Main idea: For the glory of God, love your brothers and sisters in Christ out of gratitude for grace.
Application
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morning faith Bible Church. As he said, my name is Josh and Josh Gilchrist. I am the resident college pastor here at Faith Bible Church, current seminary student and have the privilege of being asked to come back this week and teach again, as you know, a lot of the pastor's are out of town. So, but it's a joy. It was a joy last week to gather with you guys and have the privilege of opening God's word with you guys. And to do that again, please open your Bibles to Romans 15, one through seven. Like I said, we've been going through the book of Romans. And we took a three week break to go through the book of Zephaniah, which Nathan Thiry took us through last week, we looked at Romans 12, one through two that talks about the importance of offering our lives as a living sacrifice to God. And we do that not in our own strength, but being fueled by the mercies of God, the first 11 chapters of Romans talk a very, very beautiful and rich detail about gospel mercies, God's grace, forgiveness, justification, sanctification, and we're going through the section and we're going to look at another section in a chunk of Romans from chapter 12, verse three that goes all the way through chapter 15, verse 13, where Paul is providing specific instructions and exhortations that believers are to obey the things that will please God the things that are His will. And, yeah, we're going to look at 15, one through seven. There is one more section of Romans after that, that has Paul just talking about his ministry, his future plans and then he gives specific directions and I was given some choice and what passage I chose, I chose to steer away from chapter 16. With all the difficult to pronounce names. We're gonna look at chapter 15, verses one through seven, which is actually a part of a bigger chunk that starts in Romans 14, chapter one and goes all the way through 1513. Please stand with me for the reading of Scripture today as we read Romans 15, one through seven. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves, let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. For Christ's did not please himself. But as it's written, the reproaches of those who were approached, you fell on me, for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. We the God of endurance and encouragement, grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the way that you welcome sinners, you pardon them, you justify them and you make them more like you. We thank you for this morning when we can come and consider how we're to live considering such amazing mercy and grace. We thank you for the church which you purchased with your own blood. And we do ask that you would help us to be the type of church you desire us to be in our relationships with one another. We pray for other Bible teaching churches in the Spokane area specifically this morning that you would use their gatherings in the proclamation of your word to encourage people, brothers and sisters in Christ to glorify you, and all that they do. We pray specifically for Community Bible Church up in Mead and Cornerstone Community Church in Northwest Spokane. May each church made up of its different members glorify you together with one voice in mind. Be with us here at Faith Bible this morning. As we look at Romans 15. Use your word encourage and produce the endurance we need to be able to love you and our brothers and sisters rightly, we praise you and thank you, amen. You may be seated. Now, you've all probably had a job where you had to go through some kind of training. That's usually how it works. You don't walk into a job unless you've had you know, some kind of schooling. But even then, when you go into a new job, you have to learn the ropes. You have to have someone show you exactly how someone worked, how something works, how a company runs. And training is something that can be done differently in different types of workplaces. Sometimes it can be done very methodically and systematically and other times not really at all. How many of you have ever been in a job where you felt like you're just kind of thrown into the fire and you had to learn by trial and error you didn't really get the chance to learn Well I back in 2009 and 2010. I worked for a few months at Hastings. How many of you remember Hastings, entertainment superstore think most of our youth are gone. So I probably don't need to explain this. But if you're younger, you used to actually have to go to a video store and rent DVDs, VHS, let's go on way back right there, you didn't just click on your TV that you wanted to rent it, you had to go and get it. And anyway, that's all beside the point. I remember a couple of times, being in a situation where I was just really felt made to feel just really stupid, basically, because I couldn't do something that someone else knew how to do. And I don't even remember exactly what I did, I just remember it involved going out to the drop off box to collect the DVDs and videos and video games and to bring those back in. And a worker who had been there for years, I wanted to make sure that she let me know all the things that I was doing wrong. And I'm like, come on, this is my first time doing it. Congratulations for having been here for three years good for you. I've let it go. I'm over it, you know. But I just remember feeling really badly and feeling kind of frustrated. Like could you give me a little bit of a break. And let me learn and come along with this. We've all probably been in situations where we felt like we weren't as far along as other people. But we've also probably struggle with extending patients to other people. And understanding they needed help in growing and developing. We forget that we've been there before. This can show up in the church as well. We know this because Paul is addressing stronger and weaker brothers here in Romans 15. And like I said, this section actually starts in 14 verse one, and we're going to look at some of the different verses in chapter 14 To help us understand the context. But Paul talks about the importance of believers welcoming one another despite differences in personal convictions. The audience to whom Paul was writing was a mix of Jews and Gentiles, Gentiles, anyone who falls outside of Jewish religion and the nation of Israel. And we know this, I think just through the the way that the letter is written, it begins with just outright disobedience and pagan type idolatry in chapter one, and then it moves into the religious spiritual judgment hypocrisy. I think that that is an explanation that's meant for two different types of people. And another reason that we know that this is to Jews and Gentiles is because of two of the names that you know how to pronounce from chapter 16 People that Paul sends a greeting to Aquila and Priscilla. Those two people were Jews who had been expelled from Rome, the Emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews. And so they went eastward and started ministering and they became partners and co workers, with the Apostle Paul. And at the end of the letter and 16, three and four, Paul is sending greetings to them. So we know that they were able to go back that's how Paul knew about the church. Those were the only people that he knew from the church in Rome. And so the issue that he is addressing with both these Jews and Gentiles has to do with observances of dietary laws, and the observing of different sacred days and festivals. Those who came to faith in Christ were still influenced by their upbringing and culture, especially the Jewish ones. Prior to Acts chapter 10, a Jewish person would know that they were required to practice a very strict diet with certain animals that they were not allowed to eat. In Acts chapter 10, Peter beholds, a vision where a sheet is lifted out is lowered down from heaven. And on that sheet, there's animals, reptiles, birds, and all kinds of creeping things. And when Peter saw that, I'm going to just read X 1013 through 15. It says in there came a voice to Peter, rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, by no means, Lord, for I've never eaten anything that's common or unclean. And the voice came to him again a second time. What God is made clean, do not call common.
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This was not just God's saying that you know what, it's okay. You don't have to follow the Mosaic law when it comes to food anymore. But he was saying that there's people that have cleanse through my blood, there's people there's other sheep that I have Gentiles. Those people are now included. They've always been a part of my plan. It's always been my plan to take Jews and Gentiles and to make one new man. But in spite of foods being declared I clean that wouldn't automatically make it easy for a person who converted to Christianity from Judaism. Just as Peter was taken aback like No, I've never eaten anything like that, that upbringing can still stick with them. We also need to consider that possibly people who would feel uncomfortable eating anything might be people who had had a background with paganism, Gentiles who had gone into these different temples devoted to pagan deities, false gods and goddesses and they would offer sacrifices, they would offer sacrifices of animals and other horrible immoral things and drunkenness would take place and then that meat would be taken to the market to be sold. Someone who had a background in that may have a hard time accepting that meat is clean. Paul said in another letter where he talks about the same issue, these issues of conscience and stronger and weaker that an idol, these false gods and goddesses have no real resemblance. There's no God, but one, there's really no point or reality to the sacrifice. But no, there was even though there was no longer any unclean foods, and people were permitted to eat what they wanted, that God had permitted, that people's consciences were still weak. They felt that they needed to avoid certain things to be pleasing to God. So in Romans 14 and 15, Paul is addressing two types of people. If you look at 14, verse two, he says one person believes he may eat anything while the weak person eats only vegetables. Going a little bit out of order. If you go back to verse one, he says, As for the one who has weakened his faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. And while we don't really have the same controversy today, with meat sacrificed to idols, we can struggle with being patient and welcoming to those who are different than us. Those who we don't feel are as far along as we are. And even worse, we can create our own system of legalism based on our preferences. And what we think makes a person strong, what makes a person weak. But those things aren't really made abundantly clear in Scripture. But yet, we can make those things way too important. And we can choose to extend care to people because it's easy to extend care to them. It doesn't cost me anything. It's easy. They're just like me, and we lose sight of the fact that we're to love people, because God has been merciful to us and that by loving other people, we give great glory to God. So our big idea today is for the glory of God, love your brothers and sisters in Christ, out of gratitude for God's grace, for the glory of God, love your brothers and sisters in Christ out of gratitude for God's grace, we're going to look at three different elements of the seven verses that will help us do that. And the first element that we're going to look at is enduring edification. We'll see that in verses one and two. Paul starts out by saying we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak. What does Paul mean here by strong and weak? Paul's using both terms to refer to matters of conscience due to strength of faith, Paul would see the strong brothers, the one who eats anything in chapter 14, verse two, and the weaker one is the one who abstains from that will eat only vegetables because their conscience won't allow them or permit them to be able to partake of that. Likewise, the stronger brother doesn't feel the need to keep a bunch of religious festivals and holidays and the weaker one does. But here we need to note that stronger doesn't mean better superior and weaker doesn't mean inferior or worthless. To be strong means to be skilled, in a position adept, and specifically here strong and faith, strong and areas of freedom knowing that God had cleanse all foods and that keeping of the laws now what makes one right with God, it's it's by faith in Jesus Christ. We should also look at what weak means. The New American Standard Bible and the legacy Standard Bible say those without strength rather than weak. It means lacking capability or adequate functioning because they're new and need to learn. Like a person unloading the videos for the first time. These believers were not yet strong enough in their faith, even though they had repented and trusted in Christ. They still had a ways to go. They didn't feel comfortable eating anything or moving away from celebrating those different holidays and festivals. Those who are strong realize that certain requirements in the law were what made them acceptable in God's sight. But they weren't to become proud and boastful. about that. Instead, the ESV reads that the strong have an obligation or a social moral requirement to bear with those people. That's what they ought to do. It's what they must do. They were to be long suffering, to suffer long. And to endure me or to bear means to be able to bear up under a specially trying or oppressive circumstances, taking their burdens as your own, not merely to just tolerate the person or give them a little head nod when you see them out in the foyer or whatever, but to actually carry their weaknesses as their own. The ESV uses the strong word failings need to bear with the failings of the weak that is a really strong word, the NHS, the New American Standard, and the legacy Standard Bible says weaknesses instead, the New King James versions I like this word scruples How many of you use that word on a regular basis. I am a scrupulous individual scruples are just uneasy feelings of conscience. And the weaker brother had uneasy feelings coming from his conscience relating related to meet sacrifice idols and other religious quirements. And the strong brother was to bear that burden. Go ahead and turn to Galatians six, chapter two. This is another letter that Paul wrote, and I would commend this to you if you've never studied through this book, if you struggle with feeling like you have to earn your salvation or do all the right things. Galatians is a wonderful book that we should all read. It comes through through faith in Jesus Christ or justification. And I would encourage you to read six, one through five, it's a good section, but for the sake of time, we're going to just look at the command and Galatians six, two, Paul says there bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. And we can get easily just caught up in the idea of what am I allowed to do? And what am I not allowed to do that we miss out on the opportunity to serve and care for the people around us, we miss out on the opportunity to fulfill the law of Christ. Go ahead and turn back to Romans. Turn a couple chapters before we're looking today, Romans 13 eight says, Owe no one anything, this is your obligation. Here's the only obligation you have owe no one anything except to love each other. For the one who loves has fulfilled the law. It can be easy to keep a bunch of external laws and have no heart for the people around you. But this is the obligation for all believers, where we have the obligation to love one another. The stronger believer is asked to lovingly bear with the conscience of his weaker brother and not to please himself. What would it look like? For the stronger brother to please himself, I think it would look something like this saying, you know, I'm not illegal. It's like that guy over there. It's not my problem, they can't see that. They're not justified by what they eat or what they don't eat. I'm either I don't know, if I want to invite them to my dinner party. Or if I do invite them, I think I'm going to just serve that meat, they needed to just deal with it. It's not my problem. That's what it would look like it would look like accommodating that person refraining from doing something that would cause them to stumble. In a similar section I already talked about First Corinthians eight, a similar thing is taking place where Paul talks about a scenario where people are seated at a table about ready to eat. And one person says hey, did you know that that meat, what was purchased in the marketplace was actually sacrificed to idols. And Paul says, you know if someone even raises that kind of comment, you should be sensitive to their conscience, and you should refrain. At the end of that section. In first Corinthians 813. Paul says if food therefore food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat lest I make my brother's stumble.
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So not pleasing oneself is refraining from doing what you want want to do that might create a stumbling block for someone else. And in our context to try to give a little bit of application it would maybe look like this. It would be being sensitive to someone else's if they have a style of music that bothers them a little bit or they're not comfortable with refraining from playing that. Or there's people who can struggle with movies that involve sorcery or other things, just being sensitive to those things without being judgmental, finding a way to include them. Back in Romans 15 Verse two Paul says live each of us please our neighbor for his good to build them up. Instead of pleasing self a believer was to please his or her neighbor. And when they use the term neighbor, it's talking about a Christian who is nearby in close vicinity. You don't have to follow their rules. When are their convictions I don't want to use the word rules. But if They're not around you, and you're around people who are comfortable doing that thing. You're free to do that. But if they're in your vicinity, if they're near you, you need to be respectful. What is it with him saying please his or her neighbor? Isn't pleasing people a bad thing to be a people pleaser? Well, it definitely can be. A lot of times we want to please people for the sake of our own glory, so that we can feel puffed up and good. I want people to like me and think that I'm amazing. But here Paul is saying, please him for his good to, to build them up, please your neighbor for their good to build them up. And so it's not wrong, when that's the focus, I'm going to accommodate them for the purpose of bringing them into my fellowship, refraining from whatever it is that might stab at their conscience, and help them grow. And the idea is to help them grow and build them up in their faith not so that they become just like you and partake of the freedoms that you partake of necessarily, but so that they would know that their faith rests solely in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And that it's on the basis of his mercies, and that there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We no longer have the controversy of meat sacrificed to idols here. But we have various other ideas that we divide upon various convictions. In fact, I think that we can make dietary choices area of division in our minds and hearts. The idea of eating whole foods versus eating whatever you want. We can be really judgmental, like, you know, I can't look at it's usually directed toward other people's kids, like I can't believe that person is letting their kid have all that sugar. Can you believe that? And then the flip side would be that kid over there, that poor kid is deprived has to eat all this natural stuff, we can easily do that sort of thing. And make these things way too important. And sources of justification which don't justify, we can do that. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't care about what you eat. But we need to be humble with the way that we do those things. Some other areas that we easily divide upon is schooling choices, to home school or to private school or public school. Can be parenting styles. What parenting book did you read? What parenting class? Did you take what articles online or you're reading to help with your parenting? What about dating when you let your kids date? What about ideas of dress and modesty? On some of those issues, Scripture is not always abundantly clear. There are some clear guidelines that we want to make sure that we follow when it comes to all those things. But there's also gray area. believer needs to evaluate those things, obeying what God has made abundantly clear. And coming to convictions that honor the Lord. Romans 14 Five through six, Paul says one person assumes one day is better than another while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord, the one who eats eats in honor of the Lord, since it gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord, and gives thanks to God. The key is like is what I'm doing are the convictions that I have for how I'm to live my life on those gray areas? Is this truly honoring to God? Am I being thankful to him in the way that I do it? Paul said before that a couple of verses before that believers are not to despise or pass judgment on people who have different convictions. And so that applies to the weaker brother who has a stronger conscience toward something. Do you spend more time worrying about someone's progress and growth and honoring and praising God than you do? Worrying about how they match up with your preferences? And styles? is the most important thing to them is that those people are conforming to the image of Christ and honoring him and praising him? Are you proud of the way that you do things and your closest friends that you're comfortable with? Do things? Are you making room for people who might do things a little bit differently? And including them? Are you bearing people's burdens as your own? We have to be careful about saying in our hearts, which school choice or when I let my kids date choice is the stronger or weaker one. In areas where scripture is not abundantly clear. We need to be humble. And we also need to remember that we all are weak in certain areas, and we're all strong in some areas. Paul here is just specifically talking about matters of conscience. But we all have areas where we need others to bear with us. It's not easy to sacrifice so that we can accommodate people it's easier to just To be comfortable, it's easy to be with others that are just like, like us. But God calls us to include people to accommodate them and build them up. And so what we're called to do brothers and sisters, you're called the practice enduring edification. That's element number one. Element number two is an encouraging example. And we'll see that in verses three through four of Romans 15. As hard as it can be to bear with those who are not as far along as you. You have an example in Christ Jesus, you not only have an example in Christ Jesus, but you have the scriptures that point you to him. They fortify your endurance and your resolve to care for other people. We desperately need the Scriptures. And verse three, Paul says that Christ did not please himself. Our lives are to reflect the character and mercy of Christ. Paul is saying, be like Christ. Don't please yourself just as Christ didn't please himself. Paul gives an example of Christ not pleasing himself when he quotes, Psalm 69, verse nine, if you look at the second half of 15, three, he says, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproach you fell on me. Go ahead and turn back to Psalm 69 Nine if you would, like Psalm 69, was a Psalm of David written probably about 1000 years before Paul was writing this. And David was described as a man after God's own heart. He wasn't perfect, but he was so concerned with the things that were important to God that he wanted to live his life as a man after God's own heart, he wanted to rule as a king after God's own heart. Psalm 69 Nine says Brazil for your house has consumed me, in the reproaches of those who approach you have fallen on me to be reproached is to be slandered or insulted or put down. In his David tried to lead as a godly king, there were people around him who disapproved of that, who didn't want to submit to God. And so they insulted him. They persecuted him. And David came to realize that those were approaches were ultimately reproaches against God that he was bearing the reproaches have gotten back in Romans 15 Three, Paul is saying that Jesus is the greater fulfillment of David. He's the one who bore the insults and reproaches hurled at God, he left perfect unity and bliss and glory and heaven with the Father and He came down and he took on human flesh, to hear people curse his God, to bear the reproaches himself. But he wanted to please Him. But pleasing Him was hard and costly. But it was more important that he pleased God than that he pleased himself. pleasing God would be more than just bearing the reproaches of God. Isaiah 53 forces that he bought the griefs and carried the sorrows of sinners. And then in Isaiah 53 Five, it says upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. Jesus not only bore the reproaches of the Father, he brought, he bore sorrow, sin griefs, and carried the wrath, the punishment that every single center deserves. Back in Romans 15, four, Paul says that both the example of Christ contained in Scripture and scriptures themselves are powerful tools, weapons, to help us, bear with others and live for their edification.
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He says in 15, for whatever was written in former days, was written for our instruction. Paul here is alluding to the Scriptures contained in the Old Testament, we have to remember that at the time that this letter was being written, there was no New Testament like we have it today, different letters, a few letters had been written. But he's saying that whatever is written in former days in the Old Testament, that's, that's beneficial to you, that will serve you very well. God inspired specific words from that were written from a specific person, but were ultimately God's words that he ordained and planned. And those words were to communicate a specific message to a specific group of people living in a specific period of time. However, despite all that specificity, Paul's saying what was written for those people back then is relevant for us today. And it is relevant and authoritative for us today. Turn to Second Timothy 316 through 17. Another verse where Paul says something very similar. You're Paul basically affirms and promotes Old Testament Scriptures
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He says all scripture is breathed out by God. It's ultimately his word, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work, including the good work of bearing with other people and denying self as Jesus did. If you go back to Romans 15, four, you'll see the impact of the things that were written in former days, the Scriptures says, Through endurance, and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. The instruction from Scripture is designed to help people endure and to be encouraged. Endurance is the capacity to hold out and bear up in the face of difficulty, goes along with the command to bear the weaknesses of others. But Scripture also gives encouragement, it lifts a person's spirit and provides comfort and consolation. The ultimate source of both the endurance and encouragement is the hope that God wants us to have through the scriptures. Hope is looking forward to something with confidence that it will in fact, come to be that it will happen. Does your love for other people hope all things? Are you confident that God is doing a work in people and he'll bring that work to completion? Do you believe that God hasn't only justified that weaker brother or sister, but they sanctifying them and will cause them one day to stand before Him and in glory? Does your love hope all things is your love, endure all things, the way that Christ bears with us? If not, you may not be dependent on scriptures the way that you should and encourage you to read it and maybe you're reading the scripture or trying to and you're finding yourself struggling with being one who's patient with other people. I would encourage you to seek to read it more purposefully and intently just simply by praying before you get into it. God helped me to take something and apply it to my life, apply it to the way that I think and the way that I treat other people. Look at God's Word with intentionality. I don't want to just be someone who reads it and glances over it. I want to be an effectual DOER of God's Word. As James talks about and look at it like I need this God I need your word to sustain me and strengthen me enable me to care for the people around me. Were called to be involved in during edification by looking at an encouraging example. Finally, element number three, we're given an ending exhortation the ending exhortation. today's sermon outline is brought to you by the letter E. The ending exhortation that appeal at final word is welcome one another. Let's read. Romans 15, five through seven together. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. verses five and six are a combination of Paul praying, but also exhorting them and encouraging them, giving them that good word that benediction. Paul is, like I said, praying but still exhorting them. He's praying towards some specific ends for the saints at Rome. He realizes when he entreats God and says, May the God of all endurance and encouragement grant you he realizes that what he's asking for is something that's beyond the believers capacity in and of themselves. It's something supernatural that only God can do. But he says that he's the God of endurance and encouragement, just like scriptures provide endurance and encouragement. We should go to Scripture to be strengthened in our endurance and to find encouragement, because God is the God of endurance and encouragement, and it's is very word. When we go to the Word, we should be excited knowing that we get the opportunity to meet with him and see him and experience Him and be strengthened by him. He's ultimately pointing them like don't forget about the scriptures. Don't forget about the God who's in the scriptures that will strengthen you look to Him. The first end that Paul is wanting God to grant is that these believers will live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus the ESV is unique and sang live in such harmony. But I like the word choice harmony is you guys know what harmony is. It's when people are singing different notes, but they blend beautifully together. I don't know how to harmonize. I love to learn some day. But I love it. When I hear it. It was cool here and the singers up here during worship, harmonizing different notes, but blending and making one beautiful sound together. Sweet Paul is asking for other versions, Scripture versions, instead of harmony, they say the same attitude toward one another, or to be of the same mind with one another to be like minded toward one another. That mind is in accord with Christ Jesus, it's synced up with him, we have the mind of Christ, through the Holy Spirit. And the next end that Paul wants God to grant these believers goes along with that living in harmony. And it's that they would with one voice glorify God. People should come together doing whatever it is that they do and don't do for the purpose of honoring and thanking God. And they should come together with other believers who do whatever it is they do or don't do for the honor and thinks of God. To live their lives together to proclaim together that God is good to glorify Him. When that happens, those differences of conviction, preference, personality and style, quickly lose their significance as they should. The question we ask ourselves should always be not how much is this person aligned with my convictions? But how can I help this person honor God so that we can together with one voice, give glory to God, and magnify his name? Not who can I hang out with that will be the most fun to hang out with? Or give me the most pleasure? When people come to faith Bible Church or your growth group or your college ministry? Are they seeing people who are focused on glorifying Christ together? Are they getting mixed messages? Do they see people including the weaker members and the newer members and I feel confident as someone who's been around faith Bible Church from the beginning that we're not perfect we can grow in this. But this is a place where people care for one another where people bear the burdens of those who are weak grab experience that I've been blessed by that so much. Another thing I really like about faith Bible churches, you hear it all the time is just when you meet someone, how many of you have ever asked, Hey, are you part of a growth group? How many of you have ever asked that of someone new that you meet, it's a very regular thing. Find out how people are plugged in growth groups are a great way where you can have that smaller community or a little bit bigger of a church. But you can have that smaller community where your needs can specifically be met. But we're all to glorify God together to glorify listen to this definition, I like this, it's to influence one's opinion about another, so as to enhance the latter's reputation. We want to influence people's opinion about God, so as to make his reputation beautiful and glorious. Paul's saying that God's reputation is at stake based on the way that we treat one another. You hear testimonies about people seeing the beauty and glory of God, based on the way that a group of believers loved one another and cared for one another and looked out for the week. But you can also hear those unfortunate stories, where people were discouraged from continuing because the way people didn't look out for one another. And if you're new and you're ever tempted to do that, I want to encourage you to know just what I said earlier, we're all weak. We all have areas where we're weak, we're short sighted, we fall short, we're not perfect. We want to grow in that. But just know that we all need God's help. We're all weak in different different areas, and give people a chance. And don't be afraid of going up to someone and introducing yourself to you can do that. But Are you bearing with people pulled in right we who are strong should just enjoy being around other people who are strong and let the weak take care of themselves. Maybe God will fix them, maybe we can remember to pray for them. We're to remember that apart from Christ, none of us are strong and therefore we should welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. Be a welcoming community to welcome means to receive, accept or take aside. Imagine that you come to faith Bible Church for the very first time because you were new at some point.
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Imagine you're coming in for the first time or maybe the 10th time and we've all probably experienced this you walk into a room you walk into the foyer out there. And it seems like everyone has someone that there talking to their groups that they're talking to. They're circled up, they're having a good time. And there doesn't seem to be a single soul to talk to. And so you resolve, I'm going to just make a beeline for the auditorium and find a seat. And as you're walking by a group, someone turns aside and says, Hey, I don't think I've ever met you. How are you doing? Good morning. My name is Josh, what's your name? How long have you been coming to faith Bible Church? That's great. That's awesome. Are you plugged in anywhere? Let me introduce you to my friends here. And you know what, don't ever be afraid of asking people how long they've been at Faith. Prior to first service. I was talking to a guy and he was new to me. He's been at this church for five years. But he was new to me and I needed to welcome him I needed to learn his name and find out how he's doing. And it's a real, real joy. But that's a normal thing. We're a bigger church with two different services. It's a wonderful thing to take the time to greet people as best you can. We can't possibly greet and welcome every single person every week. But we should work we should smile, we should say, Good morning and do those different things. Dan Jarms will be back in a few weeks gives the exhortation to some of our younger students, I think this would apply to people of all ages. When you're out there in the foyer, other places and social settings, don't stand in a circle, open up your circle a little bit. And look out for people who may be new who who may be needing someone to welcome them and include them. Expand your circles. And don't just assume that someone else will do it. We're called as believers, all of us to welcome people in. Don't just keep welcoming the people that you've already welcomed, or that you always welcome. Welcoming carries the idea of receiving someone into your circle of acquaintances, or into your home even. And when you ponder the way that Christ has welcomed us, it's amazing and I should motivate us. If you struggle baring with someone, consider how much Christ bears with you. The way that you reject Him, you don't listen to him, You do things your own way, and you struggle believing that he's enough. Let his love for you. And the fact that he welcomes you humble, you don't act like you're entitled to that and that you deserve that. Christ isn't only patient in the way that he bears with people, but he, he serves them he prayed for them, and he loved them and he ultimately died for them. And for those who put their trust in Christ, he welcomes them into his circle of acquaintances, most importantly, the father. Those who trust in Christ are adopted into his family, as though they were brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. What a welcome that is. That's how Christ welcomes and should that not impact the way that we extend love to other people. I have a few application points for you today. We've already been talking about some of them, but just to kind of summarize, aim for the glory of God, and the honor of God, for yourself and for your fellow believer. That's the ultimate goal not that they become just like you, but that they honor and glorify God. Remember God's acceptance of you to Jesus Christ, which you don't deserve. But he lavishes His grace, and he welcomes and accepts. Number three treasure the justification that belongs to believers through Christ. If that third application point seems too similar to the second one, the point that I'm trying to make is that justification is the idea that we're justified by God's grace through faith through the finished work of Christ, and nothing else. And that's where we're declared righteous, that's our standing before God. And we not only need to treasure that for ourselves, but we need to treasure that for our brothers and sisters, when we're tempted to struggle with them. Finally, be strengthened in your relationships with other believers through the enduring an encouraging word. As I said earlier, after this section that we've been going through that ends and 1513 Paul starts talking about his ministry and offering personal greetings. Next week Corey Milliken, wonderful brother in Christ to was raised, trained and sent from faith Bible Church is going to preach from that section and bring our roman series to a close. But at the beginning of Romans and Romans, chapter one, Paul talks about how he's eager to come and spend some time with the Romans and do gospel ministry with them even preach the gospel to them and remind them of that. Paul had never met these people, other than Aquila and Priscilla and Paul talking But how you wanted to change that in chapter 1623 through 24, he says, But now since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I've longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you once I've enjoyed your company for a while. Paul had an expectant hope that as he traveled and came to Rome for the first time that believers would welcome him even though they'd never met him. He wasn't really one of them, or was he? Sometime around 60 ad, Paul finally made it to the southern tip of Italy. And he didn't have to get all the way to Rome to meet saints. About 250 miles into his journey, he came to a town where he met some Christians who invited him. To stay with them, you have to know that Paul was he was a prisoner, he was been escorted to Rome, by Roman guards, to stand before the Emperor to whom he'd made an appeal. Those people there took him in and refreshed them. And as he journeyed on, and approach the city of Rome, 40 miles south, he came to a place called the Forum of Appius. And there are other brothers from Rome who came all the way down to see him. They didn't wait for him to get to the house, they went out to the airport, it wasn't an airport, but you get the idea. They're excited to see him and then another 1212 miles down the road, more people, more people excited knowing that he was coming. I imagined that that greatly strengthened Paul, that wonderful reception, Paul was in a state of great weakness and vulnerability. We all are at different times when we need one another. The end of the book of Acts says that Paul lived for two years in Rome, under house arrest and that he was able to welcome all who came to him. What a welcome Paul received and he continued to welcome other people in the midst of his misfortune and weakness. He was one of the of them because their lives were harmonized by Christ, their minds were in sync. So faith Bible Church, may we welcome one another in like manner, as Christ has welcomed us for the glory of Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord, help us to bear with one another and to welcome one another. Forgive us for losing sight of this and for seeking to please ourselves. We're reminded of how patiently you've endured with us and how you bore the sins of many with great hope for the joy that was set before you. May we be humbled by your love and follow your example in our relationships with others. Help us to live in harmony with one another though, we have differences of opinion, personality and convictions. May all of our opinions, personalities and convictions, give honor to you and flow from a heart of thanksgiving. May we live to glorify You and build one another up? Help us to look to your word for encouragement and endurance we ask these things for the glory of God in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Josh serves as Resident College Pastor for Faith's college ministry, Doxa. He and his wife, Pam, have three children.
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