Different: Session 5- Different in our Discipline
Different
Session 5
Text: Romans 12:12-17
Subject: Disciplines
Central Theme: Displaying Godly Disciplines
Objective sentence: Every believer should display godly disciplines in 3 ways.
Key Word: Disciplines
Hook
Connection-
More is caught than taught.
I read a recent article bay a gentleman named Marcus Brotherton where he recounts this story.
Lieutenant Norman Dike froze in the face of fire. Dike led Easy Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, during the wintery attack on the Nazi-occupied town of Foy, part of the overall Battle of the Bulge during World War II.
He was a replacement officer who’d allegedly been sent down from higher offices to receive some combat experience before he could be promoted. Behind his back, his men, the elite paratroopers later known as the Band of Brothers, dubbed him “Foxhole Norman”—a man who’d rather cower than fight.
During the attack on Foy, with enemy bullets slicing toward them, Dike wrongly positioned himself and his soldiers behind a haystack. There, he and his men sat as defenseless as hunted ducks. If Dike was ever going to achieve his objective, he needed to lead his men to surge forward and liberate the town. He needed to move! But Dike sat, petrified, panicked, already defeated.
From haystack to attack
From high on a hill, Captain Dick Winters, then battalion executive officer, surveyed the debacle. He spun on his heel and spotted the capable Lieutenant Ronald Speirs, leader of Dog Company, who stood poised in reserve. Winters ordered Speirs to run to the haystack, relieve Dike of his command, and lead the men to victory.
Speirs sprinted forward, took control, and rallied the soldiers up from behind the haystack and onward. But before they could fully take the town and succeed, one more of Dike’s messes needed to be cleaned up.
Earlier, Dike had ordered one platoon to circle the town and see if they could flank the enemy. It might have sounded good at first, but it proved a lousy plan. The men were exposed to sniper fire during the run. Plus, without a radio, they couldn’t receive further orders. Sure enough, five E Company soldiers had taken bullets and gone down.
To countermand Dike’s initial order, Speirs ran alone straight through the town, chock full of weaponized Nazi soldiers. At first, miraculously, the Nazis held their fire, thinking perhaps he was a medic. Then the truth became clear. Shocked, their mouths hung open. Why was this one American officer running straight through their midst?! Didn’t he know he was now their number one target?
Shots rang out, right and left. Undaunted, unphased, and focused like a laser, Speirs ran straight to the lone platoon and set them straight. The truly astonishing thing, reported the men who were there, was that after Spiers ran through the highly dangerous town—he turned around and ran straight back to finish the job.
Tension-
The power of example—for better or worse.
We’ve been in a series called “Different” for the last 4 weeks…
When I think of the differences between lieutenants Dike and Spiers, I’m reminded of the adage that more is caught than taught. Overt instruction works to lead people, yet influence makes the strongest impact. The best leaders lead not only by instruction. They lead by example.
Lieutenant Dike wore the uniform of a leader. He certainly instructed his men to do things. But Speirs showed his men how to do things, and in doing so displayed true courage and empowered his men to successfully complete their objective. He kept cool under fire, and as much as he barked out the correct orders to keep moving forward, he effectively led his men by sheer example of his bravery.
Believers who are different are: (summarize)
Saved
Sacrificial
Sanctified
Serving
The God that saves us, calls us to sacrifice, sanctifies us by transformed thinking, and gifts us for gospel ministry then calls us to exemplify a life that reflects those truths!
At some point our living should be different. Right thinking always results in right living.
There should be a self-discipline to our life.
“The only productive life, as well as the only truly satisfying life, is the self-disciplined life. Although our spiritual guidance and power come from the Lord, He can only work effectively through lives that are subjected to him.” - MacArthur
In tonight’s text, Paul describes what a life that is saved, sacrificed, sanctified, and serving should look like.
He speaks to this self-disciplined life.
Robert C. Chapman wrote, “Seeing that so many preach Christ and so few live Christ, I will aim to live him.
It was said of the 19th century English author William Arnot, “His preaching is good. His writing is better. His living is best of all.”
In this text Paul really lays out a long list of exhortations. They are commands that really describe what a self-disciplined, different kind of life looks like.
And my objective tonight is to tell you that
Every believer should display godly disciplines in 3 ways.
Book: (Past)
Now to get us started I want to read just the first verse in this section because it really functions as the 3 points of our text. Read it with me.
Rom 12:9-16
(9) Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
This verse really lends itself to being the description for the rest of the chapter.
In the rest of this text, having firmly declared what the process of sanctification looks like in the life of a believer, Paul now, in rapid fire succession, gives examples of what are lives will look like when we are saved, sacrificed, sanctified, and serving. We are self-disciplined. That means believers who are different (self-disciplined or spirit-disciplined).
These are my 3 points:
Believers who are different love unhypocritically.
Believers who are different abhor evil.
Believers who are different cling to what is good.
A life that is a self- disciplined life will be characterized by a love that compels us to abhor what is evil and cleave to that which is good.
Now with this in mind let’s read the rest of the text…
Rom 12:9-16
(9) Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
(10) Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
(11) Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
(12) Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
(13) Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
(14) Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
(15) Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
(16) Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
1. Believers who are different love unhypocritically.
Rom 12:9-16
(9) Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
The word for love here is the word agape. It centers on the needs and welfare of the one loved and is a sacrificial kind of love.
God, Himself, is love.
1Jn 4:16
(16) And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Love is more important than any other spiritual gift one has.
1Co 13:13
(13) And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Let love be.
A life that is different will be characterized by love.
What kind of love? Self-sacrificing, Self- disciplined love for others.
Let love be authentic.
But notice he also says here that love should be “without dissimulation”.
undissembled, that is, sincere: - without dissimulation (hypocrisy), unfeigned.
The idea is “undissembled”. Whole or complete.
When someone is one way some of the time, and a different way another part of the time their life is fractured.
They are 2 different things at 2 different times based on other factors.
Someone that has integrity is the same no matter what factors are there. They are whole. Their lives are not divided.
Love is authentic. It’s sincere.
Let your love for the Lord be sincere.
Let your love for others be sincere.
Genuine love is so integral to the Christian life that John tells us:
1Jn 3:14
(14) We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Hypocrisy and love can not go together.
Whenever you have insincerity, love cannot be present.
Think about Judas. How did Judas betray Jesus? With a kiss.
There was an expression of affection with a heart of betrayal.
So the first and primary way that a person who is different (Saved, Sacrifical, Sanctified, Serving and Self-Disciplined) expresses that life is through love.
This leads us to our second and 3rd ways that they express that discipline of love….
So with this in mind I want you to list out all of the things that Paul describes in this passage as the evil to abhor and get rid of, and then all of the things we should cleave to.
2. Believers who are different abhor evil.
To grow in Christlikeness means to begin to hate what God hates.
To grow in worldliness is to love what the world loves. (What is the pattern of this world? Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.)
It has been said that when we see as God sees we will do as God says.
He renews our mind and so we begin to hate the things that he hates.
In this text here are some things that we ought to hate:
Dissimulation- Hypocrisy. Insincerity.
(9) Let love be without dissimulation.
Jesus reserved his harshest criticism for the pharisees.
He called them a brood of vipers. White-washed tombs- whited sepulchers.
He said that on the outside they were beautiful, but inside was just corruption, death and decay.
These were people who were obsessed with ceremonial cleanliness, so it was particularly offensive to them to call them dead inside.
God hates hypocrisy, and we do, too.
But the problem is that it is easy to hate hypocrisy in others but excuse it in ourselves.
Love, if it is authentic has no “dissimulation” or hypocricy.
The next thing he tells us to hate is…
Evil- A general term for everything that goes against what God’s will and desires say.
Abhor that which is evil;
Here is what our attitude should be…
If God hates it then I must hate it.
Slothfulness
(11) Not slothful in business;
A lack of industriousness and work ethic.
This is evil because it is born out of heart that desires comfort, puts ourselves ahead of others, and fails to see all that needs to be done in a broken and fallen world.
1 Corinthians 10:31- “Whether there ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Ephesians 6:5-8
(5) Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
(6) Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
(7) With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
(8) Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
Cursing others
(14) Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
Using our words to bring death and negativity into the lives of others.
These are expressions stated about someone or somebody that have no redeeming value. They damage and destroy.
Minding high things
(16) …Mind not high things,
The idea here is to care about the external- demographics, socio-economic status, gender, etc etc.- so as to treat others the wrong way.
This would include racism, sexism, class-ism….
Being wise in our own conceits
(16b) …Be not wise in your own conceits.
Thinking more highly of yourself than you ought to think.
Leads to isolationism, pride, and arrogance…
3. Believers who are different cling to what is good.
Think about that word “cleave in verse 9”.
Rom 12:9-16
(9) Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
It’s the Greek word kallomenoi – from the verb kallao
It literally means “to glue” or “to stick”.
It’s translated as cleave, clave, joined, to keep company.
It’s closely connected to another word, a “compound word”- the word “proskallao” found in Ephesians 5:31.
Ephesians 5:31-32
(31) For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. (32) This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
What Paul is trying to say is that a Husband and Wife relationship, as God designed it to be, is a picture of Christ and the Church.
Christ’s love for the church was without hypocrisy.
He loved and gave Himself for her.
There is an unfeigned and unhypocritical commitment to it.
Marriage is a life-long commitment between two people that joins them together- and becomes a picture of the joining together of Christ and the assembly.
What can separate us from the love of Christ?
A man is to leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife- completely committed to her without hypocrisy.
So that word is being used of the commitment that we should have to the true and good.
Cling to it!
Glue yourself to it!
Stick to it!
At its root a sin problem is a love problem.
I’m loving the wrong thing.
Sometimes I abhor what is good and cleave to what is bad.
But as God renews my mind, and I give my body as a living sacrifice, and I think of myself rightly, understanding that I’m gifted by God the Holy Spirit and placed in the body, then God begins to transform my loves.
I begin to sincerely love and cling to what is good, and sincerely detest what is evil.
What should I glue myself to? What should I cling to? What should I cleave to? What should I join my self to?...
Affectionate in brotherly love
(10) Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love;
A care for others that leads to sacrifice.
An understanding an view of another person as more than just another living being existing over there, but someone who I have an obligation to as a member of the family.
Honoring and preferring one another
in honour preferring one another;
Treating someone with dignity and respect.
Putting other people’s needs ahead of our own.
Rejoicing in hope
(12) Rejoicing in hope;
My celebration and joy comes from a confidence in eternity with Christ and redemption of ourselves to him.
Patience in tribulation
patient in tribulation;
Perseverance through difficulty, understanding that it is not permanent and seeing it as something God is using and allowing to accomplishing his purposes in my life.
Prayerfulness
continuing instant in prayer;
Being quick to take things to God in prayer.
Generosity to those in need
(13) Distributing to the necessity of saints;
Giving my temporary resources to help meet the needs of other believers in my life.
Given to hospitality
given to hospitality.
This was especially important in the day of persecution that this church was living in.
Speaks to the need for shelter and provision to make it through the difficult that comes when someone is being persecuted or mistreated for the gospel.
Also speaks to a love for spending time with and getting to do life with other believers.
Blessing those who persecute
(14) Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
Jesus had a pretty high standard for this both in word and in action.
Luk 6:27-28
(27) But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,(28) Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Didn’t he do that?
God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
Rejoicing and Weeping
(15) Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Speaks to so loving another person that their triumphs and defeats are felt as deeply as we feel our own.
Rejoicing with someone who rejoices may sound easy until we realize that sometimes people’s celebration comes at our expense. (They got the promotion that I wanted), or that someone’s hurt may seem trivial to us while it is so important to them.
Be of the same mind one toward another
(16) Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
Speaks to unity in Christ.
Speaks to impartiality
Jas 2:1-4
(1) My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
(2) For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
(3) And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
(4) Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Look: (Present)
We looked a variety of topics and ideas tonight, but remember what holds them all together…
The person who is different will be…
Saved
Sacrificial
Sanctified
Serving
Self-Disciplined.
This discipline will look like authentic, sincere love that expresses itself in abhorring evil and clinging to that which is good.
|Does your life look different?
Took: (Future)