A MODEL OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER ROMANS 1: 8-12 (NKJV)

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1 Message for THE LORD S DAY EVENING, May 27, 2012 A MODEL OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER ROMANS 1: 8-12 (NKJV) Please turn with me in your Bibles to tonight s scripture text in Romans the first chapter, verses P R A Y E R Romans 1:8-11 (NKJV) 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. ********************************************************************************** I N T R O D U C T I O N One night a little boy was sitting on his father s lap before bedtime. The little boy rolled his eyes up at his dad and asked, Daddy, what s a Christian? Now why do you want to know what a Christian is replied the father. The little boy said, My friend Tommy at school told me his dad and mom are Christians.

2 Well the little boy s father had taken a course on Theology in college, so he tried to explain to his son in Theological terms what a Christian was. After listening to his father go on and on with his explanation, the little boy stopped his dad and asked, Have I ever seen a real, live Christian? *********************************** Lots of people call themselves Christians. But how many are truly modeling genuine, authentic Christianity in their daily lives? In 1892, the ENGLISH novelist, Israel Zangwill, said... Scratch beneath the surface of the typical Christian and you will find the pagan. Mahatma Ghandi once said, I like your CHRIST, but I don t like your CHRISTIANS, they are so unlike your CHRIST. Are these TRUE PICTURES of Christians? Are Christians nothing more than pagans dressed in Christian skin? If someone were to scratch beneath the outward layer of your Christianity, what would they find beneath the surface? What would your habits your desires your priorities.. and your daily lifestyle reveal about you? The late Vance Havner once said The word CHRISTIAN is both a noun and an adjective. We need more ADJECTIVE CHRISTIANS...More CHRISTIAN CHRISTIANS who are more Christian in thought...spirit...and deed...as well as in name. Bro. Havner was absolutely right! Being a Christian is not just a name we wear, it is a life we live. Being a Christian is not some religious garment we put on for one or two hours on Sunday and take off the rest of the week. We must be Christians all the way to the depth of our being. The NEW TESTAMENT teaches us that our lives are to be a reflection of the life of Jesus Christ. When others see us, they should see Jesus in us.

3 Perhaps one of the GREATEST MODELS of that kind of CHRIST-LIKE CHARACTER is seen in the life of THE APOSTLE PAUL. Here in ROMANS 1: 8-11, we see three CHRIST-LIKE CHARACTER TRAITS the apostle Paul modeled in his daily life that we should model in ours as well. ******************************************************* First of all... I. PAUL MODELED A THANKFUL ATTITUDE (v.8) 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 1. The first Christ-like characteristic we see in Paul is his THANKFUL ATTITUDE. Notice Paul s very first words to these Christians in Rome, First, I thank my God! Not, How are you all doing! or Wish you were here..but FIRST, I THANK MY GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. Paul modeled a thankful attitude for the Roman Christians. 2. This THANKFUL ATTITUDE was seen over and over again in Paul s life. There were few times in his Christian life when he wasn t undergoing terrible trials and troubles. Sometimes when people go through times of trouble and difficulty in life they become bitter and ungrateful. They develop a sour attitude about life that becomes evident to everyone. 3. This was not the case with the APOSTLE PAUL. He was persecuted in almost every city he went into.

4 He was beaten...stoned...and thrown in jail...and yet through it all HIS CHRISTLIKE CHARACTER was evident to everyone as he kept his THANKFUL ATTITUDE. 4. Rather than looking at his hardships as ENEMIES THAT WERE OUT TO DESTROY HIM...Paul looked at HIS HARDSHIPS as OPPORTUNITIES for Christ to be GLORIFIED AND MAGNIFIED in his life......and for that, PAUL WAS THANKFUL. 5. What about you? Do you have a THANKFUL ATTITUDE during the difficult times as well as the good times? ILLUSTRATION: You know, living here on the East Coast, one thing we have become all too familiar with is RIP TIDES or RIP CURRENTS in the Ocean. An un-suspecting swimmer can be swimming in the ocean, and before they even realize what has happened, they can be pulled into one of those dangerous or even deadly riptides. One reason many people drown when they get caught in the rip currents is because they fight against the current. In a panic they try to swim against the powerful current, until they become so exhausted, they can no longer swim, and wind up losing their life. Experts tell us, the best thing to do when one gets caught in a RIPTIDE is to ride it out. Generally the current will end about yards out in the ocean...and the swimmer can then swim to the right or left of the riptide...and safely make it back to shore. 6. Often when you and I find ourselves caught in the riptide of a trial our tendency is to fight against it with all our might...until we are physically...emotionally and spiritually exhausted. 7. When the best thing to do, is to ride it out until the Lord eventually brings us to the end of our trial...and the way we ride it out,

5 is to have A THANKFUL ATTITUDE...such as was modeled for us by the Apostle Paul. SECONDLY... II. PAUL MODELED A SERVANT S SPIRIT (v.9) 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 1. Let me point out two attributes of Paul s servant SPIRIT. (a) First of all, NOTICE THE FOCUS OF PAUL S SERVICE GOD is my witness WHOM I SERVE with my spirit. Paul s ministry was never man-centered it was always God-centered. Paul s goal was never to please MAN...but to always please GOD! Paul said in Galatians 1:10 (NKJV) For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. This is something every true Christian should model in his or her own life. You and I must remember that every act of service we do every act of kindness we show.is NOT so people will pat us on the back and tell us what wonderful Christians we are, but rather we do it for the glory and the honor and the praise of Jesus Christ ALONE! (B) Secondly, NOTICE THE DEPTH OF PAUL S SERVICE God is my witness whom I serve WITH MY SPIRIT.

6 The term with my spirit in the Greek meant through and through. Paul was GOD S SERVANT through and through...in MIND, in HEART and in SPIRIT. SERVING GOD was Paul s greatest passion...his greatest priority and his greatest pleasure in life. Remember what Paul said, For me to live is CHRIST and to die is gain. Do we model that same whole hearted, passionate service for the LORD? Are you a servant of the LORD through and through? Someone once said, Ninety five percent devotion to God is five percent short of acceptable. When it comes to whole-hearted service to God, no doubt every one of us would have to admit our inadequacies and deficiencies. * How many of us are guilty of serving the LORD half-heartedly? *How many of us are guilty of putting worldly things ahead of spiritual things? *How many of us are guilty of trying to love the Lord and love the world at the same time? (Which Jesus said we can t possibly do!) Is it possible one reason why more of our loved ones and friends are NOT attracted to Christ and Christianity is because they don t see any passionate love for Christ in our lives? Paul modeled A THANKFUL ATTITUDE. Ask yourself, DO I? Paul modeled A SERVANT S SPIRIT. Ask yourself, DO I?

7 THIRDLY... III. PAUL MODELED A GRACIOUS HEART (vs. 11, 12) 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. 1. Paul had a GRACIOUS CHRIST-LIKE HEART. Everywhere he went to Preach the Gospel, he never focused on what he could get out of people...but rather he focused on what he could give to people. Paul always wanted to make the lives of those he ministered to BETTER OFF than they were when he found them. Paul always looked out for the WELFARE OF OTHERS RATHER THAN HIS OWN WELFARE. 2. Is that not exactly what JESUS did? JESUS had such a gracious heart. -People came to Him blind...they left seeing. -People came to Him lame...they left walking. -People came to Him deaf...they left hearing. -People came to Him broken.they left whole 3. DO YOU HAVE A GRACIOUS HEART? -Who s life did you make better this past week? -Who s burden did you make lighter? -Who s heart did you make happier? -Who s spirit did you lift? -Who s faith did you strengthen? 5. I want to lay down a challenge before you this evening I want you to think of ONE PERSON WHO IS HURTING or DISCOURAGED or BROKENHEARTED

8 or SOMEONE WHO IS GOING THROUGH A PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT SITUATION RIGHT NOW...and before this week is over... do something to show the wonderful love and grace of GOD to that individual. And do it for the HONOR AND GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST! CONCLUSION I m sure I have used this illustration before, but it is worth hearing again. Joe was a DRUNK who had been miraculously converted to Christ at an inner city mission. Prior to his conversion, JOE had gained a reputation of being a dirty wino, destined to a hopeless miserable existence in the ghetto. But after accepting CHRIST...GOD completely changed JOE S life. JOE became the most caring, compassionate person anyone associated with the MISSION had ever known. HE spent his days and nights hanging around the mission doing whatever needed to be done. No job was beneath him. He did everything from cleaning up vomit left by some violently sick alchoholic to scrubbing toilets after careless men left the men s room filthy. JOE helped every feeble wino and alchoholic who wandered in off the street...often undressing them and tucking them into a nice warm bed when they were so drunk they couldn t help themselves. ONE EVENING when the MISSION CHAPLAIN was delivering his evening message to his group of seemingly hopeless humanity...one man cried out for GOD to change his life.

9 The Repentant drunk kept shouting... GOD, make me like JOE...Make me like JOE...Make me like JOE. THE CHAPLAIN said to the man, I think it would be better if you prayed... Make Me Like Jesus. THE MAN looked up at the chaplain and said... IS HE LIKE JOE? I wonder...do PEOPLE SEE THAT KIND OF CHRIST-LIKE CHARACTER when they look at you and me? May an OUTWARD, SURFACE CHRISTIANITY ever be acceptable to any of us. May we always be AS REAL AND GENUINE ON THE INSIDE as we appear to be on the outside. May JESUS CHRIST be seen...in OUR THANKFUL ATTITUDE...OUR SERVANT S SPIRIT...and...OUR GRACIOUS HEARTS!