back to index2018-06-17 Living a Life of Grace
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Alright, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 15, 1 through 7. 00:00:15.680 |
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please 00:00:21.380 |
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 00:00:24.360 |
For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who 00:00:31.440 |
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through 00:00:34.780 |
endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. 00:00:39.000 |
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one 00:00:42.480 |
another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the 00:00:49.840 |
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. 00:01:02.520 |
We thank you, Father, for the things that we are aware of and we thank you for the things 00:01:06.800 |
that are hidden that you are doing in order for all the things, Lord God, that you desire 00:01:11.800 |
for us to come together, to sanctify us, to bring glory and honor to you. 00:01:17.760 |
We pray that your word that goes forth would not simply be for hearing, but for applying. 00:01:24.860 |
Give us a will, Father God, to submit to you, to desire to honor you, to delight in your 00:01:30.660 |
law day and night, that we may bear fruit in season. 00:01:35.020 |
We ask, Lord, that your presence and your Holy Spirit would guide your word to go, to 00:01:38.820 |
judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart. 00:01:46.260 |
Throughout the years, with just various things that we notice when people are coming in and 00:01:52.580 |
out of the church, and I know some of you guys are newer than others, I think there 00:01:58.180 |
is an agreement, at least if you've been in ministry for a while, like what people are 00:02:06.100 |
Some people will at least choose churches based upon the sermons or the worship style, 00:02:13.020 |
maybe the denomination, how it's organized, how is discipleship taking place, are there 00:02:17.200 |
social justice ministries that are available, what kind of mission program do we have. 00:02:21.420 |
All of these things are important things, are biblical things. 00:02:25.720 |
But I think for the most part, whether we admit it or not, one of the most essential 00:02:30.500 |
things that we look for in a church is, are there people like me in this church? 00:02:37.060 |
Whether it is age, cultural background, obviously language, theology, how we view righteousness 00:02:46.020 |
or unrighteousness, how do we do discipleship. 00:02:49.580 |
Not just externally, obviously there are external things that we look for, but we also look 00:02:52.800 |
for internal things, spiritual things, how we measure what is good and what is bad. 00:02:57.140 |
But the core of the issue that we often look for, are there people like me? 00:03:03.500 |
And so we tend to gravitate, especially in the church, toward communities that look like 00:03:08.620 |
me, that talk like me, that think like me, that maybe live like me, maybe have similar 00:03:14.140 |
These may not be on the list of things that we're looking for, but innately that's what 00:03:18.960 |
So even when you join a church, we have a tendency to gather around, especially in a 00:03:22.500 |
church that is a larger size than more than 50, 60 people, you kind of have certain people 00:03:29.260 |
like that you are friends with, certain people who are acquaintances, certain people that 00:03:33.060 |
you spend a lot of time with, and some people that you consider to be running this race 00:03:38.340 |
And a lot of that is dependent on, how much are they like me? 00:03:43.060 |
We have to admit that our churches are divided. 00:03:46.340 |
I remember when I was a younger pastor going through seminary, we used to have a meeting, 00:03:51.420 |
because I was an EM pastor at Irvine Baptist, and then we had the EM pastor of Bethel, of 00:03:56.780 |
OMC, of Young Knock, and all the bigger EMs in that area. 00:04:01.460 |
And we met together almost on a weekly basis. 00:04:03.340 |
We called ourselves the CPA, College Pastors Association. 00:04:07.300 |
We used to have retreats together, and so it was cute. 00:04:10.220 |
So we used to get together and have fellowship, and it was a great time of fellowship. 00:04:15.780 |
But I noticed that through the years, we were all from various denominations, Presbyterian, 00:04:20.540 |
Baptist, one guy was a Methodist guy, a non-denominational, and we were all from different backgrounds. 00:04:26.260 |
But I remember when we were young, that was never an issue. 00:04:30.760 |
We would go to each other's churches and preach and cover for one another going to retreats. 00:04:34.700 |
But as time went by, years went by, decades go by, and each one of us have kind of gotten 00:04:44.020 |
You're Presbyterian, a Baptist, and I remember very distinctly, I had a Presbyterian friend 00:04:49.140 |
who was in the valley, and he asked me to come and preach for the retreat. 00:04:53.100 |
And then about a month later, I got another notice saying that their senior pastor wouldn't 00:05:02.060 |
And I began to see, as time went by, the older we got, the more committed we were to our 00:05:07.580 |
local churches, the more separated we became. 00:05:10.020 |
And now it's become hard, where we're still friends, but it's very difficult for us to 00:05:17.020 |
This issue of unity, again, we could talk about it, we can discuss it and study it, 00:05:27.400 |
The issue that we're talking about this morning is where the rubber meets the road. 00:05:32.140 |
Where Paul's been talking about justification by faith, by grace, but what does that look 00:05:37.680 |
And so he's taking this very practical issue about food. 00:05:42.140 |
Because at the core of our assembly, when we gather together and we haven't connected 00:05:48.820 |
with our friends for a while, usually the way we connect is, "Hey, what are you doing 00:05:59.200 |
And so so much of our activity, our human connection, is around food. 00:06:04.100 |
We rarely or ever would say, "Hey, what are you doing? 00:06:14.880 |
So if we want to have fellowships, say, "Hey, after church, we're going to gather together. 00:06:19.300 |
So eating is at the core of human connection. 00:06:23.740 |
So even communion in the early church was a gathering of people and they actually shared 00:06:31.100 |
It is that the early church, they devoted themselves to the teaching and prayer and 00:06:35.220 |
breaking of bread basically means that they were sharing meals together. 00:06:39.940 |
But imagine what it would do to the church if you couldn't eat together. 00:06:46.100 |
If because of what you're eating, that this group of people can't ever sit with you, it 00:06:53.700 |
It would automatically cause people who can eat this stuff, they would go to this room 00:06:59.260 |
and the people who can't eat that would naturally go to this room. 00:07:01.740 |
So even though it may seem like it's trivial, the issue that Paul is dealing with, with 00:07:06.380 |
eating of meat and not eating of meat, it was fundamental to bring these people together. 00:07:13.580 |
The issue that we're, again, looking at, it was an ongoing theme all the way from chapter 00:07:17.980 |
12 and it's going to continue on in chapter 15, is this practice of grace. 00:07:22.540 |
So today I've divided this section, the verses one through seven, into three principles. 00:07:28.380 |
Again, that Paul is adding to what we've already been talking about. 00:07:32.020 |
And again, even though it's not going to be expressed this way, the core teaching that 00:07:38.900 |
Paul has been trying to convey is the same thing that I've been saying for the last three 00:07:43.380 |
weeks, which is truth without grace leads to condemnation. 00:07:55.420 |
Practice of truth without grace leads to condemnation. 00:07:59.780 |
So even though I may or may not mention it throughout the sermon, that's really the overarching 00:08:06.980 |
He's conveyed the truth, but this truth, practice without grace, leads to condemnation. 00:08:13.780 |
So there are three things that we want to look at this morning about the practice of 00:08:18.180 |
Number one, the practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. 00:08:23.540 |
The practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. 00:08:27.260 |
Because typically when we think of practice of righteousness, we somehow separate these 00:08:32.660 |
Like if you're, these are things that are righteous and these are things that are grace. 00:08:39.340 |
But when we examine closely, we'll see that the practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. 00:08:44.220 |
Romans chapter 15, one, it says, "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the 00:08:48.420 |
failings of the weak and not to please ourselves." 00:08:54.140 |
He's making it crystal clear, just in case you had any misunderstanding where Paul stood 00:09:01.180 |
Paul is not dealing with an issue where you think you're right and I think we're right. 00:09:11.180 |
We usually apply this to talk about, you know, whether it's drinking or a certain activity. 00:09:19.020 |
Paul clearly says that he is right, the weak are wrong. 00:09:24.460 |
That's why he says that we are obligated to deal with the failings of the weak, the shortcomings 00:09:32.260 |
So Paul's desire is not, "Hey, let's just leave it alone. 00:09:39.620 |
Paul is crystal clear that at some point, the weak brothers need to move on and become 00:09:49.300 |
And that's why he says to bear with the failings of the weak. 00:09:54.420 |
The natural question that we would have is if Paul is clear about this and he calls the 00:09:58.280 |
weak brothers, their views, failure that needs to be improved, why doesn't he just call them 00:10:07.660 |
Why doesn't he just say, "It bothers your conscience? 00:10:22.580 |
Jesus actually gave Peter three separate visions. 00:10:27.300 |
What he declares to be clean, do not say it's unclean. 00:10:34.620 |
There's a movement from the old and the new covenant. 00:10:39.820 |
The scripture is clear where a Christian needs to stand on this issue. 00:10:44.140 |
And yet instead of condemning them, he says we need to bear with them, to support them, 00:10:55.700 |
Now again, Paul is not dealing with an issue of the weak brother who is running after the 00:11:02.860 |
He's talking about the weaker brothers who are having a hard time because either they 00:11:06.620 |
were idol worshippers and eating of this food reminded them of their past. 00:11:13.100 |
And they're having a hard time disconnecting this eating of meat with idol worship or the 00:11:18.260 |
faithful Jews who are obedient to the Leviticus laws of what they could and could not eat 00:11:26.100 |
So they were having a hard time not because they're pursuing the world, but because righteousness 00:11:31.420 |
by faith, by justification by faith alone, alone, it was taking some time to get to that 00:11:40.340 |
That is not unlike how Christians become Christians today. 00:11:46.980 |
We all believe in justification by faith alone. 00:11:51.040 |
But to what degree do you really believe this? 00:11:56.940 |
You wouldn't be a Christian if you didn't confess it. 00:12:02.340 |
Because every single one of us, to a certain degree, and in different times it rises back 00:12:07.560 |
up where we say, "Well, if I don't do quiet time, I'm not going to be loved by God." 00:12:11.420 |
Or if you come to communion table and you did quiet time and you did all the righteous 00:12:15.060 |
things kind of like, "Ah, I was good this week." 00:12:18.980 |
And then the times that when you're not doing well, you start to drift out from the church 00:12:22.180 |
and, "I don't deserve to be in the fellowship." 00:12:25.700 |
These are all things that we are wrestling with in justification by faith alone. 00:12:30.820 |
So in various times, in various parts, in various experiences, those things come back 00:12:35.980 |
at us, "To what degree do you believe in justification by faith alone?" 00:12:40.500 |
And that's exactly what they were wrestling with, with this food, that that doesn't make 00:12:47.100 |
So it wasn't in the context of pursuing the world, but it was in the context of them believing 00:12:52.120 |
and growing in their faith, to believe that I have been made righteous by the blood of 00:12:59.940 |
It's not righteousness by the blood of Christ plus these works. 00:13:05.260 |
So in that context, Paul is saying, "Yes, stronger brothers, you are right. 00:13:15.020 |
But how do you deal with them in that process?" 00:13:19.500 |
Instead of condemning and pointing figures and saying, "Why aren't they this way?" 00:13:22.740 |
Because our natural inclination is we want to be a part of the church where the work 00:13:26.420 |
has been done, where everybody's on the same page, doing the same thing, pursuing the righteousness. 00:13:32.020 |
And when you come to church and you see the weakness of believers, our natural inclination 00:13:36.900 |
is I want to be around people who are like me. 00:13:40.980 |
Paul is saying the church is filled with people who are even in their faith in different places. 00:13:48.180 |
Humanly speaking, what they could have naturally done is get the strong brothers to plant one 00:13:53.340 |
church and get the weak brothers to plant another church. 00:14:00.440 |
We're united in our weak brother's church or we're united in our strong brother's church. 00:14:05.140 |
And that's typically what happens in our culture. 00:14:08.980 |
If we have differences of opinion, different application, then we gather our things and 00:14:15.780 |
And then after a while, maybe another problem rises and it's like, "Okay, then we gather 00:14:21.540 |
And oftentimes we dress up the real issue in the church because we think that that's 00:14:31.620 |
And let me give you an example of the first point. 00:14:33.940 |
The practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. 00:14:36.520 |
In Matthew chapter 1, 18 to 19, Joseph and Mary are betrothed to marry each other. 00:14:43.120 |
And during that period, if you were engaged, it was, legally speaking, it was no different 00:14:49.520 |
It was just during that period you were preparing for the ceremony. 00:14:52.720 |
But as far as the law was concerned, you're already married. 00:14:56.480 |
It was during that period where Mary is impregnated by the Holy Spirit and Joseph finds his sound. 00:15:05.440 |
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. 00:15:08.840 |
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was 00:15:13.120 |
found to be with child from the Holy Spirit." 00:15:15.560 |
So again, when he says, "Before they came together," it's just another euphemism in 00:15:21.760 |
the New Testament where it's referring to they didn't have sexual relations. 00:15:26.640 |
So Joseph never lied with her, and yet he found her to be pregnant. 00:15:31.480 |
So the natural inclination or natural thought would be she cheated on him. 00:15:38.520 |
But here's what it says about Joseph in verse 19. 00:15:40.760 |
"And her husband Joseph, being a just man," another way of saying a righteous man, "and 00:15:46.600 |
unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly." 00:15:56.180 |
And Book of Leviticus clearly says that if a woman cheats, that there was capital punishment. 00:16:03.160 |
And yet, him being just, we would naturally think she deserves condemnation. 00:16:09.320 |
In order to save his own reputation, to save himself from shame publicly, to shame her 00:16:22.040 |
Instead, he says, because he was a righteous man, what did he do? 00:16:29.000 |
And he was going to let her go quietly, not to put her to shame. 00:16:34.520 |
See, the practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. 00:16:41.040 |
These are not two polar opposite things where sometimes we practice grace and sometimes 00:16:46.640 |
But in the new covenant, the practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. 00:16:52.520 |
Secondly, the practice of grace is other-centered. 00:17:01.440 |
In verse 1 and 2, it says, "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings 00:17:10.120 |
"Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 00:17:20.840 |
Timothy was the next generation pastor that Paul was going to pass the baton to. 00:17:26.640 |
But humanly speaking, Timothy was not a good pastor. 00:17:32.480 |
And the reason why is because you can see it in Paul's letter, the encouragement that 00:17:41.600 |
He was afraid because there was a lot of opposition to Timothy. 00:17:44.240 |
False prophets who are more educated, who are maybe more talented, older than him, were 00:17:53.640 |
So he's basically equipping him to stand up for himself or stand up for the truth, but 00:17:59.000 |
That's why in his last letter, Paul tells Timothy, "God did not give us the spirit of 00:18:02.760 |
Timothy, but a power to preach the word in season and out of season." 00:18:08.960 |
And he says, "To drink a little wine, to deal with the stomach problem that he had." 00:18:13.040 |
So if you add all of these up, Timothy was not a charismatic leader who had many years 00:18:19.920 |
of experience to go against these seasoned men who are opposing the truth. 00:18:26.720 |
What was it about Timothy that Paul felt the need to give him the baton instead of somebody 00:18:34.960 |
It was an older guy who kind of commanded attention, charismatic, and he was willing to die for 00:18:42.880 |
Or maybe like Apollos, who's gifted, and every time he opens his mouth, he garners a crowd 00:18:48.640 |
around himself, yet he's preparing to give the baton to Timothy, who is timid, who has 00:18:53.920 |
to be reminded to stand up and fight for the truth. 00:18:58.480 |
Well, we see a glimpse of why Paul would have done that in Philippians chapter 2, 21 to 00:19:04.280 |
"They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." 00:19:11.760 |
But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father, he has served me in the 00:19:17.520 |
The distinction between Timothy and everybody else, according to Paul, was that he genuinely 00:19:22.920 |
was concerned for their interests and not his own. 00:19:27.840 |
That was the key quality of Timothy that where Paul was willing to trust himself to. 00:19:36.600 |
Anyone who desires to go to ministry, and again, this is not just a call for pastors 00:19:41.400 |
or elders, this is obviously a call for every Christian, but the key quality of someone 00:19:47.240 |
who wants to represent God, that he first has to die. 00:19:52.520 |
Because the primary thing that God desires is to declare his glory. 00:19:55.920 |
So if somebody standing in between wanted to touch some of that glory, it doesn't matter 00:20:05.040 |
It doesn't matter what kind of experience you have. 00:20:06.600 |
It doesn't matter what kind of fruit you bear. 00:20:08.360 |
If you stand in the midst wanting to touch that glory, you're automatically disqualified. 00:20:14.520 |
So if I talk to a young guy who says, "Oh, I'm going to go into ministry," and he gives 00:20:17.760 |
me all kinds of reasons of how he wants to do this for God, how he wants to do that for 00:20:21.680 |
God, and yet he is not consumed by God's glory and the needs of the people, it doesn't matter. 00:20:30.280 |
In fact, he's a dangerous man, and he's immediately disqualified. 00:20:35.400 |
In fact, the false prophets before judgment came upon Israel is described exactly that 00:20:44.200 |
They never have enough, but they are shepherds who have no understanding. 00:20:47.820 |
They have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all. 00:20:58.200 |
It may be all of these things in saying that we're trying to give glory to God, but suddenly 00:21:09.400 |
See, the practice of grace fundamentally is not about us. 00:21:16.120 |
It's about our brothers and sisters, to uphold them, to encourage them. 00:21:22.320 |
The very reason why we were saved is because it says Christ practiced this with us. 00:21:27.320 |
Verse 3, "For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those 00:21:33.960 |
This is a direct quote from Psalm 69, a messianic passage. 00:21:38.360 |
In the context, it's talking about David, who's crying out because he was unjustly suffering. 00:21:45.280 |
His enemies were coming after him because he was standing for the truth. 00:21:49.280 |
And that same verse in Psalm 69, Jesus uses it five separate times of his own suffering. 00:21:57.000 |
Meaning, the reason why he calls us to sacrifice for others is because that is at the essence 00:22:04.520 |
It is at the essence of everything that we do, that God did not look upon us and saw 00:22:16.280 |
And he didn't point that out and say, "Okay, now I'm going to practice righteousness." 00:22:22.240 |
Because he could have easily just crushed us. 00:22:27.360 |
In Lamentations 3.22, and I'm reading the NIV because I believe it's closer to the literal, 00:22:34.680 |
If I'm going to read something more literal, I would usually read the NASB. 00:22:38.940 |
But in this instance, the NIV translated it this way. 00:22:41.360 |
"Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassion never fails." 00:22:47.600 |
"Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed." 00:22:57.400 |
Because God, in his righteousness, in his holiness, would have been perfectly righteous 00:23:10.840 |
When Christ came to die for our sins, we're talking about 2,000 plus years of rebellion. 00:23:22.440 |
Now we show up 2,000 years later and we kind of feel removed from that. 00:23:35.880 |
That these people that he loved, he cherished, he called apple of his eye. 00:23:40.240 |
Every time he gives them a chance, it doesn't take long, sometimes even days after revival 00:23:45.080 |
breaks out, they go right back to their idolatry. 00:23:48.040 |
And it is thousands of years of this cycle of God being gracious, restoring them, revival 00:23:53.920 |
breaks out, and soon after they forget God, they become comfortable in this cycle over 00:23:58.640 |
So by the time we're at the end of the Old Testament, if you've ever studied through 00:24:03.960 |
the Old Testament, you know when you study Old Testament in pockets, it's like, "Wow, 00:24:10.880 |
But when you study it chronologically, by the time you get to the end of the Old Testament, 00:24:17.520 |
the natural response is, "How long is he going to put up with these people?" 00:24:23.640 |
That's a natural response because that's exactly what I thought when I read the Old Testament 00:24:27.720 |
And I said, "Wow, you know, like, he seems like a different God." 00:24:30.960 |
But when you read it in chronological order, it's like, "Oh my gosh, how does Israel still 00:24:39.240 |
So by the time Christ comes, this is God dealing with these rebellious people. 00:24:48.360 |
The word "weak" would be an understatement to describe his people. 00:24:56.760 |
I mean, all of these would be an understatement of what God was seeing with his people. 00:25:00.640 |
So you think, by the time he would come, like, they ignored and they killed all the prophets, 00:25:06.280 |
and if I send my only begotten Son, that maybe they will recognize him and worship him. 00:25:14.280 |
Do you think Jesus was surprised when that happened? 00:25:19.040 |
Because he prophesied to his disciples, "I'm going to go, and the leaders of Israel are 00:25:30.280 |
So he didn't come and he wasn't shocked by their sin. 00:25:37.320 |
It was because of their rebellion, it was because of their sin, that Christ came to 00:25:47.040 |
And so what he is calling us to do is what Christ did. 00:25:55.680 |
If Christ was not in the picture, we would talk about loving your enemies and supporting 00:25:59.660 |
people who are weak, especially when you know you are right, to be gracious. 00:26:07.440 |
We can talk about that from a distance and celebrate the grace and love of God, but when 00:26:12.160 |
it's our turn to practice this, who would practically practice this? 00:26:21.400 |
If we didn't already know what Christ has done. 00:26:25.240 |
In John chapter 10, 11 through 16, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. 00:26:29.800 |
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:26:31.760 |
He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf 00:26:36.720 |
coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them." 00:26:40.960 |
He's talking about the leaders of Israel, but this applies to every Christian. 00:26:45.920 |
Because our natural inclination is when we're around annoying people. 00:26:50.000 |
When we're around people that we think are weaker than us. 00:26:58.540 |
Our natural inclination is to move away from them, and it happens even within the church. 00:27:04.420 |
We surround ourselves with people who are like us, and so we choose a church that we 00:27:08.820 |
think are like us, and then when we get into a church, we surround ourselves with friends 00:27:14.420 |
They're not too righteous because they make us feel uncomfortable, and they're not too 00:27:17.860 |
unrighteous because they make us feel uncomfortable. 00:27:20.860 |
So we have a tolerance level right around here, right? 00:27:25.000 |
And so we surround ourselves with people who are like us, even in our righteousness, because 00:27:31.340 |
our natural inclination is to run the other direction. 00:27:36.840 |
Jesus says he sees the wolf coming, and he doesn't run because he's the good shepherd. 00:27:46.300 |
He's talking about there's a love relationship with his people. 00:27:50.580 |
Jesus says the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the 00:27:54.020 |
sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold. 00:27:59.700 |
I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, so there will be one flock and 00:28:07.980 |
Our whole Christian faith happened and continues to happen because God saw our sins and didn't 00:28:18.940 |
He didn't see our weakness and say, "That's enough." 00:28:28.700 |
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through 00:28:31.860 |
endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. 00:28:36.860 |
The reason why we have hope is not because you're righteous. 00:28:40.860 |
The reason we have hope is not because you're more disciplined or you know the Bible better. 00:28:57.180 |
So our hope and our encouragement and our endurance is because he took it upon himself 00:29:06.140 |
Part of the reason why it's hard for us to be patient with other people is because you 00:29:12.940 |
and I, after a while, forget that we were beggars, that we are the weak. 00:29:22.300 |
That's exactly what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11-29, "Who is weak and I am not weak. 00:29:34.620 |
He said the reason why he was saved is not because of his Roman citizenship, it's not 00:29:38.220 |
because of his scholarship, it's not because of his family pedigree, it's not because of 00:29:44.460 |
He said the whole reason why he was chosen was because he was the chief of sinners and 00:29:49.940 |
And just in case he forgets, God puts a thorn on his side and causes him to beg before God. 00:29:56.840 |
He sells tents for a living, humbles this guy who came from a rich family and he's selling 00:30:03.420 |
tents to preach the gospel, an apostle of Jesus Christ who's performing fantastic miracles, 00:30:08.820 |
direct revelation from God, and in between he's selling tents to make a living. 00:30:21.380 |
Thomas Watson says this, "I distinguish between spiritually poor and poor in spirit. 00:30:30.260 |
He who is without grace is spiritually poor, but he is not poor in spirit. 00:30:41.180 |
He is in the worst sense poor who has no sense of his poverty." 00:30:44.980 |
Part of the reason why it is hard at times to be gracious to weak is because we have 00:30:52.980 |
forgotten that we were weak and it is our weakness that brought the strength of Christ. 00:31:00.020 |
Third and finally, the practice of grace is ultimately God-glorifying. 00:31:07.820 |
Verse 6, "That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord 00:31:12.380 |
Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God." 00:31:16.380 |
1 Corinthians 10.31, it says, "Whether you eat or drink, do it for the glory of God." 00:31:21.400 |
Not simply to practice your freedom for your own enjoyment, but ultimately does it bring 00:31:28.900 |
When He comes in glory, we will also be glorified with Christ. 00:31:35.980 |
It is no longer I or you who live, but Christ living in us. 00:31:41.500 |
And so during this period, our whole point of existence, everything that we do is ultimately 00:31:48.460 |
And he says to live in grace, to bring God the glory. 00:31:54.580 |
John 17, 20-26, it's a lengthy passage, but I want to bring us to conclusion with this 00:32:04.020 |
John 17, 20-26 is called the priestly prayer. 00:32:09.420 |
Jesus is having this intimate moment with His Father, but He starts out by saying, "I 00:32:14.420 |
am praying this not because I don't know, because I want them to hear." 00:32:17.980 |
You ever hear somebody pray and they're praying just so that you can hear? 00:32:30.780 |
But Jesus has this intimate moment with God, praying to God, but He says, "I'm praying 00:32:34.900 |
to you not because you don't know, not because I don't know, but I want them to hear." 00:32:40.940 |
Which I'm going to deal with that later, like why He does that. 00:32:45.120 |
Why doesn't He just say, "I want you to know this." 00:32:48.680 |
Why does He come here and pray to God and say, "I want them to hear me." 00:32:56.180 |
Verse 20, "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through 00:33:06.180 |
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world 00:33:15.260 |
The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we 00:33:22.100 |
He says the whole point of this prayer is so that they can hear that Him and the Father 00:33:27.900 |
and ultimately the Holy Spirit are one, the unity that they have. 00:33:32.100 |
And He wants them to hear so that they could also hear and they would become one. 00:33:37.220 |
So His point is, and this is a priestly prayer, this is at the core of what He desires in 00:33:44.280 |
He said, "I want them to hear the connection I have with you and as we are united in one, 00:33:53.660 |
So He says, "The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be 00:34:01.240 |
The scripture says, "All have sinned and fall short of," what? 00:34:06.500 |
The whole purpose of our existence was to reflect that glory, right? 00:34:21.220 |
So the point of salvation is to restore that glory, right? 00:34:26.180 |
So the whole point of salvation is to restore that image, that glory that we lost. 00:34:33.140 |
And so He says, "As you have given me this glory, I have given them this glory for what 00:34:45.100 |
Because when the glory was broken, what was broken? 00:34:50.900 |
Union with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and between husband and wife. 00:34:58.180 |
Murder, theft, hatred came into their culture. 00:35:06.740 |
And when it says that sin reigned over mankind, is that this sin caused everybody to be seeking 00:35:21.380 |
He's praying to them, praying to the Father, as you and I are one. 00:35:25.700 |
And then let me continue to read verse 23, it says, "I in them and you in me, that they 00:35:31.900 |
Again, as we are one, "so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as 00:35:38.020 |
That the world, not just them, not just the people who hear me, but the rest of the world 00:35:42.380 |
know that I am from you and they are from me." 00:35:46.700 |
In other words, God's intent for salvation is the unity, right? 00:35:51.540 |
The platform in which he wants us to declare his glory is the unity of the church that 00:35:59.220 |
"Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to 00:36:05.700 |
see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the 00:36:10.540 |
Oh, righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you and these know 00:36:16.620 |
I made known to them your name and I will continue to make it known that the love with 00:36:20.820 |
which you have loved me may be in them and I in them." 00:36:25.340 |
So the restoration of salvation is the unity, the love relationship of God the Father, Son, 00:36:30.380 |
and the Holy Spirit may be reflected in the relationship of the children who have been 00:36:37.300 |
And when that happens, the world will know that you came from the Father and that we 00:36:58.340 |
The world may imitate this Koinonia in the home and in the workplace, in different places. 00:37:05.980 |
But you know, regimes, political regimes that came into power because of some sort of a 00:37:12.740 |
coup or rebellion are always paranoid that another rebellion is going to take place. 00:37:25.020 |
The whole world is under rebellion against God. 00:37:29.420 |
And as a result of that, there's an imitation of connection. 00:37:36.860 |
But until the unity of God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit is reflected upon the 00:37:41.740 |
church and the church reflects that to the world, there is no evangelism. 00:37:47.060 |
A church that's divided isn't participating in the Great Commission. 00:37:51.860 |
There's no fellowship in the church that is divided. 00:37:58.100 |
All of these things is ultimately reflect God's glory and the love that they have with 00:38:02.820 |
If Bible study doesn't lead to greater love, it just becomes ammunition to point out other 00:38:11.460 |
We can talk about Great Commission and we can regurgitate things that we have learned, 00:38:16.940 |
We're taking information that we have and we're just sending it over there. 00:38:25.620 |
Witnessing is seeing the glory of God and taking that which we have seen, that we've 00:38:31.220 |
been affected by, and taking that to the world. 00:38:36.620 |
So when we don't practice this grace and this mercy, we can become great churchgoers. 00:38:44.300 |
We can become experts in running the church, but we can never glorify God. 00:38:51.460 |
Let me get to the point of why he's praying this. 00:38:57.100 |
Because he is not simply trying to tell them. 00:39:02.940 |
He's not just saying, "Hey, we have this relationship with God. 00:39:04.980 |
I have this intimate relationship with the Father." 00:39:08.740 |
He's showing them by communing with him, this is what I want them to have. 00:39:16.220 |
You love me and even though there are three parts and they're equally powerful, equal 00:39:20.860 |
in glory, Christ humbles himself to do the work of a mediator. 00:39:26.460 |
The Holy Spirit is in the background doing the support work. 00:39:29.460 |
Even though his name is barely mentioned, it is clear that he is part of the triune 00:39:33.860 |
God and all three of them are not competing with each other for glory. 00:39:38.460 |
They are magnified while they glorify each other in unison. 00:39:44.060 |
As they are doing that and he is glorified, the people will see their glory. 00:39:49.500 |
As they glorify each other, we are affected by this glory and we are saved. 00:39:56.540 |
That's what he wants us to take to the world. 00:40:00.700 |
So until we practice and until we recognize that practice of righteousness is the practice 00:40:16.460 |
Everything whether we eat or drink was meant to be for his glory. 00:40:20.700 |
Colossians 1:27, "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the 00:40:26.660 |
riches of glory of this mystery which is in Christ in you, the hope of glory." 00:40:32.220 |
And this mystery of God's glory was hidden for ages in Ephesians 3, 11. 00:40:39.220 |
They created all things so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now 00:40:43.940 |
be known to the rulers, authorities, heavenly places. 00:40:46.780 |
This was according to eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:40:52.700 |
What does God want to convey to the world through us? 00:41:04.860 |
What message is he trying to give the world through us? 00:41:16.580 |
Revenge is for the weak, for the sinners, for the rebellious because of his love. 00:41:31.260 |
The church is not simply a place for spiritual soldiers who got their act together, who are 00:41:40.140 |
theological giants, talented people who've gotten A's in other parts of their life and 00:41:50.740 |
Church is a gathering of people who have no other hope but in the name of Jesus Christ. 00:41:59.580 |
We are affected when we are young, we are affected when we are old. 00:42:03.380 |
Whether you are doing great, whether you are disciplined or undisciplined, the only hope 00:42:15.340 |
Not because of your discipline, not because of your training, not because of your experience, 00:42:19.900 |
not because of your fruitfulness, because we ran to the God and the only source of hope 00:42:32.500 |
That's what he wants us to reflect in view of this mercy. 00:42:37.940 |
To give your lives as a living sacrifice to reflect that glory that is in the Father, 00:42:45.540 |
Let's take some time to pray again as we ask our worship team to come. 00:42:50.500 |
Again, you know, it's easy to talk about grace. 00:42:57.980 |
It's easy to celebrate, memorize, but very difficult to practice because it eats at our 00:43:08.380 |
Nothing challenges our rebellion against God than to love people we don't want to love. 00:43:14.580 |
Because they encroach upon our life, what we want. 00:43:20.180 |
But nothing is more freeing than to practice what he practiced on us. 00:43:26.020 |
So let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us, thinking practically, how does