If We Are Going To See The Church Multiply
Romans 12:1-21
Read Rom. 12:1-21
INTRO: Ever since the first of this month when Mike and I went to Dallas, TX for the Right Now Conference I have been convicted. I have been convicted in some ways that I have failed in ministry. But in other ways I have been convicted that some of my motives and methods have been lacking, that I’m not doing what God has really called me to do.
I don’t want you to hear that in my 12th year here as the preaching minister that I feel it time for me to move on to another ministry or that I feel nothing has been accomplished here. Many things have been accomplished and I feel the call of God more on my life now more than ever and that God has a lot of work for me to do here in Mt. Vernon and through this body of believers.
In my research this week for this message I went back and read a sermon I preached here 2 months into my ministry here. It was insightful. Here are some of the things I said in that message.
ILLUS: “I’ve been preaching here at this church for around 2 months now, and you know what? It feels like I have been here a lot longer. Why? I’m not sure, maybe because I have been so busy, maybe because what I’m doing here, in preaching at least, is just a continuation of what I was doing at my last church, I don’t know. It really hasn’t taken me long to get to where I feel comfortable. I think a lot of it has to do with the people. Your just my kind of people, you like to talk, you like to eat, you seem to enjoy life and the company of your other Christian brothers and sisters and I am enjoying my time here in just getting to know you and doing the work of this church.”
Then I talked about my last church and how I didn’t want to be there and didn’t want to be a maintaining minister, which that is all they wanted. Then I continued to talk about the youth ministry I had before my last church and the wonderful relationships I had with the youth there and the growth that the church had while I was the youth minister. Then I continued as follows.
ILLUS: “Now that is not what I expected in the last church I served in. Why? Because everyone said that, the church would not grow. Even the leaders of that church said the church would not grow. And you know something? They were right! No matter what I did, no matter what I tried the church wouldn’t grow. Why? You might ask. Well, I’m going to let you draw your own conclusion based on what I have said so far. Part of the problem was who I listened to.
When I first went to my last church I said ok all I have to do is maintain this church. All I have to do is preach on Sunday, teach Sunday school, call on those who are sick and in the hospitals, do funerals and just do all those things that a maintaining minister does. Why did I decide on doing ministry that way? Because I listened to the leadership of that church, because I listened to those in the congregation of that church, because I listened to those who lived in the community that church was in, and because I listened to the Bible College professors who told me the same thing.
Do you know what I’ve found out when I was serving there? I found out that I don’t want to be that maintaining minister. I’ve found that if I’m that maintaining minister, I’m not happy. I’ve found that I have to be more. I found God nudging me, kicking me, and sometimes slapping me. Do you know what He is saying and why He was saying it? Because He was saying, Mark, why have you listened to men? Why have given yourself to man’s limits?
The reason your not happy is because you have allowed yourself to live by and do ministry by mans standards and not Mine. Live and do ministry by My standards, do things according to My expectations and I will lead you and give you a vision for your ministry. He has done just that. He has given me a vision about how I need to go about doing ministry. And I believe with all my heart that God has led me to your minister here in Mt. Vernon.”
And 11 years later I still feel that God has led me here and that He has more than ever for me to do. And today the vision for this body of believers is to be stronger than every before.
My vision for the church back then admittedly was more physical than spiritual. A vision for a new Family Life Center building, a vision for more bodies in the church on Sunday, a vision for more money coming in to accomplish the physical.
Over the years God has worked in my life and today my vision for the church is spiritual. It’s to train this body of believers to be more than just believers, to be more than just followers, but to help this body to become mature in Christ so we will be able to do and continue the mission Jesus gave. It’s a vision to train this body of believers to be disciple makers, to become spiritual parents so that you can train other believers to do as Jesus called us to, to “go and bear much fruit.”
In all honesty I believe that some in this body of believer may be uncomfortable with that vision because that vision involves you. It involves moving from where you are, in the comfort of your faith and taking you to a place you never thought you will go.
And if I listen to what some might say when they say it can’t be done, I’m sure it won’t happen, but I have given myself to listening to God more than listening to man.
Back to my sermon 11 years ago.
ILLUS: “Folks, if we don’t have a vision for where we want to go then we will become stagnate and die. We must, we have to, do all that we can to reach the lost. We must realize that church is not just about us who are sitting here this morning, but it’s about those who are still laying in bed, or who are out playing golf, or our fishing, or out doing whatever they like, those who don’t have a clue where they are going when they die.”
Today, what I said back then is not complete. It is true, it’s not about us and it is about those who are not here this morning, but it is more than that, it’s about this body of believers becoming a training station, becoming disciples who make disciples.
Prop: Every Christian has the responsibility to become those who bear much fruit. To be those who bring others to Christ, to train other to bring others to Christ.
The points today out of Romans 12 are things we need to do in order for us not only to see the church grow, but to see it multiply.
If we are going to see the church multiply we must…
1. Never be lacking in zeal
Romans 12:11, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
Have we done that? Have we lost that zeal, that fervor? We need to be able to keep energized. And what are we suppose keep energized and have that zeal? In serving the Lord! Look with me at the 1 verse of this chapter. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.” Rom. 12:1
We are supposed to give everything to God. Give our bodies as a sacrifice. That means give everything. Give everyday, every breath, every step, every drink of water, every piece of food, every dollar, every blink of the eye, and every thought to God. God doesn’t but put limitations on what we are to give, He just says give.
And look at what He has given us in order to keep our zeal in going about His mission. Take a look at verse 6 and following.
“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” Rom 12:6-8
You see God not only wants what you have already, but once you are a Christian He gives you more and He wants you to use what He has given you to accomplish His mission.
You see it says “according to the grace given us.” And we’re not under grace until we’re under the cross. We all don’t have the same gifts when it comes to serving the Lord and that is by design. The gifts He as given you are for a purpose and that purpose is ultimately to multiply His church.
When I got back into the church (and you should know by now that there was a time when I wasn’t in the church) I didn’t think I had much to offer.
Before when I went to church, when I first became a Christian, I didn’t give much at all. Matter of fact I felt like all I did was take from it. I didn’t know anything and therefore I had to be taught and I didn’t have any money. I couldn’t give in offerings and at times I had to ask for money from the church to live on.
And I made a determination to myself that I wasn’t going to go back to church until I thought I was able to give something. And I didn’t go back until I was at least able to give money in the offering plate. I thought that was all I could do, until I was asked to do some things.
When I was asked to do something I would always say “no” and most of the time they would leave me alone. It wasn’t until one time when the preacher was persistent that I did something.
And I gotta tell you, I was nervous, I was scared and I really didn’t want to do what I was asked to do, but you know what, I did it and it was great. I found that even though I was nervous and scared, that God could use me in other ways than to just give money in the offering plate.
Ever since that time I have tried new things, I have put myself out of my comfort zone and put myself where I am not comfortable. Sometimes when I have done that it hasn’t worked out the way I would like it, but I know enough now not to give up and that God still wants me to try.
You see God gives you gifts and He says use them. When you use them He will give you more. It doesn’t say I have given you a gift now use it. It says “gifts”. You may think you only have one gift, and you know what, that may be true. But use that gift and you will be given more.
Luke 19:25 says: “…I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.” We have to use the gifts God has given us, if we don’t the one gift we have may very well be taken away.
Folks, I want this church to grow, but not just grow, it needs to multiply. God’s plan for the church is not just growth, it is multiplication. If God’s plan for the church is ever to be accomplished this body of believers has to work together in the mind of Christ.
Verse 4-5 of our text says: “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Rom. 12:4-5
We are one body and this one body must serve God using the gifts given to us. Collectively as a church, as the body of Christ we have been given gifts. If we use them in the mission Jesus gave us we will be given more and the multiplication will begin.
But I want to warn you, multiplication will not take place over night. Jesus didn’t train His disciples to multiply overnight, it took around 3 years before Jesus sent His disciples out two by two. I wouldn’t think we could do it in any less time than it took Jesus.
This church, like any church has two directions it can go. We are just like any other church. Just like Southeast Christian Church in Louisville KY who has almost 20,000 members and we are just like the first church I supply preached at where they had 7 people for their worship service.
Whether we grow and multiply or we die, that is up to us. We can either use our gifts to glorify God and grow, or we can fail to use gifts. The church who fails to use the gifts given is the church who fine with maintaining what we already have, it is fine with the status quo and it will suffer a long and agonizing death. We need to use it or loose it.
If we are going to see the church multiply we must…
2. Be Joyful In Hope
Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
I think what God is telling us here is to be joyful in the vision I have given you. Be joyful in the work I have set out for you to do Be joyful as you are about the goal of accomplishing My mission.
Now I’m speaking from experience here and I think that a lot of you can understand by the experiences you have had. Being joyful all the time when you have set out to serve God is not always easy. Sometimes it’s real work, isn’t it? Sometimes you don’t want to do it, you don’t want to work on the lessons that you have to teach for Sunday school this week. You don’t want to organize the event you said you would do. You don’t want to work on picking out the songs for this weeks service and don’t want to work on learning new things, and trying new things.
The Sunday school lesson gets put off until Saturday night or maybe you even decide to wing it on Sunday morning. You see serving God is not always easy.
But God says be joyful, and we say yeah right God. You try to do this, you try to work with the people I have to work with, we might say. Be joyful? Yeah right God, now you tell me how.
Now look what He does, the very next thing He says is be, “patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Keep up the work my servant! He says. I know it’s hard, I know you are frustrated. Believe Me, He says, I know what it is like working with those people, I have done it for generations. I have told them over and over again what to do and they keep turning away. You are frustrated? He says. From the beginning, even from the Adam who I created out of My Own hands and who I breathed the breath of life into, man has been sinning against me. I am frustrated! But I am patient, so that no one will perish and that more may come to repentance.
Stay patient my servant in this affliction and as you continue to serve Me! Be faithful in prayer. Talk to Me, God says. Tell Me all about it and I will help you through the tough times and guide you as you look forward in the joyful hope you have in accomplishing My mission.
If we are going to see the church multiply we must…
3. Not Be Overcome By Evil
Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
I’ve learned something in the time that I’ve been and Christian and in the ministry. That is that evil can come in all sorts of ways.
What would you do in this world if you were the Devil? It what ways would you bring evil in the world, and try to make yourself happy? Paul Harvey in 1965 had a broadcast in which he said what he would do if he were the Devil. It talked about what the Devil would do in the world to corrupt it and keep people from knowing God. In the end the whole point of what he said was that in order for that to happen if he were the Devil he would just allow things to keep going the way they were.
In serving God and in accomplishing the mission of Jesus, people have become complacent, we have become lazy. We have said to ourselves that other people can do that, or not right now. I’m not to that point in my life to do that. I can’t go out and tell others about Christ, that’s not my gift. I can’t teach Sunday school, I can’t help in that play, I can’t organize that event, I can’t help with that program, I can’t be salt and light in this world. And you know what, we can’t. And do you know why, because we are stuck on “I” and not stuck on “God”.
We allow the Devil to do his work in our lives. We allow ourselves to not do the things God has called us to do.
But God doesn’t say you can’t, but God says you can. God says nothing is impossible with Him, God says that you can do all things through Him who strengthens you. The Devil says you can’t, you’ll fail, you’ll be embarrassed, your not good enough, you have to many sins in your life, you have to be perfect before you can do that.
But we have to overcome what the Devil says to us, and we have to know that God will not allow the Devil to overcome you, He not allow him to give you that attitude, if you are diligent in His service, if you are diligent in His mission, if you are diligent in your study, and if you are diligent in prayer.
You see once you are a Christian you are God’s. You belong to God and the Devil will not be allowed to harm you. And he will not be allowed to tempt you into not doing those things. You see in 1 Cor. 10:13 it says: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
We must remain in God and He will remain in us, we must stay steadfast in our hope, stay steadfast in our service, stay steadfast in our mission of making disciples, for as it says in Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
The only way the Devil has any power over us is if we let him. And we let him when we are not diligently in the mission our Lord and Savior has given us. We let him when we become complacent with the world around us and we think that God can’t use us to serve Him.
The 2nd verse of our text says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
The Devil is counting on you conforming to the pattern of this world. But God says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Then you will approve of God’s will, you will be able to test God’s will and you will find that it is good and pleasing and perfect.
Folks the will God has for you is perfect. And if you use the gifts He gives you in His mission then you will be living that perfect will. He has given to each of us gifts to use in His service. He says that if you don’t use them you’ll loose them. The Devil is waiting and wanting you not to use them. Don’t let that happen. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
CONCLUSION:
I want to get really serious with you today and tell you that the Devil is happy with the church in America. You see the church in America has been in steady decline since the 70’s and at the current rate in the next decade or so church in America will not look the same. There will be empty buildings and auctions selling off the church’s possessions. And it’s because we have become complacent and happy with the status quo.
Let me get serious in a personal way and this might hurt. If your life for Christ only exist on Sunday mornings and a hour in the pew the Devil is happy with you, if you are buying into the Devil’s excuses for not serving God, the Devil is happy with you, if you are satisfied that you are a Christian, but don’t care if your lost neighbor comes to Christ, the Devil is happy with you.
You see you can be a Christian and the Devil has only lost one while He wins the multitudes. We need to realize that if we believe in God, believe in Christ, and know the Word of God, we are no better than the Devil. The Devil believes and know all those things too and he chooses not to serve God. When we choose not to serve as well, the Devil is happy with you.
Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 Are you a believer, but haven’t heard His voice, haven’t heard the call He has for you? Then something is wrong. I don’t know what that is, but there is a spiritual problem in your life because the sheep of Jesus hear His voice and answer His call, and walk in His foot steps.
INVITATION:
Every Sunday I have a pray and then have a invitation. Practically every Sunday no one heeds the call of the invitation. Our baptistry back here is empty and we are going the way of the world and are being complacent with no zeal for the mission of Jesus Christ has given us to make disciples who make disciples so that His church will not only grow, but that it would multiply.
This morning there is no invitation but I offer for you to come forward to get on your knees and pray. I offer for you to get on your knees in your pews if you can to pray, or to just sit in your seats and pray that you may hear the call that Jesus has for His sheep. There will be no closing prayer, no announcements, no invitation song, no closing song. When you are done praying you are welcome to leave. But I hope you stay and pray that you will hear His voice and the call He has on your life.
