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You may never have heard of Jon Zizka, the one-eyed military genius. You probably have heard of Jon Huss, the bold preacher of God’s Word in Prague, Bohemia. He was declared a heretic by the Catholic church and burned at the stake in Constance, Germany, in 1415 for refusing to compromise. The followers of Huss, called Hussites, gathered forces to defend themselves against the Holy Roman Empire. Jon Zizska, the one-eyed commander, led Hussite peasants against the far superior Catholic armies and never lost a battle, even though completely blind toward the end of his life. He died in 1424 from the plague. Before his death he ordered his skin to be removed and turned into a military drum so he could continue to lead his troops to victory even in his death. Jon Zizka is a hero of the Czech Republic.
I tell you this to illustrate what our infinitely greater Commander, Jesus did. He single-handedly destroyed sin, Satan, and death for us through the cross and the resurrection. When He ascended to the right hand of God, He poured forth His Spirit to fill and empower His armies of believers to march through this world representing His great cause of the gospel. Everywhere we go, He goes with us through His Spirit who dwells in us.
Turn to Romans 12. After eleven of the greatest chapters in all human literature, clearly telling us how we can be saved from our sins, justified by faith alone, and enjoy the peace of God through faith in Christ, Paul brought us to chapter 12 where he describes what it means to live for Christ in this world. We presented our bodies a living sacrifice and are discovering God’s will as we renew our minds through His Word. Last week we learned about our responsibility to serve with our gifts in the body of Christ.
Now in verses 9-21 Paul pinpoints eight areas of godly virtue as we live for Christ and serve in His body. These responses of godly virtue do not come naturally. They are the opposite of our natural tendencies. We are born in sin and sin manifests itself in selfish reactions to the people and circumstances in our lives. But God says you’re going to be different. Instead of reacting selfishly like a dog when you try to take away his bone, we’re called to respond in a God-honoring way. I’m calling these godly responses “godly virtue” or moral excellence. God expects us to apply these marks of godly virtue in all our relationships, beginning at home in your marriage and family and then to your church family and the people you encounter day by day.
Let’s begin with an overview of the eight areas of godly virtue. Martyn Lloyd-Jones calls these “a wonderful perfect summary of the Christian life.”
- How you demonstrate biblical love – vs. 9
- How you treat others in the body of Christ – vs. 10
- How you approach your ministry for the Lord – vs. 11
- How you handle the tough times in your life – vs. 12
- How you respond to the needs of others – vs. 13
- How you express compassion toward others – vss. 14-15
- How you practice humility in relationships – vs. 16
- How you deal with evil or nasty people in your life – vss. 17-21
This morning we’re only going to dive into the first four. These are like going through a spiritual car or soul wash. They can be a little rough on us as the Spirit applies them to our lives, but we need them.
HOW YOU DEMONSTRATE BIBLICAL LOVE
Romans 12:9, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Love always leads the list of godly virtues. God created us to love Him and others first and foremost, but sin turned us into self-lovers above all. God saved us to change us into godly lovers. Paul takes a whole chapter to describe love in 1 Corinthians 13. Love leads the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. First Timothy 1:5 says love is the goal of our instruction. Peter puts love at the apex of godly virtues in 2 Peter 1:7. He also urges us to keep fervent in our love for one another in 1 Peter 4:7. We must be growing in biblical love, agape love, love that reflects the sacrificial, giving love of our heavenly Father. How do you demonstrate this love?
By being genuine or sincere, “without hypocrisy.” The Greek word “hypocrisy” has the idea of speaking from under a mask. Greek actors in the theater would hold masks over their faces according to their roles, happy or sad, but there was no reality behind it. Paul says our love must not be fake, not just a mask. It must be reality, genuine, sincere. Don’t just say you love people. Show it. God didn’t just talk about loving us. He so loved the world that He gave. He saw our problem and moved to meet the need behind the problem. Christ didn’t just talk about loving us. He loved us by bearing our sins in our place. First John 3:18 says don’t just love in word or with our tongues, but in deed and in truth. Love without hypocrisy means denying yourself and actually caring about the people in your world. The father sitting in the car on a Sunday morning beeping the horn because it’s time to get to church while his wife is inside trying to get all seven children fed, cleaned up, and dressed is not practicing unhypocritical love. Let your love be real. Paul adds two characteristics of true, unhypocritical love.
By hating evil. Boy is this needed. We don’t love God and others if we don’t hate what God hates. True love hates everything that attacks God’s character and destroys or hurts others. If you don’t hate evil, you don’t love God. Psalm 97:10 “Hate evil, you who love the Lord.” God hates lies, murder, abortion, gender twisting, and especially false religion. Anything that sent Christ to the cross or that will send sinners to hell we should hate. The world is working hard to get us to tolerate and even affirm, applaud evil, to side with evil, to feel sorry for evil, and to hate those who hate evil. You can’t live in a corrupt and destructive culture like ours as a loving believer without a growing hatred for evil. You see how evil destroys families, marriages, individuals, and turns what is evil into good. A loving father or mother is going to be concerned about the kind of boy their daughter wants to marry because they know the evil that can come. True love means we must speak up to expose what is an attack on God’s will. That doesn’t mean we hate people in a violent sense. But love is unbending to the moral and spiritual evils of our society. Our culture demands that we love every perversion and evil practice. “Love knows no borders” is not love. Let’s add, we need to hate the evil in our own hearts.
By gluing yourself to what is good, or beneficial, helpful. Cling means be strongly attached to. It is used in the marriage relationship – to cleave to one another, clinging like epoxy glue or wrapping your arms around the good. Here’s the answer to dealing with evil in your life. Fill your life with good and you won’t have time for evil. Galatians 6:10 says, “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” What is biblical love? Caring for others enough to hate evil and cling to what is good.
HOW YOU TREAT OTHERS IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
Romans 12:10, Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
With family commitment. This little phrase literally says, “In brotherly love to one another have strong affection.” That word brotherly love is “Philadelphia,” and we could talk about cheese steaks and the Phillies and the Eagles, or all the thugs and mobsters trashing the once beautiful city. But that’s not what we’re here for. Actually “philadelphia” means loving brothers, being affectionate to people in God’s family. All you children love your brothers and sisters, don’t you? Of course you do. But here Paul is speaking of the church of Jesus Christ, a family of brothers and sisters that even outlasts time. We’re part of the family of God. And Paul adds be devoted, meaning have a strong natural affection for one another, like a mother’s strong love and affection for her little ones. The idea according to Steve Lawson is “deeply committed and fiercely loyal to one another in the body of Christ.” We’re going to spend eternity together, so we need to resolve conflicts between believers here and now. You can’t hold bitterness toward other believers. You may not always agree – Paul and Barnabas disagreed over Mark in Acts 15 – but they still loved each other as brothers in Christ. That’s not always easy, but this isn’t a suggestion.
With unselfish honor. Honor means highly valuing someone and treating them that way. Peter told us husbands, “Live with you wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor.” Highly value her, don’t take her for granted, don’t ignore her, don’t use her for your own selfish interests, don’t yell at her – grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life. Giving preference means leading the way. Don’t wait for other people to honor you; you take the initiative in honoring them. You honor other people’s words, time, and sensitivities. You honor people with your words, using words that build up, not cut down. You honor other people’s time by keeping commitments and if you can’t make it, show honor by calling. You honor people by being aware of their sensitivities and not offend them.
Christ always treated people with honor. Even though he condemned sin and blasted false teachers, He never abused or mistreated sinners. Ephesians 6:2, “Children, honor your father and your mother.” Give them loving respect and thankfulness.
HOW YOU APPROACH YOUR SERVICE FOR THE LORD
Romans 12:11, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
Here’s a trio that will surely put godly pizzazz into your heart. How do you respond to ministry opportunities? Are you fired up for God? God calls us to strong vigor and passion in serving Him. How does God call you to serve?
Quickly! Not lagging behind in diligence. Our Master is the King of kings and Lord of Lords and when He commands, how should we respond? MOVE! That word lagging means not being a sluggard or slacker. Let me give you a taste of the sluggard from Proverbs 26:13-16. There’s always some reason why he can’t do it, why he can’t get up, why he can’t get the dish into the dishwasher, but buddy, he knows more than anyone else. Just ask him! How do you serve your Lord? Not lazing around, not slothful in diligence, which means getting the job done and done well. Paul is attacking that lackadaisical, half-hearted, pokey spirit that does less than it’s best for Christ. How many agree with the hymn, “Give of your best to the Master”?
Eagerly! Fervent in spirit. Fervent means boiling over, or all fired up in your inner being. It’s the opposite of the nauseating lukewarmness of the Laodicean church. They made Jesus sick. Does your spirit ever feel like cold soup or flat coke? This is something to pray about. Lord, fire us up! Paul told Timothy to stir up the flames of God’s gift in him (2 Timothy 1:6). Get it blazing again, boiling over. John Calvin’s seal was a hand holding a burning heart with the words, “My heart I offer to you, Lord, promptly and sincerely.” John Eliot was a Puritan missionary to the Algonquin Indians in the 1600s. He maintained his fervency into his later years. He did a complete revision of the Indian Bible at age 76 and at 80 he was still visiting his “praying Indians” every two months. Fervent, fired up and boiling over in spirit.
Completely! Serving the Lord. Serving is the verb that means serve as a slave. You’ll recall when a slave wanted to continue serving his master in Israel, the master used the doorway to his house to pierce an awl through his ear and he became a bondservant. Exodus 25:6 says the bondservant shall serve him permanently. You have been purchased by Jesus Christ; you are His willing and loving bondservant or slave. Your one purpose in your short time here on earth is to serve Christ with all your gifts, talents, love, care, concern. You’re not serving people first, but you are serving whom? The Lord! It isn’t a job, but a life. Whatever else you do, whatever your vocation or title in this world, you’re first a servant of Jesus Christ, under His loving authority. Can you say that? You may be a veterinarian, farmer, coal miner, housewife, homeschool mother, salesperson, but in all of that you’re a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s no higher calling. Quickly, eagerly, completely serving Christ. One more…
HOW YOU HANDLE TOUGH TIMES
Romans 12:12, rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
Wow, here is a compressed spiritual cartridge packed with powerful truth for your life. How do you respond when everything goes haywire? Sooner or later it will. The toilet will get clogged. Your transmission will break down. People will slander or mock you. Trials are a reality God has promised to send you. “I really haven’t had any trials.” You’re only 20, wait ‘til you’re fifty, or 70. Don’t wish for them, but be ready for them. God gives us three wonderful principles to apply in the tough times.
See God beyond the trial. “Rejoicing in hope.” Hope and rejoicing go together in the Bible. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” In other words, whatever’s happening, it won’t last forever. That’s rejoicing in hope, seeing God beyond the trial. Believers are people with hope and that’s why, regardless of what’s going on, you can rejoice. God’s kind of hope is absolute assurance about what He has for you in the future. The good stuff is up ahead. We’ve read the last chapter, and we know Jesus wins! We know Christ has paid it all on the cross and God will never again use our sins against us. He’s buried them in the deepest sea, separated us from them as far as the east is from the west, and he promised nothing will separate us from His love. How do you handle tough times? You see God beyond the trial, and you rejoice in hope. I love Acts 5:41, “They went on their way rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer for His name!” Has Jesus conquered all our enemies? Is God in control? Is God working all things for your good? Are you going to be with God forever? Do you have the hope of eternal life? Then rejoice in hope! See God beyond the trial.
See God in the trial. “Persevering in tribulations.” Tribulations is one of my favorite Greek words – thlipsoi, meaning pressuring or squeezing, like squeezing orange juice out of an orange. God uses trials to squeeze us to get godly virtue out of our lives. Persevering is that word hupomeno, which means enduring or hanging in there when you’d really like to jump ship. God has a purpose in every trial or affliction, and He wants you to stay right there even though it may be hard. This is James 1:2-5, “Count it all joy when you encounter various trials.” Why? “Knowing that the trying of your faith works patience or endurance!” God is in this trial working endurance into your life so you can become more like Jesus. Seeing God in the trial is such a key to the Christian life. What did Job say? “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” See God in the trial.
See God over the trial. “Devoted to prayer.” Prayer is God’s means of shoveling into our hearts the grace we need, the strength we need, the power we need to hang in there and please Him. Devoted means you are always in a prayer posture, ready to pray if not actually praying. You can pray anywhere, anytime, anyplace. Nehemiah’s flare prayer is a great example of a heart finely tuned toward God. Nehemiah 2:4-5, “The king asked, ‘What do you need?’ So, I prayed to the God of heaven and answered the king.” God says keep your prayer life strong and constant. When troubles like sea billows roll, keep your heart before God in prayer. “Lord, help me to honor you right now, to hold my tongue, to say the right thing.” James Boice said the only reason we might fail to pray is that we don’t think we need God’s help, or we don’t believe God is a loving heavenly Father with His ears and heart open to our needs. Prayer recognizes God is sovereign and able to strengthen you for whatever trials or circumstances come your way.
SO WHAT?
Zizka’s skin marched with those Hussites into war. Far better, Christ by His Spirit goes with us every day into the world. How do we show the reality of Christ in our world?
- By loving others sincerely, hating evil, and clinging to good.
- By treating others in the body of Christ with strong commitment and great honor.
- By serving your Lord quickly, eagerly, and completely.
- And by handling trials and afflictions with joy (seeing God beyond the trial), with endurance (seeing God in the trial), and with prayer (seeing God over the trial).
All of these flowing from the reality that we belong to Christ and He goes with us day by day.
Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.