カテゴリー: メッセージ

Today’s passage is a continuation of chapter 14. In chapter 14 Paul talked about how they should deal with problems that occurred in the church as a result of the friction between the people of strong faith and the people of weak faith in the Roman church.  In today’s passage we can see that the desires of Paul overflowed into prayer in verses 5 and 6.

              The problem of unity in the church is a really important problem.  That is because the church is the body of Christ. In the section about how to practice the Christian life which Paul begins talking about from chapter 12 on, the percentage of space given to this problem is huge. In the closing too, he brings up this problem and adds an explanation.  Today I would like to talk about three points of church unity.

I.               Bearing with the failings of the weak (vs. 1-3)

First let’s look at the point that those “who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak” (1) Let’s look at verses 1 to 3.

“We who are strong” (1) refers to the “strong in faith” of chapter 14.  This type of people were completely freed from the law of the Old Testament and believed that by the grace of Christ they were set free.  On the other end, “the weak” (1) weren’t able leave behind the laws of food and days.  This type of people thought that even if you believed in Jesus Christ, that still you had to follow such commands or you weren’t saved. They had a delicate faith so that when they saw people who didn’t follow the commands, they stumbled. Here Paul says, “We who are strong” (1) so Paul considered himself as belonging to the group of those who were strong.  And also he said that such people “who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.” (1) This is the principle of faith. Those “who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak” (1) “To bear with” (1) means “to accept as one of your own”. It is to carry together the weaknesses of the weak person.  The best example is our Lord Jesus.  In verse 3 it says “For even Christ did not please himself”, but instead it is written in Psalm 69:9 “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” This is the Passion of Jesus.  Christ was strong, but he bore the weaknesses of the weak.

Isaiah 53:4-6

Jesus used his body to show us what it means to bear the weakness. He bore our sorrows in our place; he took upon himself all our sins.  “Christ did not please himself.” (3) He bore “with the failings of the weak” (1) and carried their weaknesses for them. If we look at the life that Christ walked in this world, there wasn’t even one time when he pleased himself.  Jesus performed many miracles, but not one time did he do it for himself.  When he fed the 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, it was not because he was hungry, but to fill the hunger of the crowds.  Christ forgot about sleeping and eating and healed the sick, and met the needs of those who were struggling with troubles. When we look at such a model of Jesus, we know that we should not live to please ourselves, but “ought to bear with the failings of the weak” (1) and live to please them. This is the calling of those who are powerful, who are strong.

Why has God given you health? It is so that you can bear those who are weak from lack of health.  Why have you been given financial and material blessings? That is not so that you can live in luxury, but so that you can help others.  Why have you been given the gift of faith? It is so that you can support others by that spiritual gift.  This is the calling of those who are powerful. We are given joy by giving.

Luke 6:38

The measure that you use for other people will be measured to you.　When I look at the lives of missionaries, their lives are continuously full of troubles. To give up your life and go to serve the people on the mission field is not easily endured. Even so those people who work in missions often say, “Evangelizing is joy”. Even though they had huge troubles, and made huge sacrifices, they say “Evangelizing is joy” because the measure that you use for other people will be measured to you. “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.” (Luke 6:38) When you pour what you have out, you won’t be dried up, but instead will be enriched is the principle of the kingdom of God.

II.             By the endurance and encouragement that the Bible gives (vs. 4,5)

Even so for the people with strength to bear with the failings of those without strength brings a lot of problems. Next let’s look at what is necessary to follow this command.  Please look at verses 4 and 5.

Paul quotes from Psalms in the Old Testament and then teaches about the use of the Bible.  In other words, the Bible gives us endurance and encouragement and provides us with hope. We read the Bible so that by what is written there we will receive endurance and encouragement and have hope.

Our life of faith certainly can’t always endure troubles. However, in order to keep the unity in the church endurance is needed.  There is no way unity can be kept if you tell each other everything that you want to say or do everything that you want to do.  This can be seen in our relationships as a marriage couple. There are times when you want to say something, but by not saying anything and enduring even though it’s not always your own way of doing it and it is different, by being understanding and accepting, unity is born. If you can’t do that then there will be only confusion and destruction.

However, here when it says, “endurance”, it doesn’t mean just enduring.  This “endurance” means that people, who have the ability to find a solution, hold on to a hope in what the solution will bring. The Bible provides the endurance.

Also, for weak people to be comforted, encouraged, and given strength they need someone to stand by their side and encourage them.  You don’t have to do anything, just be with them.  Being by their side is a big comfort and encouragement. You don’t have to say anything. The word of God gives the comfort and the encouragement.

What is important for weak people is for them to have hope.  When they are depressed and in despair, there is no other solution but to encourage them by giving them hope. The Bible gives hope.  By the endurance and encouragement that the Bible gives, they are able to hold onto hope.  Therefore, verse 4 says, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.”

In our life there are many troubles, sadness, pain, and trials.  However, in the midst of these, we experience God’s endurance and encouragement being given to us. More than anyone else Paul experienced this.  He believed in Christ and because he preached the Gospel of Christ he was stoned, put in prison, experienced 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　every kind of trouble, flogged severely, had trouble with bandits, had trouble with his own countrymen, was shipwrecked, and met every kind of hardship, but even in the mist of these troubles, he learned well that God is the God of endurance and encouragement. Even in the midst of these circumstances, he followed God, and he learned that the Word of God gave him endurance and encouragement.

We are the same.  In our homes and in our church, there are difficulties and agonies that we can’t express in words.  However, the God of endurance and encouragement makes us of “the same attitude of mind toward each other as Christ Jesus had.”（５）He gives us unity.

III.           For the glory of God (vs. 6)

Those who are strong accept the weak, and have one heart so that God will be glorified. Please look at verse 6.

We have one mind, one heart, and one will, so that with “one voice” (6) we can sing and praise God and testify to God. Sometimes when I am preaching, without realizing the sermon turns into a prayer.  Here Paul too wrote about many things. While saying many things it gradually turned into a prayer.  More than that Paul was compelled to pray.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (5.6)

Paul’s prayer is that the church would be unified.  It’s o.k. for there to be many different kinds of people.  It’s o.k. for there to be people from many backgrounds and thinking. However, he wanted the church to fundamentally have “the same attitude of mind” (5) and “with one mind and one voice” (6) praise God and witness to God.  This became his prayer.

This was the prayer of Jesus too. In John 17:21 it says. “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” This was just before the cross. After Jesus talked to the disciples from his heart he prayed that just as he was one with the Father that the church would be one with Christ and that the church members would be unified. That is so that by that “the world may believe” (John 17:21) that there is a God, that the Gospel is true, and that Jesus is the Savior. It is so that people will believe and receive eternal life and so that they might glorify God the Father.

“With one mind” which appears here in verse 6 is used only once in the whole book of Romans. However this word is used over and over again in the book of Acts. Amazingly in Acts whenever the word “With one mind” is used there is always amazing works of God and blessing overflowing and the church moves forward.  One example is Acts 2:46 and 47

When the believers met together in the temple courts and were together with glad and sincere hearts in their homes, when they were praising God, they enjoyed “the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47) Also according to Acts 4:24-32, when Peter and John were released after being brought before the Sanhedrin for healing a man who had been crippled from birth, the Christians “raised their voices together in prayer to God.” (Acts 4:24) “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:31)  Also in Acts 5: 12 to 14,”The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.  And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them even though they were highly regarded by the people.  Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their numbers.” When believers are “with one mind” (6) praise God, God’s magnificent glory appears.

The events of Acts 13 Paul will never forget. Paul was ministering in the Antioch church at that time with Barnabas. Barnabas, whose name means “a child of encouragement”, had the gift of encouragement and encouraged those who hurting. Barnabas had encouraged the Antioch Church to accept Paul the Pharisee that had persecuted the Christians.  “For a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people.” (Acts 11:26)  In the Antioch church there were many different kinds of people. First of all there was “Simeon called Niger” (Acts 13:1 Niger may indicate his dark complexion. Next is “Lucius of Cyrene” (Acts 13:1) As a result of the persecution of Stephen many Christians were scattered as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. These Christians spread the Gospel to only the Jews. According to Acts 11:20, later a second group of preachers came to Antioch. Some of them were from Cyrene, the capital of Libya, who “began to speak to the Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus”. (Acts 11:20) Lucius was probably one of them.  Many Greeks and Gentiles turned to the Lord. The ministry of Lucius and such preachers was probably one reason “the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” (Acts 11:26) Also there was Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch. In present day that would be like being raised with the emperor. He was of high society. There were such people in the church, but their unity in the faith went above all their societal positions and ranks.  They sent Paul and Barnabas out to do world missions. Just because they had a person of high ranking doesn’t mean that this can be done.  Just because you have compatible friends that doesn’t mean that can be done.  They were able to do this because they had an unity of faith. It is only by overcoming human prejudices and obstacles that this can be done.  This Antioch Church had unity by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when they prayed together in one mind, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2) Then they prayed and sent Paul and Barnabas out.  When the church prays “with one mind” (6), the awesome works of God and His glory appear.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice” you may praise God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we glorify God. In order to do that let’s bear one another’s failings, and “with one mind and voice” (6) let’s praise the Lord.      

The Pastor of the Oak Hills Church of Christ in San Antonio, Texas, Max Lucado, is the author of many best sellers that are loved by both children and adults.  In his book, The Special Love, he tells about this episode.  His wife’s name was Denalyn.  Denalyn had a habit.  That was when she parked the car in the garage, she would park in the middle of the garage.  Therefore, when her husband, Max, opened the garage door, there were times when his space was about half taken. Her husband, Max, who was gentle and kind would at times like this casually drop a hint, “Someone’s car is sitting in the middle of the garage.”  In Japan no one can understand this hint, but in America this hint is understood. One day, Max said this in a stronger voice, and from that day on the wife was very careful how she parked.

              One day her daughter asked the mother, “Mom, why don’t you park in the middle of the garage?”  The wife answered, “It doesn’t bother me, but your father doesn’t like me parking there. What your father doesn’t like, I don’t like.”

              Even if something doesn’t bother you, but the other person doesn’t like it, then you don’t do it.  That is good manners. It is becoming like Christ.

              Today’s passage is dealing with this problem.  In other words, especially those who have a strong faith are asked to be considerate of those who are not strong and not to be a stumbling block for them. Today I would like to talk about 3 points of this.

I.               The love of being considerate (vs. 13-16)

First let’s look at verses 13 to 16.

In the passage before this Paul taught that we are not to judge each other, but instead accept each other. In today’s passage Paul is asking that we decide to not be a stumbling block to our brothers and sisters and that those who have a strong faith decide to be considerate.  In verse 14 Paul says, “I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself.” The reason Paul mentions unclean food is that he is tying this passage together to the passage before it.  There were some people called strong people who were convinced like Paul “that nothing is unclean in itself.” (14) However, there were also some people who didn’t think that way.  Those people thought that like it says in the Old Testament in Lev. 11, there are “clean animals” and “unclean animals” and to eat unclean animals is sin.  Perhaps this may have had to do also with the problem of meat that had been sacrificed to idols which is written about in I Cor. chapters 8 to 10.  They thought that to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols is to associate with idols and that they would become unclean. Either reason, there were Christians who for religious reasons, did not eat such food.  Paul called such people, those of weak faith.  Their faith was not weak, but he called them weak because it was easy for them to stumble over such issues.  Among Christians there are such weak people, and those who don’t worry about what they eat, in other words, people of strong faith.

Paul was convinced “that nothing is unclean in itself.” (14) However, for those who think it is unclean, it is unclean.  By this point, it can be said that Paul belonged to the people of strong faith.  Even so he said to those of strong faith, “Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.” (13) The reason for saying that is “if your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.” (15) In the case of the earlier example of Max Lucado, for the wife parking in the middle of the garage was not something that bothered her, but it really bothered her husband, Max.  If Max didn’t like it, then she thought that she didn’t like it either.  This is being thoughtful. This is good manners.  This is having a love that shows consideration.

The principle that Paul is teaching here is that in the church those with a strong faith must be considerate to those who have a weak faith. This principle is very important. The unity of the church should always be kept by those who are thought to be strong conceding and compromising.                    . 

The American pastor, Charles Swindol, said that the things that God has made               are in themselves good and we have the right to fully enjoy the things God has made. However, in the case of a person whose faith has not matured and it is a stumbling block, then we must have self control over our rights.  When it is necessary to do so, love command us to put limits on our freedom. When by the use of Christian freedom there is a fear of damaging God’s work, we need to have the ability to show real love by using discretion and not using our freedom.

According to Romans 15:3, “even Christ did not please himself.” Jesus also controlled his rights. More correctly said, he gave up his rights.  Jesus “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-even death on a cross!” (Phil. 2:6-8) When Jesus was put on the cross, the crowds that were watching made fun of him saying that if he was the savior, to save himself, but Jesus didn’t do that. That wasn’t because he couldn’t do that. If he wanted to, he could have flown down from the cross, and fought with the people that were saying such things and thrown them in hell.  However, Jesus didn’t do such a thing. That was because if he had of, God’s words that Jesus must be put on the cross and die would not have been fulfilled.  Jesus experienced what no one ever has of being separated from God, judged by God, and so that those who believe in Him will have eternal live He chose the road of death on the cross. In other words, that Jesus died on the cross is for our good. Jesus didn’t please himself, but he thought about what was best for us, for our profit, and for our good.  This is what a person that bases his actions upon love is like.  In other words, he doesn’t base his actions upon his thinking. He thinks about the person who is weak in faith and bases his actions upon what is good for the weak person. That is because the weak person too is “someone for whom Christ died.” (15) Therefore, if that person is destroyed by “your eating” (15) then you can not say that you are acting out of love.     

II.             The essentials are the important things (vs. 17-19)

Secondly, please look at verses 17-19. The reason we should be considerate of those whose faith is weak is because “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (18)

Here Paul has a strong conviction about what the essentials of the church are.  The essentials of the church are not eating and drinking, but “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (18)  Righteousness is having a right relationship with God.  In other words, the peace and joy that we receive through the Gospel of Christ enables us to have a right relationship with God which is the core of the church, the essence of the church. What we are going to eat, what we are going to drink are not the essentials. If that is the case even though there are many different opinions about eating and drinking, that really isn’t an important issue.  There are times when we must concede and compromise. If the church has the wrong standard of values and judgment in what are the essentials and what aren’t, the church will become confused.  The church often has fights occur over such issues. The first problem that the first church experienced was over food. 

However, “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (18) These are the essentials of the church.  We must not depart from the essentials or give in to other thinking.  However, regarding nonessential things we should try as hard as we can to be polite, and patiently deal with the other person, but sometimes it is necessary that we have a huge heart that concedes to the other person.

III.           A life by faith (vs. 20-23)

The third point is to base your actions upon the convictions of your faith.  Please look at verses 20 to 23.

Paul’s conviction about food was that “nothing is unclean in itself.” (14)  However, if by food another believer’s heart is hurt, then it can’t be said that your actions are out of love. It will be destroying “someone for whom Christ died” (15) by food. Therefore, it is necessary to concede to nonessential matters.  On the contrary, what about if you thought that you must not eat, but ate it because someone else persuaded you to do so? If you are convinced that to eat is right and you ate it then there is no problem. However, if that is not the case then your conscious will bother you.  An important thing for Christians is to live with nothing in our heart that will cause our conscious to bother us.  If we think we should not eat it, and have doubts in our hearts as we are eating it, then this act did not come from faith so we will be condemned for our sin.  “Everything that does not come from faith is sin.” (23) Each one of us before God so that our conscious does not bother us, must judge and take action according to the convictions of our faith.  This is what Paul is saying in this passage. 

Here is talking about whether a person should eat and drink for religious reasons.  In other words, this is dealing with detailed issues on a personal level not with the order of the church as a whole. If each individual person on his own decided such issues as the way we baptize, whether we baptize children, the organization of the church, things that have to do with how the church is run, etc., the order of the church can not be kept.  It is important that you follow the ways of the church.  On individualistic issues depending on your understanding of your faith, you must act according to your convictions.

What is your standard for your actions?  Christians need to do what is right.  However, just doing what is right is not good.  At the same time you need to have a huge heart, a patient heart. You need to be not judging, but be accepting. The church must be the same.  The church stands in the truth of the Gospel and must correctly preach the Gospel. This was the theme of Romans chapter 1 to 11.  The next important thing is while standing on the foundation of this truth, in the relationships between Christians we need to have open minds.  In the church both those people with strong faith, and those who are weak, need to open up their hearts to each other and accept each other.

Jesus always ate with sinners. The Pharisees saw this and criticized him.  Jesus replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31, 32) Jesus’ will is to accept those who are weak.  He poured his heart into accepting weak people and changing their lives.  He didn’t condemn their sin.  In the church there are many kinds of people ranging from spiritual babies to the elderly. We must not look at the other person by our own standards. Even those that look like splendid Christians had a time when they were spiritual babies.  It is nothing more than by the grace of God that they have so splendidly matured.  If that is the case, God is asking us to be a church that has an opened heart, and accepts each other.  Those who are strong in the faith and those who are weak in faith should pray for each other as a church and let’s accept all those who come to the church. That is because the church’s commission is to lead sinners to salvation.

A very well known magazine took a survey by questionnaire from ministers in Korea.  The main question was “In the church what kind of person is the most difficult to deal with?” The number one answer was “the person who has fasted for 40 days”. The number two answer was “the people who regularly pray all night”.  The third most frequent answer was “the people who have studied at seminary”.  Fasting, all night prayer, and studying in seminary are all important things for personal spiritual growth. Therefore, it seems strange that such people would cause problems.  However, many people who have experienced such things as fasting, all night prayer, and seminary don’t apply that grace to themselves, but to others.  For example, someone who has fasted for 40 days must have received a lot of grace, but instead of thinking about how that applies to himself, he may think that the Pastor needs to be more spiritual or the church leaders need to pray more.  If he has prayed then he should be more humble and have more humility, and be overflowing in grace, but in reality instead he judges others.

              It can be said that wherever people gather problems will arise.  That is because the people who gather together all have different personalities and ways of thinking.  If there are 10 people, then there are naturally 10 different ways of thinking. What’s difficult is that sometimes people judge other people’s opinions because they are different from their own.  What is important is not to sit in judgment, and blame, but to understand what others are saying and accept each other.  Today let’s look at three aspects of not judging others.

I.               Those who eat and those who do not eat (vs. 1-4)

Please look at verses 1 to 4.

One cause for judging other people in the church is a difference in the understanding of the Bible, and the understanding of the faith. This letter was sent to Rome which was at that time was the central city of the world, and there many different people were assembled.  There were Jews who had made decisions to follow Christ, there were people of Grecian background, of Roman background, people of many skin colors, there were slaves, and there were high class people. Also there were people who were cultured, and there were people that lacked culture. In reality there were many different kinds of people.  If there are many different types of people, then it is natural that there are many different ways of thinking. Here the problem is a difference in the understanding of the Bible.  Verses 2 and 3 deal with the problem of food, and verses 5 and 6 deal with the problem of days.  There was a difference of understanding on such things.

First, about food, some people believed it was o.k. to eat anything. However, some people believed that you must not eat anything but vegetables.  This is not like vegetarians who claim this for reasons of health, but they claimed this for religious reasons.  At that time, those who were called people with a strong faith believed that through the Gospel of Christ they were set free from the Old Testament law and traditions so they believed that they were set free from the rules concerning unclean food recorded in Leviticus chapters 1-16 in the Old Testament, and ate freely with no concern as to what they were eating.  Also about the meat that had been sacrificed to idols that is brought up in I Cor. 8:4 they thought that the idols were not real gods so they didn’t worry about it and believed that it was o.k. to eat anything.  This type of people knew well what the freedom that the Gospel brought was so they looked down on people who were attached to the law.

Another example is verses 5 and 6 where some people considered “one day more sacred than another” (5) while others considered “every day alike”. (5) It is thought that this refers to those people who even though they became Christians,                 they still considered first of all the Sabbath, and then all the days that were commanded to be observed in the Old Testament as special days and kept them.  However, for Christians who believed that that they had been set free from the law, they couldn’t accept the life style and thinking of those who were still following the law and judged them.

However, even when the opinions and thinking about our faith is different, we should not judge others. “The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.” (3) We must not judge someone Christ died for because of food. If God has accepted the person, then it is only natural that we accept him.

However, even if a person considers himself a Christian, there are some people that God has not accepted.  The reason that God doesn’t accept a person has nothing to do with such food or drinks. It is because the person has the wrong doctrine about salvation. Salvation is in Christ.  If you don’t confess Jesus as Lord, you can’t be saved. Even so there are some people that don’t recognize Jesus as God and others say that you can’t be saved just by believing. These people are definitely wrong.  We need to take a definite and clear stance towards who have the basics of the Gospel wrong.

However, there is also a gray part.  For example, how you baptize is one gray part.  Some people say you only have to sprinkle water to be baptized, but others claim that baptism means “immerse” so the whole body needs to be immersed under the water.  We are Baptists. Baptism by immersion is one characteristic of Baptists. There are some churches that require Christians who have not been immersed to be baptized again.  However, what is important is not how you were baptized, but that you believed and were baptized.  Those who believe and are baptized will be saved.  Even if the method was wrong, if you believed, then God is pleased and you are saved.  Things like this, just because our thinking is different, we should not judge. However, the church has order so, while respecting individual thinking, and accepting them, we should follow the thinking of the whole church.  If not, then it is best to go to another church that has the same thinking as you.

The same thing can be said not only about baptism, but about the minute details of the Christian life too.  Some people say you must not drink or smoke, but others think that you are free. On such issues, we are not to judge, but must accept each other.

An American Pastor, Charles Swindol gave 7 reasons why we must not judge.

1.    We don’t know all the facts.

2.    We can’t fully understand the motives.

3.    We can’t completely think objectively.

4.    If we aren’t in that situation, we can’t know it correctly.                      .

5.    There is a part that we can’t see.

6.    We all have prejudices, and there are times when our field of vision diminishes.

7.    We are not perfect and we are not consistent. 

When we think about it, what we know is only a small part. We have a tendency to only take in what is good for us. We have a habit of looking at things self centeredly. Since we are like this, if we judge others, then that is the real problem.

Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay not attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matt. 7:1-5) The person we must judge in not other people, but ourselves. First of all we need to take out the plank that is in our eye.  Then we will be able to see clearly and can remove the specks from our brother’s eyes.

There are many different kinds of people in the church so many differences are born.  However, we must not judge, but we should recognize each other, and accept each other. There is no one that can say that only their thinking is right. People who are used to meditating, please don’t say that people who all pray together at one time in a large voice are fanatics. Also people who pray in a shouting voice, don’t look at people who are praying quietly and say that they are spiritually cold.  It doesn’t matter if we pray in a shouting voice or pray quietly.  All we need to do is pray.  We need to think that the other person is receiving grace by another style. That is being patient.

II.             Know your position (vs. 4)

The second point is that we must know our position. Please look at verse 4.

Paul is having us look at what our position and situation is. That is the reason that we must accept those who are weak and not judge. Our position is that we are nothing but servants. Therefore, “who are you to judge someone else’s servant?” (4) A “servant” is a person that is used in the home.  He is used in someone’s home, but other people have no right criticize him.  It is only the master of the house who can criticize.  Especially other servants in the same position have no right to say anything.  If that happens then that the servant does not know his position. It is a slander to the work of God.  It exceeds his authority. To exceed your authority means                       to go beyond your rights.  If you can do that without being disturbed by it, then that is sin and must for sure be admonished.         .

III.           Living for the Lord (vs. 5-8)

The third point is to live for the Lord.  For Christians this is the most important thing and is our foundation.  Please look at verses 5 to 8.

Here the words, “to” or “for”, meaning for the purpose of is used 7 times in this passage.  In other words, whether you eat or whether you don’t eat, whether you observe or don’t observe is not important. What is important is the purpose of eating, of not eating, the purpose of observing special days or not observing special days.  And for Christians the most important thing is that it is “for the Lord”.  “Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord…and whoever abstains does so to the Lord.”(6) “Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord.” (7) Each person “should be fully convinced in their own mind” (5) how they should act and act that way. The most important thing is whether it is for the Lord or not.  It depends on whether we are living for the Lord, whether we will die for the Lord or not.

Romans 6:12

The reason is given in Romans 6:18

We have believed in Jesus Christ, been united with him, have become Christ’s slave, the slave of righteousness, so we are not to be controlled by sin.

Galatians 2:20

We have been crucified with Christ, and died with Christ to our old life of sin, and have been changed into a new life in Christ.  We now live as a new creature in Christ.  We have been changed into a person who lives for the Lord.  This is the most important thing for Christians, and is our foundation.

Why are you living? Christians never live by or for themselves. Also no one dies for themselves.   Christians confess that if they live, they live for Christ.  If they die, they die for Christ.

Florence Nightingale who is famous as being a nurse not only for her own country, but for taking care of the enemy soldiers too.  She said, “Having a love for your country is not enough”.  A larger love is needed.  She took care of not only her side, but her enemies too, helping all who were injured. These words are calling out to us Christians too. Just being right is not enough. We must love. Just being correct is no good.  We need a large heart to accept others.  Christians need a large heart. We must not judge, but be patient.  We should accept those who are weak in faith. We must not judge their opinions. Within that life style, God’s glory will be seen. For Christians who confess that whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s this is not difficult to do.

Augustinus, a theologian from the middle ages is well known for being converted by the Word of God and his life taking a dramatic change. When he was young he led a really wild life.  Searching for the truth he went from Carthage, Africa to Milan, the capital city of the Western Roman Empire.  There he heard a childlike voice telling him in a sing-song voice, “take up and read”. He opened the New Testament that was there.  The passage that he read by chance is today’s passage, Romans 13:13-14.  Up until then no matter how much he tried by his own strength, he wasn’t able to attain a holy life.  When he who was struggling painfully, read this passage, in an instant his heart became full of peace, the clouds of doubt completely disappeared. He awoke from a deep sleep, and was changed into a life of new life.

              Today from this passage I would like to talk about three points about how Christians should live in the age of the end of the world.

I.            Understanding the present time (vs. 11a)

First let’s look at “understanding the present time”. (11)  Please look at verse 11.

In the New Testament two words are used for the word, “time”.  One is “chronos“ and the other is “kairoi“.  “Chronos“ is the time given equally to all people. As the time moves on we are born, grow up, become old, and die.  As the hands on the clock more around, time moves on.   In contrast, many people don’t know about the other word for time, “kairoi”. Christians only know this time. This time is the time of God.  More clearly put, when Christ comes again, this is the end of the world. Verse 11 says, “salvation is nearer now”.  This is the time of Christ’s coming, the time of the completion our salvation.

This world does not just continue to idle away.  Eventually the end of times will come. At that time heaven will come and Christians will be set free from all darkness.            .

Rev. 21:1-4

              At that time, all the tears from Christians, those who follow God, will be wiped away.  There will be no more pain, mourning, crying, or agony.  There will be need for police, rescue teams, hospitals, or rehabilitation centers. That is because we will be free from all pain and agony.  In the center will be God’s lamb, Jesus. From there shining like crystal the river of life flows out, and that water of life heals all the nations.  This is for us Christians the most wonderful time.  Such a time will come.

          In this age there is a lot of pain and agony. By the earthquake and national disasters how many people are in deep mourning over the loss of family and homes! How many people are in pain with their bodies aching here and there!  How many people are troubled by troubles in human relationships! Marriage, raising children, and jobs wear us out and we loose hope.  However, eventually we will be set free from troubles, agonies, mourning, and pain, and a time of perfect happiness and peace will come. That is when Christ comes again and the time when our salvation is completed.                 

              Christians know about this time.  They don’t know when it will come, but it “is nearer now”. (11) Paul wrote his letter about 2,000 years ago so compared with that time, the end times are greatly closer.

              In Matt. 24 Jesus tells us what it will be like just before the end.  At that time many anti-Christs will arise claiming to be the Christ and many people will be fooled by them.  There will be endless wars.  In various places famines and earthquakes will occur.  Eventually the Anti-Christ will appear and many false prophets will appear, and those who believe in Christ will be severely persecuted.  Unlawfulness will be the norm.  Many people’s love with grow cold.  “When you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” (Matt. 24:33)

              We are seeing many of these signs.  Half a year ago the unprecedented                     huge earthquake occurred.  The damage from tsunami and atomic electrical plant was huge and the area still can’t be restored. Also if we look at the whole world too, natural disasters are occurring everywhere, atrocious crimes continue one after another. I don’t think I am the only one that thinks society as a whole is getting strange.  Surely the last days are nearing. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matt. 24:35)

II.          Wake up (vs. 11b)

In the end of verse 11, Paul tells us what we should do, “The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber.” (11)  Because Christians know that the end of the world is nearing so they must wake up from their sleeping. “The hour has already come for you to wake up.” (11) What time is this? This is the time when Jesus’ second coming is nearing so we must wake up and be prepared.

In Matt. 25 is the story of the 5 foolish virgins and the 5 wise women.  The 5 foolish virgins brought their lamps, but they didn’t prepare the oil for them.  On the other hand, the wise virgins prepared oil along with their lamps.  The bridegroom was late coming so the virgins all began to fall asleep.  However, in the middle of the night the bridegroom appeared so they all woke up and prepared their lanterns, but the foolish virgins had the lamps, but they didn’t have any oil. They asked the wise virgins for oil, but wise virgins said they didn’t have any extra oil to give them. Therefore they went to the store to buy some, but just then the bridegroom came and those who had no oil missed going to the wedding banquet. They went to the banquet hall and asked to be let in, but they weren’t allowed in.  We need to be awake, so that no matter when Jesus comes we are prepared and ready.

I experienced this when we had the blackouts after the huge earthquake.  The first night that we were scheduled to have a blackout, I got the battery run camp lanterns out, but I didn’t have any batteries.  I went to buy them, but no place had any batteries, not even the small shops. I looked everywhere, but there was no place that had them. We spent the evening by candle light, but I thought that I should have been better prepared.

We don’t know when Christ is coming. He will come when we expect him the least.  If we knew when the thief was going to come, we would be awake and waiting for him. However, a thief doesn’t announce when he is coming.  We must be prepared, because Jesus will come when we expect him the least.

III.        Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 12-14)

The third point is how we should prepare ourselves. We must take off our old clothes, and put on our new clothes.  We must wear Christ.  Please look at verses 12-14

Here Paul says, “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (12) Here “the deeds of darkness” (12) are carousing, drunkenness, sexual immorality, debauchery, dissension, and jealousy.  “The deeds of darkness” are grouped into 3 groups.

Group 1   “carousing and drunkenness” (12) This refers to drinking alcohol and becoming obnoxiously noisy. The condition of a person who is carousing and is overly intoxicated is that his senses have become paralyzed. Christians must not become           like this

Group 2 “sexual immorality and debauchery” (12) This refers to immoral sex. When Paul wrote the letter of Romans, he was probably at Corinth where this sin was widespread. Debauchery is immoral behavior or an occasion when someone behaves this way and they forget all shame.

Group 3      “dissension and jealousy” (12)        This is fighting and conflict.  Some commentaries say that this sin is easy for Christians who live pure lives, not drinking or taking part in immoral sex to commit.

In short, these acts are all acts of the sinful nature of the life style of the old man which “gratifies the desires of the flesh”. (14) These are called the “deeds of darkness”. (12) The list of such acts which gratify the desires of the flesh are also listed in Galatians 5:19.

However, Christians are to do away with such “deeds of darkness” (12) and must “put on the armor of light”. (12) Here it says, “So let us…put on the armor of light.” (12) because now is the time of spiritual war.  When you go out to war, you have to put on appropriate attire. In other words, Christians need to put on “belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:14-17)

Also this is to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”. (14) To “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (14) is to become one with Christ.  It is to live a life that is fitting for a child of the light. Therefore, we are to “behave decently” (13) The early Christians were like this. They lived so much like Christ that when those around them looked at them, they saw Jesus in them.

David said, “I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure.” (Psalms 16:8,9)  To always set the Lord before us, to live a life with God in the center is to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.” (14) This is what is needed now with the Lord’s second coming so close.  This is what God desires of us.

Are you prepared in this way? Are you ready for Jesus whenever He comes?  Usually when we go somewhere, we prepare well before going. Therefore, it is strange if we don’t prepare for Christ’s second coming when it is so close.  We are not going on a 2 or 3 day trip, We are going on a trip for eternity.  We don’t want to be wearing rags when He comes.  We want to be wearing “the armor of light” (12).  Therefore, we must clothe ourselves “with the Lord Jesus Christ.” (14) There is the prayer “Maranatha”. It means, “Come Lord Jesus”.  Let’s always continue to pray “Maranatha” and prepare for the Lord’s second coming.

A college student who was studying law said to me one time, “No matter how many laws are made, society doesn’t get any better.” To fulfill our responsibility to society and follow the religious teachings are important, but that is not everything.  According to verse 10, “Love is the fulfillment of the law”. Let’s look at three aspects of love fulfilling the law.

I.               Love is keeping the law.   (vs. 8)

The first point is that people who love others are keeping the law perfectly. Please look at verse 8.

Paul who in verse 1 told us about the responsibilities that Christians have as a member of society is now giving his thoughts on personal debts.  That is “let no debt be outstanding.” (8) From this verse some people say that Christians are never to borrow anything.  Other people say that is not so, that this passage is teaching that we must pay back what we borrow on time. 

The founder of Calvary Chapel in America, Chuck Smith, takes this position. He thinks that Christians should never borrow money.  Many years ago I stayed in the apartment of Bob Haggen, one of the Pastors at Calvary Chapel.  He took us to see the Church in Costa Mesa.  He explained to us that they believed that Christians were not to borrow money so they built the church all in cash.  They didn’t take any loans out.  Calvary Chapel thinks that both the church and the members privately should not borrow any money.  That includes when a person buys a house too.  It is true that financially borrowing and loaning has the possibility of destroying personal relationships.  It can control a person’s heart, take away our freedom, make our hearts mean, and hinder healthy relationships. As a result of borrowing money, sometimes our spirit which should be free is sold to other people. Our life style sometimes becomes more of consulting the feelings of other people and less of consulting the will of God.  Of course it is best not to borrow unless it is absolutely necessary and then to pay it back as soon as possible. However, this passage I do not think it is teaching that we must never borrow money.

Matt. 5:42

Luke 6:35

If the Bible outlawed borrowing then Jesus would not have said the things He did in these two verses. In these passages there are a borrower and loaner so it is telling us what we should do when he borrow money.

  Rev. Reiji Oyama says that the word, “debt” in the Greek had the meaning that you had an obligation that should be fulfilled.  It isn’t referring to just borrowing things back and forth, but is teaching about fulfilling obligations in general. In other words, here it is telling us to do away with debt and to carry out our obligations. Presently, lots of people claim they have rights, but about obligations they lightly look over them and don’t try to fulfill them. This passage is advising against this. For example verse 1 says to obey the authorities that stand above us.  This is one obligation that we need to fulfill.  Of course to pay back what we should pay back is an obligation that we should fulfill. To not meet that obligation will definitely not make God happy.

However, if we read a little more, we can see that the theme here is much more than “Don’t borrow” or “fulfill your obligations”.  That is because right after saying, “Let no debt remain outstanding”, (8) it says “except the continuing debt to love one another.” (8) The central message here is “Love one another” (8) and this is what Paul wanted to say.  In other words, He is changing the theme from the lifestyle of fulfilling your obligations in society to we must “love one another”. (8) Therefore, right after he says, “Let no debt remain outstanding”, (8) he says “except the continuing debt to love one another.” (8)  The debt of love is different. This is because to love other people is to follow the law perfectly.  Therefore, it is good to be in debt to love and to try to repay the debt.  By that debt we love other people.

In this case the debt of love that we have is of course the love that we have received from other people.  We borrow love from others, and repay that love back. That is how we live loving each other.  However, the root of that love is God’s love.  God loves us so we pay that debt of love by loving our neighbors.  By doing this, by loving each other, we follow the law perfectly.

God by His great love gave life to us who were dead in sin and transgressions. Even though we didn’t worship God as God, lived selfishly, and deserved to be torn to shreds, God full of mercy gave life to us who were dieing. God sent his
only son, Jesus Christ to this world, and took upon himself our sin and died on the cross. He paid the complete debt of our sins on the cross. Thus we can come before God boldly.  This is the Gospel of Christ.  Therefore, next we pay our debt towards God by loving our neighbors. This is the debt of love. It is permissible to have such a debt. In fact to put it positive, we should live with more debts of love. By doing that we should love each other.

In John 13 is the story of Jesus washing Peter’s feet. Peter says to Jesus, “You shall never wash my feet.” (8) However, Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” (8) Jesus was saying to Peter that if he didn’t accept Jesus’ love then he would have no relationship with Jesus.

Christians are those who have received God’s love.  They have believed in Christ because they have received Christ’s love. Because they have received Jesus’ love they love Jesus, and they can go out into the word and share Jesus Christ’s love.

In Romans 1:14 Paul said, “I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.” Paul recognized that he himself had to continue to pay off his debt throughout his life. This was the debt of love. It is the debt of the love of God given through Jesus Christ, the debt of grace.  Paul received an enormous amount of Jesus’ love, and experienced amazing grace.

II Cor. 5:14

The reason why Paul was not defeated no matter what terrible persecution he was in for sharing the Gospel was because he was surrounded by the love of Christ. Since the love that he had received from Christ was so huge compared to the persecution he was receiving that he decided that it could not cause him to fall. What supported the apostle Paul was this debt of love.

A really humble person is someone who has received uncountable love and grace from family, and church members and especially from God, and he also has awareness that he is paying the debt of love as he lives.  Such a person wants to by loving each other pay off the debt of love.  That is because by loving other people, you are following the law perfectly.

II.             Love summarizes the law  (vs.9)

Secondly, love summarizes the law   Look at verse 9.  There are many commands and the Jews even made more, but they can all be summarized into one.  That is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (9)

One day an expert in the law came and asked Jesus what the most important commandment is.  Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37) is the greatest commandment.  Then “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39) is the second commandment and is just as important. “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22:40)

“All the Law and the Prophets” refers to the whole Bible. The most important commandments in the whole Bible are the two commandments to love God and to love your neighbor.  In fact, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22:40) In Romans Paul is saying that to “love your neighbor as yourself” (9) summarizes the last half of the 10 commandments which deals with human relationships and which Paul quotes in verse 9. To love God and to love your neighbor summarized all of the law, is its center. When we live in these words, we will really build beautiful human relationships.

The great theologian from the 4^th century Augustine said, “Love only God.  Then do what you want to do.”  He had the assurance that if people only loved God, and are left to their own thinking there will be no problem.  If a person loves God, then he will follow God’s word. He won’t be able to be separated from God. The key to the answer to all problems, the core of all problems is love.

After Jesus rose He confirmed Peter’s love for Him.  Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15, 16, 17)  Because Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him, Peter was hurt and he answered, “Lord you know all things; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17) Then Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17) The reason that Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him was that if he had that love, then after that there would be no problem.  Before that Peter had denied Christ three times. That was because Peter didn’t have that love. He loved himself. His faith was self centered. Therefore he denied Jesus three time because he wanted to protect himself.  Jesus responded to that by asking Peter three times, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15, 16, 17)  He confirmed this three times. If he had that love, that was enough.

How about you?  Do you love Jesus?  Or are you like Peter whose faith depends on what is good for you?  If you can like Peter say, “Lord you know all things; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17), then that is enough. The problem is whether you love Jesus or not.  Everything depends on that one point.  If you love Jesus, then you will love your neighbor because Jesus commanded, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:35)  To love God, to love your neighbor summarizes all the law. It is the center of it.  If we love our neighbor, that is following the law completely.           

III.           Love is the fulfillment of the law (vs. 10)

The third point is that love is the fulfillment of the law. Please look at verse 10.

Fulfillment means to be filled with.  In other words, if we live in love, we fulfill the law.  The one and only way that man can fulfill the demands of the law is by loving.  If there is no love, then life becomes a just a life of rituals and formalities with no heart in it.  However, when love is a part of our life, our hearts are overflowing.

Recently it is said that the numbers of elderly who are having lonely deaths are increasing.  They have money, food, and any thing they need, but there are many cases of lonely deaths.  This is because they have no love.  No matter how much food you have, that you have clothes, that your life is stable, if there is no love, the person can’t live.  Even if things are overflowing around someone, if someone doesn’t show interest in that person, doesn’t show any love, then he will feel empty. What fills one’s inner being; the thing that fills us is love.  Love is the fulfillment of the law. Let’s live with love in this society.

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan who was a person who lived in love.  A man fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes and beat him.                 When the Samaritan saw the man lying half dead, he didn’t ignore him, but went to him and poured oil on his wounds, bandaged him, put him on his donkey and took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper and promised to pay more if that wasn’t enough. Even though the Samaritan was in danger of being robbed himself, he didn’t think about himself, but helped this wounded traveler because “he took pity on him” (Luke 11:33) His heart was filled with this wounded man.  He didn’t have time to think about himself.  He didn’t figure how much money it was going to take.  If he did, he would have also been worried about being late to what he had planned.  He was only concerned about helping the man.  This is what it means to love our neighbor. Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37)

In our society there are many people who are wounded, struggling, and who have fallen down. The commission that we have been given to do within this society is to “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37)

What can we do? The important thing is that we live by the Word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (9) Then let’s pray that the Lord will show us what we can do.  “Love is the fulfillment of the law.” (10) Let’s desire that we can live together in love.

By believing in Jesus Christ, Christians have heaven as their nationality and have received citizenship in heaven.  However, on the other hand just like we are Japanese citizens, they have to live as citizens of the place they live at and they must fulfill their responsibilities there. Today let’s look at three aspects of how Christians should live within these two relationships.

I.            Obey the authorities that are over you (vs. 1,2)

First let’s look at the fact that men should all obey the authorities that are over them.  Please look at verses 1 and 2.

Here Paul says that all men should obey the authorities that are over them.  That is because all authorities are established by God. When we live in this world, no matter by what means the authority came into existence, we must obey the authorities. That is because even the authorities stand by the permission of God.  “Consequently whoever rebels against the authority” (2) is not rebelling against other men, but “is rebelling against what God has instituted,” (2) and so “will bring judgment on themselves.” (2)  Of course, there is no government or no institution in this world that is absolute or has no mistakes.  There are always some defects. However, no matter the greatness of the defects, it has “been established by God” (1) and without God’s permission it would not exist. Therefore, in this world to obey the authorities is to obey God. Therefore, if we obey the authorities in this world, we have peace.  If not, confusion and conflict arise.  That is because our God is not a God of confusion, but a God of order.

In the Old Testament when Korah rebelled against Moses and Aaron saying, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them.  Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?” (Numbers 16:3)  God became extremely angry and opened the land they were standing on and Korah and his family and everything they owned were swallowed up. This was because of their sin of opposing of Moses. God judges those who oppose the leaders that God has established. 

David always obeyed the authorities that God established.  No matter how bad the king was because he was the anointed of God David admitted that he was the authority that God had established. Therefore, when David had a chance to kill          King Saul, he didn’t lift his hands against Saul at all. He left it to God’s judgment, and waited quietly for God’s judgment.  Therefore, God blessed him.

The Bible tells Christians to obey all authorities.  These authorities must be recovered.  For example, from the time of creation God’s order for the family was established as one husband, one wife and also the relationship of the children.  God made man, Adam and Eve.   In other words, God made one man and one woman.  And the two were to become one body, a couple, and through the couple, children were to be given.  The parent child relation was from the beginning decided by God. The authority within the family was given by God so the children were to obey their parents. That is to obey God.  Also for a child to rebel against the parents, is to also rebel against God.  This is the order decided upon by God.  Children must obey their parents.  

Of course if the parents judge the children unfairly, abuse them, do bad things, then they will dirty their position as being a representative of God, and are sinning against the children. Then when the child looks at such a parent, they will have doubts about God, question Him, and rebel against God. If the parents don’t use their authority rightly, they will lead their children to be rebellious towards God. When parents have bad control, the children are led to be bad. 

Ephesians 6:4

This means if there is bad control, the person that has the authority to control will have a bad influence on the person who is controlled.

It is the same in the church. The institutions of Pastor, Elders, and officers in the church are given by God. The members of the church must respect and obey the pastor, and elders. The Pastor and officers of the church will make mistakes. They will be distressed not knowing what to do. They may make the wrong decision. However, even so they should be obeyed because they are the authorities given by God in the order that God has established.

In the same way we should obey our country.  We don’t obey the government because the government makes no mistakes and is a correct institution, but because God designated it as an authority of God. God made the institution of government. God prepared people to work in the government.  The politicians and governmental officials are all servants of God. It would be great if they always recognized this and served. However, within the government there is no one who recognizes this so we can’t have expectations.  Even so we must obey them because the government is also given to us by God as a part of God’s order.  Paul encourages us to pray for such people.

I Timothy 2;1,2

The same can be said of every area of society.  College students often gossip about their professors. However, Christian students shouldn’t copy this, but instead respect their teachers from their hearts and must honor these authorities.  Adults, don’t gossip about your bosses or thoughtlessly disobey, but pray for your bosses and listen well and obey.  That is the will of God and the order that God has established.  This is so that “we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” (I Timothy 2:1)  In other words, it is for our blessing.

II.          As a matter of conscience obey (vs.3-5)

Next let’s look at verses 3-5. Here a reason that we must obey the established authorities is given. That is for our conscience.

“For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.” (3) It is rare that a person is scolded for doing something good. Though there maybe a few exceptions, usually those who do good are praised. If you do something good whether you are a Christian or a non Christian, you are praised. On the contrary, if you do something bad, you will be scolded and punished.   “For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good… They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” (4)  Here the words, “God’s servant” appears 2 times. In other words, Paul is saying that those authorities which are above us are all given by God, and to obey such authorities is to obey God, Himself.  He wants us to understand this as fearing God, Himself. To not obey authorities is not to obey God and is improper for Christians.  This attitude given by God is the fitting attitude for Christians. It is to depend on God, fear God, be thankful to God, and obey the authorities that God established.  If not, we feel our conscience condemning us. We will have feelings of guilt.  We should always before God, walk with a conscious that does not condemn us.  To do that we need to obey the authorities that God has established.

Even so Paul’s faith was huge. He believed that government and other rulers were all in the hand of God.  He had a faith in the providence of God.  Of course that does not mean to follow without criticizing profane authorities. There are situations like in the book of Daniel where the 3 youths, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego put their life on the line and refused to do the command of the King.  However, even at times like this, everything is in God’s hands and we need to understand that all authorities are established by God.  We, Christians, often regard this society as bad, and have a heart that works as an enemy towards the authorities of this society. Because of such a                faith in the providence of God, we need to take the attitude of obeying the established authorities.

Colossians 3:22,23

Christians resolve with righteous hearts to faithfully give their all to all things          as if they were serving God.  A person who when someone is looking pretends that he is enthusiastically working, but when no one is looking works half heartedly, maybe a                   clever person but, he is unfitting as a servant of God.  The servant of God whether others are looking or not, from his heart serves the rulers of this world like he serves the Lord.

We are not to serve to win men’s favor or to be noticed, but “with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord…with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men” (Col. 3: 22, 23) which will lead to our blessing. This is because we have a working                            faith in the providence of God that behind the situation that we are in God is there and God is leading.  Because of this faith “it is necessary to submit to the authorities… as a matter of conscience.” (5)

ＩＩＩ．Fulfill you obligations (vs. 6,7)

              The third point is that we all must fulfill our obligations.  Look at verses 7 and 8.

             Here the words “taxes” and “revenue” appear. At that time these words referred to two different types of taxes. Today both of these would be considered a part of general taxes.  In other words here it is teaching us that we have a obligation to pay taxes.  Here it is commanding us, ”If you owe taxes, pay taxes.” (7)

              The Jews at that time hated paying taxes because they thought that to pay taxes and revenue would be to serve other things than God They thought that those who collected taxes, the tax collectors, were the sinners of sinners. However,　whether it is to the Roman Empire or to pagans, we have the obligation to pay our taxes.  An obligation is a debt. Verse 8 says, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.” All of our obligations must be met like paying off debts. Paying revenue and taxes are an obligation.  That is respecting those we need to respect and honoring those we must honor.  This is putting into action our obedience to the authorities.

              Mat.: 17:24-27

              Here Jesus says that the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes not from their own sons, but from others.  Peter and the rest of the disciples belonged to God’s royal household so they were exempt, “but so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four drachma coin.  Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” (Matt. 4:27)

              This can also be said of Christian.  It is a fact that when we believed in Christ we became a part of God’s kingdom.  However, that does not mean that we don’t have to fulfill our responsibilities and obligations to this world.  Everyone must fill their obligations.  We have to live honestly. This is how Christians should be in this world.  This is a testimony that we are obedient to God. This is the life that God desires for us.

              “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God”（１）as His order.  While keeping our eyes focused on the heavenly kingdom, as one living in this world, let’s fulfill our responsibilities.  This is so that we can live our lives in peace, for our blessing.

In the passage that we just read teaches us the attitude that Christians should take towards those outside of the church. One day an expert in the law came and asked Jesus what the most important commandment is.  Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37) is the greatest commandment.  Then “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39) is the second commandment and is just as important.  In other words Christians are to love God and love others.  However, to say “Love your neighbor as yourself” is easy to say, but to put it into practice is not something that we can do easily.  Our neighbors are not always good people, and some people maybe be plotting evil. Even though you can love someone who likes you and is kind to you, to love those who oppose you, who plot evil, who talk negatively about you, who gossip, who slander, who are malicious, is not something that you can do easily.  What kind of attitude should Christians take towards such people? Let’s look at verses 14 and 21.

              This is the attitude that Christians should take. Christians should bless those that oppose them and persecute them. They must not curse them.  Christians must not do bad things to people that wrong them, and must “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Another way of saying it is that Christians must towards evil take the love of Christ’s cross and be victorious.  Today let’s look at 3 aspects of this.

I.               Bless those who persecute you. (vs. 14-17)

Please look at verses 14 to 17.  Here Paul writes about the Christian basic lifestyle.  That is “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (14)                                                 Also “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.” (17) However, this runs contrary to our natural selves.  That is because when we are persecuted or wronged, we have feelings of wanting to take revenge with even more evil. For example if another person punches us 1 time, we want to return 2 or 3 punches.  Maybe even 2 or 3 punches won’t calm our anger. We want to kill them.

In the Old Testament the words, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” appear.  If someone ruined your eye, you were to gouge out that person’s eye.  If your tooth was broken, you were to break the other person’s tooth.  The law of revenge was that if a life was taken, you were to take the other person’s life.  There were no feelings of love at all.  However, this was definitely not a cruel law, but the greatest law of mercy.　That’s because if someone breaks someone’s tooth, the person whose tooth broke may think that he doesn’t want to just break the tooth of the person who broke his, but his bone too. A person whose eye was ruined, he may not just want to gouge out the eye of the person who did it, but also want to cut his throat.  This is human.  God who knows man’s revenging heart so that man would not give more evil back to the person who committed evil, God declared that that you were to give back no more than you received.  Therefore, these laws appeared in the age of the Old Testament as an expression of God’s love.

Man is a jealous being. We curse those who harm us wishing that they will fall. This is human nature.  However, here it says, “Bless those who persecute you;” (14)                                               and “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.“ (17)

Matt. 5:38-40

It seems impossible.  How can you forgive someone who evilly attacked you, or someone who harmed you? More than that it seems impossible to be able to bless such a person. However, that’s what Christians should do.  By the blood of Jesus Christ all of our sin is forgiven, and　we who have been made the child of God should love our enemies, and bless those who persecute us.  This is the road of Christian victory.

Matt. 5:43-48

Anyone can love a person who loves them. Loving your enemy, and praying for those who persecute you is to become a child of our Father in heaven.  It is not                     just the level of forgiving our enemies, but praying for our enemies for them to be blessed.  This is the will of the Lord and what God desires us to do.

Have you ever heard of Mitsuo Fuchida?  He was a Japanese soldier during the war and was captured and taken as a prisoner to America.  At the camp there was a volunteer girl that was extremely kind and helped the sick and everyone she could. Everyone was taken back by her and asked her why she so enthusiastically helped them.  She answered because her parents were killed by Japanese soldiers while they were serving as missionaries in the Philippines. Before they were killed, her parents knelt and prayed, “Father forgive them because they know not what they are doing.” Therefore, girl’s heart was changed into doing good to those who had done wrong to her and her parents. Thus she started volunteering at the camp. 

Fuchida couldn’t understand very well what she was saying. However, he later started reading the Bible.  When he read Luke 23:34, he remembered the girl’s testimony and finally understood what she was saying. He was able to pray that the Americans that were putting the Japanese soldiers on trial and slaying them would be forgiven.  He was also able to look to the cross and walk straight towards Christ.

To forgive our enemies and pray for those who persecute us is what God in heaven desires of us Christians. This can be done only by those who know the love of Jesus Christ who prayed on the cross.

To do that 2 things are necessary.  Of course to forgive our enemies and pray for those who persecute us we must know the love of Christ’s cross and be forgiven.  While standing on this premise, here it teaches us about 2 hearts that are necessary.

1.                                 Vs. 15 To put yourself in the shoes of the other person and think. When we put ourselves in the other person’s shoes and think, then such a merciful heart will be born.  Christians need to rejoice with those that rejoice and cry with those who cry.

Even if we can cry with those who cry, to rejoice with those who rejoice is not an easy thing to do.  It is not so difficult to cry with those who are sad. When we see children without parents, or see a T.V. program about a family who is overcoming problems associated with living with a handicapped person, it is not difficult for us to shed tears.  However, when we see someone receive a huge blessing, it is more difficult to clap.

The first murder occurred because of envy. God accepted Abel’s offering, but didn’t accept his brother’s, Cain’s offering. Cain became envious, and killed his brother, Abel.  We are the same. When others are blessed sometimes we become envious. Christians aren’t to be jealous, but rejoice together and are sad together.  It is important to stand in the other person’s shoes. Such a heart leads to an attitude of blessing “those who persecute you”. (14)

2.                             (16)  Here it says “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low          position.” All of us have a heart that wants to boast, that doesn’t want to allow God to change us. We want to look good so without thinking we tell lies Therefore, here it tell us to “Live in harmony with one another.” (16) In other words, we need to harmonize like a song.  Modest people, those who don’t think they know everything are those who can live in harmony.  Those who are proud find it difficult to harmonize.   Those who think they know everything find it difficult to allow God to change them. Self advocacy only causes our mouth to become like poison handicapping the other person so immediately the harmony is in a mess . Wherever that person goes, peace is completely broken. On the other end if a person has a humble, modest heart and does not think that he knows everything, then others recognize the person, love him, and everyone can live in peace.

Galatians 5:22,23

These are the fruit of the Spirit.  We certainly can’t have these things by our own strength. When the Holy Spirit pours oil upon us, then we can begin to love, to rejoice, to receive peace, to endure. We are able to keep the fruits of “kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22, 23) 

By our own strength we can’t bless those who persecute us. By our own strength we can’t be humble or have a heart that doesn’t think that we know everything.  It is only by kneeling before the Lord, and meditating on all that the Lord has done for us, and by having the Lord work in our heart, that we can “Bless those who persecute” (14) us; “Rejoice with those who rejoice;” (15) and “Live in harmony with one another.” (16)

II.             Live at peace with everyone (vs. 18)

The second point is to “Live at peace with everyone.” (18) No matter what evil we throw away on our end, there are those who think badly of us, that persecute us, and that speak badly about us.  Towards such people here we are told to “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (18)　However, no matter what the other person is like, what we can do ourselves is have peace with all people which is a necessary stance. If the other person does bad things to the end, there will not be real peace between the two of you.  At least on your side, keep perfect peace. You must make it clear that responsibility for peace lies with the other person.  This is very difficult in real life.  In our daily life, when we can’t maintain peace, we blame the other person. Man always has to blame someone else in order to maintain themselves.  However, even at times like this, we need to keep peace within our hearts.    

III.           Leave room for God’s wrath (Vs. 19 & 20)

Lastly, let’s look at leaving it to God’s wrath. When the situation doesn’t improve and the other person is acting out of evilness, what should we do?  Please look at verses 19 and 20.

We are not to “repay anyone evil for evil.” (19) We need to leave it to God’s wrath.  Of course, when we as Christians receive unfair treatment or have been wronged, we can appeal through public agencies.  There are times when the Person who appeals does better. However, the most important thing, the most major thing is to leave it to God. That is because the Lord says, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.” (19)  Revenge is not what we should do.  That is what God does.  God judges righteously.  We need to leave everything to this righteous judgment.

Not only that but in verse 20 it says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” To give food to your hungry enemy and to give drinks to your thirsty enemy is responding in love.  It is not to ignore him thinking that even if you said anything it would be useless, but to respond in love.  By doing so, “you will heap burning coals on his head.” (20) This means that your enemy will have shameful feelings.  Even though the other person did bad things, the Christian responds with kindness so that the other person’s conscious won’t be able to stand it, and will become shamed. This is the road to God’s victory.

When Jesus prayed about those who put him on the cross, “Father, Forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing”, One of the criminals that was next to him was saved and God’s love was demonstrated. When Stephen was persecuted and stoned to death, he prayed, “forgive them.” Through that prayer, Paul was led to salvation, and became an apostle to the Gentiles. When Joseph in the Old Testament too forgave his brothers who sold him to Egypt confessing that God led him there, he overcame and had victory over his feelings of wanting to take revenge.  Joseph was able to finish his life victoriously. We should bless and must not curse.  When we live by these Words of God, we will receive grace from God, be richly blessed, and can life a life of victory.

In society, in our family, towards other people we are to keep peace with non Christians.  This is a principle that can be applied to all relationships.  Enthusiastically perform good works. When given the chance to do good, gladly do so Paul is teaching us this.  Towards everyone do what all people think is good. Towards those who hurt us we need to be kind and do good, and that will cause their conscious to hurt.  By doing that they will be led to salvation. This is the principle of victory in the cross.

We are weak and find it difficult to forgive those who plot evil on us.  Let’s be victorious following the principle of the victory of the cross. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.”(17) “Do not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (21) This is the victorious road the Paul is teaching us.

              Romans is divided into chapters 1 to 11, the doctrinal part, and chapter 12 to the end, the practical part. In the practical part Paul talked about the principles of the Christian life。 Now here in today’s passage he talks about the foundation of the relationships of brothers and sisters in the church.  This foundation is love.  Please look at verse 9.

              The basis of the Christian life is love. When Christians become one as the body of Christ, the church, then they are really the body of Christ.  No matter how great of gifts we have, if we have no love then there is no meaning at all.  In I Cor. 13 too like this passage Paul taught about the gifts and after that spoke about love. In chapter 12 of First Corinthians Paul taught about the gifts and in chapter 13 he taught about love.

I Cor. 13:1-3

              Love is the root that actually supports all works and gifts.  It is the belt that ties everything together.  Today let’s look at 3 aspects of living in true love.

I.                Real love (vs. 9)

First “love must be sincere”. (9) The meaning of “sincere” is that we are not to love like an actor on stage.  In this world there is an enormous amount of love that is just being acted out.  There are many cases which look like real love, but in reality the person is just wearing a mask.  In many cases superficially they seem loving, but in their hearts they aren’t.  However, “love must be sincere”. (9) In other words, we have to love sincerely, with real love.

Here one characteristic of real love is given. “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” (9)  Real love hates evil and clings to good.  It is not happy over wrongs and rejoices in truth.

There is a huge gap between the love that the Bible teaches and what the world calls love.  Love in the Bible puts the emphasis on the motive behind the love. However, in this world the emphasis is on what is done and the result.  In his world people who give money to the poor and food to the hungry are thought to be full of love and to have good morals, but love in the Bible isn’t determined just by actions and results, but by the motives. Therefore, no matter what beautiful deeds you do, if the motives aren’t right, it can’t be called love.  From the Bible’s viewpoint, love is the real love given to us within our relationship with God and which is the outcome of motives also given to us by God. That is because love is from God.

I John 4:9, 10

              Real love is only in God.  God sent his only Son to this world and was put on the cross “as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (I John 4:10)  Therefore, only by being filled with God’s love, can we share in the joy and sadness of other people around us.  If not, that person whether he is conscious of it or not, his love becomes a deliberate and carefully planned out love for his own self satisfaction.  Such deliberate and carefully planned out love will definitely not grow into real love.

II.              Be devoted to one another in brotherly love (vs. 10) 

The second point is to ”Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” (10) Here the word that Paul uses for “brotherly love” (10) is “philadelphia” in Greek. This is different from the word “love” that appears in verse 9.  The word “love” that appears in verse 9 is “agape” in Greek.  “Agape” expresses the love that God has towards us.  This “brotherly love” that appears in verse 10 is the love that is seen among                     Christians. In other words, Paul is saying here that Christians who have experienced God’s one way grace and love need to have confidence in that love and then among the brothers and sisters in the church they must love each other.  “To be devoted to each other” is a word that is used for love within the family.  For people all around the world the family is the source of blessings.  That is because in the family there is fellowship of wonderful love.  With that type of love we are to love each other.  That is because the church is God’s family, and Christians are brothers and sisters.

Those who do not know God’s love can’t “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” (vs. 10)  Romans 1:29-32 tells us what those who “although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him” (1:21) “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” (1:22) are like.

Romans 1:29-32

All of the characteristics of those types of people are thoughts and actions that are inconsistent with love.  Society which is separated from God and worships idols as gods, are all selfish.  They don’t have any love at all.  Especially look at verse 31 at the word, “heartless”.  This is the same word that is used in 12:10 for “Be devoted to one another” except it has an “a” in front of it. In Greek an “a” prefix is like an English “un” prefix.  In other words, “heartless” is not being “devoted” and to have no family love. To be “devoted” is to have a heart and to have family love.  “Heartless” is one element in a long list of things that are inconsistent with love.  In other words, one characteristic of those who don’t know God and are deep in sin is that they can’t have real family love. They can’t honor their parents, and do what they say.  Depravity, gossip, strife, deceit, malice, disobeying their parents, and their attitude and acts of self centered living become the characteristics of their family relationships. 

When the first people Adam and Eve sinned, their relationship crumbled. They lost the wonderful fellowship that they had, and their family relationship was destroyed.  This is what happens in the human relationships of those who are deep in sin.  However, Christians are not so. Christians, who by the love of God had their sins atoned by the cross of Christ, are brothers and sisters, God’s family, so they use that love to accept the other brothers and sisters. They must love each other. With brotherly love we should be compassionate with each other.

In order to do this Paul says next, “Honor one another above yourselves.” (10) 

Phil. 2:3-8

Here Paul says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Phil. 2:3)  And then as a model he shows Jesus.  “Jesus who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant , being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on the cross!” (Phil. 2:5-8) This is considering “others better than yourself.” (Phil. 2:3) In other words, to “consider others better than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3) is not to compare yourself with someone and think that that person is better than yourself.  Jesus did not do that. This is not saying that someone is better than someone else. Jesus doesn’t think that way.  This passage says, “in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Phil. 2:3) Jesus considered us to be very important so He came to this world and died on the cross for us. If Jesus thought that he was more important, then he would not have come from heaven to this earth.  However, Jesus didn’t cherish his glory in heaven, but threw it away.  That is because he considered us as more important than himself.  Therefore, he left behind the wonderful fellowship that he had with the father and the Holy Spirit and became a man like us and came to this world to save us from sin and death.  That is really a one way love. If the other person surpasses yourself, then you would think of giving your life away so that person can live.  However, Jesus was in all aspects higher and higher, infinitely better than us. If we compared ourselves with Jesus, we not only do not surpass Jesus in any way, but we are completely filthy.  We are really sinful, self centered fools, but even so Jesus loves us, and cherishes us, and gave himself for us. That was the cross, the cross of love.  The Bible uses the word “agape” to explain this love over and over again.  “To consider others better than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3) is the love of the cross, the love that Jesus showed us.  When we have this love then love is born within us and it becomes possible for us to “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” (10) This love needs to be the basis of the church.

III.            Be joyful in hope (12)

The third point is to ”be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (12) If we looked at the reality of this world that we can see, we would not able to “Be devoted to one another,” (10) When we think over and over again about the many different phenomenon that we see, we get angry, sulky, and become pessimistic.  That is because this world is a battlefield. There is fighting everywhere.  We run into many different problems.  However, even on the battlefield if we put our eyes on heaven, because there is hope that we will receive eternal blessings in the eternal kingdom, we can experience spiritual joy and freedom.

Paul in Romans 8:18 says, “Consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”  Those who believe in our Savior Jesus Christ are promised a future of victory, and glory.  This glory is promised.  Because this glory is promised to us we can deeply rejoice, and overcome difficulties.  We don’t rejoice because the circumstances we are facing now are pleasant. Even though it is not so now, because we have the hope that someday we will have glory and blessings, we can rejoice.  Because of this hope we can “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” (10) even with a person that is tough to deal with.  We can “honor one another above ” (10) ourselves.

Recently on the T.V. program “Unbelievable” there was the story of a Chinese family that took into their home an injured Japanese soldier.  He couldn’t talk and his brain was injured probably from being shot in the head so he was like a three year old child.  For 47 years the family took care of the soldier being terribly persecuted for doing so.  During that time the father died saying that his will was that the family would take care of the Japanese soldier and help him find his family.  Finally the son was able to find the Japanese soldier’s family and took the soldier to his family in Japan.  This is truly an unbelievable story that a family would for 47 years take care of the soldier in the midst of persecution.  That’s not something that most people could do.  The reason the family could do this was because the father had experienced being abandoned as a baby and when he was at the point of dieing experienced being saved.

We too were dead in sin. By the love of God, we were saved by the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Our life is not ours, but Gods. We want to live by the will of God.  The will of God is to live in God’s love.

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (9,10) Let’s desire loving personal relationships.  May we not put our eyes on the world, but by looking at God’s love be able to begin to place our hope in the eternal home in heaven. 

Romans is divided into chapters 1 to 11 and from chapter 12 to the end of the book.  Chapters 1 to 11 teach that a person is saved by believing in Jesus Christ. There is no other way that we can be saved. It is only by believing in the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross that we are saved. This is the Gospel.  From chapter 12 on Paul tells us how those who believed should live.  Last week we looked at a premise, self-sacrifice.  “Present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” (1)  Paul is saying that self-sacrifice is the foundation upon which we build our concrete lifestyle. In today’s passage Paul is teaching us one concrete thing that should be a part of our life style.  Please look at verse 3.

In other words Christians “by the grace given” (3) within the, body of Christ, the church should not think of themselves more highly than they should, but “with the measure of faith God has given” (3) them; soberly walk according to their gifts.  Today let’s look at 3 aspects of serving in the church.

Ｉ．       Think with sober judgment                                                                                                First let’s look at what it means to think with sober judgment.  Look again at verse 3.                                                                                                                                                          Paul is insists that all Christians who believe in Jesus Christ should not think of themselves more highly than they should, but rather think of themselves “with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given” (3) them. The word “think” (3) was originally related with the heart and expresses not just a mental thinking, but thinking deeply from your heart.  Therefore, to think with “sober judgment” is to have healthy thinking, not negative or avoiding involvement.  This is exactly the opposite of thinking “more highly than you ought.” (3) To think more highly is to think of yourself as higher than you really are, being arrogant. This is unhealthy thinking too.  Healthy Christian thinking isn’t just being humble, but thinking spiritually.  This is a little different from what the norm of society thinks of a humble attitude.  The norm of society also teaches humility, but humility in the Bible is not just thinking humbly about yourself. It includes the element of faith. “In accordance with the measure of faith” (3) we must think “with sober judgment”. (3)

              “In accordance with the measure of faith” (3) is the degree of faith that each person has received.  We all have received different gifts and to different degrees.  Therefore, we need to serve according to the degree that we have received.  That does not mean that a person who has received more is greater than a person that has received less.  Those who have received more and those who have received less both must be thankful for the grace that they have been given by God and faithfully use their gifts to build up the body of Christ, the church.         

Matt. 25:14-30

The problem with the servant that had received only one talent was that he was not faithful.  He took the 1 talent that he received and hid it in the ground and didn’t use it.  God’s interest is not in how much talent a person has received, but how the talent is used.  Therefore, both the servant that received 5 talents and the servant that received 2 talents were faithful in the use of their talents. God blessed them both with the same words of blessing. The problem lies in not how much we have been given, but how it was used. This is what it means by “think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (3) This is a healthy Christian heart, and thinking.

              In other words, real humility is to use the spiritual gifts that you have been given to serve God and man. Therefore, “think of yourself with sober judgment” definitely does not mean to think of yourself as no good or that you can’t do anything.  It means to think that the spiritual gifts that you have been given are all from God and be thankful and use them.

              Outside of God’s grace, without the cross and resurrection, we are small, weak, and wretched.  However, God loves us, chose us, cleansed us, and made us holy.  And then “in accordance with the measure of faith God has given” (3) us, He has given us spiritual gifts.  We are not to think that we above others and want to control them, nor are we to take the attitude of feeling content about being above others, but according to our gifts, “in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you,” (3) we must serve each other.

              That is why Paul says here, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you:” (3) When Paul thought of the fact that he is a Christian and has now been given life, while being conscious that this is only by the grace of God’s salvation, he was aware that he was a leader, and a teacher only by the authority which was given to him by the grace of God.  In the church there is no one who is qualified to demand something from others.  All of us are nothing but forgiven sinners.  However, even such a person, if he can preach, he can do so only by the one way grace of God.  While realizing this, we should use the gifts we are given and serve each other.  That is thinking “with sober judgment” and is real Christian humility.

              We must not forget this. If we forget this, we become conceited. We aren’t able to have “sober judgment” (3), and healthy thinking. We become proud, lack faith, judge others, and become troublemakers. When we think that our gifts are all by the grace of God, we are thinking with “sober judgment” (3).  This is how our Christian thinking and life should be.

II.              One body in Christ (vs. 4,5)

Secondly, let’s look at why Christians should think this way.  That is because we are one body in Christ, and we are each organs that are needed for the health of the body.  Let’s look at verses 4 and 5.

Here Paul describes the church as “one body”. The church is the body of Christ. What does it mean that the church is the body of Christ?

1.                  Christ and the church are one body.  In other words, the church by the life of Christ is born. Therefore, without Christ, the church can’t be given birth.

2.                  There are many organs, but the organs are all connected together into one body. In one body there are many organs, but the organs do not all do the same job.  In the same way, in the church there are many members, but we each have our own jobs to do. In the body there are eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands, feet, etc. When each of these body parts come together, then we have a healthy body. The eyes are seeing not just for themselves, but for the whole body. The feet walk not just for themselves, but they walk for the whole body.  In the same way, we Christians also are there to serve the other people in the Church.

       When our right hand is itchy, we can’t scratch it with our right hand. We scratch it with our left hand.  We scratch it without even realizing that we are doing it.  It is amazing.  The left hand never says that the itch is no concern to him and refuse to scratch the right hand.  Our hand never goes on strike saying that it refuses to work only when it is bringing food to the mouth. We need each other.  We work for each other.  We are all connected together to form the body of Christ.  Someone is the arm. Someone is the leg. Someone is the mouth. Someone is the finger nail which seems like something that you don’t have to have.  However, if you tried to pull a sticker off and it won’t come off and you tried to scrape it off with just your finger, it would hurt. It would be difficult without finger nails.  Every part of the body is necessary.

     　   There is no organ that is not necessary.  No matter how small an organ, it is necessary. That means that in the church we are to serve other people with the spiritual gifts that we have been given.  If we really understand this, the joy of serving in the church would greatly increase and the church will become unified and move forward.

III.            Different gifts (vs. 6-8)

Last let’s look at the list of gifts that we are given.  Look at verses 6 to 8.

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” (6)  This means that these are special gifts of grace given by God which is different than abilities that we are born with. Of course, there are times that the Holy Spirit uses our natural abilities too, but spiritual gifts are gifts of grace given by God. A person who is completely changed by the Holy Spirit is given spiritual gifts in order to perform unbelievable                   works.  God has given each of us different spiritual gifts.  In this passage mainly 7 spiritual gifts are mentioned.                          .

1.           prophecy  Here it says, ”If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.” (6) This gift is used to proclaim the word of God. It maybe a prediction, but in most cases it is in today’s words, “the spiritual gift of preaching”.  It is receiving a message from God and imparting it to believers by the Holy Spirit in a way that they can understand.

2.           serving       This is doing any kind of service needed by the body of Christ or any of its members. One example of this is serving those who are suffering financially or the sick. However, this spiritual gift is used to help those who are leading the work of evangelism.  People who have this gift in many cases can’t use their spiritual gift well when told to do so by themselves.  By working under a leader they are able to exercise the gift they have received with greater power.  Church staff, assistants, and co-workers often have this gift.  However, laymen too who serve in the church doing many tasks that free the pastor so he can attend to the work of preaching the Word of God also have this gift.

                                   Aaron and Hur who appear in Exodus 17 had this gift. At that time Israel was fighting with the Amalekites.  When Moses held his hands up and prayed, the Israelites were winning, but when he put his hands down, the Amalekites were winning.  Therefore, Moses had to hold up both hands up all the time, but as you probably have experienced, it is painful to hold up hands for a long time. This was very trying for Moses too. “When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it.  Aaron and Hur held his hands up-one on one side, one on the other-so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” (Exodus 17:12) Therefore, the Israelites were able to win.  This is the gift of serving.

3.           teaching                           This spiritual gift of teaching is the gift of explaining what the Bible is saying. It is somewhat like the gift of prophecy, but to say the difference strongly the gift of prophet uses spiritual authority and speaks boldly the message of the Bible that God has given.  The gift of teaching is the ability to make the Bible understand. It is the ability to explain the Bible in easily understood terms and make the Bible understandable.

4.           encouraging        Here it says, “If it is encouraging, let him encourage.” (8) If a person who is having trials or hardships and is depressed meets a person with this spiritual gift, he will be encouraged. If a person has lost all hope and he talks with a person with this gift and is prayed for, his spirits will soon be lifted. Most importantly a person with the gift of encouragement encourages people in their walk with Christ.  They encourage people to use their gifts to the fullest and accomplish great things. They encourage people to grow to be more Christ like.

5.           contributing        The gift of contributing is the ability to enjoy giving what is one’s own to the Lord and the Lord’s church. This does not mean that you have to have money to do this.  This is a spiritual gift.  It doesn’t matter if you have money or not. You can give whenever God gives the grace to do so. A person with this gift no matter how much he gives, he can enjoy giving.

6.           leadership         Here it says, “If it is leadership, let him govern diligently.” (8) The spiritual gift of leadership is the ability to spiritually watch over the church flock.  When a person with the spiritual gift of leadership leads, an ordinary vessel is changed into a capable worker. Even though you may not have any special skills or any special strengths, but if this kind of leader leads, you are able to exercise unbelievable strength.

David had such a spiritual gift.  If you look at I Samuel 22, when David escaped to the cave of Adullam, about 400 men “who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him.” (I Samuel 22:2) These people would be considered the scum of the earth.  However, David trained them and used them to unify Israel.  David had the spiritual gift of leadership.

7.           mercy           When another person is struggling, a person with the gift of mercy thinks of that person’s struggle as his own. He has the heart of carrying other people’s burdens, of caring for struggling people.

Today we looked at 7 spiritual gifts.  However this is not all of them.  In the Bible including this 7 at least 27 more are mentioned. These spiritual gifts are definitely not abilities that we are born with. The Lord has given them to the church because they are necessary for building up the church and for its growth.  They are given by the grace of the Lord so we need to ascertain what spiritual gift we have been given, and desire spiritual gifts, and humbly, use them to serve our brothers and sisters in the church.  “Think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (3) When you use the gifts of grace that you have received for Christ’s body, the brothers and sisters in the church, this is really thinking “with sober judgment”, (3) and is a healthy Christian heart.  That type of person will be further blessed, and will be used more and more by the Lord. 

Romans is divided into 2 parts. The first part is chapters 1 to 11 and the second part is from chapter 12 to the end of the book, chapter 16.  Chapters 1 to 11 teach that a person is saved by believing in Jesus Christ. In other words, it tells us about the contents of salvation and Jesus Christ who is the source of salvation.  From here on Paul tells how those who believed should live.  In today’s passage Paul is teaching on a general level.  In verses 1 and 2 Paul says there are two fundamental premises.  First is self-sacrifice.  Here it says, “Present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” (1)  The second premise is changing yourself.  Here it says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (2)  Self-sacrifice and changing yourself are the foundation for having a faith that pleases God.  Today let’s look at three points about self-sacrifice and changing yourself.

I.                Present your bodies (Vs. 1)

First let’s look at self-sacrifice. Verse 1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.”  

“Therefore” (1) refers to everything that Paul has said up until now, the salvation of the cross.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (3:23, 24) By God’s grace and mercy which is only by the blood shed on the cross that we are forgiven is far above any small man’s limited thinking. Thus Paul urges us.

Paul urges, “Present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” (1) Christians by the mercy of God, by faith of believing in Christ we are made righteous. By the power of the Holy Spirit are made holy. We are made heirs as a child of our Godly father, and we inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, it is natural that we should sacrifice our self. 

Galatians 2:20

Christians are not living in this world for their own pleasure and contentment, but by the faith of believing in God’s Son who loves us and gave his own life for us. Christians live confessing this.  Therefore, giving everything to God is natural. Self-sacrifice is the most basic and important action that we should take towards God.  That is a “spiritual act of worship.” (1) Worshipping God is the beginning of the Christian lifestyle.  When man worships, he is the most human like. He can live brightly like the man he was originally made to be.  And when we worship, we become filled with strength.

When Israel marched through the desert, in the middle was the Ark of the Covenant.  This was a symbol that worship was their center.  For the Israelites worship was life.  Therefore, there were 3 tribes north of the ark, 3 tribes South, 3 tribes East and 3 tribes West of the Ark so all 12 tribes could move looking at the ark of covenant.  When the Ark of the Covenant stopped then Israel stopped. Then where they stopped, with the Ark of Testament as their center, they worshipped God.  Their center was worship.

We are the same. For all of our life, worship needs to be formed as the center of it. Worship where we give ourselves to God needs to be the center of our Christian lives.  If not, even if we are living in the flesh, our insides are dieing. We have no power. We will be a weak people.  Those who can’t offer worship that is alive are like a shriveled plant that day by day their spirit dries up.  In other words, worship is in deed our lifeline, the most fundamental and necessary thing. Therefore, we need to “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice to God, holy and pleasing to God.” (1)

Here it says, “Present your bodies.” (1)  Usually we would expect it to say, “Present your heart.” The heart is the center of man.  However, Paul said, “Present your bodies.” (1) One Bible translation translates this as “Present yourself”   This means to offer our whole self.  We are to offer not just our bodies, but our whole self.

Not only that, but here it says, “as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” (1) In the Old Testament when sacrifices were offered, first of all the animal was killed, and then it was offered according to the law.  If it was offered that way, then the sacrifice would be pleasing to God, and sin would be atoned and as result fellowship with God could be restored.  However, here it urges us not to offer a dead sacrifice, but a living sacrifice.  The sacrifice that Christians offer is not a dead animal, but your living self, your whole self; your life itself is a sacrifice to God.

D.L. Moody one time when he felt God speaking to him, he wrote on a piece of paper “D.L. Moody” and put it in the offering plate.  In other words, he thought that he wanted to give himself as an offering.  This is what it means to give our bodies.

What God accepts, the offering that pleases God is this kind of heart.  God wants us to offer ourselves as a holy, living sacrifice.  “This is your spiritual act of worship.” (1)

II.              Do not conform to the pattern of this world (Vs. 2)

One other fundamental Christian lifestyle premise is to change yourself.  Verse 2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” This is the result of the sacrifice of verse 1, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”  This is urging us from a negative                side, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (2) and a positive                    side, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (2)

First let’s look from the negative side, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (2) Christians who by the grace of God have been led to salvation belong to God, and have offered their all to God.  Each country has their own laws.  In the same way, the principles of the Christian life also are to be according to the law of the kingdom of God not those of the world.  What Paul calls “this world” (2) ignores God and turns its back on God.  A characteristic of the world is living selfishly and self-centeredly. It has always been so, but today also this world is so selfish. “They neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (1:21) This is “this world”. (2) Where ever you go, they don’t glorify God as God and consider people as people, so as a result they do things that they shouldn’t do with no shame. Paul is saying “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (2)

One weak characteristic of man is that he conforms to the patterns of this world.  Even if we go to school, even if we go to work, no matter where we go we don’t feel secure unless we are doing the same thing as everyone else.  Young people are pulled by the current of this age that doesn’t know God.  Just like things which have no life, even a huge log, flows with current, so those who don’t have the life of God are pulled by the current and flow down the current of this world, and are pushed by the fleshly style of this world into the flow.  Like Ephesians 2:1-3 by what Satan says they are pushed into the current. However, just as a small fish if it has life, it can go against the current, if we have life, we can live against the current this world.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (2) definitely does not mean to be separated from this world or isolation. To“ not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (2) means that Christians who belong to God must not be controlled by the thinking of this world, nor do things from selfish motives, nor be driven by deep sinful impulses.  It means that even though everyone around you is doing wrong, that you only stand before the Word of God.

The problem is that at church we worship God, but outside of church we live a life completely unrelated to worship.  This is called dualism. The spirit and flesh are considered to be divided. Whether we are in the church or outside of the church, we need to choose to follow the will of God. This is a lifestyle of not being conformed “to the pattern of this world.” (2)

III.         Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Vs. 2)

The third point is negative side of personal change.  Here it says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (2) Even though it says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (2), it is a very difficult thing to do.  The question that I am asked the most as a Pastor is “How can I change?”  No matter how great a talk I hear on self-change at a seminar or meeting that I go to, 2 weeks later I have returned to my old self.  Even though they taught what I should do there, they didn’t give me the strength to do it.

There is good news.

Ephesians 1:18-21

Here the word “power” is “dunamis” in Greek and is the base for the English word, “dynamite”.  In other words, we have been given a power like dynamite to change our lives.  It is the power that 2000 years ago resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead. By this power of the resurrection, our past is canceled, our problems are overcome, and our personality is made anew.  Also it is promised that the Holy Spirit will give us this power of the resurrection. By believing in Christ we have the Holy Spirit living within us.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are changed.

However, for that to happen there is one necessary condition. That is “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (2) How we think determines what we do and say.  Therefore, Paul says “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (2)  This can be seen as the purpose of changing yourself, but it can also be seen as the steps for change. It is necessary to distinguish what the will of God is, what is good, what pleases God, and what is perfect.  By having such thinking and thoughts, the Holy Spirit works within us. Then we are able to change ourselves.

We are loved by God. By the shedding of Jesus’ blood we are forgiven of our sins and made a son of God.  Therefore, we live not by “the pattern of this world” (2) but by following the will of God. We must not “conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (2) We must “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” (1)

The first question in the Westminster catechism is, “What is the main purpose for which man was made?”  The answer is “to give God glory, and eternally please God.”  May our life give God glory and please God.  That begins by sacrificing to and being consecrated to God.