The Church - Trinity Fellowship

HOW TO BEHAVE LIKE THE CHURCH

Trinity Fellowship

4/29/07

PSALM 34:8-10

ROMANS 12:9-21

“Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”

How many of you have questions about what’s going on in your life? Did anyone have something come up this week, that presented a question that needed an answer? If so, how many of you believe that God has all the answers to your questions; to your problems?

So, if God truly has all the answers, then how do we get at the answers?

The greatest thing in my Christian experience is that here in the book of God I have found the truth. I can't trust many of the other sources from which I get information and counsel and advice.

I have found, through very sad experience sometimes, that what I thought was right was very wrong.

But here is the most amazing truth for us in the history of men: --God has spoken. Therefore, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. It is not the end; it is the beginning. And only the man who has in his heart a continuing respect for God's wisdom can begin properly to evaluate and understand life.

What kind of fear are we talking about? Is God the “boogey man” who jumps out of the closet and beats us whenever we sin? In one respect, “yes.” God’s justice and judgment is going to be visited on anyone not found written into the Lamb’s Book of Life; that is, whomever has not accepted Jesus Christ as Savior.

But if you have done that, then the “fear” we must have of God is one of profound “respect.” The one who has the key to life is the man or woman, boy or girl, who learns early to respect God and believe Him and understand that He always tells us the truth.

One of my favorite movies is “The Godfather.” In one scene Don Corleone is telling a man that if he would only show him the proper respect due him, then the man’s enemies would become his enemies; and then his enemies would respect the man; and more importantly, they would also fear him.

This is a very profound truth, when we apply it God. If we give God the respect and honor due him, our enemies will become His enemies. So out of fear and respect for God (and so I’m not accused of only giving you the Gospel according to Hollywood), let’s look to His eternal truth today and answer a question direct from His Word:

How are we supposed to get along with people both inside and outside the church ?

Romans 12:9-21

(9) love without hypocrisy; abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

The word hypocrisy comes for the Greek word “hypokrites” which means “actor.” In Greek drama, actors showed what was really in their hearts by holding a mask up in front of their faces, while saying something totally different.

What sort of masks do we wear in our lives.?

(10) be kindly affectionate to one another Here, Paul is using words in the Greek which have no good direct translation, but roughly means a combination of “brotherly love” and “natural affection!” It means we are to have Christ-like love for all, but we’re actually supposed to try and like them at the same time! Sort of like family! There’s times I “like” my family, and times I don’t, but I “love“ them all time.

The Church is our family; it is the Family of God. We need to act accordingly.

(11) not lagging in diligence; fervent in spirit, serving the lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; steadfast in prayer

We’re not to be lazy or hesitant in the Church! We need to be ready to jump when God says, “jump.” But we also need to serve Christ with energy, enthusiasm. Almost like we enjoy it! And we need to stand firm in our hope and prayers.

(13) distributing to the needs of the saints Our church family must be ready at all times to give physically to each others needs. Not just prayer, not just visiting each other, but actually supplying someone’s need in the church. Now, I’m talking about the church specifically, even though God’s Word speaks to us about feeding the poor and destitute. But within the church, Acts 2: 44 says, “now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”

(14) bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse This is almost a direct quote from Jesus’ sermon on the mount, Luke 6:27 “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you , and pray for those who spitefully use you.

(may I remind you that Paul is talking about others in the church!)

(15-16) rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep is how we can fulfill the command to be of the same mind toward one another; it is a simple command to be considerate of the feelings of others instead of waiting for them to be considerate of your feelings

Paul also cautions us to have a humble mind-set; in refusing to set our mind on high things and associating with the humble, we are simply imitating Jesus; do not be wise in your own opinion reminds us of how far we still have to go in actually being like Jesus

Up to now, Paul has been speaking to our relationships within the church. At verse 17, he shifts gears and talks about our relationships with all men:

(17) repay no one evil for evil recalls Jesus' command in Matthew 5:38-45; we are to love our enemies and treat well those who treat us badly . Have regard for good things in the sight of all men is a way to live out the idea of praising what is good; people should be able to see what is good and what is not based on our conduct

(18) live peaceably with all men reminds us that though we are in contrast to the world, we do not seek out contention; if it is possible, we will be at peace with all men “if it be possible indicates that it may not always be possible."

(19) the one who trusts in God will not think it necessary to avenge themselves; they will leave the issue of vengeance to God, and give place to wrath - giving no place to their own wrath, and a wide place to God's wrath

(20-21) with this mind set, we will do good to our enemies, looking for the most practical ways we can to help them; this is the way we are not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good

Is the heaping coals of fire on his head something good in the eyes of our enemy or is it bad? It most likely refers to a "burning conviction" that our kindness places on our enemy, or it may also refer to the practice of lending coals from a fire to help a neighbor start their own - and act of kindness to be appreciated

Nevertheless, we see that we can destroy our enemy by making him our friend

Now what does this mean? Being two faced, and suddenly get back at them with a “gotcha?” No, you can either destroy your enemy with your negative actions, drive him away, or possibly away from God.

Or you can “destroy” him in the sense that, once you become friends, your former enemy has disappeared. And you are left with a new brother or sister in Christ.