Please turn to the book of Romans and the chapter we're going to begin this ministry meeting is Romans chapter 12. And I'm going to read some of the verses in this chapter which began another section in the whole book of Romans. This is very important section in this book of Romans because now we have arrived to the portion in the book of Romans which deal with practical Christianity. It's one thing to know doctrine and teaching. It's another thing to live it out on a day by day life for the believer. It's one thing to be saved. It's another thing to walk as a saved individual. It's one thing to have the ticket to go to heaven to belong to the Lord Jesus and going to be with him in glory.

It's another thing to live the life of the believer here and now. It is being told many times that Romans chapter 12 to the end of the book of Romans is where the rubber meet the road. We all have been learning over the last while about the essence that we have in the book of Romans. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God the first two chapters of the book of Romans. Salvation has been provided for us through Yeshua the Messiah, Romans 3, 4 and 5. We are now to live a sanctified life, sanctification, Romans chapter 6, 7 and 8. The sovereign dealing of God with his people Israel, past, present and future, Romans 9, 10 and 11.

Now we are going to begin, beloved brothers and sisters, to deal now with the necessity to service towards our blessed Lord and towards our brothers and sisters in the body of Messiah. And I would like to suggest that it is here that we fail so much. We are believers, we are Christians, we are Messiah followers, Meshichim as we say it in Hebrew. But we are positionally received, the fact that we are children of God, saved, redeemed people. But practically is the area in which we find a lot of difficulties and a lot of failure as believers. In fact, the condition of the church of Yeshua the Messiah today, with the divided state, with liberalism, with divisions and schism, is only a proof that we, and I'm including all of us, have practically failed what the Lord have commanded us to practice in his word.

And that's where we have here those chapter 12 all the way to chapter 16 of the book of Romans to encourage us to live a life of service for the Lord. To encourage us to not only know doctrine, not only know the dispensations of God's dealing with Israel, but also to understand the duties that we have as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. I must say, before I'm reading, that we all have experienced, whether you are one year a believer or whether you are 50 years a believer, we all have experienced the failure in our own personal life to live up to what the Lord is encouraging us to live like as believers.

We all can say truly, I see myself failing so much. And so let's read those verses, I may not read all the chapters, but let's just read some of the verses that are found in Romans 12. And I begin in verse 1 with the apostles saying, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your intelligent or reasonable or spiritual service." Here you get the word service. "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

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, but to think soberly according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Messiah, in Mashiach, in Christ, in Christos, and every one member one of another, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given unto us, with a prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering, or he that teaches on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth let him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.

Let love, without hypocrisy, or without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good, be kindly affection one to another, with brotherly love, in honoring preferring one another. Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality, bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not, rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep, be of the same mind one toward another, mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate, be not wise in your own opinion or estimation.

I finished chapter 12 to read. Actually, brothers and sisters, chapter 12 and chapter 13 really goes together in the book of Romans because these two chapters teaching us about right relationship that we have to have, first of all with God, then with our brothers and sisters, then with our enemies, and then with the state, the government that we are under, such as in our case here in this country. Now, I want you to notice that up to this point in the book of Romans, we have covered a lot of doctrine, a lot of teaching, and you know it is very important. Unless we have doctrine, we cannot follow practices.

This is exactly what the Bible teaches all the time. First of all is the foundation, the teaching, and then it is the practices. Not first the practices and then the doctrine. No, the Bible always teaches, first teaching, doctrine, which out of doctrine come practices. In the Psalms we read, If the foundation will not exist, how will the righteous stand? And if you and I are going to live the life of the believer, if we are going to please the Lord here in this world, doctrine we need to know, first of all. And if you notice in the writings of the Apostle Paul, he always writes, first of all he gives doctrine, then he gives practices.

First he gives teaching, then he gives walking. In Ephesians, for example, the first three chapters, he gives us teaching after teaching, the positional truths that we have been brought into. We have been brought into a relationship with a heavenly Savior, with the Lord in glory. Then he goes immediately down to, "I beseech you therefore, brethren." He is talking in chapter 4, 5, and 6, the importance of walking with the Lord, the life of the believer. And it is throughout all the writings of the apostles. First doctrine, then practice. And here we have, in the Book of Romans, very similar. We got 11 chapters that totally filled with doctrine, teaching.

Very important. Don't let anybody ever tell you that doctrines are not important. I am telling you that if we don't have right doctrine, we are on a bad ground. No foundation without doctrine. But doctrine, proper doctrine lead to proper living. And that's what we are led here to learn. And so, Romans 12 is the beginning of the area where he is speaking about duties, service. Where the life of the believer is really showing what he has learned doctrinally, what he has learned from the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. So, we have been sinners by nature. Yeshua's death brought salvation to us. And he is expecting for us to be sanctified, to have a sanctified individual life.

And we understand God's sovereignty, but now let's move out to service. To live for the Lord in a practical way. And so, you know what he is telling us here. If we are going to live the Christian life in a proper way, the life of the believer, we have to have a right relationship. Unless we have a right relationship with our blessed Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, we will not be able to have a right relationship not with our brothers and sisters, not with the enemies outside, and not with the state, the governments that we are under. Everything flows out of right relationship with God. And that's what he does here in the beginning of Romans chapter 12.

And a verse that came to my mind actually this morning, I read it in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 20, where the apostle John said, "If a man say that he loves God, and he hates his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he had seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" It's not sufficient to say, "I love God, and yet I hate my brother and sister." It's not sufficient to say that I know, and I'm saved, and I'm going to heaven, and I'm right with God, but all the daily practice of my life prove otherwise. What we learn from these chapters is that we may fail in many ways, but there should be a change in our practices if we really belong to the Lord Yeshua, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

So you know what he does, the apostle Paul? Instead of commending the believers at Rome, he's beseeching them. He's begging them. You know, that's so beautiful. You see, the law came by Moses. Moses gave the command of God under the law. But here what we see, that the apostle Paul shows us, because nobody could have obeyed the law, all have sinned, all have failed, but through the grace that we have in Yeshua, the Messiah, he's not commending here, but he's beseeching. He's appealing to the heart and the conscience. And so the first two verses that we have here in Romans chapter 12, we learn about our relationship with God that is so important to have right relationship with a living God.

And he says here in verses one and two, he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your intelligent service, your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now in those two verses, the apostle Paul gave so much information and he appealing to number one, the body of the believer, number two, to the mind of the believer, and number three, to the will of the believer.

The body, the mind, and the will of the believer. You notice those three words are mentioned here. He says, number one, verse one, present your bodies. Number two, be renewed with your mind, verse 2a, and number three, to do the perfect will of God. Those three words are mentioned here, and I would like to develop this a little bit. You see, he's saying here, I beseech you. And he called them brethren. You see, the brothers and sisters who lived in Rome were the brothers and sisters of the apostle Paul. He was a Jewish man, a Hebrew, an Israeli. He's writing to them. He have given them all the theology that they could have already in the first 11th chapter.

Now he's taking them now down to earth. And he's saying to them, and apparently, the very fact that he's saying to them those things, shows to us that there was a need there. That there is a need at Rome, like there is a need with you and with me. There is a need with every believer today in the body of Messiah. There is a need to walk with the Lord practically and to devote one's life to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. And so he's saying to them, "I beseech you, brethren." He called them Achim, brethren. He says, "I beg you. I beseech you." And what does he do?

He's saying to them, "What do you beseech us? Upon which ground you beseech us?" And he's saying to them, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God." I don't know if you noticed, he used that word "therefore" here in verse 1. Every time you find the word "therefore" mentioned is because you have already given them information before and upon what information that you have received of what the Lord have done for you. "I beseech you, therefore." It is "therefore" because of what you have already learned earlier. By the way, there are four times up to this point where we have "therefore" in this book of Romans.

In Romans chapter 3 in verse 20 it says, "Therefore by the deeds of the Lord shall no flesh be justified." In Romans chapter 5 in verse 1 it says, "Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God." In Romans chapter 8 in verse 1 we read there it says, "Now there is now therefore no condemnation for those that are in the Messiah Yeshua." This is the fourth time that the word "therefore" is mentioned. It is mentioned because something he have already told them and upon this information that you have, "Therefore I beseech you, brethren." Then he had that word "by the mercies of God." Now you see what you want to tell the Roman believers, I want you to think of how many mercies God had provided for you.

And you and I need to think about this as well. Think about the mercies of God that you and I have received from the day that we were born until this moment as we are sitting here today to listen to the word of God. Think of the mercies of God. God provides us with measure of health. God provides us with measure of clothing and shelter and home. God has provided us with many things with a job and a home and whatever he had given to us. Children and family, husbands and wives. And he had provided with friends and jobs and many things. Country to live here in which we can enjoy liberty and freedom.

I do not know what measure of liberties the brethren at Rome had. But nevertheless, there is always mercies that God had provided for the people of God. Earlier, you remember, we read Psalm 103. And clearly says, "Forget not all his benefits that he had provided for us." In fact, if you will notice, at least three times in Psalm 103, the word "mercies" is mentioned. "Who redeemeth your life from destruction." "Who crowned thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies." Verse 8, "The Lord is merciful and is gracious, slow of anger and a plenteous of mercy." Psalm 103 and verse 17, "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting." Beloved brothers and sisters, think of the mercies that the Lord provided for you today as you listen to the word of God.

When you at times get unsatisfied, discouraged, dismayed with many things and many people around you. And with your health. All kind of problems that you have in life. Look back and see the mercies that the Lord had provided for you throughout all your life. Even right now, the mercies that he had provided for you. Notice it's the plural "mercies" in Romans chapter 12 and verse 1. It's not singular. It's many mercies that you have received. And that's what the Apostle Paul does when he's writing to the believers at Rome. He's saying to them, "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God." That's the ground upon which I beseech you.

I beseech you on a basis of the mercies that have been provided for you, brothers and sisters at Rome, throughout the world. The mercies that he had provided for you. Upon this basis, I beseech you. And now he tells them what he's expecting from them. He said that you will present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your logical service. He began to talk about the body. You see, God gave us a body. He gave us head, hands, feet to live here in this world, to use our bodies to function here in this world. And the Apostle telling us that God is expecting from us, because of all what he has done for us, that we will present our bodies for him.

And you and I might ask, "Why should I give my body to the Lord? I mean, it is my body, and I'm living here in this world, and I can do with it as I please." But the truth of the matter is that the bodies that we have are no longer ours when we became believers in Yeshua. When he had saved us, when he had washed our sins away and have given us a hope one day to be with him in glory, our bodies are actually no longer ours. Even though many times we act as if they are ours, but actually our bodies are no longer ours.

Let me show you just a couple of verses. First of all, we have to understand that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. Do you know that? We don't think about it naturally day by day like this, but actually this body, your body, my body, our body, the believer's body is a temple where the Spirit of God resides in. The Holy Spirit of God, one of the persons of the garden, is residing in the body of believers. I'll read you a verse from 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 19 and 20. Paul had written to the Corinthians and he said to them, "Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?

For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which belongs to God." Do you know that? Our bodies are actually a temple where the Holy Spirit of God residing. You know why sometimes there is not much liberty in our life? You know why sometimes we cannot pray, praise, sing? Because we have grieved the Spirit of God. When sin creeps into our life and we allow it to carry on and we entertain it and feed this old nature to live in that sin and not judge it and confess it, we grieve the Holy Spirit of God. We hurt Him.

And He has no liberty to use us. And that's what happens. You do that. I do that. The Romans did that. Believers do that. And when we grieve Him, it's like a friend. When we grieve our friends, there is no enjoyment of the friendship that we used to have. And then what happened here? He says, "Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God and you are really not your own? You belong to the Lord. You have been bought with a price." And all the price was the precious blood of Yeshua, the Messiah. He had to die on the tree.

He had to suffer judgment that we deserve. He had to become that sacrifice. He received the punishment that He was due to us. And that's why the Apostle Paul is saying, "Listen, your bodies belong to the Lord right now. And I want you to present your bodies a living sacrifice." As he says here in verse 1, "Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable, your spiritual service." I know, brothers and sisters, that we often don't think like that. But our bodies belong to the Lord. And therefore, the Lord is expecting from us and appealing to us in the Book of Romans to present it as a living sacrifice.

Another thing I want to tell you about the fact that our body is God's temple and the Holy Spirit of God is dwelling in the body of the believer. But we read in the Book of Philippians in chapter 1, "It is a privilege to glorify the Messiah in our bodies." That's what Apostle Paul and I read this verse in Philippians chapter 1. Paul said this when he wrote to the Philippians in verse 20 and 21. He's saying to them, "According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness as always, so now also the Messiah shall be magnified in my body." You know, the Apostle Paul wanted to magnify Yeshua in his body.

He wanted to use his body for the glorifying of the person of Yeshua the Messiah. How many times when we look back in our lives and we say, "Lord, how often we haven't glorified him in our body." We dishonored him in what we say, in where we go, in what we look at, and on and on and how we handle things and so on. And that's why the Apostle is challenging the believers at Rome that they will recognize that they need to give their bodies to the Lord. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you will present. The word present used for the word yield.

That you will yield your bodies as a living sacrifice. You know, living, there's a difference between dead sacrifice and living sacrifice. Living sacrifice means that is an ongoing basis. We have been redeemed. We are alive. God left us here in this world. And we are to be a living sacrifice. Every day of our life, we are to bring glory to the Lord in the way that we behave and conduct ourselves. And therefore, we discover here that our Apostle Paul is challenging them to be a living sacrifice. We are holy, the Hebrew word kadosh or set apart, acceptable. You know, God delights to see when a person is devoted, giving over his body to him and using his body for his glory.

He delights. It is acceptable to him. And then he's telling to them in verse one at the end, which is your reasonable service or spiritual or intelligent service. It is the right thing to do. If God have given his son, the Messiah for us, shouldn't we in response to it, give some of our time and our energy using our body for the glory of the Lord? This is acceptable to God. And therefore, he wants us to give our body. So the answer why? It's because the body is the temple of God. The body is where the Spirit of God is dwelling. The body is the place where it is privileged to be used for the glorifying of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

And God delight in such a sacrifice where we are offering ourselves, using our body for his glory and for his honor. And I can tell you that this is very practical. We're not talking about maybe preaching or speaking publicly. It is very practical. We can use our bodies in service, in a blessing to the people of God, even when they are a time not appreciating what we do. But it brings joy and delight to the heart of God. So that's the body in verse one. We are to recognize that we are to give our bodies to God because this is building a relationship with the Lord, which helps us later on in our relationship to other individuals in the world.

But it's not only the body. In the next verse, the first half of verse two, he's speaking now about the mind. And notice he says in verse two, And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Here is the mind now. By the way, the question that we might ask, why should I give my mind to God? You know, the mind is where all our thoughts coming into, all our plans and our desires coming into our mind. It is amazing how the world knows what to fill our mind with. So we will be so filled with the mind of the world that the mind of God will not be filling our own mind.

And that's what the world does. It's through television, through internet, through visual things that we see outside the bulletin boards and whatever we see in the world, our mind are being affected so much. Now, of course, we cannot close everything and close our eyes and close our mind and not being exposed to it. But we need to guard our mind. You know very well how quickly your mind, my mind is being filled with all kinds of garbage. And that's why he's saying in verse two, Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That word transformed actually is this metamorpho in the Greek, which means that you would have a change from within.

In other words, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by constantly renewing your mind. Our mind needs to be renewed. What do you mean? Made new again, refreshed again by being occupied with the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Now you notice it says, be not conformed to this world. Do you know why he's saying it to believers? It's wrong. Apparently, many times, and it is also in life of ours as well, the world come into our life and the influences of the world is upon us that we are no longer seen as different than the unbelieving world. When a person, an unbeliever, look at the believer in Yeshua the Messiah, he doesn't see any difference.

He says, what's the difference between you and him or you and her? What's the difference? Because you behave like the world. Your lifestyle, your language, your views on things. That's what happened to us. It is amazing. And in professing Christendom, it is very much the same. You can see the things of the world are creeping in. Homosexuality. Oh, it's okay. We have a church for homosexuals. And then there's all kind of liberalism. Oh, we don't have to believe in the truth of the word of God. Some of it is truth and some of it is not. And maybe it's not Father God. It could be Mother God.

And on and on. And your whole mind is being packed with the garbage that the world has to offer. Now, I want to show you something. If you turn to the epistle of 1 John 2. John, the apostle, was dealing with the same thing when he was writing to the one that he wrote to. He warned the believers to whom he wrote not to love the system of this world. And he's saying to them in 1 John 2:15, 16, and 17. Love not the world, neither the things which are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. Verse 16: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but it is of the world.

And the world passes away, and the lusts thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. See, the apostle John writing to the believers to whom he addressed. And he's writing to them, and he said to them, listen, do not love the world. He doesn't talk about the human world, meaning people. We are to love people. For God so loved the world. The people in this world, God love. He loved you, and he loved me. But it is the system that teaching us denial of God, denial of the Messiah, denial of the Bible, and introducing to us all that which is not of God, which is against God.

And that's why he's saying to them, you have to have your mind renewed, and don't allow the world to creep into your mind. The question is, what are we occupied with? What are we filling our mind with every day? Paul said, let this mind be in you, which was also in the Messiah, Yeshua. We are to have the mind of Yeshua, Philippians chapter 2, and not the mind of this world. That's why we find out that much of the time, because the world is influencing us, we don't have any spiritual energy. We are just like the world around us, and we are not different at all.

Oh yeah, we are Christians. We are going to heaven, you see, because Jesus died for me. But my mind is filled with the things of the world. And so, Romans 12 and verse 2, do not be conformed to this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Why do I need to have my mind given to the Lord? It's because the world and its system is against the things of the Lord. And my mind also belongs to the Lord. And the Lord wants our mind to be like the mind of the Messiah, Yeshua. The word transformed comes from the Greek word metamorphosis, a chain from within.

There got to be a chain from within. You know, the more we are occupied with the Lord Jesus, the more a change will happen in our life. You know, when Moses came down from the mountain, in the book of Exodus, we read of him, when he came to the mountain, he was occupied with God, in the presence of God. When he came down, what we find out, that the people of Israel could not look on him. He had to put a veil on his face because his face shone because he was in the presence of the Lord. You know what's going to happen when you and I are occupied with our blessed Lord Jesus the whole week.

And when we come to our meeting time together and confront issues and situation, there will be a different behavior because we have been with Jesus, with Yeshua. Our mind has been filled with the things of the Lord and we will be able to be a blessing to others around. We will serve him better. We will minister to others better. Our mind will be occupied with such a blessing, such a good things that others will benefit. God will be glorified and a blessing will be to those around us. That's why we are to give our mind to the Lord. Not only our body, because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit, but our mind needs to be renewed every moment, every time, again and again.

But now thirdly, in the same second verse of Romans chapter 12, he is now leading from the body to the mind and to the will. And oh, how much will we have. We have our own will. We want to do our own thing. We are the captain of our ships. We are the pilots of our plane. We are the drivers of our cars. And it is not easy to yield our will to the Lord. And that's what he is saying in verse 2b. We are to give our will to God. And why? Because Yeshua said, we learn from the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, where he said, not my will, but thine be done.

You remember when the Lord was in the garden of Gethsemane. We call it in Hebrew, Gatshmanim. He was anticipating to suffer on the tree, on the cross. And you remember he cried and he said to the Father, Father, if it is possible, take away this cup from me. That cup was the cup of God's righteous indignation against sin. And he was the holy one, the just one. And he was saying, Father, if it is possible, take away this cup from me. But then he added these very important words that he shows his submissiveness to the Father. He said, not my will, but thine be done.

Totally, he submitted himself to the will of the Father. And how precious, what a delight it gave to the Father. God's will is the best for the believer. And God resists the proud. God's desire that our will will be his will, that we will submit to his will for our lives. And many times we resist this. And when we resist to have God's will in our life, God cannot lead us. Our people of old Israel call stiff-necked people. Why? Because of resisting God's will for them. And we cannot only apply it to Israel, we can apply it to the believers in the church of Yeshua the Messiah.

How similar we are when there is a resistance to the will of God. And so in Luke chapter 22 and verse 42, Yeshua said, not my will, but thine be done. And Paul had to learn that even human willpower will not help. It's not our own will, it's got to be God's will. You remember in Romans 7 when we studied, the Apostle Paul was trying to say, I will to do this, but I do the opposite. And I will not to do this, and I do the opposite. Well, it's not our own will, it's need to be God's will. Can you imagine when God's people will all have the will and the mind of the Lord?

Can you imagine what a difference? What a harmony among the people of God when we all have allowed God's will in our lives and not to force our own will. And that's why he's saying to them that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God. Romans 12 verse 2b. It is the proving of what is good and what is acceptable will of God. God's will in our life is always the best. It's such a shame, brothers and sisters, that young people who grew up in homes of believers and have been taught from the word of God have grown up under the sound of the world.

But instead of listening to God's plan for them, they have allowed the world plan for them. Instead of submitting to the will of God and allowing him to fashion and form them and bless them, they don't allow him to do so. And they have been influenced by somebody else's plan and will for them. And you see, it says here that you may prove what is the good and acceptable will of God. God has a will for us. God has a plan for us in our lives. And he has a will for us and he wants us to align ourselves with his plan and his will in our life.

That's what he wants us to do and to enjoy. And so those first two verses are essential. If we are to know how to conduct ourselves in many areas of life with believers, with the unbelieving world, with our enemies. If we are to conduct ourselves in a proper way, we first of all have to have a right relationship to God ourself. And that's what we need, each and every one of us. And so the Apostle Paul, first of all, dealt with a relationship between us, the believer and God. Don't expect, he is really saying, that you will be able to deal properly with believers, properly with enemies, properly with the government, when you do not have a right relationship with God.

Deal with it. Give your body to the Lord. Give your mind to the Lord. Give your will to the Lord. And you will see what he is saying here, that it will help you to know how to deal with others that you are coming in contact with. Well, look at this. Since he began to speak about our relationship with God, now he is moving on in verse 3 to verse 16. And he is talking about the relationship that we have with other members of the body of Messiah. Remember I began by speaking in our earlier statement that I said, look at the condition in which we find ourselves often.

Many times divided, scattered. Many times hurt, unpleasant, unhappy, broken. The ship as if it were broken. And everyone is scattered. Why? Because all of us failed in our relationship with each other. And here we have the next verses that he is speaking about how are we to relate to other believers. The first thing that he does here in verse 3, we need to have proper evaluation of ourselves. One of the greatest problems that we have is that we have this pride in our own heart. We often think of ourselves much more than what we ought to think of ourselves. That is a cause of a lot of problems.

When we are not humble before the Lord. When we are proud and elevating ourselves. We cannot deal with other people. And so we need to have proper evaluation of ourselves, first of all. And so Paul says in verse 3. Notice again. I say through the grace that is given unto me. To every man that is among you. Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But to think soberly. According as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. You see in this verse. We have the importance of the need to really look at ourselves within and say. Really Lord. You know my heart.

You know my state. You know who I am. I don't need to put an affront. I don't need to pretend that I am more than what I really am. And you know if a person is really searching for the Lord. To get the help. To really have proper evaluation of ourselves. We need to really look at ourselves. And recognize. I am really just one of the believers in this body of believers. You have given me a gift Lord. And you want me to use my gift among the people of God. But help me Lord. Not to think of myself more highly than I ought to think.

That's why he said. Through the grace that is given unto me. He is speaking about grace. He says listen. I do not want you to think yourself more highly than you ought to think. Don't exalt yourself. Much of the friction that we have among the body of believers. Is because we think of ourselves better. Superior. Greater. No more. More powerful. More this than the other. And so when you think that you are greater than the other. And I think that I am greater than him. And what happens. It doesn't present the things of the Lord. It doesn't present the future of the Lord Jesus. And it causing problems.

You notice this verse that we have. We realize that this gift had been given to us. God had given to us gifts. And he given us exactly what you have given for me. For you. No more and no less. But everyone. He has given to him. As it says in verse 3. A measure of faith. And therefore. No one is to think of himself more highly. Than he ought to. And then he says. But to think soberly. The word soberly. Remind us of a person. You know the opposite. Between a person who is drunk. And a person who is sober. A person who is sober. Is thinking things logically.

Properly. He can see the total picture. A person who is not sober. He is in a sense. Influenced by all kind of things. And he wanted the Roman believers. He wanted us. To think of themselves. Soberly. There are many verses that we can read. Let me just read a verse. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 10. In verse 18. We read this. For not he that commendeth himself. Is approved. But whom the Lord commendeth. You know. We don't need to commend ourselves. The Lord need to commend us. And the Lord will commend his own. In various ways. And areas of life. But Paul said to the Corinthians. Not the one that commendeth himself.

Is approved. But whom the Lord commanding. It is so important. To have the Lord bring us. To the front. If you will. The Lord commanding us. In whatever he has for us to do. And so. It is important. To realize. That we are not to think of ourselves. More highly. Than we ought to think. There is another verse. That I have here. In the book of Proverbs. Chapter 25. That is very interesting as well. Proverbs 25. And verse 27. This is what this wise man. Solomon of old. Have written. And he says. It is not good. To eat much honey. So for man to search. His own glory.

Is not glory. You see what Solomon said. It is not good. To eat much honey. The same way. So for men. To search. Their own glory. Is really not glory. When one. Priding himself. Searching for glory. For himself. It is not glory. At the end. You remember what we read. Of the Lord. He humbled himself. He made himself. Of no reputation. And he came down. And the seven steps down. In Philippians chapter 2. And then it says. Therefore God. Has highly exalted. Him. And giving him. A name. Which is above. Every name. That the name of Yeshua. Every knee will bow. And every tongue. Will confess.

And so. He is teaching us. Here. The importance. To have. A true evaluation. Of ourselves. Not to think of ourselves. More highly. Than we need to think of ourselves. And this is really beautiful. Isn't it? It will deal with a lot. Of other issues. If we have this attitude. Of humility. If we have this attitude. Of brokenness. Before the Lord. And not pride. Because God resists the proud. If we have this attitude. Of humility. We can be used. By the Lord. And that's precious. Really. So. He is now. Dealing with relationship. Towards other believers. You see. We are in the body of Messiah. And the body of Christ.

And we belong. To each other. We are to be used. To be a blessing. To each other. But we first of all. Have to commit ourselves. To the Lord. So we will be able. To be used. For our brothers and sisters. And if we have. A proper evaluation. Of ourselves. We will be able. To do. What the Lord. Had given us. To do. Now. He is moving on. After he said. We have to have. An evaluation. About ourselves. In verse 4. 5. 6. 7. And 8. He wants us. Now. To have faithful. Cooperation. In a service. For the Lord. This morning. In our discussion. A little bit. Earlier. Before the meeting.

Start. We were talking. A little bit. How important. It is to have. A faithful. Working out. Together. Things together. Actually. Last night. In our. Serving the Lord. How important. To have. Harmony. Together. So we can. Faithfully. Continue. To minister. Together. And to serve. The Lord. Together. This is so. Important. Because we need. To have. Faithful. Cooperation. With each other. I mean. It is. The Lord's. Work. If you. Rightly. Evaluate yourself. Don't be proud. And then. The next thing. He says. Look. You can now. Be used. Towards others. As you are serving. The next verse. In verse 4. On. First of all. Verse 4. There are many members.

In this body. Of Messiah. For we have. Many members. In one body. You know. The Bible. Often time. Gives us. This illustration. Of the human body. That is really. A picture. Of the spiritual. And mystical. Body. Of the Messiah. The physical body. That we have. We have many members. In our own body. And this. Real body. Of ours. In the same way. Is representing. The body. Of Messiah. Many members. In this body. It's a huge body. We don't see. Every member. Of the body. We only see. Some of the members. Of the body. But it is a huge body. The head. Is in heaven. The members.

Are here on earth. The action. We get. From the Lord. Jesus. The Messiah. Who is the head. In heaven. And all the members. Are here. To recognize. That we are part. Of one body. Now. I know. There are so many. Divisions. And groups. In the church. In the body. Of Messiah. That we. Do not know. How will ever. Ever. It's going to be. One day fixed. Everything. Is going to be. Fixed. Ultimately. All sin. All will. All human opinion. All human. Desires. All plans. And organization. Going to be. Set aside. And all. Believers. The body. To fix. The worldwide. Issue. Of the body. Of Messiah.

But what. We can. Do. Is. On the local. Setting. In a smaller. Area. In which. The Lord. Had placed. To seek. To show. Some. Of the characteristics. That the Lord. Have expected. From his own. People. And so. Look. What he's saying. Here. Is large. Body. There are many. There's not only one. But there are many. Just the same. Like we have many members. In our own. Physical body. There are many members. In the body. Of Messiah. Then. Notice in verse 4. He continues. And all the members. Have not the same. Office. Now you see. Brothers and sisters. Not all of us. Have the same office. Or ministry.

Or gift. Just the same. Like. My right hand. Can not do. What my left hand does. My head. Can not do. What my feet. Do. With my head. I think. With my eyes. I see. With my ears. I hear. With my mouth. I speak. With my hands. I handle. With my feet. I cannot see. With my hands. And so. Every member. Is being placed. By the Lord. In a proper way. In that. Large. Body. Of Messiah. There are many members. Not all the members. Have the same function. The same office. The same use. You cannot use your hand. To do what your leg. And feet.

Do. It's not possible. You know what we learn. From this. That I cannot do. What you can do. And that you cannot do. What I can do. And that I need you. Just the same. Like you need me. Body can function. That we need each other. We cannot say. That I don't need. The other brother. Or the other sister. Or the other member. Of the body. Of Messiah. We need each other. Of course. We need each other. And we need to be healthy. See. If my arm. Is not strong. And healthy. It cannot be used properly. And if my legs. Are not strong. I cannot stand.

And so on. And therefore. What we learn. That these members. Are important. And needful. For the functioning. Of the body. Of the Messiah. And so now. He's saying. Listen. The next verse. Is really building up. In verse 5. And what he just said. In verse 4. In verse 5. He says. So we. This is the believers. Being many. Are one. Body. In Messiah. In Christ. In Christos. And everyone. Is a member. One. Of another. Now. Whether we like it. Or not. Every believer. Is part. Of the body. Of the Messiah. We probably. Sometime. Could say. You know. We don't need you. To be as a member. Of the body.

We have our own. Plans. And our own. Desires. Who we like. We like to keep. Who we don't like. We like to shift out. But the truth. Of the matter. That he says. In verse 5. We've been many. Many. Members. In this body. one body of Messiah. You might call yourself this church of this and this building of this and this group of this. Actually, it doesn't matter what you call or what one call himself or what group name one have. The truth of the matter that there is only one body and every true believer is part of the body of the Messiah. A person, by the way, who is not a believer in Yeshua is not part of the body of the Messiah because he or she, first of all, has to come in.

And the ground upon which one comes in is through acceptance of the work of the Messiah for their soul. And that he or she are sinners and that Jesus, our Lord and our Messiah, died for their sins in order to redeem them and to save them. And so verse 5 says, so we being many are one body in Messiah and everyone is member one of another. Now, can you imagine that in your physical body, one member of your body is going to say to the other one, I really don't need you. Have you tried one time when you hurt your hand? Have you ever tried one time to use your left hand?

Most of us are right hand. If you hurt your hand, have you ever tried to do something or to button your shirt or to put a sweater on with one hand or something? Have you tried how difficult it is? Very difficult. And that's why sometimes it makes me sad when I think about how many times the ministry of the Lord becomes so hard and we can't serve the Lord on an easy road, if you will, is because some of our members are not functioning right. And sometimes we as members of the body don't function right. We are not in a spiritual state to function right.

And the Lord cannot use us. We cannot be benefit to our brothers and sisters. And the church is suffering. The believers, the company of the people of God are all suffering because we all have our ego and our will and our self-will and we cannot be used. And many times we are spiritually so bankrupt that we cannot help the others. We are so so much in the flesh that we cannot benefit the people of God. And God wants to see a healthy body functioning. Everyone is important. There are many members of this body and we are, notice he says in verse 5, and we are members one of another.

You know, we often think, well, I'm connected to Yeshua. He's in heaven, but never mind my connection with my brothers and sisters. And we fail. And we are divided and scattered and broken and unhappy. And that's what he's saying. Remember that he said, we need to have faithful cooperation, recognizing that you, me, I, all of us, we need each other. It's not an expense of the truth. It's not an expense of biblical fundamental doctrines. We are still part of the same body. We are not just uniting and doing things with everybody because we are believers. We're doing it on the basis of the truth of the word of God.

And so he's telling them in verse 5, everyone is member one of another. We need each other. We belong one to another. And this is very important. And in many other passages that we can read in the scriptures, the apostle Paul is reminding us of the body of the Messiah. One of the most beautiful verses found in Ephesians chapter 4, where the apostle saying to them in the earlier verses of chapter, there is one body. Ephesians 4 and verse 4, one spirit, even as we are calling one hope and one calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who is above all and through all and in you.

Or Ephesians chapter 4 from verse 4 to verse 6. And so that one body, all members, one of another. Very important to bear this in mind. Now I'm continuing here in the next verse, 6a, we understand that even though we are all members of that one body, we are linking to the head in heaven, meaning the Messiah himself, and we are linked with each other. But then he says in verse 6 that each member of this body have a different gift. We all have different gifts. We don't have the same gifts. It says in verse 6, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given unto us. You see, this is important to see, to realize that we have different gifts.

Now imagine if all of us would have had that one and only gift, and the rest of us wouldn't have different gifts. Well, what kind of ministry and functioning of that body together would have been because we all have just one gift, and we will not be able to be used in other areas of the ministry and the service for the Lord and the Lord's people. So we all have different gifts. And over the years, in our own little corner, we have seen various brothers and sisters in various gifts that they have. Amazing to see how some are so beautifully working in the kitchen, organizing things, preparing things, service and ministering to the people of God.

Others have another area in perhaps setting up and preparing things ahead of time. And these are also part in the whole working together and functioning in the body of Messiah. Some has gifts of ministering to people and visiting them and encouraging them. Others have the ability to teach the Word of God. Others have the ability to preach the Gospel and sharing with the lost about the love of God. Others are caring for the sheep and shepherds who love the sheep and ministering to them. Many gifts in the body of Messiah. And by the way, if you want to remember, there are four chapters in the New Testament where the gifts are mentioned.

Two of them chapter 12 and two of them chapter 4. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. 2 12 to 4 is where the gifts are being mentioned. And here what we have in this verse, we are to cooperate with each other to we have faithful cooperation, recognizing we all have different gifts. You can read it in other passages. In 1 Corinthians 12, in Ephesians chapter 4. We don't all have the same gifts. And thank God for that. Because we all need each other in the functioning of the body of Messiah. Not only in the meetings, but outside of the meeting, in our homes, in our conversation, in our relationship with each other in the body of Messiah.

And so he's saying, and you notice now in verse 6b and 7 and 8, the gifts are to be used in cooperation with each other. And you notice he's giving us beautifully this list. In verse 6b he says, with a prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering. He that teaches on teaching. He that exhorting on exhortation. He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. He that ruleth with diligent. He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. Now this is so beautiful. It's so beautiful because look at some of the things he's saying. What about exhortation? You know, we all need to be exhorted.

There are some people that know how to exhort and you receive their exhortation because you know their care. There are others who exhort you who shouldn't exhort you. And you cannot accept their exhortation because it seems to be the theme of their life is to exhort people. Others, when it's come to ruling, there are those that ruling and do it diligently. I know a brother that is a leader, a ruler. You could call him a real know-how to lead. It is amazing how you are so willing to submit to his rulership, to his leadership, because you can see that he does it because he cares for your soul.

And not because he want to have a chip on his shoulder. He want to have power. Have a ruler. It is a gift even to rule. What about showing mercy? You know, there are those brothers and sisters that can show mercy and know how to show mercy when times of trouble coming. They can identify with a person who needs the mercy. They will show to him or her mercy and they will know how to do it. It says he'll show mercy to do it with cheerfulness. You know, not to show mercy and to be angry, but to show mercy cheerfully. Isn't it amazing? You see, brothers and sisters, this is very practical.

This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where the reality of our faith in the Messiah being proven by our practical relationship. I didn't mention prophecy. You know, prophecy doesn't mean that we said, well, the Lord told me that on 2nd of March, we're going to do this and something going to happen. You know, there are people who all of a sudden getting some kind of a prophecy like Revelation chapter 23, 24, 25, 26. They have revelation from the Lord. They can tell you what's going to happen in the future. But the thought here is not prophesying and telling what's going to happen in the future, but speaking forth the word of God, presenting the truth of the scripture, because the prophecy is not only forth telling, but telling forth what is written already in the word of God.

We are living in a very difficult time when many people claim to be prophets. I tell you, there were those, I think it was, what is his name, Jim Jones or something, that he was in United States and he claimed to be a prophet. And many others have claimed to be prophets and ending up leading people so far away from the biblical accounting that we have in the scriptures. We have to be very careful. It's also saying ministry. You notice the word ministry, it comes from the word diakonos. It's being a deacon or a servant. It says, oh ministry, let us wait on our ministry.

You know, some people are just simply servants. They are serving and they don't expect to be rewarded in a sense for men. And sometimes it is unfortunate when we don't recognize it, but they are serving and we don't even recognize it. We take it for granted. But you know what the Lord is saying? To that person, he says, the Lord gave you the gift of serving. You do that. You do that unto the people of God. I will bless you. I will use you. And I will give you the reward. Never mind if the others don't sense this. What we learn from here, the necessity of doing things in cooperation, recognizing prophecy, a ministry of teaching, exhorting, and even giving.

You notice that it says here, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. You know, even in giving, we are all taught in the word to give. We are to give in the things of the Lord. But here we have, in addition to the ordinary giving that all believers need to do, there are those who have the gift of giving. They will give and give. There are those who give to the Lord's work that God has laid on their heart and giving them that gift of giving. And he's saying here to do it with simplicity. No sound of the shofar. No making a big noise out of it.

Just simply out of the abundance of the heart to give for the ministry of God's work in the world. It's amazing. But the point is, beloved brothers and sisters, verses 4 to 8, is to do this in cooperation with each other, with a sense of recognizing that we are members of the body of Messiah. We are linked with each other. We are connected with the people of God. We have to, whenever we do what we do, we have to do it out of loving participation. Not to do it out of necessity. Not to do it out of force. Notice in verse 9, he says, let love be without hypocrisy.

Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good, he's saying in verse 9, love without hypocrisy. You know, a hypocrite is a word that is coming from the theater. They have like a mess, and they use the mess to put in the front, and the face is changing, then they put the mask away, the real face is being revealed. You know, that's what he's saying. Don't do your love. Let your love be without hypocrisy. In other words, be real in our love towards one another. This is so important. Without hypocrisy. Verse 10, the necessity of loving the brothers and sisters and to have brotherly love.

It says, be kindly affection one towards another with brotherly love in honoring, preferring one another. Now, this is such a high requirement. Preferring one another? The expectation is so high, and we know we fail. Who of us can say that we're honoring to prefer one another? We have to admit, it's not that we always look at ourselves, and we think of ourselves, this is the human nature. But the apostle Paul is saying, look, you have kindly affection one towards another, that brotherly love, that expression, brotherly love, the love that we are to have towards one another. Very important, brothers and sisters, if we are to enjoy the relationship that we have been brought into.

Verse 11, 12, and 13, to serve the Lord. Notice it says, practically serving the Lord. It says here, do not be slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. Then it says, distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality. This is a very practical service. Now I can develop this a lot more, and that can be developed a lot more, but just to highlight one or two things here, not to be slothful in business, to do whatever the Lord has given to us, to do it faithfully, not to do it half-heartedly. If the Lord gave us something to do, and I'm speaking about not only your personal responsibility that you and I have at home, but the responsibility that we have among the body of believers, whatever we do, let us do it in not to do our business, our responsibility, slothfully.

Let's do it faithfully. Then he said, to be fervent in spirit, to serve the Lord, because we need to serve the Lord. It is a service that he's given to us. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. What do you think? The trouble will not going to come? Trouble comes across to the life of the body of believers, to go through it with patience, to wait on the Lord, to correct things, to help us, to govern things. We need the patience that we learn. Tribulation, work as patience. And so he's teaching us, he says, listen, you be patient as you go through tribulation. And then the most important thing, he says, continue instant in prayer.

Brothers and sisters, this is something that we need to do for each other all the time. I know we can't remember every name. I know we oftentimes are not in the right mind or right state, but nevertheless, we are exhorted to be notice, continuing in prayer. Continue instant in prayer, not to stop praying for each other. We've been praying over the weeks and months for Don in the hospital. We've been praying for other things, but there are others of us who need prayer. And we need to pray for each other. I hear sometimes people who tell me, oh, I've been praying for you. I haven't seen them for years.

He was sending me, you know, I've been praying for the ministry or the Lord had given to you somewhere, either in Israel or in the United States or in Europe. Somebody write me an email and saying, I've been praying for you. We have been praying for you long time, for many years, we have been praying for you. Well, we need to pray for each other, for the need that we all have and to be continuing. That suggests that we haven't stopped. We've already started. We have started to pray and we continue to pray. And then he's saying, distributing to the necessity of the saints, giving to hospitality.

There are so many needs that the saints have and to distribute to the needs of the saints and also to be given to hospitality. One of the individuals in the Bible, in biblical time, by the name of Abraham, our father, when he had been given to hospitality, remember who came to visit Abraham, our father, he had enjoyed the presence of the Lord in his tent. And we read in Hebrews at the end, somewhere there in chapter 13, we have been exhorted. He's saying to them that they are to be given to hospitality, the important to remember them that are in bonds, he's saying, and them which suffer adversity, being yourself also in the body.

And then he was telling them the necessity of being hospitable. It's such an importance. Some have entertained angels, unawares, because they have been given to hospitality. So here he's telling them the importance of hospitality. Now here in the next two or three verses, 14 and 15, he's telling them to be a blessing and to be rejoicing. Verse 14, he said, bless them that persecute you. He's saying to them in verse 14, and bless and curse not, rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with them that weep. You know, sometime we need to weep with those that are going through trials in their life. We cannot just forget that we have to realize the importance of rejoicing with them that rejoice, weeping with them that weep, rejoicing in blessing to our brothers and sisters.

And finally, verse 16, we have the importance of having the same mind. You remember I said that we need to have a loving participation. He said in verse 16, be of the same mind, mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate and be not wise in your own estimation. Here he's telling them, listen, you have to have one mind on things and don't mind high things. Recognize that you don't think to elevate yourself and mind high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Don't be proud and thinking yourself more important than the other. And therefore, the Lord is able to bless the people of God.

So right relationship with God, verses 1 and 2, will bring us into a right relationship with our brothers and our sisters. That's what we need, beloved brothers and sisters. This is where the rubber meets the road. And it should be evident in our life. The Lord will help us to do so if we will have a right relationship with him.