Romans 1:9 “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;”
Paul testifies here in this verse, that he serves GOD with his SPIRIT in the GOSPEL of HIS SON. What does that really mean, when you read Paul’s epistles, you will get the meaning of what he is saying. Like, a little further along in the book of Romans, in Romans 12:1 “Where Paul says “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 reasonable service.” Then please listen to the Apostle Paul when he was writing to the young preacher Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12 where he was explaining to this young preacher how he was supposed to be that example; “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers… Then he gives Timothy 6 areas to be an example in:
(1)in word,(that is the way you talk or speak), in Colossians 4:6 the Apostle Paul said “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Please note what the Lord’s brother James says in his epistle in the 3rd chapter and the 11th verse: “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
(2)in conversation,(The word CONVERSATION is the way that you conduct your total lifestyle),Paul says in his letter to those Christians at Philippi in Philippians 1:27 “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;” Our lifestyles within the Church should be to promote HARMONY and TOGETHERNESS, the body of the Church should show to the outside world that we are 1 body with the same Head.
(3)in charity,(that is the way that you show your “AGAPE” love for others),When Paul wrote to those at Galatia he said in: Galatians 5:14 “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
(4)in spirit,(That is how you follow the leadership of the HOLY SPIRIT to conduct all phases of your life),Again it the book of Galatians the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:25 “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Each one of us ought to show the same “AGAPE LOVE” that Jesus showed.
(5)in faith,(That is when you placed your faith in JESUS, did your lifestyle change and you walked differently than you did before, did it show that you were really “BORN ANEW”!) Then Paul wrote in Romans 1:17 which, by the way, we will look at in a couple of weeks “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” When you don’t have FAITH you are really calling GOD a LIAR!
(6)in purity.(That you, after you were saved, didn’t, and still don’t, like to be involved in the FILTHY things of the flesh, but you try to “BE HOLY AS HE IS HOLY” as the Bible says, even though you still fail and get off of the “RIGHT PATH” every now and then.) Listen to what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:24 “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
Would you like to posess or have the Spiritual power that the Apostle Paul had during his time here on this earth? Would you like to be able to live a life that exemplifies JESUS OF NAZARETH? The word that paul uses here in the Greek means to be an “EXAMPLE” or a pattern(when I read that word example it immediately made be think of the DRESS patterns that my mom, my sister and my wife used to buy so that they could make a dress or outfit for themselves or their children instead of spending a high, exhorbant price for a new one), the Greek word here could have been translated also as “EXEMPLIFY”, which actually
means to be a “TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF”. Now going back to the 12th chapter of Romans and the 1st verse, where we were at, and were to present our lifes to GOD and be an “EXAMPLE”, and the APOSTLE PAUL says that is just your “REASONABLE SERVICE”. It’s not a STERLING EXAMPLE, it’s not an “EXQUISIT EXAMPLE”, nor is it a “STELLAR EXAMPLE” like some people say of the ACTORS and ACTRESSES when they WIN an OSCAR or an EMMY AWARD, but it is simply our “REASONABLE SERVICE” that which is expected of us by GOD! THEY, those in atheletic games, perform for a “CORRUPTIBLE CROWN”, but we, the children of GOD, perform for an “INCORRUPTIBLE CROWN”! Do we remember what Jesus said that was recorded in the book of
Matthew 6:19,20 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”
1 Corinthians 9:25 says: “And every man that striveth(thegreek word that was used here was a very intense verb, it means to really labor strenuously, even to the point of sweating and getting very fatigued)for the mastery(which means to feverently contend with an adversary, and of course we know, very well, who our adversary is because the Apostle Peter told us very plainly and clearly in his first epistle in verse 8 of chapter 5, 1 Peter 5:8 please listen very closely as I read it for you {“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”} and he will devour you if you don’t prepare your self through prayer and the continual study of the WORD of GOD!) is temperate(the GREEK word is {in-cry-too’-uh-my}which means to EXERCISE SELF-RESTRAINT, and I know you guys know what that means. There were atheletic events back in that day, just as there are in our day but they were a lot more lethal most of the time, so those involved in those had to train and workout. Then the Apostle Paul had to clarify that he was not just talking about a few things because he said:) in all things(You are aware, I am very sure, that atheletes have different REPS for different muscles and joints, and so do we, we have the “WORD OF GOD”, we have the “HOLY GHOST”, we have different jobs in the “CHURCH”, we have different jobs in our “Family”, and we have different jobs in the “WORLD” so we must “EXERCISE” for each of those jobs. The Greek word for “in all things” is “pas” and to be such a small word it has a very large meaning. It means “EVERYTHING” “EVERYWHERE” and at “ALL TIMES” so whatever GOD has called you to do, “DO IT CONTINUOUSLY”. I have spoke to this before, but maybe you were not here when I did, so I am going to explain again why I try to use the word instead of “CONTINUALLY”. The most important difference between the two words, I have outlined this way:
Continuously:Means something happens without a productive period within a specified time. For example, you might say “My old tractor has been continuously out of commission for over the last two years and the tires are almost dry rotted and my corn has actually went to seed.”
AND THEN
Continually: Means something happens without a productive period for a certain time. For example, you might say “My old tractor has been continually out of commission for over the last two years except every “now and then” I can get her crunked up and get a little bit of bush hogging done.”
We as CHRISTIANS, of course are are always, “CONTINUOUSLY” a CHRISTIAN but sometimes our Labor for the Lord is not. We sometimes perform, only “CONTINUALLY” as part of the “BODY OF CHRIST”. But, of course, should always be performing our part as an effective and an available member of the “LOCAL BODY of BELIEVERS”. May I ask all of us this question, Am I where GOD wants me, or do I maybe need to be “RECRUNKED” like that old tractor I was talking about? GOD is always able to do whatever you need to get you where you need to be. Now, let me regress back to where we started. That is Romans the 1st chapter and the 9th verse, please listen again as I read:
Romans 1:9 “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;” The Apostle Paul was sometimes not able to be at his post or specific place of service or worship but Paul was always “SERVING and always WORSHIPING” where ever he was and that is the way we should be. Where ever Paul was at he was always in PRAYER and that is one thing that we all can do. Is to always be in PRAYER, in fact Paul said to “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING”.