Why God did this because the people who were in those courtrooms and watching those excuse they couldn't believe it There I mean it's documented the people stood around and people were getting saved watching that I Mean James got his executioner saved and they both got executed together That's Why God did it not only to comfort us but as a witness to others He will fill us with the Holy Ghost we don't have to worry about that So, you know things aren't bad here, right? No one's chopping our heads off here, but if they do Who cares? Because we're gonna be filled with the Holy Ghost At that moment and the best words that I ever say in my life will be at that time That come out of this body. They won't be mine But the best words that come out of this Body before it's dead if I'm executed for Christ will be at that time because I will be filled I will be full of the Holy Ghost. That's what God promises me. Isn't that wonderful? We don't have to worry about it This is another reason that while we have to fear is God forget everything else The only thing that you have to fear in this life is God. Nobody else can do anything to you That's the bottom line. So a Little bit of a rabbit trail there. So conclusion. Why do your works matter? You know, you have this variable of faith in your life folks. You have this variable of faith We have this measure of faith that we can and should strive to perfect You can do it. It's something you can change by your works By learning the Word of God by listening to the Word of God by coming to church by separating from the world By fleeing from fornication all these different things we can go on and on and on and on and by this will be filled with the Spirit Because our faith is directly proportional with the Spirit in us and And Then then we will realize the full potential of the gifts that God has given us That's what the Bible is talking about here in Romans chapter 12 All right. Now here's a bonus We all have we all have different gifts and I mentioned that but that's what's needed in a church and I'm glad that the Bible talks about the diversity of gifts because honestly the hardest part of Starting this ministry here was the very beginning when we didn't know who was going to be in the church and we didn't know who Was going to be able to help with anything We didn't know who's gonna come to church because we had to do everything ourselves. I don't want to do everything myself I'm not good at everything So it's nice to have people with this diversity of gifts That's one body It's nice to have people stepping up With their gifts and realizing their gifts and growing their faith to realize those gifts even more And as you grow your face, I guarantee you will find gifts Because you'll notice that in these gifts. It was gifts of prophecy gifts of of the Spirit gifts of Faith you will notice that there wasn't really gifts of AV ministry There wasn't really gifts of vacuuming the floor These gifts that you have I'm telling you that you people in this room you there are gifts. You don't even know you have and As you perfect your faith You will realize those gifts and I wish going out soul winning that I could get this across to people. I Wish I was better at this. I Want to get better at this. I Don't know if it's a gift that I have but I want to get better at this I want to get better at going and giving somebody the gospel and explaining to them and beseeching to them Hey Whatever your name is you have a number of gifts inside you that you don't even know exist And now that you're saved if you can perfect and work on this faith You will realize those gifts How many times do you think we are walking past and giving the gospel to the next great preacher? Or the next mother of the next great preacher Or the next great evangelist or the next great person who's gonna help With all the things that need to be helped with in this church The next just a next great soul winner. I mean I It's something I think about a lot What could I possibly say to those people to get them to realize that you have this? pile of gifts inside you and you don't even know they're there and As you perfect this faith you will start to realize that they're there and God forbid that any of us here Don't realize the gifts that God has given us Because you're in a position where you can start perfecting your faith So move on that All right back to Romans 12 Romans 12 verse 9 Let love be without Dissimilation that means without concealment Abhor that was eat which is evil cleave to that which is good Verse number 10 be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor preferring one another in honor preferring one another Your friends should be here one another your brothers and sisters in Christ These should be your friends You should prefer to hang out with a fellowship with these people and By the way as you increase in your faith It's kind of all tied together because as you increase in your faith as you perfect your faith You should not want to have less desire to be in the world or to hang out in that world It should it should make you more and more sick all the time Okay, look the holidays are coming up The holidays are coming up and Let me just predict for all for some of you I don't know how many of you but you are going to be put in positions where you are going to be stuck between these two worlds whether it be you know between the saved and the unsaved and the world and the way you're trying to live your life now and Trying to separate and you're gonna you're gonna some of you you're gonna go through this time You're going to go through this time or you've gone through this time. We are trying to have one foot here and one foot here And let me just tell you that as you perfect your faith You're gonna start to realize that you don't want to have that other foot in the in the world. That's what should happen and This is a great temptation these times of the holidays when you're you know, because we're related to people We have to hang out with people that are against our Values We don't have to hang out with people that are against our values, by the way All right, but the flip side the danger of this is this is that that other foot? Gets more comfortable than the foot that's here And it actually damages your faith because if you can perfect your faith by your works You can destroy your faith by your works. You see it works both ways The world is dangerous and these times of year are Because of cultures that maybe you grew up with because of you know Things that positions you more situations you might be put in whether it be at work or at home or whatever Look the world is dangerous. It's a faith killer So you need to be careful and you need to make sure that you've drawn the right lines because the Bible says here that you Should prefer one another Okay, it's all tied together All tied together with this perfecting of your faith Romans chapter 7 and verse 13. I'll just read it for you Was that what was then that which is good made death unto me God forbid but sin that it might appear sin working death in Me by that which is good that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly Sinful that's where you want to be You want to be? Entrenched in the Word of God so that when you get put in positions or you you understand where you need to draw lines so you don't get put in positions and You can protect your family your children your spouse from those types of situations Romans chapter 12 in verse number 11 Not slothful in business fervent in spirit serving the Lord. I'm not gonna preach a sermon tonight on laziness But this just reminded me of a conversation I had with one of you this week And I was talking about, you know, I asked One of you this week. I was like, hey, you know, how did you start out? How did you start out working and the story went like this? Well, I started working when I was 15 I worked my way up in this in this organization. I became a manager After that, I realized hey, you know God opened a door for me. There was an opportunity there started my own business This is this is this is not slothful in business fervent and spirit serving the Lord this Everybody that works hard that has made it Successfully and is providing for their family has a story like that and I'm glad to hear stories like that It's a necessary experience for a man to have a story like that look down to verse number 12 Rejoicing in hope patient in tribulation continuing instant in prayer. Does that sound familiar? For tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope remember that Distributing to the necessity of the Saints given to hospitality bless them that persecute you bless and curse not now that's difficult Why did he have to throw that one in there everything else seemed pretty pretty good turn to Proverbs 25 Bless them with persecute you bless and curse not that's hard to do That's hard to do. He's just he's giving all kinds of great advice here But that's a difficult thing to do to bless people that persecute you and not curse them Look at Proverbs 25 in verse number 21 The Bible says if thine enemy be hungry give him bread to eat and if he be thirsty Give him water to drink for thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head and the Lord shall reward thee So we're not to repay evil with evil with our personal enemies notice how it says if thine enemy if your enemy This is not talking about enemies of God So there's difference in the Bible between enemies of God and your personal enemies We need to be careful in our lives by the way We don't all of a sudden make every enemy that we have an enemy of God don't elevate yourself to the level of God Everyone's not a reprobate just because they don't like you So we're to bless them that curse us verse number 15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that do weep turn to John 11 Do you feel let me ask you this do you feel the pain and joy of your brothers and sisters in Christ? Because if you don't something's wrong Turn to John 11 look at verse 32. This is an interesting story in the Bible How well do you relate to what your brothers and sisters in Christ are going through John chapter 11 look at verse 32 Lazarus has just died Who was very close to Jesus? Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him she fell down at his feet saying unto him Lord If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died When Jesus therefore saw her weeping and the Jews also weeping which came with her He groaned in the spirit and was troubled and said where have they laid him? They said unto him Lord come and see Jesus wept Think about that Super important part of the Bible here Jesus Could have stopped Lazarus from dying with just Didn't have to be there or anything Remember the Roman centurion servant? Jesus knew that Lazarus, you know was in heaven and that he could rise him from the dead So why did he weep? Think About that super important part of the Bible he wept because he was identifying with the sadness of his sister and He saw how sad that this sister of Lazarus was and it he identified with her super important part of the Bible why because because Jesus had emotions Just like you and just like me he wasn't this superhuman, you know God robot He was fully man and fully God so why is that important? Why is that important? Look at Hebrews chapter 4. Let's look at why that's important Hebrews chapter 4 I There's all kinds of doctrines out there that will attack both the deity of Christ and the manhood of Christ on Both sides and both are important. God was fully or Jesus was fully man and fully God at the same time Hebrews 4 verse 14 the Bible says seeing that that we have a seeing then that we have a great high priest That is passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our profession We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities you see But was in all points tempted like we are yet without sin So we can understand that It's important because we need to understand that Christ went through what we go through in the flesh yet without sin He Felt all the temptations that you feel he felt all the sadness that you feel he felt the physical pain that you feel Yet without sin That's what you didn't do Jesus did that he felt everything the same. He was fully man. This is why these parts of the Bible are here for us to know While Going through exactly what we go through he did it without sin. He did it perfectly and That's how he could die and take the punishment for your sin Because he was innocent and he did it the hard way He didn't come here as superhuman God robot That didn't feel all these things Walk through this life with ease and then just die for the sins of the world No, he did it just like you except he did it perfectly So that's why it's important That Jesus, you know felt that and but the Bible teaches that