Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Truth Network Podcast. And notice in verse two, he said that ye be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Now if you would look at verse six, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us. Now I'm gonna show you why I'm reading these particular verses. Look at verse nine, let love be without dissimulation or let love be sincere. We don't want fake love.

Let love be without dissimulation. And he begins an entire list of things all the way down to verse 18 that we read. And I quoted to you, look at verse 21, be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Now here's a chapter that we're familiar with. You say, preacher, why is this important to us?

I want you to look at this outline of the chapter so that you and your study later on can understand how this is laid out. Verses one and two, God deals with our life, or I would call it our bodies. You see, our life is the outflow of what our body does. And he deals in verse one and two about our bodies or our life. The end of verse two through verse five, he deals with our minds, our minds. Then in verse six through eight, he deals with the subject of our gifts, and this is all connected. And then in verse nine, all the way down through verse 21, he deals with our character.

You see, he says this, that in order to have your body right, your mind has to be right, and your body and mind have to be right for you to correctly utilize the gifts that God has given you to serve him. And as you represent Christ in verses nine down through verse 21, he gives us a list of things on how we deal with people, that the character we show, the control that we show, the restraint that we show in dealing with people. Notice if you would, I want you just to see in verse nine, let love be without dissimulation. Look at verse 10, be kindly affection one to another. There's relationship. Look at verse 11, not slothful in business. There's relationship.

You work for somebody, your employer or your employees. Look at verse 12, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. Look at verse 13, distributing to the necessity of saints, giving to other people. There's relationship. Look at verse 14, bless them which persecute you. There's relationship. Look at verse 15, be of the same mind, one toward another. Look at verse 17, recompense to no man, evil for evil, relationship, relationship, relationship. That means everything on the outflow of our life is controlled by our body and our mind and the gifts that God has given us. It's all connected. You say, preacher, how is this all connected? I'm glad you asked. Or we would have to go home now.

And I know you would be so upset about that. So let's pray and ask God to give us wisdom this morning. Lord, I love you. As we preach on this subject that you've introduced, Lord, on living peaceably, I pray that you'd bless us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Listen to me. Verses nine through 21 is our character.

It's literally specifics on how to deal with people. Now listen to me. Please get this. Before we can get to the specifics, we must establish a biblical philosophy of life. Now look at me.

I want you to get this. You and I oftentimes are trying to judge or change people's habits or their actions. And I'm here to tell you that their actions always follow their philosophy.

And for years we've tried to fix people's actions where the problem was really deep down their philosophy of life. Why am I here? What am I supposed to do? What purpose does my body serve?

How am I supposed to think? All those things are controlled by our philosophy. So you and I this morning, before we go any further, before we even get to verse 18 and even talk about living peaceably, we have to establish a biblical philosophy on life. And God gives us what that is supposed to be. Now look at verse one.

Verse one he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies. Here he begins to talk about our life, our bodies. Remember we are body, soul, spirit. We have a mind. We have a body. We have a spirit. You all know we're a trinity.

All these things. Now let's look at this, how this works together. Notice first he says you are to have a sacrificial life. He said, present your bodies a living sacrifice. Now you say preacher, what do you mean?

Look at me. It means this. I need to have a biblical philosophy of life. And if I have a biblical philosophy about my life, then I need to see that my body is to be sacrificial to the Lord. My body is literally to be a sacrifice.

Now if that's not my philosophy, then I'm going to fight against God the rest of my life. Because I'm going to say, God, I don't want to do that because I don't feel like it. God, I'm not going to do that because I don't want to. Well, what am I saying? I'm saying my body doesn't want that.

I don't want this. But if my biblical philosophy is, I need to sacrifice my body. My body is not mine to control. It is for me to sacrifice to the Lord to use.

That changes everything. So he says, first, if you're going to have a biblical philosophy, as we start with the body, he says, first, you need to have a sacrificial life. Second, he says you need to have a separated life.

Now what does he say? I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy. Now that word holy means set apart. That's why God says in His Word, come out from among them, be ye separate, saith the Lord, touch not the earth, but the earth.

Be ye separate, saith the Lord, touch not the unclean thing. It means this, you and I need to look at our bodies, our physical bodies, that we are not supposed to have a sacrificial life, but we need to look at our bodies as a separated life. It means this, that God expects me as a saved individual to be different from the world.

It doesn't mean I don't talk to the world and love people in the world and try to reach the world. It means that there should be a difference. We should be separated, come out from among them. It means this, that a person that doesn't know Christ has not been regenerated by Christ.

There should be a difference in my life and their life. That's not Daniel, that's Bible. So he says your biblical philosophy needs to be that my body is to be sacrificial, that my body is to be separated. Notice thirdly, he says you need a serving life. He says this, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto who?

God, which is your reasonable what? Service. So my body, what's the purpose of my body? The purpose of my body is to be a sacrifice to the Lord, for me to keep my body separated from the world, and third, for me to use my body to serve the Lord. Now, if that's not my philosophy, guess what I'm not going to want to do with my body, to serve? Hey, we all need to, hey, we're here at church, if you're saved, we all need to get together and do such and such.

We all need to go out and do such and such. Well, I don't want to do that. Well, wait a minute, I thought our body is to be used to serve the Lord. Our body is not to be used to sit for the Lord.

He says, which is your reasonable service. So my philosophy needs to see that my body is to be sacrificial, it's to be separated, it's to be serving, notice fourthly, it's to be spirit-filled. Look at, if you would, at verse two. And be not conformed to the world, but be ye transformed.

That's spirit-filled. If I'm conformed to the world, my flesh desires the world and my spirit desires godly things. And so he says this, that you literally, you've got to be to the point that you are following the spirit, that the spirit is leading your life. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed, be changed. So my body should be something that is sacrificial, it should be separated, it should be serving, and it should be spirit-filled.

And all God's people are really excited on a Sunday morning. Like if you want to live peaceably, you shouldn't have started like this, preacher. Now secondly, he brings up our mind. Now remember, we've got to get all this straight before we can even get to verses nine through 21. If I don't have a biblical philosophy about my body and my mind, then I'm not going to listen to what God has to say in verse 18.

So I've got to get my philosophy straight. So now notice, as it begins in our mind, look at verse two. He says you need to be transformed, how? Notice first, by the renewing of your, and now he introduces mind. The renewing of your mind. So he says first, you need to have a strengthened mind. What does it mean to renew? It means to regain strength.

It means literally, the Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. You know why so many Christians struggle every day with the same things? Because they're spiritually tired in their mind. The world's been feeding their mind. The internet's been feeding their mind. TV's been feeding their mind, and they haven't even cracked open their Bible.

And I mean, when we preach, if we go over 25 minutes, oh, good Lord. I got places to go. I got food to eat. Hey, you're already going to beat most of the churches there.

How many of you have enjoyed lunch in the earlier service already? A bunch of liars. Yeah, all of you have, I know. Look at me. He says you need a strengthened mind. You and I are not going to be able to follow verse eight.

Look at me. We're not going to be able to live peaceably if our mind is not strengthened. Notice secondly, he says you need a submissive mind. Look at verse two. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of yourself.

He didn't say that. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So my whole purpose, now listen, my biblical philosophy about life is that my mind should be strengthened and my mind should be submissive to God's will, not mine. Why is this important, preacher? Because somebody might say something to me and my body and my mind wants to come right back at them. But if I, through my philosophy, my biblical philosophy, realize that this isn't about my will, what I want to do, or what I want to say, this is about me submitting to his will.

That changes things. You see, you and I, we often think, you know what, I just need, I need help on my temper. I need to work, listen, it's not really that. We need to work on our philosophy. Because our philosophy dictates what we do. A biblical philosophy is my body doesn't belong to me. A biblical philosophy is my mind should be controlled by God, not me. So I need a strengthened mind, a submissive mind.

Notice thirdly, I need a sober mind. And I'm not talking about what you think, look at verse three. For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But to think soberly. So if a person thinks higher of themselves than they probably should, they're not thinking soberly. That means they're on something.

And they're on flesh is what they're on. Hey, what does it mean to think soberly? Our mind should think soberly. What does that mean? We need to keep things in perspective.

It would be ridiculous of me. Look and get this, this biblical philosophy to think soberly means I'm going to say, you know what, God, I would be foolish to think that I've accomplished all that without you. God, I would be foolish to think that I'm strong enough to handle this without you.

Hello? What did he say? He said, help a man not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. So you and I oftentimes think we're stronger than we actually really are. We think we're smarter than we really are. We think we're better looking than we really are. You say, how do you know that? Have you seen what some people wear out?

There is no way they looked at that mirror and thought, that looks good on me. They need to think soberly. That's another whole thing, another whole thing, another whole thing, another sermon that I will never preach, all right? Look at verse four, he says, you need a sympathetic mind.

What do you mean sympathetic? Look at verse four, he reminds us of this whole thing. For as we have many members in one body, it's not all about you.

And it's not all about me. As we have many members in one body, listen to this, and all members have not the same office. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and notice this, and every one members one of another. It means this, that my mind should remember, I'm not the only one, and what I do to another person doesn't just affect me or that person, it affects the whole body.

Do you get it? It's our philosophy. It means this, if Jacob really ticks me off, that I got a whole bunch of things I wanna say or do, but you know what, if I do, it doesn't just hurt Jacob, and it doesn't just hurt our relationship. And it doesn't just hurt our relationship, we're all part of the same body. It hurts the whole body. Hey, when I was cutting zucchini, actually it was just one, and my cutting ended. And you see your fingertips roll off on the counter? Now guess what, it's just two fingertips.

It affected my whole body. Let me ask you guys something, have you ever been out working with somebody and hammering, building a deck, or doing something like that, and somebody hits the wrong nail? Have you ever watched when they grab it?

Now what do they do? They go like this, oh my goodness, why are they limping? Why are they limping? They didn't hurt their leg. Why'd you hit your toe? No, I hit my finger.

Their foot feels sorry for their thumb. You hurt one piece of the body, you affect the whole body. So you and I need to keep that in our minds, that what I do doesn't just affect me, it affects everyone.

Is everybody following me so far? So before I could even get to verse nine, I've got to have a biblical philosophy about my body. I have to have a biblical philosophy about my mind. Or whatever God tells me to do, I'm not going to do it if I don't feel like it.

Or I'm not going to do it if I don't think that person deserves it. But that has nothing to do with what God told us to do. Because what my body wants, it's a sacrifice, it's supposed to be his. What my mind wants to do, it's supposed to be submissive to his will.

That changes everything. So now we can finally get to verse 18. I would ask as we go to verse 18, do you have a biblical philosophy about your body? About your mind?

Do I? Sure would be nice to think that we do. Sure would be nice to say, oh yeah, yeah, that's exactly how I look at things. Remember God just said it's better for a man not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.

If we're going to think soberly today, maybe we could all admit I'm failing in some of these areas. So in verse 18, and again he starts in verse nine, starts with love, gives you all these commands, verse after verse after verse. Then we get to verse 18, a verse that I've used a lot, you've heard a lot. If it be possible as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Live peaceably. Now we have to find out what the verse is saying and we have to find out what the verse is not saying before I let you go to lunch and you know because I'm preaching on this you're going to have a bad waiter or waitress today.

You're going to have to practice living peaceably, even on the way to the restaurant. Look at verse 18, if it be possible. First we have to understand what the word possible means. Now we all think we know what it means, well if it's possible. This word possible, and this is to be on the screen for you, is the Greek word dunatos, dunatos. Some of you might say well that word kind of sounds familiar because the word for God's power, God's strength in the New Testament is the word dunamos, they come from the same root word. Dunatos literally means this, powerful or capable, literally able, it means mighty, strong. So you say well preacher that's not really kind of, if it be possible, he is saying this, if you're strong enough or if there is that kind of power available, this word dunatos, listen I want you to understand what God is saying here, he is saying this, it is possible if you access this power.

If it be powerful. In other words, and don't get me wrong because you got to hear this whole thing before you say alright so preacher you're saying it's always possible to have peace, no it's not, and I'm going to tell you the verse doesn't say that, and the verse doesn't ask you to do that. This word dunatos, he says if there is this kind of power available, now to understand this verse we have to understand what the word peaceably means. Now this word peaceably, and I'm not even going to give you the Greek word because it's a long one and different pronunciation and it's not going to matter to you but I want you to see the definition of it, this word peaceably means to act peaceful, to be at peace, to have peace, to live peaceably. Now let's understand something here, God never said in this verse if it be possible as much as lieth in you make peace with every man, he didn't say that, God did not even say peace with every man, he didn't say that, God did not even say if it be possible as much as lieth in you make sure that you create peace in the situation, he didn't say that, God never told us to create peace, God never told us that we're wrong if peace is not the end result, God told us our job is to live peaceably. So can I explain it, are you okay if I explain it to you this morning?

I'm going to give you some principles, I want you to write these down or if not get online later and write them down or if you don't care don't even listen to it later, whatever you want. Number one, if you're going to live peaceably, number one, it will take supernatural power, if it be dunitas, it is going to take supernatural power for you or me to live peaceably with all men. Now there are some that it is easy to live peaceably with, but God did not command that, he said I want you to live peaceably with all men, that will take a power that is not right, that will take a power that you don't have, in fact you can't even live peaceably with your husband or wife in your own power, don't we all know? You're going to have to have some dunitas, you're going to have to have a supernatural power, the word dunamos which describes God's power, the root word of this dunitas, it's where we get our word dynamite, it means a power beyond us. If you're going to live peaceably, and I want you I'm going to be honest with you, you say well I wanted a good news this morning, hey I'm telling you, to live peaceably with all men you're going to have to understand right now it's going to take supernatural power, you say well you know what I want a peaceful marriage, it's going to take supernatural power, second it will require exhausted effort, you say why is that preacher, look at me I'm not giving you psychology, I'm giving you Bible, look at the verse, if it be possible as much as lieth where in you, it's going to take everything you have, you're going to have to display effort that you didn't even know existed, it's not just going to take supernatural power, you are going to have to be to the point that it's going to drive you to the point that you don't think that you can take any more, you don't think that you can keep your mouth quiet, you don't think that I'm going to let that person continue to whatever, and it's going to take every exhausted effort you have, it is not going to be easy, but God said that you do have access to that kind of power, but you your responsibility is you're going to have to make every possible effort that's inside of you, you say well you know I don't think it's that bad, oh yes it is, I'm gonna tell you you're going to have some days at work, you're shot, that's it, the next person, if my boss says this one more, that guy sitting on the other side of church, if he wears that sport jacket one more time, if he wears one of them shirts with that little alligator on it, I'm telling you what, I am gonna, it's going to take everything you have, and then it's going to take everything you don't have, aren't we glad on a Sunday morning, isn't it great, just like I just love this series preacher, love it. Number three, we cannot dictate circumstances, and number four, I want to give these to you as I explain them, we cannot control people, why did God say if it be possible as much as lieth in you, why did God say live peaceably with all men, why did God not say make peace with all men, because there are some things as hard as you try, even with God's supernatural power, even with every effort that you have, there are some people that will never be at peace with you, aren't you glad God didn't require that, you see there are some circumstances, things that have happened in life, and a person just holds it against you, and you didn't control it, you had nothing to do with it, and it creates scenarios that as hard as you tried, and as much as you've apologized, and as many times as you've gone to them, you just still can't find peace, and I'm here to tell you there's nothing you can do about that, all you can do is give it everything you have, and depend on everything God has, God just said listen you cannot control the person, but you can control you, you cannot make them have peace with you, but you can live peaceably towards them, God is asking us to live in a way that tries to make peace, that attempts to get peace, that tries to get rid of conflict, that tries to make things right, and there's just some people and circumstances that you can't control, that you can't change, and dear friend I'm here to tell you, you can't beat yourself up the rest of your life because you can't, all you have to do is to make sure that I give it everything inside of me, and that I've given it everything outside of me, and I have tried my best to live peaceably, you're going to be driving down the interstate one day, and not meaning to do anything, you're going to cut somebody off, you never saw them, buddy they're going to be mad, and they're going to come up by you like oh what well I'm sorry, but they're still mad, I didn't make peace with them, you can't, do what I do slam on your brakes, and they almost have to hit you, and then they get madder, and I'm just joking, God didn't say you have to make peace, God said you have to live peaceably, notice if you would number five, we must relinquish revenge, we must relinquish revenge, look if you would at verse 19, this is not Daniel's philosophy here, this is just bible, make verse 19, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place under wrath, what does it mean give place under wrath, it means literally don't let your wrath out, find a place, put wrath in it, and don't let it out, because wrath wants out, God says don't avenge yourself, don't get revenge, don't avenge yourself, don't let wrath out, listen look at the verse, look at verse 19, for it is written vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord, look at me, if you're going to live peaceably with people, you're going to have to just give up this whole revenge thing, I'm not saying it's fair in your mind, but it's a biblical philosophy, you're just going to have to let God have it, you say but you don't know what they, you don't know what they, you don't know what they, you're right I don't, but God does, and God still said avenge not yourselves, if you're going to live peaceably, remember my body is not mine as much as I want to, it's a sacrifice to the Lord, remember although my mind sees all the things they've done and I haven't, remember my mind is submissive to him, God says don't avenge yourself, now here's what's interesting, you cannot live peaceably if you're a person that has to get back or has to get vengeance, there's going to be no peace in your life, but now notice this next one, we must, number six, we must trust God to make things right, you see when it comes to living peaceably, look at me I want you to get this, God said don't you avenge yourself, because when you don't, now God can take care of it. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app, thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today, God bless you.