Alright, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 15, 1 through 7. 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 did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached 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.

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.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much. We thank you, Father, for the things that we are aware of and we thank you for the things that are hidden that you are doing in order for all the things, Lord God, that you desire for us to come together, to sanctify us, to bring glory and honor to you.

We pray that your word that goes forth would not simply be for hearing, but for applying. Give us a will, Father God, to submit to you, to desire to honor you, to delight in your law day and night, that we may bear fruit in season. We ask, Lord, that your presence and your Holy Spirit would guide your word to go, to judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart.

We thank you, Father Jesus, and we pray. Amen. Throughout the years, with just various things that we notice when people are coming in and out of the church, and I know some of you guys are newer than others, I think there is an agreement, at least if you've been in ministry for a while, like what people are looking for in a church.

Some people will at least choose churches based upon the sermons or the worship style, maybe the denomination, how it's organized, how is discipleship taking place, are there social justice ministries that are available, what kind of mission program do we have. All of these things are important things, are biblical things.

But I think for the most part, whether we admit it or not, one of the most essential things that we look for in a church is, are there people like me in this church? Whether it is age, cultural background, obviously language, theology, how we view righteousness or unrighteousness, how do we do discipleship.

Not just externally, obviously there are external things that we look for, but we also look for internal things, spiritual things, how we measure what is good and what is bad. But the core of the issue that we often look for, are there people like me? And so we tend to gravitate, especially in the church, toward communities that look like me, that talk like me, that think like me, that maybe live like me, maybe have similar habits.

These may not be on the list of things that we're looking for, but innately that's what we do. So even when you join a church, we have a tendency to gather around, especially in a church that is a larger size than more than 50, 60 people, you kind of have certain people like that you are friends with, certain people who are acquaintances, certain people that you spend a lot of time with, and some people that you consider to be running this race with.

And a lot of that is dependent on, how much are they like me? We have to admit that our churches are divided. I remember when I was a younger pastor going through seminary, we used to have a meeting, because I was an EM pastor at Irvine Baptist, and then we had the EM pastor of Bethel, of OMC, of Young Knock, and all the bigger EMs in that area.

And we met together almost on a weekly basis. We called ourselves the CPA, College Pastors Association. We used to have retreats together, and so it was cute. So we used to get together and have fellowship, and it was a great time of fellowship. But I noticed that through the years, we were all from various denominations, Presbyterian, Baptist, one guy was a Methodist guy, a non-denominational, and we were all from different backgrounds.

But I remember when we were young, that was never an issue. We would go to each other's churches and preach and cover for one another going to retreats. But as time went by, years went by, decades go by, and each one of us have kind of gotten embedded into our denomination.

You're Presbyterian, a Baptist, and I remember very distinctly, I had a Presbyterian friend who was in the valley, and he asked me to come and preach for the retreat. And then about a month later, I got another notice saying that their senior pastor wouldn't allow me to come because I was a Baptist.

And I began to see, as time went by, the older we got, the more committed we were to our local churches, the more separated we became. And now it's become hard, where we're still friends, but it's very difficult for us to do anything together. This issue of unity, again, we could talk about it, we can discuss it and study it, but the application of it is very difficult.

The issue that we're talking about this morning is where the rubber meets the road. Where Paul's been talking about justification by faith, by grace, but what does that look like in the life of a Christian? And so he's taking this very practical issue about food. Because at the core of our assembly, when we gather together and we haven't connected with our friends for a while, usually the way we connect is, "Hey, what are you doing next Tuesday during lunchtime?

Are you free for dinner on Friday?" And so so much of our activity, our human connection, is around food. We rarely or ever would say, "Hey, what are you doing? Let's connect. This closet is empty. Let's go in there and have a conversation." That doesn't happen. It's usually around some kind of eating.

So if we want to have fellowships, say, "Hey, after church, we're going to gather together. We're going to celebrate." So eating is at the core of human connection. So even communion in the early church was a gathering of people and they actually shared meals with one another. It is that the early church, they devoted themselves to the teaching and prayer and breaking of bread basically means that they were sharing meals together.

But imagine what it would do to the church if you couldn't eat together. If because of what you're eating, that this group of people can't ever sit with you, it would automatically divide the church. It would automatically cause people who can eat this stuff, they would go to this room and the people who can't eat that would naturally go to this room.

So even though it may seem like it's trivial, the issue that Paul is dealing with, with eating of meat and not eating of meat, it was fundamental to bring these people together. The issue that we're, again, looking at, it was an ongoing theme all the way from chapter 12 and it's going to continue on in chapter 15, is this practice of grace.

So today I've divided this section, the verses one through seven, into three principles. Again, that Paul is adding to what we've already been talking about. And again, even though it's not going to be expressed this way, the core teaching that Paul has been trying to convey is the same thing that I've been saying for the last three weeks, which is truth without grace leads to condemnation.

Practice of truth without grace leads to condemnation. That's exactly what Paul is referring to. So even though I may or may not mention it throughout the sermon, that's really the overarching theme that Paul has been talking about. He's conveyed the truth, but this truth, practice without grace, leads to condemnation.

So there are three things that we want to look at this morning about the practice of grace. Number one, the practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. Let me say that again. The practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. Because typically when we think of practice of righteousness, we somehow separate these two things.

Like if you're, these are things that are righteous and these are things that are grace. And we think that they are on opposite ends. But when we examine closely, we'll see that the practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. Romans chapter 15, one, it says, "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves." He's making it crystal clear, just in case you had any misunderstanding where Paul stood on this issue.

Paul is not dealing with an issue where you think you're right and I think we're right. And so, well, who knows? This is a gray area. He's not talking about a gray area. We usually apply this to talk about, you know, whether it's drinking or a certain activity. It's kind of gray.

It could be right, it could be wrong. Paul clearly says that he is right, the weak are wrong. That's why he says that we are obligated to deal with the failings of the weak, the shortcomings of the weak. So Paul's desire is not, "Hey, let's just leave it alone.

Let's just kind of agree to disagree." That's not what Paul is saying. Paul is crystal clear that at some point, the weak brothers need to move on and become strong. Paul is not ambiguous about this. And that's why he says to bear with the failings of the weak. The natural question that we would have is if Paul is clear about this and he calls the weak brothers, their views, failure that needs to be improved, why doesn't he just call them out?

Why doesn't he just say, "It bothers your conscience? Suck it up." Because that's what I would do. Suck it up. Because I'm right and you're wrong. It's clear. And I have some verses. I have revelation from God. Jesus actually gave Peter three separate visions. What he declares to be clean, do not say it's unclean.

And so he has direct revelation from God. He has teaching. There's a movement from the old and the new covenant. The old things have passed. Behold, the new things have come. The scripture is clear where a Christian needs to stand on this issue. And yet instead of condemning them, he says we need to bear with them, to support them, to encourage them.

Why does he do that? Now again, Paul is not dealing with an issue of the weak brother who is running after the world and needs to be rebuked. He's talking about the weaker brothers who are having a hard time because either they were idol worshippers and eating of this food reminded them of their past.

And they're having a hard time disconnecting this eating of meat with idol worship or the faithful Jews who are obedient to the Leviticus laws of what they could and could not eat and they felt it was unclean. So they were having a hard time not because they're pursuing the world, but because righteousness by faith, by justification by faith alone, alone, it was taking some time to get to that point.

That is not unlike how Christians become Christians today. We all believe in justification by faith alone. But to what degree do you really believe this? Because we all confess it. You wouldn't be a Christian if you didn't confess it. But to what degree does this apply? Because every single one of us, to a certain degree, and in different times it rises back up where we say, "Well, if I don't do quiet time, I'm not going to be loved by God." Or if you come to communion table and you did quiet time and you did all the righteous things kind of like, "Ah, I was good this week." And then the times that when you're not doing well, you start to drift out from the church and, "I don't deserve to be in the fellowship." These are all things that we are wrestling with in justification by faith alone.

So in various times, in various parts, in various experiences, those things come back at us, "To what degree do you believe in justification by faith alone?" And that's exactly what they were wrestling with, with this food, that that doesn't make you righteous or unrighteous. So it wasn't in the context of pursuing the world, but it was in the context of them believing and growing in their faith, to believe that I have been made righteous by the blood of Christ, period.

It's not righteousness by the blood of Christ plus these works. So in that context, Paul is saying, "Yes, stronger brothers, you are right. They need to grow in this faith. But how do you deal with them in that process?" Instead of condemning and pointing figures and saying, "Why aren't they this way?" Because our natural inclination is we want to be a part of the church where the work has been done, where everybody's on the same page, doing the same thing, pursuing the righteousness.

And when you come to church and you see the weakness of believers, our natural inclination is I want to be around people who are like me. Paul is saying the church is filled with people who are even in their faith in different places. Humanly speaking, what they could have naturally done is get the strong brothers to plant one church and get the weak brothers to plant another church.

Problem solved. Now we're united, right? We're united in our weak brother's church or we're united in our strong brother's church. And that's typically what happens in our culture. If we have differences of opinion, different application, then we gather our things and then we go, "Now we're united." And then after a while, maybe another problem rises and it's like, "Okay, then we gather our stuff, we plant another church." And oftentimes we dress up the real issue in the church because we think that that's the solution.

And Paul is speaking directly to that. And let me give you an example of the first point. The practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. In Matthew chapter 1, 18 to 19, Joseph and Mary are betrothed to marry each other. And during that period, if you were engaged, it was, legally speaking, it was no different than being married.

It was just during that period you were preparing for the ceremony. But as far as the law was concerned, you're already married. It was during that period where Mary is impregnated by the Holy Spirit and Joseph finds his sound. This is how it's described in verse 18. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit." So again, when he says, "Before they came together," it's just another euphemism in the New Testament where it's referring to they didn't have sexual relations. Right?

So Joseph never lied with her, and yet he found her to be pregnant. So the natural inclination or natural thought would be she cheated on him. She was an adulterer. But here's what it says about Joseph in verse 19. "And her husband Joseph, being a just man," another way of saying a righteous man, "and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly." Now we would think, well, he was a just man.

He was a righteous man. And Book of Leviticus clearly says that if a woman cheats, that there was capital punishment. And yet, him being just, we would naturally think she deserves condemnation. In order to save his own reputation, to save himself from shame publicly, to shame her publicly, "I had nothing to do with this.

She deserves to be shunned and shunned her." Instead, he says, because he was a righteous man, what did he do? He was gracious to her. And he was going to let her go quietly, not to put her to shame. See, the practice of grace is the practice of righteousness.

These are not two polar opposite things where sometimes we practice grace and sometimes we practice righteousness. But in the new covenant, the practice of grace is the practice of righteousness. Secondly, the practice of grace is other-centered. It's not about us. It's about what God does through us. In verse 1 and 2, it says, "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves." It's not about us.

"Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself." You ever think about Timothy? Timothy was the next generation pastor that Paul was going to pass the baton to. But humanly speaking, Timothy was not a good pastor. Humanly speaking.

And the reason why is because you can see it in Paul's letter, the encouragement that he's giving Timothy, that Timothy was timid. He was afraid because there was a lot of opposition to Timothy. False prophets who are more educated, who are maybe more talented, older than him, were opposing the essence of the gospel.

So he's basically equipping him to stand up for himself or stand up for the truth, but he's timid. That's why in his last letter, Paul tells Timothy, "God did not give us the spirit of Timothy, but a power to preach the word in season and out of season." And he was sickly.

And he says, "To drink a little wine, to deal with the stomach problem that he had." So if you add all of these up, Timothy was not a charismatic leader who had many years of experience to go against these seasoned men who are opposing the truth. What was it about Timothy that Paul felt the need to give him the baton instead of somebody else?

Maybe somebody like Peter, you know? It was an older guy who kind of commanded attention, charismatic, and he was willing to die for Jesus. Why not somebody like Peter? Or maybe like Apollos, who's gifted, and every time he opens his mouth, he garners a crowd around himself, yet he's preparing to give the baton to Timothy, who is timid, who has to be reminded to stand up and fight for the truth.

Well, we see a glimpse of why Paul would have done that in Philippians chapter 2, 21 to 22. "They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father, he has served me in the gospel. The distinction between Timothy and everybody else, according to Paul, was that he genuinely was concerned for their interests and not his own.

That was the key quality of Timothy that where Paul was willing to trust himself to. Anyone who desires to go to ministry, and again, this is not just a call for pastors or elders, this is obviously a call for every Christian, but the key quality of someone who wants to represent God, that he first has to die.

Because the primary thing that God desires is to declare his glory. So if somebody standing in between wanted to touch some of that glory, it doesn't matter how gifted you are. It doesn't matter how talented you are. It doesn't matter what kind of experience you have. It doesn't matter what kind of fruit you bear.

If you stand in the midst wanting to touch that glory, you're automatically disqualified. So if I talk to a young guy who says, "Oh, I'm going to go into ministry," and he gives me all kinds of reasons of how he wants to do this for God, how he wants to do that for God, and yet he is not consumed by God's glory and the needs of the people, it doesn't matter.

In fact, he's a dangerous man, and he's immediately disqualified. In fact, the false prophets before judgment came upon Israel is described exactly that way in Isaiah 56, 11. The dogs have a mighty appetite. They never have enough, but they are shepherds who have no understanding. They have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

It may be in the name of Jesus. It may be Bible study. It may be leading worship. It may be all of these things in saying that we're trying to give glory to God, but suddenly everything is about them. What I can do, how much I know. See, the practice of grace fundamentally is not about us.

It's about our brothers and sisters, to uphold them, to encourage them. The very reason why we were saved is because it says Christ practiced this with us. Verse 3, "For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.'" This is a direct quote from Psalm 69, a messianic passage.

In the context, it's talking about David, who's crying out because he was unjustly suffering. His enemies were coming after him because he was standing for the truth. And that same verse in Psalm 69, Jesus uses it five separate times of his own suffering. Meaning, the reason why he calls us to sacrifice for others is because that is at the essence of our salvation.

It is at the essence of everything that we do, that God did not look upon us and saw that we were weak. We had shortcomings. We had sins. And he didn't point that out and say, "Okay, now I'm going to practice righteousness." Because he could have easily just crushed us.

"I'm done. I'm done away with this." In Lamentations 3.22, and I'm reading the NIV because I believe it's closer to the literal, which is pretty rare. If I'm going to read something more literal, I would usually read the NASB. But in this instance, the NIV translated it this way.

"Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassion never fails." "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed." Not consumed basically means not destroyed. Because God, in his righteousness, in his holiness, would have been perfectly righteous to crush us. Because that's what you and I deserve.

When Christ came to die for our sins, we're talking about 2,000 plus years of rebellion. Now we show up 2,000 years later and we kind of feel removed from that. "Oh, we didn't crucify Christ." So we think that we started brand new. But think of it from God's perspective.

That these people that he loved, he cherished, he called apple of his eye. Every time he gives them a chance, it doesn't take long, sometimes even days after revival breaks out, they go right back to their idolatry. And it is thousands of years of this cycle of God being gracious, restoring them, revival breaks out, and soon after they forget God, they become comfortable in this cycle over and over again.

So by the time we're at the end of the Old Testament, if you've ever studied through the Old Testament, you know when you study Old Testament in pockets, it's like, "Wow, God destroyed Jericho? God destroyed this? God destroyed that?" But when you study it chronologically, by the time you get to the end of the Old Testament, the natural response is, "How long is he going to put up with these people?" That's a natural response because that's exactly what I thought when I read the Old Testament in bits and chunks.

And I said, "Wow, you know, like, he seems like a different God." But when you read it in chronological order, it's like, "Oh my gosh, how does Israel still exist?" So by the time Christ comes, this is God dealing with these rebellious people. You're talking about the word "weak." The word "weak" would be an understatement to describe his people.

Rebellious, stiff-necked, idolatrous. I mean, all of these would be an understatement of what God was seeing with his people. So you think, by the time he would come, like, they ignored and they killed all the prophets, and if I send my only begotten Son, that maybe they will recognize him and worship him.

But obviously that doesn't happen. Do you think Jesus was surprised when that happened? Obviously not. Because he prophesied to his disciples, "I'm going to go, and the leaders of Israel are going to bind me. They're going to beat me and then kill me." He knew that before he came.

So he didn't come and he wasn't shocked by their sin. He wasn't surprised by their rebellion. It was because of their rebellion, it was because of their sin, that Christ came to support us, encourage us, and die for us. And so what he is calling us to do is what Christ did.

Who would practice this? If Christ was not in the picture, we would talk about loving your enemies and supporting people who are weak, especially when you know you are right, to be gracious. Who would practice this? We can talk about that from a distance and celebrate the grace and love of God, but when it's our turn to practice this, who would practically practice this?

It's a beautiful story. If we didn't already know what Christ has done. In John chapter 10, 11 through 16, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them." He's talking about the leaders of Israel, but this applies to every Christian.

Because our natural inclination is when we're around annoying people. When we're around people that we think are weaker than us. They don't know as much as we do. They're not as righteous as we are. Our natural inclination is to move away from them, and it happens even within the church.

We surround ourselves with people who are like us, and so we choose a church that we think are like us, and then when we get into a church, we surround ourselves with friends who we think are like us. They're not too righteous because they make us feel uncomfortable, and they're not too unrighteous because they make us feel uncomfortable.

So we have a tolerance level right around here, right? And so we surround ourselves with people who are like us, even in our righteousness, because our natural inclination is to run the other direction. Jesus says he sees the wolf coming, and he doesn't run because he's the good shepherd.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. He's talking about there's a love relationship with his people. Jesus says the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold.

He's talking about us. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, so there will be one flock and one shepherd. Our whole Christian faith happened and continues to happen because God saw our sins and didn't run and came to us instead. He didn't see our weakness and say, "That's enough." He came and he supported us.

He encouraged us. He was gracious with us, Romans 15, 4-5. 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. The reason why we have hope is not because you're righteous. The reason we have hope is not because you're more disciplined or you know the Bible better.

It's because he was gracious. He suffered unjustly on our behalf. That's what he's referring to in Psalm 69. So our hope and our encouragement and our endurance is because he took it upon himself to save us. Part of the reason why it's hard for us to be patient with other people is because you and I, after a while, forget that we were beggars, that we are the weak.

That's exactly what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11-29, "Who is weak and I am not weak. Who is made to fall and I am not indignant." Paul never forgot who he was. He said the reason why he was saved is not because of his Roman citizenship, it's not because of his scholarship, it's not because of his family pedigree, it's not because of his gifting.

He said the whole reason why he was chosen was because he was the chief of sinners and he never forgot that. And just in case he forgets, God puts a thorn on his side and causes him to beg before God. He sells tents for a living, humbles this guy who came from a rich family and he's selling tents to preach the gospel, an apostle of Jesus Christ who's performing fantastic miracles, direct revelation from God, and in between he's selling tents to make a living.

Paul never forgot who he was. Thomas Watson says this, "I distinguish between spiritually poor and poor in spirit. He who is without grace is spiritually poor, but he is not poor in spirit. He does not know his own beggary. You know not that you are poor. He is in the worst sense poor who has no sense of his poverty." Part of the reason why it is hard at times to be gracious to weak is because we have forgotten that we were weak and it is our weakness that brought the strength of Christ.

Third and finally, the practice of grace is ultimately God-glorifying. The practice of grace is God-glorifying. Verse 6, "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." 1 Corinthians 10.31, it says, "Whether you eat or drink, do it for the glory of God." Not simply to practice your freedom for your own enjoyment, but ultimately does it bring God the glory?

When He comes in glory, we will also be glorified with Christ. But as of now, we are crucified with Christ. It is no longer I or you who live, but Christ living in us. And so during this period, our whole point of existence, everything that we do is ultimately to bring glory to God.

And he says to live in grace, to bring God the glory. John 17, 20-26, it's a lengthy passage, but I want to bring us to conclusion with this text. John 17, 20-26 is called the priestly prayer. Jesus is having this intimate moment with His Father, but He starts out by saying, "I am praying this not because I don't know, because I want them to hear." You ever hear somebody pray and they're praying just so that you can hear?

I don't know. I've heard it before. It's like, "Why are you doing that?" Pray to God. But Jesus has this intimate moment with God, praying to God, but He says, "I'm praying to you not because you don't know, not because I don't know, but I want them to hear." So He's basically preaching to them.

Which I'm going to deal with that later, like why He does that. Why doesn't He just say, "I want you to know this." Why does He come here and pray to God and say, "I want them to hear me." Why does He do that? I'll get to that in a minute.

Verse 20, "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one." So let me stop right there. He says the whole point of this prayer is so that they can hear that Him and the Father and ultimately the Holy Spirit are one, the unity that they have.

And He wants them to hear so that they could also hear and they would become one. So His point is, and this is a priestly prayer, this is at the core of what He desires in our salvation. He said, "I want them to hear the connection I have with you and as we are united in one, that this may be reflected in them." So He says, "The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one." The scripture says, "All have sinned and fall short of," what?

"The glory of God." The whole purpose of our existence was to reflect that glory, right? We have become image bearers. We were made to be image bearers of God. But when we sin, that image was broken. We have fallen short of that glory. So the point of salvation is to restore that glory, right?

You follow me to this point? So the whole point of salvation is to restore that image, that glory that we lost. And so He says, "As you have given me this glory, I have given them this glory for what purpose? That they may be one." Because when the glory was broken, what was broken?

Union with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and between husband and wife. They hide from each other. Murder, theft, hatred came into their culture. And when it says that sin reigned over mankind, is that this sin caused everybody to be seeking their own glory instead of God's glory.

And in doing so, it ruined mankind. He's praying to them, praying to the Father, as you and I are one. And then let me continue to read verse 23, it says, "I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one." Again, as we are one, "so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you loved me.

That the world, not just them, not just the people who hear me, but the rest of the world know that I am from you and they are from me." In other words, God's intent for salvation is the unity, right? The platform in which he wants us to declare his glory is the unity of the church that reflects the image of God.

"Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Oh, righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you and these know that you have sent me.

I made known to them your name and I will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them." So the restoration of salvation is the unity, the love relationship of God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit may be reflected in the relationship of the children who have been redeemed.

And when that happens, the world will know that you came from the Father and that we belong to him. Because when they see us, they see you. That's what was lost at creation. Koinonia was lost in creation when man fell. The world may imitate this Koinonia in the home and in the workplace, in different places.

But you know, regimes, political regimes that came into power because of some sort of a coup or rebellion are always paranoid that another rebellion is going to take place. Because that's how they came into power. The whole world is under rebellion against God. And as a result of that, there's an imitation of connection.

There's an imitation of Koinonia. But until the unity of God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit is reflected upon the church and the church reflects that to the world, there is no evangelism. A church that's divided isn't participating in the Great Commission. There's no fellowship in the church that is divided.

There's no unity. There's no Bible study. All of these things is ultimately reflect God's glory and the love that they have with one another. If Bible study doesn't lead to greater love, it just becomes ammunition to point out other people's sin. We can talk about Great Commission and we can regurgitate things that we have learned, but that's all we're doing.

We're taking information that we have and we're just sending it over there. But that is not witnessing. Witnessing is seeing the glory of God and taking that which we have seen, that we've been affected by, and taking that to the world. So when we don't practice this grace and this mercy, we can become great churchgoers.

We can become experts in running the church, but we can never glorify God. Let me get to the point of why he's praying this. Why does he just not preach this? Because he is not simply trying to tell them. He's trying to show them his unity. He's not just saying, "Hey, we have this relationship with God.

I have this intimate relationship with the Father." He's not just telling them that. He's showing them by communing with him, this is what I want them to have. You love me and even though there are three parts and they're equally powerful, equal in glory, Christ humbles himself to do the work of a mediator.

The Holy Spirit is in the background doing the support work. Even though his name is barely mentioned, it is clear that he is part of the triune God and all three of them are not competing with each other for glory. They are magnified while they glorify each other in unison.

As they are doing that and he is glorified, the people will see their glory. As they glorify each other, we are affected by this glory and we are saved. That's what he wants us to take to the world. So until we practice and until we recognize that practice of righteousness is the practice of grace, there is no evangelism.

There is no fellowship. There is no maturing. Everything whether we eat or drink was meant to be for his glory. Colossians 1:27, "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of glory of this mystery which is in Christ in you, the hope of glory." And this mystery of God's glory was hidden for ages in Ephesians 3, 11.

They created all things so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be known to the rulers, authorities, heavenly places. This was according to eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord. What does God want to convey to the world through us? It's not a trick question.

What does he want the world to know? What message is he trying to give the world through us? It's pretty clear. Revenge is for the weak, for the sinners, for the rebellious because of his love. That's what he wants us to reflect. The church is not simply a place for spiritual soldiers who got their act together, who are theological giants, talented people who've gotten A's in other parts of their life and are now getting A's in the church.

Church is a gathering of people who have no other hope but in the name of Jesus Christ. We are affected when we are young, we are affected when we are old. Whether you are doing great, whether you are disciplined or undisciplined, the only hope that we have is the mercy of Jesus Christ.

And that's what makes us great worshipers. Not because of your discipline, not because of your training, not because of your experience, not because of your fruitfulness, because we ran to the God and the only source of hope that any sinner has. That's what he wants us to reflect in view of this mercy.

To give your lives as a living sacrifice to reflect that glory that is in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit to the world. Let's take some time to pray again as we ask our worship team to come. Again, you know, it's easy to talk about grace. It's easy to celebrate, memorize, but very difficult to practice because it eats at our rebellion.

Nothing challenges our rebellion against God than to love people we don't want to love. Because they encroach upon our life, what we want. But nothing is more freeing than to practice what he practiced on us. So let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us, thinking practically, how does God want me to apply this in my life?

Let's take some time to pray.