Romans 15:1-7 (Teaching)

[0:00] Good morning. Good morning. I'd like to reiterate on something that Josh brought up earlier.!

[0:30] But, you know, if I was up here, you know, or anywhere else, and I was teaching or preaching rank heresy, I wouldn't expect her to have my back. But, you know, if I'm teaching or preaching the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the way that it's taught in the Scriptures, then it's always good.

[0:50] You know, you look out and not recognize a single face. Yeah. But you look back there and see your wife, and that brings relief. Yes, of course. To do that. And I've said that many times.

[1:02] Bless him, Lord. In the New Testament this morning, the Book of Romans, chapter 15, I struggled. I told Brother Miles what to teach this morning.

[1:18] That was my own fault, because many of you all know I'm an Old Testament guy. I love the Old Testament. I've not got anything against the New Testament. I like digging in the Old Testament and finding how to apply that to the New Testament church.

[1:33] I'm with you. And so I was digging in the Old Testament, dig, dig, dig, dig, and finally wound up in the New Testament. That's where we're going to be this morning. I guess that might have been some slight chastisement from the Lord.

[1:47] But anyway, Romans 15, verse 1 begins with the words, we then that are strong. Well, the word then puts us back.

[2:00] Forces us backwards. We then that are strong. What's the then there for? It's there because this entire passage actually begins in Romans 14.

[2:13] Romans 14 is Paul talking to the Roman church about division within the church. What brought on this division? Well, the main thing was it was a mixture of Gentiles and Jews.

[2:28] Some were saying, you know, we want to abstain from meats. Some were saying we don't want to do this practice. Some were saying keep this day.

[2:38] Keep that day. And others were saying, you know, basically, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't understand why this is. I thought this thing was by grace. And so on. And this caused division within the church.

[2:52] Same thing happened in the Corinthian church if you read Paul's letters to the Corinthian church. And same thing, of course, was going on in the churches in Galatia. You read in the book of Galatians how the Judaizers were coming in there saying Jesus Christ is great.

[3:07] He's fine. He's all well and good. But you also need to do this. And so this was causing division within the church. Yes. So Paul here in chapter 15 of Romans is trying to show the church at Rome.

[3:22] Now you think this is a church at Rome. It is more than likely I wasn't there. This is 2,000 years ago. I wasn't there. But more than likely it was a more Gentile congregation than it was Jewish congregation.

[3:37] But there was a mix of the two. And it was causing division. So he says, we then that are strong. It puts us back to chapter 14. And I've just done a real brief condensed nutshell of what chapter 14 was all about.

[3:51] So in verse 1 of chapter 15 of Romans, Paul says, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. So he says, we then that are strong.

[4:04] What he's doing about strong and weak here. He's not talking about weak Christians that are more susceptible to sin than others. He's not talking about strong Christians that can resist sin more so than others.

[4:16] What is Paul speaking of here? We then that are strong. We that are more mature. We that have been on the meat longer than what these other Christians are.

[4:28] And that's exactly what he's getting at here when he says, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. Notice. He does not say ought to correct the weak or ought to correct those.

[4:39] Now, I understand all scripture is God breathed. It is God inspired. It's good for reproof. It's good for rebuke. It's good for exhortation. It's good for all those things. And I get that. But that is not the context here.

[4:51] What Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 3 is not the context of Romans chapter 15. The context of what we are reading here is Romans 14. Everything that led up to this.

[5:02] So when he says, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. He doesn't say we need to correct them. He doesn't say we need to rebuke them. He doesn't say we need to shun them. He says we need to bear their infirmities.

[5:15] What does he mean by bear their infirmities? We need to endure with them. We need to help them along. Now, what is the best way to help a fellow Christian along?

[5:27] Of course, with the word of God. With the word of God. That's right. With the word of God. That's the only way we can help each other along. You know, we can say, I'm more mature. I've been in this race longer than you have.

[5:38] I've been doing this for, you know, 20, 30, 40 years. However long it is. You've only been in this for a few months. We can do that. But folks, that's getting haughty. That's getting pride. Yes. And we know from Proverbs, Solomon said, Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before fall.

[5:52] That's right. We need to be careful with that kind of pride. We're not called to be prideful. We're not called to flaunt what freedoms we have in Christ before others. Folks, if someone, I'm talking about Christians.

[6:04] I'm not talking about Jews. I'm talking about believers in Jesus Christ. If someone says, I believe in Christ. I've made my profession in Christ. I've confessed him with my mouth. I believed in my heart that God raised him from the dead.

[6:17] If they make these claims and they have been saved and they say, I don't think I should eat bacon. Who are we to tell them? Right. Who are we to say? No, no, no, no, no.

[6:28] No, no, no, no. Folks, if they don't want to eat bacon, God bless them. Yeah. They don't have to eat it. Amen. But at the same time, they don't need to come at us and condemn us because we do so.

[6:39] That's right. Now, that being the case, if it offends my brother. Yeah. If it offends my brother that I'm having a ham sandwich. If it offends my brother, I'm having bacon cheeseburger.

[6:50] If it offends my brother, I'm having bacon red shrimp. Yeah. Something along those lines. Yeah. I don't need to do it in front of them. That is burying the infirmities of the wheat.

[7:01] That's good. Amen. That is burying the infirmities of the wheat. That is us helping our brother along. And folks, if the Spirit of God, if He wants to show whoever this brother or sister is that they're wrong in that assumption, that that's going to somehow get them an extra check mark up in heaven with Almighty God, or not get them that check mark for that matter.

[7:25] Yeah. If the Holy Spirit wants to show them that, let the Spirit do His work. Amen. Our work, according to Scripture, what I'm reading to you right now, is to bear the infirmities of those that are weak.

[7:37] Now, we're not talking about tolerating sin. Amen. We're not talking about that. Amen. That is reason for correction. And that is reason for rebuke. Mm-hmm. If someone says, you know, I believe that I can do this, and it's a direct sin against the Word of God, or against God, or whatever the case is, no, that calls for correction.

[7:57] And we use the Scripture as that correction. Amen. We don't say, you know, well, in my life, I never committed adultery. I never did this. I never stole.

[8:08] I never blah, blah, blah. We don't do that, folks. No. We say, the Scripture says, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal. Amen. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.

[8:19] Thou shalt not this, thou shalt not that. We say, the Scripture says these things. And the Scripture also says, we should love our neighbors ourselves. Mm-hmm. These with these infirmities, these weak, are they not our neighbors?

[8:31] Mm-hmm. Are they not our brothers and sisters in Christ? They're more than neighbors. They're brothers and sisters. They're part of the same family of God that we are. And that's something that we need to take into consideration any time we're reading Romans, any time we're reading Corinthians, either of the book of Corinthians, any time we're reading the book of Ephesians, Galatians, Colossians, any of those, is the things that Paul is writing about.

[8:58] He is writing to churches. He is writing to fellow believers in all those books. Now, sometimes, yes, he is referring to the lost within those letters, yes.

[9:10] Yeah. But the things that he is correcting them on are things that he is correcting brothers and sisters in Christ on. Amen. Things that they should be doing, things that they should not be doing.

[9:23] So, again, when he says, we then that are strong, that's those of us that have been in this thing for a while. Those of us that have had an opportunity, had a chance, and had the desire, and we've had that hunger.

[9:37] We've had that thirst after righteousness. And we've pursued that. And we've pursued God. And the things of God. And the word of God. And we've pursued it through scripture. And we've pursued it through prayer.

[9:47] We've gotten more experience. We are more mature in the walk. We then that are strong need to bear the infirmities of those that are weaker. Ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves.

[10:01] That's the key to this whole thing. Not to please ourselves. What's the flip side of that coin? To please those that are weaker. Now, do we compromise to please those that are weaker?

[10:15] Not in a sinful manner, no. But to help them along and to let them know that we're on their side. We're both on the same side. You know, we may have to compromise.

[10:27] Like I said, if somebody is offended because of something that I'm eating, because of something that I'm drinking, because I'm not, you know, keeping a certain day of a certain month such as they are, I may need to compromise with that.

[10:41] That's not sin, though. I'm not compromising with sin. But, because we do not compromise with sin. You know, God doesn't tolerate sin, nor should the church.

[10:53] Amen. Plain and simple. But we bear the infirmities of those that are weak, or those that are less mature, and not to please ourselves.

[11:05] So we need to put their needs. We need to put their growth. We need to put their relationship with God above pleasing ourselves. This is much the same way as it is being a parent.

[11:18] Sometimes being a sibling. Or whatever the case is. You know, those of you that are parents, sometimes you sacrifice. Some of you were alone time. You might have sacrificed something you was planning on doing on a Thursday night because, you know, little Bobby or little Susie had a ball game that they was playing.

[11:35] Whatever the case is. You sacrifice something on your side to benefit your child. I thank God that I had parents like that. And I hope that you all did as well.

[11:48] You know, sometimes we do the same thing for siblings, for nephews, for nieces, grandchildren, whatever the case is. You sacrifice something you're willing to do for their behalf, for their edification, for their growth, and for their state of mind.

[12:02] It's the same principle that we're talking about here. Verse 2. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.

[12:14] Every one of us. Now, in verse 1, when Paul said, we then that are strong, notice, Paul is classifying himself in with the strong. We then that are strong.

[12:26] Here he says, let every one of us. Again, he's throwing himself into the mix. He's not saying, I'm Paul. I had a very personal experience with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.

[12:37] You know, I was made an apostle after season, out of season. I'm this and I'm that. No. He says, let every one of us please his neighbor.

[12:50] Please his neighbor's why. He gives us the why. He gives us the what. Let every one of us please his neighbor. He gives us the why for his good to edification. Edification. Yeah. We need to work on pleasing our neighbors for the good of their edification, for their edification in general.

[13:07] And it is a good thing that we do that. Once again, not compromising with sin. Not saying, well, God will sweep that under the rug. You don't need to worry about that. No. If someone's in sin, especially a brother or sister in Christ, my goodness, I mean, Paul wrote to the Galatian church, saying, ye which are spiritual are the ones that are to restore them.

[13:27] If a brother is taken in sin. So we which are spiritual, we which first of all are saved, but we which have experience with God, we which have been in the walk for a while.

[13:41] Somebody's been in the walk for a month or six months and I'm not cutting them down at all. But they're not going to know how to restore someone, a brother or sister in Christ that's been in the walk for 20 years, that's got caught up in sin, that has been in the that has fallen in sin.

[13:59] Whatever the case is, they're not going to know how to do that. It's left up to us. Those of us that have been doing it for a while and those of us that have seen these things, those of us that have experience with this, because we are more experienced with God, we're more experienced in the walk, we're more experienced in the word.

[14:15] Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification, to grow him, to edify him, to stir him or her up.

[14:27] We need to please our neighbor. Verse 3, for even Christ pleased not himself. Folks, this tells me that Christ is our supreme example of the first two verses that we went through here.

[14:53] Christ is the supreme example of selflessness, of someone, listen, if anybody had any right whatsoever to serve self and to do for self in their walk here on this earth, it was Jesus Christ.

[15:12] He had every right to do so. He had every means and every way to do so, to serve self and to do for self. But what did he say?

[15:23] He said, I came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to suffer. He came to bleed. He came to die on behalf of not the righteous. He said himself, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

[15:37] He didn't come to call the righteous. He came to save sinners. He says, for even Christ pleased not himself. He came to do one thing, and that was to accomplish the will of Almighty God.

[15:51] He said in John chapter 3, or John chapter 4, I'm sorry, the woman at the well, when the disciples went into town, they bought some food, they brought it back. He's standing there talking to a Samaritan woman.

[16:02] They said, what are you doing talking to this woman? This is crazy. And they said, they asked him about his meat. He said, my meat is to do the Father's will. Yeah. That meat that you don't know does. That's right.

[16:13] Amen. His meat was to do the Father's will. What was the Father's will? That his creation, his creation that was cursed in the garden. Yes, sir.

[16:24] All creation, man, woman, the earth, all creation was cursed in the garden. God's will was that that creation be reconciled and be redeemed back unto him.

[16:40] And there was only one way that that could happen. And Jesus Christ fulfilled that way. Jesus Christ laid every privilege that he had as the Son of God.

[16:50] He laid it down. Came here, put on a robe of flesh, walked this earth, lived a perfect sinless life. Before that, he was born of a virgin. We've got to throw that in there.

[17:01] If he wasn't born of a virgin, then something bad wrong. Yeah. Something bad wrong. We're born into sin. We're shaping into iniquity. Christ was not. Amen. Christ was not.

[17:11] Thank God. He was born of a virgin. He was a perfect sinless life. He never sinned in thought, word, or deed. That's right. In his life, ministering. Ministering.

[17:22] When he, being the Son of God, should have been the one ministering to. You read in Mark chapter 10. That's why he came. He came to minister. He came to minister unto us. He came to minister unto Jew and Gentile alike.

[17:35] I love Romans 1. Where Paul says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation. To the Jew first, then to the Greek.

[17:45] He came to minister unto all. Now, when he came, keep in mind, he came for the Jews. He came to the Jews first. And that's the way that God had it all planned out.

[17:57] Salvation is of the Jews. Is what the scripture said. Amen. He came to the Jews. He came unto his own, his own received him not. That's all right. I've got sheep of another fold.

[18:09] Yes. Is what Jesus said. That's me. And I can look out in this little congregation here and I can see that's you too. Amen. I don't see one Jew sitting in here. Not one, not one Jew, but.

[18:21] For even Christ pleased not himself. He didn't come to please himself. He came to please the Father. He came to please the Father. So he is our ultimate example of selflessness. But as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

[18:37] This is a quote from Psalm 69. What is it saying? Now, this is important too. He just made the statements in verses 1 and 2. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not please ourselves.

[18:50] Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good denification. For even Christ pleased not himself. And he's using scripture. To back up every bit of that. Folks, we need to be doing the same thing.

[19:01] Amen. Anything that we say. Anything that we say. I'm not talking about tradition. I'm talking about anything that we say that has any kind of weight to it.

[19:11] Any kind of concrete to it. We need to back it up with scripture. Amen. Amen. But as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

[19:22] Now, this is twofold. What the scripture says here. And it being applied to Christ. It's twofold because he took the reproach that men spoke of God.

[19:35] Men that hated God. Men that hated the word of God. Men that hated the things of God. And the people of God. And hated God himself.

[19:46] He took that reproach upon himself. But it wasn't the words that they said. It wasn't even necessarily the actions that they took. It was the problem within their heart.

[19:59] That caused those words. And that caused those actions. And that caused that reproach. But not only that. Not only what man felt toward God. But the reproach that God had toward man.

[20:14] Folks, we're condemned. We are condemned by scripture. I've said many times. Some of y'all may have heard me say it in the past. But the only thing this book is good for to a lost individual.

[20:26] Is to show them that they're condemned. But it doesn't leave them at that. It also shows them how to be saved. But if someone has access to this book. Like I did before I was saved. They had access to it.

[20:38] They read it. They studied it somewhat. Not in a spiritual sense. I couldn't say I was studying it spiritually. Because I wasn't saved. You can't do anything godly unless you're a godly person.

[20:49] Yeah. But. But. The things of God that are in this book. And using this book. And the reproach that God had.

[20:59] And has toward unrepentant sinners. And that is biblical. You read Psalms chapter 5. He abhors the wicked. Amen.

[21:10] Not the wickedness. The wicked. Read it again in Psalms chapter 10. The same thing. Now I understand John 3.16.

[21:20] God said. I get that. And I believe that. But folks. For unrepentant. Unregenerate sinners. Who have rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[21:33] They've rejected the Bible. They've rejected the blood. That was shed. To save their souls. The Bible says God abhors the wicked. The wicked.

[21:44] The wicked. So. There is condemnation. And there is reproach that God has toward man. And Christ took every bit of that. Upon himself.

[21:57] Upon himself. And Paul here. Being very learned in the word of God. Understands that. And that's why he quoted. Psalm 69 verse 9.

[22:08] The way that he does here. When he says. The reproaches of them that reproach thee. Fell on me. It was a selfless act. That Jesus Christ performed. On that cross.

[22:19] On a hill called Calvary. The most selfless act that's ever been performed. Period. Verse 4. For whatsoever things were written aforetime.

[22:30] Were written for our learning. That we through patience and comfort of the scriptures. Might have hope. Whatsoever things were written aforetime. Were written for our learning.

[22:40] And again. Paul is including himself in this. With the word our. Whatsoever things were written aforetime. Were written for our learning. They're written for our benefit.

[22:52] What was before time. Everything in the Old Testament at this point. New Testament hadn't been written. We're reading from the New Testament right now. So everything in the Old Testament. Folks. But he tells us.

[23:03] Why it was written. It was for our learning. That we through patience. And comfort. We through patience and comfort. Of the scriptures. Might have hope. So.

[23:16] In other words. When you're struggling. Or when a brother or sister is struggling. If you don't go back to verses 1 and 2 again. When we struggle. As born again children.

[23:26] Children. Of God. Go back to the scriptures. Go back to the scriptures. Go to Job. And read how Job suffered. Read how he struggled.

[23:38] And see that God was faithful. Go back to Daniel. Daniel was faithful to God. Daniel continued to pray. In defiance.

[23:48] Of a pagan king. King. And yet he was still thrown. Into the lion's den. But God was faithful. Go to all these. All these examples.

[24:00] I mean. A thousand examples. We could go through this morning. Of God's faithfulness. And we can go back to those. Those things are written. For our benefit.

[24:10] They're written for us. To learn from. They're written. So that we don't think. I'm the only one. We're not like Elijah. Saying I. And only I. Am left. Left. I'm the only prophet.

[24:20] Of God. That's left. No. God says there's others. And there have been others. In the past. There will be others. In the future. The Bible says.

[24:32] They live godly in Christ. Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's right. We shall suffer. Persecution. The world. Is going to hate our guts. If the world.

[24:42] Doesn't hate. A professor. Of Jesus Christ. I would doubt. The profession. That that person made. That's just me. And I would doubt. Their profession. I'm not their ultimate judge.

[24:53] I can't determine. If they're saved or not. But. If they're living like the world. The world's not going to have. Any problem with them. That's right. Therefore. They won't hate them. We can read more about that.

[25:04] In first John too. We won't get into that. For whatsoever things. We're written aforetime. We're written for. Our learning. They're there for a purpose. These people. There's one in particular. One supposed preacher.

[25:15] Out there. That says. We need to divorce ourselves. From the Old Testament. No. No. Without the Old Testament. You and I would be wondering. Who is Jesus?

[25:26] Where did he come from? That's right. What's his purpose? That's right. We wouldn't have. You know. The book of Genesis. I've told many people. Read Genesis 1. Through Genesis 11.

[25:37] Read it. Study it. And memorize. As much of those 11 chapters. As you can. Because they will answer. Any question that you have. In the Bible. Where did we come from? Read it in Genesis 1.

[25:48] Through 11. And where. You know. Why are we here? Read it in Genesis 1. Through 11. Why are we in the state. That we're in? Why is there sin? Why is there this? Why is there that? It's all right there. In those first 11 chapters.

[26:00] Of the book of Genesis. But we also have the first promise. Of the gospel. Genesis 3. 15. It was promised. That the seed of the woman. Was going to bruise.

[26:11] And crush the head of the servants. Amen. That's the first hint. Of the gospel. That we have. Praise all. In all of scripture. These things are written. Four times. And they're written for our learning.

[26:22] They're written for our benefit. We can learn a whole lot. We can learn a whole lot. By memorizing as much as we can. From Genesis 1. Through 11. But other scriptures as well.

[26:34] I ain't saying. Just you know. Exclude yourself. To those 11 chapters. Of scripture. They're written for our learning. That we through patience. And comfort. Not through hastiness.

[26:46] Not through hurriedness. Or anything along those lines. That's something I could. Use some help in. And if you're honest with yourself. You can use some help in it too. Through patience.

[26:56] And comfort. Of the scriptures. People say. I think I need more patience. I've said many times. Don't pray for it. But you can find it.

[27:07] In scripture. You can find it. Again. Go to Job. Go to Job. Go to other examples. Of patience that we have. In the scriptures. And comfort.

[27:17] Of the scriptures. We might have hope. Folks. People say all the time. I need hope. Or I feel hopeless. Which is.

[27:28] Just another way of saying. I need hope. Hope is right here. Hope is in this book. That we're hoping in our end. Amen. Hope is personified. In a man named Jesus Christ.

[27:40] Christ is hope. Salvation is hope. God is hope. And the only hope. And he's the only hope that we have. Too many people. They look for hope in something else.

[27:51] We've heard it a thousand times. Maybe a million times. People look for hope in a liquor bottle. They look for hope in a pill bottle. They look for hope in a joint. They look for hope in men. They look for hope in women. They look for hope in their children.

[28:03] They look for hope in their parents. They look for hope in anything. Folks. Hope is in Christ. And Christ alone. And once we nail that down. Once we nail that down.

[28:14] Amen. We will know what true hope really is. Because outside the Christ folks. We are quite hopeless. That's right. We are absolutely hopeless. That's right.

[28:24] And infinitely so. But in Christ. Praise God for Romans 8.1. Therefore there is therefore now no condemnation. Than to be in Christ Jesus. That's right. That's hope. Amen.

[28:35] That's hope. The world doesn't offer. Just like peace. Jesus said. My peace I give in you. My peace I leave with you. Not as the world gives us. The world gives us a peace of some kind. Yeah. But folks.

[28:45] It's very temporal. Yeah. And it's very minute. As compared to the peace that Christ. Leaves with us. The peace that Christ. Gives. Us.

[28:56] Now the God of patience and consolation. Grant you to be like-minded. One toward another. According to Christ Jesus. That you may with one mind and one mouth. Glorify God.

[29:06] Even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive you one another. As Christ also received us. To the glory of God. Now the God of patience and consolation.

[29:18] He's the God of patience. Patience. And we just read where patience is found in the scripture. This is God's word. Makes perfect sense to me. You want patience? You want to learn patience.

[29:29] You want to see patience? You want examples of patience? Look to the scriptures. And see the ultimate example of patience that we have in Christ. See the ultimate example of patience we have in him folks.

[29:42] I mean the man washed the feet of a man that was going to betray him. He did. That's patience. That's patience. Because you or I, if we were put in that situation and we had that knowledge.

[29:56] I wouldn't wash his feet. And you wouldn't have either. But that is Christ showing patience. That is Christ showing mercy. That is Christ showing any number of things that we could talk about here.

[30:08] But the God, now the God of patience and consolation. So the God of patience and comfort in other words. Grant you to be like minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus.

[30:22] He says the God of patience and the God of consolation grant you. Folks, we're not talking about we have to agree on everything.

[30:33] And that's what Paul is saying here. Again, go back to Romans 14. There was so much disagreement. But it was secondary things. It was tertiary things. It was things that did not affect salvation. That they were disagreeing on.

[30:45] And here he says the God of all. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one toward another. We're not talking about agreeing with everyone all the time. And that's the only way we can be unified as a church body or as the church as a whole.

[31:00] That's not what we're talking about. He says grant you. This unification is granted by God. We're talking about a supernatural thing here. We can agree and disagree on things all day long and still be unified.

[31:15] Still be unified as the body of Christ. There's churches right now that won't let me preach because I have a beard. I don't argue with them. I mean if that's part of your church's rule, God bless you.

[31:29] Y'all go and worship God. I ain't going to argue with them. I ain't going to fight with them over it. I mean there are churches and denominations and all kinds of things that have different views on different things.

[31:46] And some of it I see as very silly. But I've said many times if I walk into a sanctuary and somebody says we don't allow chewing gum in the church. I'll spit my gum out the door.

[31:57] That's their thing. Don't tell me that it's scripture. But God bless them. We cannot be disagreeing on things like that.

[32:07] We need to agree that Christ was born of a virgin. Christ did live a perfect life. Christ did give that perfect life as a sacrifice on behalf of sinners.

[32:19] Christ was put in the grave. He rose again the third and appointed morning. He has since ascended to the Father. And He forever sits at His right hand to intercess and mediate on behalf of everyone that has repented of their sin and believed in His gospel.

[32:34] We must agree on that. But other things like what we should eat and what we shouldn't. What days we should keep and what we shouldn't.

[32:45] Folks those things don't matter. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ. Not according to the pastor.

[32:58] That's right. I understand this is Pastor Appreciation Day and I appreciate David and he ain't even my pastor. I do. Y'all got a fine man of God here. But we need to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ.

[33:15] Amen. According to Him. Not according to what your opinion is. Not according to what my opinion is. But according to Christ. Verse 6 again. That ye may be with one mind and one mouth.

[33:27] That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God. Even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the whole purpose of all of this. The purpose of unity isn't that we all just get along.

[33:39] The purpose of unity isn't that we all dress a certain way. Or that we all do a certain thing at a certain time. The purpose of unity within the church is that it brings glory to God.

[33:50] Amen. And that is the church's primary focus. People will say, I thought the church's primary focus was to go out and preach the gospel and win people to Jesus Christ. That brings glory to God.

[34:02] The church's purpose is to glorify God and to exalt and lift up the name of Jesus Christ. That is our purpose here. God didn't save you because you deserved it.

[34:13] He didn't save you because you were a good boy or a good girl or anything along those lines. He saved you to bring glory to Himself. That's right. And if you're living a life that's not bringing glory to God, you need to read back through these scriptures.

[34:26] Amen. You need to read some other scriptures along with it. God saves us for His glory. Salvation is by Christ alone, through faith alone, to the glory of God.

[34:37] Amen. Alone. That you may be with one mind and one mouth glorified God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what has Paul done here? He's went from telling us we need to get along, basically.

[34:52] We need to bear the infirmities of those that are weaker than us. We need to do these things. We need to be unified. But he's used scripture as a way to do that.

[35:06] Up there in verse 3. And he's also using prayer. Because he says, Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[35:23] Folks, anything that we speak to God, whether it be as a congregation, one mouth, whether it be as an individual with one mouth, anything that we speak to God is a prayer.

[35:34] It is a prayer that we are making under God, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So if you're wanting to know how to go about doing this, it is through scripture and it is through prayer.

[35:51] Amen. How are we to be unified? It is through scripture and it is through prayer. Amen. Verse 7 again, Wherefore, receive ye one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

[36:02] Again, we're talking about two different groups of people, Jews and Gentiles. And they weren't getting along within the church at Rome because some were saying we need to do this and that.

[36:13] And others were saying, I don't think I need to do this and that. He said, Wherefore, receive ye one another. Receive ye one another. As Christ also received us to the glory of God.

[36:24] Folks, Christ did not receive me as a clean, regenerated person. I came to Christ as a broken sinner that deserved hell.

[36:38] Yes, sir. As a rebel against God. That's how I came to Christ. And that's how he accepted me. Now, he didn't leave me like that. I ain't got it. He didn't leave me like that.

[36:48] That's regeneration. That's the new birth. That's becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus. But receive one another. I said to them folks, I can't preach at their church because I have a beard.

[37:02] I'll still receive them. I can still worship God with them. They haven't denied me access to their church. Just no access to the pulpit. And that's fine. I can get along fine with them.

[37:15] Receive ye one another. Even as Christ received you. Christ did not receive any of us in a perfect condition. But I praise God for when Jesus Christ told the scribes in the Gospels, He said the publicans and the harlots will inherit the kingdom before you do.

[37:34] Yep. And why did he say that? Because when John the Baptist came out of the wilderness preaching repentance and preaching the gospel, the publicans and the harlots are the ones that believed it.

[37:46] Yes. They're the ones that believed. The scribes questioned it. The scribes said there couldn't possibly be this way. This couldn't possibly be the Son of God. But the publicans and harlots, they received it and they accepted it and they believed it.

[38:01] That's how every one of us came to Christ. And that's how He received us. And that's how we need to receive one another. You're not perfect.

[38:11] I'm not perfect. And you and I, I promise you, I promise you, you and I will disagree on some things within this book. Sure. In fact, I could name some of the things that we would disagree on.

[38:23] But like I said, they're not important. In light of eternity, they are not important. Amen. Right. And I'm about six verses shy where I hope to get to.

[38:36] And that's okay. Bless. That's all I got this morning. God bless you all. I appreciate your attention. I appreciate the opportunity to come and be with you all this morning. Bless. Amen.