Calvary Road Baptist Church
“THOUGHTFUL”
Romans 12.17b
Romans 12.17.
It was in the summer, possibly the summer of 1973, possibly 1974. The Calvary Baptist Church had just concluded their annual Vacation Bible School when one of the Church members asked the Church treasurer a question at the monthly business meeting. “How much money was collected from the kids during the Vacation Bible School?” she asked.
When the Church treasurer responded to the question and stated the amount of the total the members present at the business meeting began to murmur at how small the offering was. Another member said something like, “We always collected more from the kids when I used to help out at Vacation Bible School.” Another asked about the Vacation Bible School, “Who counted the money, anyway?”
At this point, the pastor indicated that he had counted the money and made the deposit of the kids’ offering. Friends, when the pastor said that he had counted the money and deposited it, the feeding frenzy of the sharks began. One member asked the pastor, “Who counted the offering with you?” He replied, “No one. Everyone was busy with the children, so I counted the nickels, dimes, and quarters and deposited them.”
Then the speculation of wrongdoing began. Before the business meeting ended, wild accusations against the pastor had been irresponsibly tossed out by several people. Within the month the pastor had resigned in disgust in response to accusations leveled against him that he had embezzled something in the neighborhood of five or $10.00 if comparisons between the previous year’s Vacation Bible School offerings and that year’s Vacation Bible School offerings were compared.
If you analyze that tragedy, which resulted in the resignation of the pastor who served my first Church just before the pastor that I succeeded, you will see that there was wrongdoing on both sides of the controversy. On the Church members’ side, who accused the pastor of wrongdoing, the sin was the sin of pettiness, the sin of baseless suspicion. I ask you, what pastor in his right mind would risk his ministry for five or $10.00? Additionally, how could they murmur against their pastor for something they suspected but had absolutely no proof of? But they did.
As wrong as they were, their behavior was occasioned by the sin of the pastor. Not by any embezzlement, mind you. There was no way that the pastor took five dollars of Vacation Bible School money. He would never in a million years have risked his entire ministry and reputation for five or $10.00. No. What my predecessor’s predecessor failed to do was heed the direction of the Apostle Paul in Romans 12.17. And what did Paul write in Romans 12.17? Let’s look at the second half of that verse, the second sentence.
Paul wrote,
“Provide things honest in the sight of all men.”
“Provide things honest in the sight of all men.”
This sentiment is echoed throughout the entire New Testament. In Matthew 5.16 the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to,
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
To the Corinthians the Apostle Paul stated the principle negatively in First Corinthians 10.32:
“Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God.”
Then, to a young pastor, Paul wrote these words in First Timothy 5.14:
“I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”
Even the Apostle Peter made mention of a Christian’s concern about how his behavior appears to other people. In First Peter 2.12 Simon Peter wrote,
“Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
So important is it for God’s people to not only do right but to appear to do right, that when Paul communicated with the Corinthians a second time he wrote, in Second Corinthians 8.21,
“Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.”
Don’t think concern for proper behavior in front of others is a New Testament concern only. Proverbs 3.3-4 addresses this subject as well, where Solomon wrote,
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Understand that Scripture is not calling for us to be men-pleasers. It’s not God’s plan for us to run around kowtowing to the whims and fancies of others, whether they be Christians or lost people. But you do have a life. You do have a ministry, I hope. You do have a testimony. And your testimony is good when there is evidence of your good deeds done in the sight of other people. Do you realize that there are some Christians who do not provide for things honest? There is always a swirl of controversy around them regarding whether or not their behavior is ethical. That’s terrible. Other Christians provide for things honest, but not in the sight of all men.
Therefore, I want to suggest to you a plan of action that will result in you providing for things honest in the sight of all men. And because of the basic attitude of heart and mind that is necessary to accomplish this worthy goal, I have titled my message “Thoughtful.” “Thoughtful.” You need to be thoughtful to provide for things honest in the sight of all men. Here is a strategy of action that I believe will be useful to Christian men and women who are thoughtful.
There are three parts to this thoughtful preparation to do right:
First, THERE IS THE PLAN
We come to see the necessity of a plan from a proper understanding of the word “providing” in Romans 12.17. When Paul wrote our text to the Romans, he used a Greek word that means “to think before hand.” Some people do that. To think before hand, to take care, to take care for, or provide for someone, to take thought of, to take into consideration, or to have regard for.[1] In essence, Paul was referring to thinking ahead about your behavior. Think about it. Think ahead about what you’re going to do. But I would suggest to you that Paul had absolutely no intentions of urging his readers to think ahead about the behavior and to leave it at that. To think that’s what Paul had in mind is to completely misunderstand what he taught about the Christian life. Paul understood the Christian life to be so important that it should be lived following a plan, and that preparation ought to be made to adhere to that plan. Let me illustrate. The Corinthians were a carnal and immature lot. So Paul spent considerable time instilling into their thinking what was necessary for the child of God to live a life that was pleasing and honoring to God. I want you to understand that some Christians want to live any way they want. Some Christians want to live a life of thoughtlessness governed only by the impulse of the moment. The Corinthians were such Christians. But such a life as that, understand, is not in harmony with the revealed will of God.
First Corinthians chapter 9. To correct this tendency of people wanting to live a life of childish thoughtlessness governed only by impulse, I want you to notice how the Apostle Paul characterized his own exemplary life, in First Corinthians 9.19-27:
19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Notice something in this passage that we just read. In the last four verses, the Apostle Paul likened himself to be a spiritual athlete, a spiritual track star. Given the choice of being compared to a talented but poorly conditioned and ill-prepared basketball player or being compared to someone far less talented but superbly prepared and highly conditioned performer, who do you think Paul would have wanted his life to be compared to? The apostle, no doubt, would have chosen the latter. Serious athletes, much less Christians, cannot predict with any degree of certainty the exact conditions they will be expected to perform under. You do not know for sure what it’s going to be like tomorrow. So, what you do is you condition yourself, and you simulate critical conditions as best you can according to a plan. In First Timothy 4.7 we see evidence of Paul’s approach to such a plan. Listen to final phrase of that verse as I read:
“... exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”
Paul summarized the Christian spiritual training regimen, the plan for future behavior, if you will, with these words he wrote to Timothy: “exercise thyself rather unto godliness.” From the Greek word gymnasium and gymnastics comes from, this word refers to rigorous training.[2] And when anyone suggests training for future performance, is it not according to a plan? Doesn’t every athlete in training who prepares for the game, who prepares for the match, who prepares for the meet, does he not rigorously train according to a plan? Of course, he does. Of course, he does. Those who succeed are those who prepare to succeed. But some prepare incorrectly. In actuality, those who succeed are those who plan to succeed, whose preparation is guided by a plan. When Paul indicated that provision was to be made, he was alluding to everything that is involved in preparing for future success. Certainly not excluding a plan.
Christian, you need to have a plan. The master plan is, of course, the Word of God. But the need for a plan does not stop with the barest essentials of the master plan. You must additionally devise your plan for obeying and for glorifying God. Understand, your plan must begin with genuine salvation. It must be followed by believer baptism after you’ve trusted Christ. And then serious commitment and involvement in the Church where is provided the oversight of gifted men charged by God with discipling and training you. But beyond these rather general features that are God’s plan for every Christian there is great latitude; great latitude. From this point onward your distinctive plan for life which is in agreement with the basic guidelines and principles that are outlined in God’s Word, your personalized plan begins to take a shape and character of its own. But a plan you must have to succeed. If you have not begun to formulate such a plan, I urge you to get involved in our discipleship program so you can learn how to develop your plan. You young women are a special category of those who need a plan. This is because, when you marry, if you marry, you will become the follower, the helper, the functional subordinate, of someone who will be fulfilling his plan. That is why you need to make sure the guy you marry has a plan, that it is a plan that pleases God, and is a plan you can live with and help him to achieve.
THE SECOND INGREDIENT INVOLVED IN THE PREPARATION TO DO RIGHT IS THE PREREQUISITE
Notice again what Paul writes in Romans 12.17:
“Provide things honest.”
We come to see the necessity of the prerequisite from a proper understanding of the word “honest.” Understand that the Greek word translated “honest” is not nearly so narrow a word as to refer only to being trustworthy in the handling of other people’s money. In actuality, this word refers to something much broader in scope than our English word “honest.” Found in the Greek New Testament some 90 to 100 times, this word refers to that which is beautiful in outward appearance, having the appearance of being free from defects, appearing morally good and noble and praiseworthy, or being pleasant or desirable or advantageous.[3] That is the word that is translated “honest” in Romans 12.17. Understand, however, that the Greeks had two entirely different words which carried this range of meanings. And while the other Greek word referred to things that are good and honest and noble and in essence, good internally, internal qualities, the word Paul uses here refers to that which is external, that which can be observed, that which can be seen.
I want you to think about something, Christian. There is a raging controversy in Christendom these days over this idea of externals versus internals. I mean it’s all over the place. The whole Charismatic community and the entire evangelical crowd of Christendom strongly major on the internals of the Christian life, in the believer’s relationship to Christ, to the exclusion of any consideration of the externals. The argument usually goes something like this, if you’ve been around Christians that go to different kinds of Churches. They’ll say that a Christian can dress any way she wants to dress. Amazing how many people dress any way they want to dress. Or a Christian can act any way he wants to act, watch anything he wants to watch, listen to any music he wants to listen to, so long as his heart is right with God. This perversion of Christian liberty even extends to attending virtually any Church, even if the doctrine that is preached and taught there is contrary to the Word of God, so long as you say, “My heart is right.” I’m the first to admit that, in the past, Christians have allowed themselves to be caught up in a legalism that stresses external conformity to rules and regulations in place of a genuine heart relationship to God. But we have to realize that biblical Christianity, the Christianity that is described on the pages of the blessed Book, calls for a proper balance between that which is internal and that which is external. Balance is the key to Christian life. You may say, “Pastor, I’m not sure that I understand.” Or you may say, “Pastor, I’m not sure that I agree with that.” Consider this. Does not Ephesians 2.10 declare that we had been saved unto good works? That’s external. Sure it does. And does not James 2.18 teach that genuine faith in Christ is manifested by outwardly observable good works? That’s external. Of course, it does. And can it not be shown in the Bible that Christian liberty does not extend to licentious and loose behavior? Christian liberty does not extend to excess, does not extend to the kind of indulgent behavior that is characteristic of unsaved people. Can that be shown in the Bible? Sure it can. Sure it can.[4] This means that when the Apostle Paul used the word “honest” in Romans 12.17 (Now listen to this. This is important.) he is establishing a prerequisite. He is establishing a standard. He is establishing a goal for you to strive for when you layout your Biblical but distinctively personal plan for preparing yourself to obey your God.
You ask, “What is that prerequisite?” The plan you have for preparing for your future behavior, the plan that you use as a personal guide to obeying God’s Word and glorifying God, must have as its guiding beacon that which is “honest,” that which is outwardly good, that which is outwardly praiseworthy, that which externally appears to reflect an inward conformity that pleases God. You must look on the outside, by your behavior, and by your appearance, as though things are right on the inside. Paul, of course, is opposed to hypocrisy. He doesn’t want you to work on the externals to the exclusion of the internals, but he wants the internals and the externals to agree. And if the internals is right the externals will be right. Let me ask you a question. Does that smack of legalism? I don’t think so. It eliminates licentious behavior, loose behavior, or looking like or acting like a libertine, from God’s plan for the Christian’s life. Doesn’t it? But it doesn’t require legalism either. It does not require legalism.[5] What Paul is laying down for his readers is a mandate for balance in the Christian life. The recognition that what’s going on inside can be seen on the outside. And things need to look proper on the outside. What is this mean? Now we begin to state our opinions, don’t we, as we apply the passage. Might I suggest for your consideration the following items for careful reflection as you seek to apply the truth of God’s Word to your own life?
Question. Is the public beach, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Zuma Beach, Newport Beach, is the public beach, where there is a virtual if not actual nudity, is that an appropriate place for the child of God to obey Philippians 4.8, which exhorts us to think on things that are true and honest and just and lovely? And by lovely the apostle doesn’t refer to lovely babes. Just a question, mind you. Just a question.
Is a Christian man’s (just a question now), is a Christian man’s choice of wearing an earring, is that a declaration of godliness and spirituality? When a man decides he is going to wear an earring, does he declare by that behavior, “I’m on God’s side. I’m a child of the King. I am joint heir with the Son. I am a Spirit-filled child of God.”? Just a question, mind you. I am just asking questions.
Third question. Is a Christian doing that which is pleasing to God when he or she listens to music that is written by or performed by drug-crazed or whoremongering or Satan-worshiping musicians and singers? Or performed by someone who looks no different than, and behaves on stage no differently than, those types of individual? Is the Christian doing that which is pleasing to God? I’m just asking.
Some you couch potatoes are smiling. Let me ask you. Are you appearing to glorify and please God when you waste away hour after hour after hour after hour of precious time that ought to be redeemed but is instead invested in television? Is that glorifying God? Before you get overly upset, remember that I just asked. But before you asked me, “Pastor, what’s wrong with this or what’s wrong with that?” I want you to remember that I have no responsibility to discover what’s wrong with anything. I have no responsibility to do that.
It is your responsibility, Christian, to determine and then to display what’s right with what you do. You say, “Well, what’s wrong with this?” No, no, no. What’s right with it? “Mommy, what’s wrong with it?” “No, honey. What’s right with it?” That means you should not do, neither should you plan to do, that which is not demonstrably honest, demonstrably pleasing to God, demonstrably morally good, in light of God’s Word. That means, doesn’t it, that that the burden of proof is on those who stay home Sunday nights when the rest of us are at Church? “What’s wrong with staying home on Sunday nights?” No, no, no. You don’t understand. You haven’t been listening. What’s right with something means the burden of proof is on you. Young people who date and have boyfriends and girlfriends and get engaged before the man is prepared to fully and totally support the woman he loves and intends to marry. The burden of proof for your conduct and choices is not on me. The burden of proof is on you. The burden of proof is on you who would ask what’s wrong with it. If you’re committed to serving and glorifying God with your life then everything that I’ve said thus far is great.
The general portion of your plan to prepare yourself to obey God, which applies to every Christian, is trusting Christ and getting baptized after you are saved, not before, and then involving yourself with other Christians in a Church to serve God. Not in a Church. In a Church to serve God. In a Church that serves God. Not in a Church. In a Church that preaches the Gospel. Not in a Church. In a Church to serve God is different. But in the context of your Church, you are to covet earnestly the best gifts, First Corinthians 12.31. You are to allow your pastors to equip you and disciple you, both in a group and individually as is needed, according to Ephesians 4.11-12. Don’t use Gospel ministers just to put out fires. You are to formulate your plan for becoming the Christian God wants you to be, doing the things that God wants you to do. Making use of your pastor when formulating your personalized plan is a wise course of action.
The “provide” portion of our text shows that living without thought for the future is not God’s will. The “things honest” portion of our text shows what kind of future ought to be planned for your life, that appears to be lived according to the Word and the will of God. God doesn’t want hypocrisy here. He wants the inside to agree with the outside. This is not legalistic, rules-oriented Christianity. It is not. Neither is there room for licentious libertinism as a masking for Christian liberty. That’s what some people would object to. It is Bible-based Christianity, in which each child of God exercises responsible stewardship over his or her own life. That is the way it is supposed to be. There is a plan. But the plan is not just any plan. It must be a plan, if it’s pleasing to God, that is oriented toward the prerequisite of resulting in things “honest,” as we properly understand the term. Back to you young women anticipating marriage. Dare you even for a moment consider a man who does not obviously have a plan, a plan that is oriented toward the prerequisite of providing for things “honest?” There are women in this Church who can relate to you what it is like to be married to a man who did not have a plan to provide things “honest.” It leads to heartbreak, heartache, and decades of tragedy and regret.
Finally, WE HAVE THE PEOPLE
The plan, the prerequisite, the people.
“Provide things honest in the sight of all men.”
We already know that your plan is to result in behavior that is visible, that is external. We learned that from the particular word Paul used, which is translated “honest.” This last phrase does not then tell us that the plan produces observable behavior. This last phrase informs us who the audience is watching you. Sometimes Christians forget that we are always before an audience. We are always before an audience. And isn’t this obvious from the conversations we carry on in front of so-called seasoned Christians, that we would never conduct in front of new believers or unsaved people? Often, we are very careful. We don’t want a new Christian to hear this kind of talk. If you don’t want a new Christian to hear this kind of talk then you shouldn’t want any Christian to hear this kind of talk. But some Christians don’t care if the listeners are babes in Christ or lost. We have an audience. We have an audience. There are always people watching. Sometimes you are the audience, and you need to hold accountable those you are witness to. Paul informs us that “all men” make up our audience. And when you are planning your behavior, so that it will conform to specific biblical prerequisites, keep your audience in mind. Realize people are watching you. Grownups are watching you. Children are watching you. Lost people are watching you. Saved people are watching you. We are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses.[6] The angelic host is watching you, and they sometimes ask themselves, “What in the world is he doing? What is she doing? Doesn’t she realize she’s going to mess up her life that way?” No. No. You should not be more concerned about the opinions of men than the opinion of God. That would be wrong. That would make you a man-pleaser. But understand, others’ perceptions of your actions must be a consideration. First Thessalonians 5.22 commands us “to abstain from all appearance of evil.” Romans 4.16 reads, “let not then your good be evil spoken of.” And if you are the audience of a potential mate for life, who does not concern himself or herself with a reasonable plan, a God-honoring plan, a plan that produces visible results that others can see? Say “Good-bye.”
That pastor, who served before me in my first Church? I think his good was evil spoken of. I think he failed to abstain from the appearance of evil, though he did no evil per se. He didn’t ensure that things were seen properly. So, though his plan and his prerequisite may have been proper in preparing to obey God and in following through, he did not take into account people. And that was his undoing. That was his undoing by the way. You will never see me anywhere near the counting of an offering or the handling of Church money. “Are the people part of this preparation that important, Pastor?” Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. In Second Corinthians 9.13 Paul refers to people glorifying God as a result of observing the kind of behavior that we are speaking of.
Think of an anonymous giver, some man or some woman, that put a really big wad in the offering plate. Of course, the bigger the wad, the smaller the piece of paper it is. That’s wonderful. I get kinda excited when that happens. People should not give to the cause of Christ to attract attention or to gain notoriety. I object to people standing up and saying, “Hey. I’ll give $10,000. Hey! I’ll give $5,000.” They are doing it only for show. We will never do that around here. But understand, somehow, it needs to come out. Somehow, it needs to be made public that we as a people have conducted ourselves in a way that pleases God and that demonstrates obedience to our Lord. Be mindful that while the Apostle Paul did not extol the virtue of those individuals who gave to feed the Christians in Jerusalem who was starving, he certainly did brag on what they did corporately as a congregation. He did not brag on the men individually, but he did brag on the Church. He did not brag on the women individually, but he did brag on the congregation. At some point, for the benefit of encouraging other Christians and setting an example for them, and for the purpose of demonstrating obedience and the importance of Jesus Christ to lost people, that He is a Savior with suffering for, that He is a Savior worth obeying no matter what the cost, our obedience sometimes has to come out in the open. Hey, it’s wonderful to be a witness for Jesus Christ, but don’t always witness in the closet. Sometimes other Christians need to see you talking about the Lord. Sometimes your children need to see you giving to Christ. Sometimes the people around you must see. It has to be out in the open and it has to be properly understood by those observers, and you must make sure that it’s properly understood as being a right doing and not wrongdoing.
Want to know what we learn from the single sentence that is our text?
We learn, among other things, that biblical Christianity is not and cannot be reduced to rules and regulations. People who have a rules and regulations-oriented Christian life simply do not know what the book says. They haven’t bothered to read it. For the child of God who has trusted Christ as his savior, however, who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit as our teacher and our guide, the Christian life can be lived by the grace of God. And careful consideration and implementation of godly principles will provide guidance for you to obey God.
Do you want to obey God? Do you want to see God working in your life? Though the actual doing of it requires considerable wisdom and experience and maturity and knowledge of God’s Word, the principles involved are pretty straightforward. Pretty simple.
To do right, to please God, you must prepare to please God. You must prepare to please God. People do not do what they do not prepare to do. Conversely, if someone prepares to do nothing, he generally does just about nothing.
I once overheard a conversation between a parent and a child and the child asked something of the parent. The parent responded, “I don’t have time.” And I thought to myself, “What in the world does this person do during the day that she doesn’t have time?” To the best of my awareness, this person doesn’t do anything. The reason this person doesn’t do anything, this person doesn’t plan to do anything.
Amazing the people who don’t do anything, don’t have time to do anything, are typically people who don’t plan to do anything. But if you want to obey God, if you want to please God, if you’re willing to prepare to obey God, there are three very important considerations that you need to take note of:
First, you have to have a plan. You have to have a plan. Your plan consists of God’s plan for everyone, as well as some specifics that apply only to you. Let me give an example. God called me to be a pastor. So, in addition to planning to do and to be what God expects of every Christian (attend Church, witness to the lost, read my Bible, give support to my Church, pray, keep my life clean), which are things that God expects of every one of us, I also devised a plan to specifically prepare myself for the Gospel ministry. I still have that plan. I am still implementing that plan. That’s what it is to provide. You must have a plan. You must have a plan.
Second, there must be a prerequisite. Specifics are involved in my plan. The entire plan that I have must result in visible and external behavior on the outside that is pleasing to God and gives evidence of things going on on the inside. Should any man or woman consider for marriage anyone who professes to be a Christian who does not have a plan and a prerequisite? My opinion is, “No!”
Third, there are the people. There are the people. Is it not amazing the number of men and women that want to serve God, they don’t pay the people price? I submit to you that you can’t serve God without paying people price. “Yeah, I want to be this. I want to be that. I want to do this.” But you don’t study; you don’t prepare, you don’t read. People also understand that if you don’t spend time with people you don’t have scratch. The audience.
A couple of examples: Visualize me walking around with a diamond earring and ponytail (at least what I could muster), while wearing black spandex shorts, with buds in my ears, listening to music. If I do that while trying to talk like some of you do, does that accomplish my goal of conveying the proper message about my life and mission?
Let me give you another example. What if I wear gang colors, with my baseball cap on backward, my jacket barely on my shoulders, and my pants about to fall to the floor. Okay, I’m bad. Don’t you stand in fear of a guy that doesn’t know which side of the cap the bill is on? Doesn’t know how to put on a jacket. And has no idea that his pants are about to fall off? Shades are worn at night or in a darkened room. Does that convey to those observing me that Christ is a significant part of my life?
Do you want to prepare yourself to glorify God in your life? Do you want to honor the King? There is the plan. Part of it is laid out for everyone with your individual aspects of it that are unique to you. You have to have a plan. Second, there is a prerequisite. Third, there are the people. All three things must be taken into account when you prepare to make your life something to count for God.
I want you to understand there can be no plan, there can be no prerequisite, there can be no people consideration, there can be no preparation in general until first you come to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. When did that event occur? When did that event occur, and what has happened in your life since then? That event supposedly caused you to become a new creature in Christ. Perhaps you are here and you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior. You’ve not been converted. You’ve not placed the safe keeping of your soul into the capable hands of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. You might consider giving that serious consideration as soon as humanly possible.
All of this falls under the umbrella of “Thoughtful” as an application of our text, “Provide things honest in the sight of all men.”
__________
[1] pronoeoo - Bauer, Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), page 872
[2] gumnazoo - ibid., page 208.
[3] kalos - ibid., pages 504-505.
[4] Jude 4
[5] James 2.8
[6] Hebrews 12.1
Question? Comment?
Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Fill out the form below to send him an email. Thank you.