ROMANS 15:1-13 RECEIVE ONE ANOTHER BECAUSE OF THE GOSPEL2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Romans 15:1-13 Receive One Another Because Of The Gospel

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015. And we are going to be in Romans chapter 15 this evening, looking at verses 1 through 13. And so let's take a moment to begin by reading through this passage together. Romans chapter 15 verse 1 says...

Verse 4.

Verse 7.

Verse 9.

And again he says,

And again, praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. Laud him, all you peoples. And again, Isaiah says, there shall be a root of Jesse, and he shall rise to reign over the Gentiles. In him, the Gentiles shall have hope, or shall hope. Verse 13. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here in Romans chapter 15 this evening, the title of the message is, Receive One Another Because of the Gospel. And

And we've been looking at the gospel message throughout the book of Romans. Paul's been explaining in chapters 1 through 11 why we need the gospel and how the gospel works and how it impacts our spiritual lives and how it's, you know, the same for Jews and Gentiles and how we receive the gospel. And then from chapter 12 on, he's been talking about all the impacts of the gospel. Once you understand the gospel and believe the gospel message, it changes.

changes your life. And he's been walking us through the changes, the impacts, the results of us believing in the gospel message, believing that Jesus Christ died upon the cross for our sins, and that by faith in him, we have everlasting life, and we have forgiveness of sins. It's an incredible message that changes everything we know, everything that we do.

Now, last time, or two weeks ago, really, in chapter 14 of Romans, we were talking about the

the change for us in our relationship to one another to not despise or judge one another because of different freedoms or different habits or different things that people do. And really, as we head into chapter 15 now, we're continuing that subject, talking about Christian liberties, talking about personal convictions, but really talking about how we treat one another and

When we have different opinions, when we have different practices, different convictions or freedoms. And the specific examples that Paul used in chapter 14 was eating only of vegetables. That was one of the conditions that was going on there. There were people who would only eat vegetables. And it stirred up within the church some despising and some judging.

And those who would eat the vegetables only would despise those who, or would judge those who eat meat also. And the people who eat meat also despised the people who ate vegetables only. And so there was this kind of division, this animosity between them.

There was also divisions that were happening based on the specific days to worship God and which feasts to participate in and all of that. And so Paul was using that as an example to say, let's not treat each other this way because of the gospel, because the gospel unifies us and washes away all of that. All of those things are not essential.

They're not, you know, big deals in the big picture. The gospel is the message that we are to center our lives around. And if it's not an issue with the gospel, then let's not make it an issue between us. It's not worth dividing over.

Now, Paul used those two specific examples, and they may seem, you know, not that big of a deal for us, but it was really a big deal for the church in Rome and for much of the New Testament church, actually. These were real strong cultural issues. These were cultures clashing. And if you've ever heard about, you know, culture shock or experienced a little bit of culture shock, you can maybe get a little bit of a picture of what they might have experienced.

I think it's a little bit different for us because living in California, I mean, we live in, they call it the melting pot, right? Because there's all these different cultures that we have, you know, experience with and we're encountering people from other cultures. And there's also an understanding and acceptance of

you know, there's a lot of different opinions and a lot of different backgrounds and all of that. But for them at the church in Rome, there was a much stronger contrast. There wasn't a mix of all kinds of cultures. You know, there was, as is often divided this way in scriptures, there's Jews and Gentiles.

Now, a Gentile is just basically anybody who is not from Jewish descent. So if you're not a child of Abraham, physically, biologically, then that makes you a Gentile. And so the Jews were raised with these really clear, strict cultural, social, and biblical guidelines and instruction.

But then as they became believers in Jesus, they accepted Jesus as the Messiah, it changed their life and it also challenged their cultures and the things that they were raised in. I would ask you to consider, just to help you kind of picture this a little bit, picture a potluck at the church in Rome.

And maybe this will help us, you know, try to kind of picture some of the issues that they might be having. So you have a church potluck and Jews and Gentiles are attending. And as Jews and Gentiles are attending this potluck and I come to the potluck and I show up with a tray full of bacon. Now, instantly there's a division within the church as I show up with a tray full of bacon.

because there's going to be some observation. Who's going to eat the bacon and who is not going to eat the bacon? Because for a Jew, from their culture, from the instruction that God gave them in the Old Testament, they were not to eat pork. They were not to eat bacon. And so it would be forbidden for them. It was not kosher. And so the Jews would watch those who would eat the bacon, the Gentiles, and they would

You know, be talking with their mouth full and like, are you sure you don't want some of this bacon? You know, and it would be offensive to them. It would be, you know, something that was really, you know, so contrary to all that they've ever known. But then there was also those Jews who had experienced the freedom in Christ. Like Peter, as he was, you know, spoken to by the Lord, don't call the things that I've cleansed unclean. And so there was a change from the Old Testament to the New Testament in the dietary requirements.

And Paul has explained that a couple times in different passages. But so there would be Jews who were like, hey, we're free in Christ. We can have bacon. And so now there's these Jews eating bacon, and the other Jews who aren't eating bacon are upset with the Jews who are eating bacon, and there's now even more tension between them.

But then there's the Gentiles looking down on the Jews who are not eating, trying to get them to taste it. You know, like, hey, are you sure? This is really good. You don't know what you're missing out on. And so there's this back and forth that's going on. So next time we plant a potluck, well, now we're thinking ahead of time, OK,

we've got to decide whether or not we're going to allow this kind of thing to go on. And so next time, okay, for the next potluck, let's make a plan. Let's make some rules. And we're going to have a potluck, but nobody bring bacon because it caused too much trouble last time. And maybe you can start to get the picture. And this is just a silly example. They were dealing with real issues that

really, you know, hit people to the core and really challenged them and challenged all that they'd ever known. And so now there's these struggles going on. There's these divisions, you know. Here's the bacon eating group and here's the group that doesn't eat bacon or eats only vegetables. Now the main thing is not really about whether or not you eat bacon. The main thing is how do we treat one another when we have those kinds of differences? Now again, culturally we don't have that kind of

with a lot of things, but we do have those kinds of divisions over things like drinking alcohol as Christians, certain movies or TV or watching cable, parenting styles, worship styles, Christmas trees or not, you know, celebrating Halloween or not, all kinds of doctrinal divisions and prophecy, how you interpret prophecy and understand the end times. And there is lots of things that Christians divide over today and

And so it's appropriate for us to consider these things, not because of that specific issue that they were facing, but because we still need to learn how to treat one another when we have different opinions and when we have different issues that we face. Now, as we get into this, I do want to make myself clear and make sure that we understand that

in all of this, we're not talking about actual sin issues. We're not talking about where the Bible has said, this is sinful. You must not, you shall not practice these things because no Christian has the freedom to sin or to live in sin. And so that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about other areas where the Bible is not specifically addressing it.

And there are those areas that we have to decide what's right for us. And in chapter 14, Paul said, let each one be persuaded in his own mind. And so there's a lot of things in life that you're going to have to seek the Lord on for yourself and decide, well, this is what God wants for me. But the danger is,

Because we've had to process that and think through, well, is this okay for me? Many times we can try to project that on everybody else. Well, this is not okay for me. This is not okay for you either. You should not be doing this. I don't do this. I prayed about it. This is what God told me. But where the scripture is not clear, that's room for us to have personal convictions and we're not to try to make everybody have the same convictions.

opinions, convictions that we have. And so we're not talking about sin. We're talking about those areas that are not addressed. And how do we treat one another when we have differences of opinion in those things? And so again, the title is Receive One Another Because of the Gospel. And so the point is what we're to do, how we're to treat one another is with reception. We're to receive one another, to embrace one another, to still love one another because

Because what we are loving around, the whole thing that brings us together, is not if we agree on every single detail of our lives.

but it's because we agree about the gospel message. And so there's four points I'd like to share with you this evening here in Romans chapter 15. The first one is found in verse one, and that is to bear with the weak. Here's how we're to treat one another in regard to these things. When there are the weak among us, we are to bear with them. Paul says in verse one again, we then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak people.

So he says, Now, who are the strong that Paul is talking about here? And who are the weak? You could look back at Romans chapter 14, verse 2, and Paul there says, But one who is weak eats only vegetables.

And so there Paul says the one with the stricter diet, the one with the, you know, the stricter requirements that, well, it really has to be this way. He says that's the weak one. And the stronger one realizes, hey, all things are, you know, able to be eaten and it's not a big deal.

And so that's how Paul refers to the strong and the weak there in Romans chapter 14. But again, it's not just that specific issue only. It's any issue where there's stricter requirements that we set,

rather than, or like the requirements that we set are stricter or greater than what the Bible actually sets, than what God actually determines. Because God does set boundaries, but we have the potential to set our own boundaries far beyond the boundaries that God actually sets. And we try to make spiritual issues of things that are not spiritual issues.

He says to bear with the scruples of the weak. The word scruples is the idea of an error that arises from weakness of mind. It's an error. It's a conclusion that's made that's not made with the full understanding of what the scripture says or from the whole picture. And so there are times that we, because we don't understand everything, and so this applies to all of us in many cases, we don't understand everything. We don't have the full sense of what God has said. And so we can come to

bad conclusions. They're errors. Now, that doesn't make them sinful, but we can place limitations on ourselves that don't have to be there because of the weakness of the mind. And so you can decide, well, I'm going to eat only vegetables because God will love me more or God wants me to be that way. It's better for me spiritually. I'll be closer to God if I eat only vegetables. And we can make those kinds of limitations on ourselves. And Paul says, that's not really a spiritual issue.

But here's the point. When there's someone next to you that has that kind of limitation on themselves, and it's not really a biblical limitation, but they have it, he says, then if you don't have that limitation, you're strong. So bear with the scruples of the weak. So help them through that. Help them with that.

In other words, don't torture them over it. You know, they're really tortured over the idea of eating bacon or you eating bacon and you're offering it to them. That's not bearing with the scruples of the weak, but be considerate of them. And that's what he goes on to say here. He says, and to not please ourselves. So as we talk about bearing with the weak, we're connecting that to the understanding that

I'm not living to please myself. It's not all about me, but it's about other people and these people who are dealing with these things. And we may think that, hey, that's like a little struggle. That's a little thing. I don't know why you're hung up on that. They're hung up on it. And it's not just a little trifle thing for them. It's something serious that they're dealing with. And so he says, don't just, you know, despise them or judge them or think little of them.

hey, you have strength, help them. Now, I kind of like the way that Paul puts it here. We who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak. He kind of leaves it up to interpretation. So sometimes people get really upset, but Paul would say, well, are you strong in the Lord? Oh, yeah, I'm strong in the Lord. So, okay, well,

Don't be so upset with the people that have those things then or don't do those things. Hey, if you're strong, use your strength to help the weak. Don't get upset and fight over it. Use your strength to show them. Use your strength to minister to them, to bless them. The idea of bearing with isn't just like,

You know, like you just kind of like, you know, grit your teeth and just like, okay, I'm just going to take it. And you're grumpy about it. But bearing with really means to support, to lift up. So help that brother. Help that sister who's struggling with that issue. The understanding here is that you might be right, right?

about the thing that they're struggling with, and they're limiting themselves far more than God would actually limit them. But you can be right about that and still handle it wrong and treat them poorly and not be, you know, supportive and encouraging and edifying to them. And so you handle it wrong, even though you are right. And that's what Paul says in Romans chapter 14, verse 20. He says, "'Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.'"

All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. So you can destroy because you have a greater understanding, a better understanding, but you can use that understanding to bring destruction into the life of someone else. And so bear with the scruples of the weak. And he says, and do not please ourselves. And so when they have the potluck, don't bring the stuff that offends people.

In your home, you can eat bacon all day long if you want to. But if that causes a big issue with people at the church, don't bring bacon to the potluck. That's what Paul is saying here. But you might be thinking, well, I want to eat bacon at the potluck. Well, understand, this isn't about you pleasing yourself.

And we need to understand this. We need to remember that what the Lord calls us to do is to die to ourselves, to minister to others. And so if you want bacon, great. Go have bacon in your home. You know, have your freedom to yourself. And that's fine. And you can rejoice with the Lord in that.

But don't force on these things because you want that. But if it's causing, you know, issues in the lives of other believers. And so don't just consider yourself. Consider how it will affect others. And Paul here is teaching us to limit our freedoms in order to care for other people.

And so where there is those problems, there is those issues that people have, it's up to the strong. You have strength, you have greater knowledge, you have greater spiritual walk, great. So limit your freedoms to help those who are struggling with these kinds of issues. Well, going on into verse two through four, we have point number two, and that is to be a pleasant neighbor.

I like this idea, being a pleasant neighbor. It's something important for us to grasp hold of. In verse 2, he says, So at the end of verse 1, Paul says, The word please means to be agreeable. And that's an important word for us to think about and consider.

We are to be agreeable to our neighbors, to the people around us, specifically within the church, to other believers around us. We're to please them. We're to be pleasant to be around, in other words. And the objective is to benefit, he says, for his good, leading to edification. So be pleasant so that you can benefit other people, so that you can edify them or help them grow.

The reality is that there are some things that are worth fighting over, but there are many more things that are not worth fighting over. When it comes to who Jesus is, absolutely. We need to be clear about that. We need to agree about that. When it comes to how to be saved, when it comes to the core doctrines of the scriptures, absolutely worth fighting for.

But there's so many more things that are not worth fighting about, that are not worth being disagreeable, being militant over and dividing over. For the most part, we just need to be pleasant.

And I think this is something that, you know, for us as a church, I'm talking collectively worldwide, you know, so many times it's easy for us to get in this spot where we are just angry, we're upset, we're negative, you know, we're, you know, we're not pleasant to be around because, you know, we're all caught up in these little things that don't actually matter.

And what we need to do is to let the gospel impact us in such a way that we're so consumed with the gospel message that because of the gospel, we receive one another and that we're pleasant to be around. I was thinking about many years back, youth group days when I would go to the youth group with or go to Magic Mountain with the youth group.

And I always loved, one of my favorite things was talking Pastor Sisko onto the rides. Now, Pastor Sisko hates wild rides. If you know anything about Sisko, right? He is scared easily. He's a big guy, and you think you should be scared of him, but he's scared of everything, right? Now, I love wild rides, and so I love to go on them, and it's enjoyable for me to

to get Pastor Cisco onto the ride with me. And so we would go to Magic Mountain and I would make it my mission

to get Cisco on the ride. I'd be persuading him. I'd be tricking him. I'd be guilting him. I'd be using every tactic in the book to try to get Cisco on the ride with me. And many times, it would be effective. And I would get him on the ride. And he would regret it. And he would be angry. And he would be hurting and all upset afterwards. And then two rides later, I'd be trying to get, hey, Cisco, this one's a lot easier. It's a lot better. Why don't you get on with me? Now, I had a great time at those trips, right?

Looking back, I realize I wasn't a pleasant neighbor. I was bullying him, beating him up, you know, making him feel bad and getting him on, forcing him into these things that he didn't want to do. That's not a pleasant neighbor. And that's what Paul's talking about here. Be pleasing your neighbor. You don't got to bully them to believe what you believe and have every opinion that you have and do everything the way that you do it.

Just bear with them. Just be pleasant to be around. Don't fight over all the little things. Sure, we can have good discussions. But a lot of times, those good discussions aren't really that good of discussions. You've got to have a real friendship with someone to really go to battle over some good things and be able to maintain a good relationship with

And so you need to learn to keep it pleasant, to keep it so that after they're done spending time with you, they're like, hey, that was nice. That was enjoyable. That was good. I'm glad we spent time together.

I think way too many times believers come in contact with one another, and you walk away, and it was like, I'm sure glad that's over. I hope that doesn't happen again. Next time I see them, I'm avoiding them. And we got to be careful to let the gospel be the thing that we center ourselves around so that all these other things are not such a big issue that we can't be pleasant to be around. Well, he gives us the example of Christ in verse 3. He says,

But as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. And here Paul quotes from Psalm chapter 69 verse 9. And so he quotes this and gives Jesus as the example that he experienced reproach. He didn't live to please himself. If he lived to please himself, he would not have experienced reproach.

he was not living to please himself. He was living to please God, and that brought upon him the reproach of those who were against God. In verse 4, he goes on to say, for whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. And so Paul throws in kind of a quick side note here. He says, okay, I'm quoting this verse because these things were written so that we would have hope.

Comfort, so that we would have instruction. It's for our learning, right?

that these things were written. And so he says, I'm quoting from the scriptures. And in a couple of verses, he's going to quote from four other passages. And so these are things that are written. The scriptures are written for our learning. And so the Bible talks about the reproaches of those who reproached God fell on Jesus. Now, what does that mean? Well, he's saying, look, learn from this lesson. Jesus did not live to please himself.

If he lived to please himself, he wouldn't go to the cross. He wouldn't have gone to the cross. He would have gone away from that. He would have avoided all the difficulties if he was living to please himself. But he was living to please the Father. And so he experienced reproach by the people who were opposed to the Father. And so he gives us this example to say, look, Jesus didn't live to please himself. So don't you live to please yourself either.

Don't live that way. Don't be most concerned about what makes you comfortable, what makes you happy, what you find enjoyable. Instead, you need to die to yourself and to focus more on what does the Lord want, and also, how can I benefit others around me and bear it with them? They're irritating to be around, but they're weak and I'm strong, and so how can I die to myself to be a pleasant neighbor to them?

I like what Thomas Constable says about this. He says, we should not please others rather than God, but we should please others rather than ourselves. And so it gives us some priorities here. We need to seek to please God first. That's first and foremost. We need to live our lives in a way that we could say, God, here's my life. I'm living it to please you.

And there is the temptation to please others instead of God. There is going to be the pressure where people around us disagree with God and would rather us behave in a way or believe in a way that is agreeable to them, but not agreeable to God. And in that instance, we need to make sure we please God and we serve God and we are faithful to God. But then there's also a bunch of other situations where we're going to have to decide between pleasing ourselves and pleasing others.

And Paul says, well, Thomas Constable says, in those situations, we need to make the decision to please others and not ourselves, to put the needs of others first so that we can be pleasant to be around, so that we can be enjoyable to be around. Now, I'm not picking on anybody in particular, okay, as I talk about this next thing, okay, just to make that clear, right? But you know, there's sometimes that people will walk into a room and

And it's like, OK, I'm here. Now, everything has to revolve around me. Maybe you experienced this at Thanksgiving. You know, you've got that one family member that, you know, it's like, I'm here. So the music has to be set, you know, the way that I want it. Or the TV has to be on the channel that I want. We have to have the kind of food that I like. The temperature needs to be the temperature that I want. And it's like, everybody accommodate my needs, right?

And there are those people that we encounter in life. And again, I'm not pointing fingers. I don't know if any of you are like that. But I'm sure you've known people who are like that. Now, Paul is saying, don't be like that. As a Christian, don't be like that. Don't be one that everybody has to bend to your wants and your wishes. And, well, this is what they want. This is how it has to be because this is how they want it. And Paul says, you know, you should really be like that.

Be more pleasant to be around. It's not really pleasant when you're that way. And for us as believers, Christians become unpleasant when they make it their mission to make you think or do what they think and do. And so, hey, I believe this. And so now it's my mission to make you believe the way that I believe.

Now again, there are some things that are worth fighting over. There's core doctrines to the Christian faith. There's essential things and truths that we must agree on, and they're worth fighting over. But the majority of the things that we fight over, the majority of the things that divide Christians, are not those essentials. They're not those core doctrines. So don't do that. Don't make it your mission to make everybody believe what you believe.

And it's not pleasant to be around when you're like that because, well, every time you see that person who is that way, you know you're going to have to deal with, oh, yeah, they have that favorite doctrine. They're on a mission. Everybody needs to believe. Everybody needs to hear their opinions about why that's the best way to believe and why that's the best way to do things. And so you know. You see them come, and you're like, oh, man, I don't want to talk about that. I'm tired of talking about that. It's not enjoyable. It's not helpful. It's not pleasant. It's not pleasant.

And that's a danger for us. We become unpleasant when it's our mission to make people do things or believe things or think things or have that same discussion or have that same mindset that they have. And that's not the way that God's called us to be. There's one thing worth fighting over, the central thing, the gospel message. And essentially everything else is

is up for discussion, and it's okay, and it's not worth fighting over. And so we need to make sure that we're a pleasant neighbor, that we're enjoyable to be around, that people look forward to, they're refreshed and encouraged by spending time with us, not beaten down and just wore out because we're trying to make them fit into our mold and think what we think and believe what we believe. Well, finally, or not finally, but thirdly,

I gave you a little bit of hope and I took it away. I'm sorry. Verses 5 through 7, point number 3, glorify God together. Verse 5 says, now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus. So Paul says, now kind of a prayer. He's praying for the Romans that God would give them like-mindedness.

And I think it's interesting. Notice the characteristics of God that Paul highlights as he prays for their like-mindedness. He says, the God of patience and comfort. When it comes to like-mindedness, we need the God of patience. We need the God of patience to have patience on us, but then also to give us patience with one another. And so that's an important thing to understand, that this is not an easy thing. What Paul is asking us to do can only be done through

by the gospel message. You see, because the radical message of the gospel and the way it communicates to us the truth of who God is and how we approach him, it's the only message that's powerful enough for us to be like-minded, to be able to set aside those other things and

And again, dealing with the Jews and the Gentiles in Paul's day, these are things that culturally they were raised with. These are core to who they are. And so these are not just on the surface issues, but these are real issues that they're battling with, they're struggling with, that they've known all their lives and they believe strongly about.

It's only the gospel message that can unite people in that way to be like-minded. But it does require for God to have patience on us and to give us his patience for one another. And the God of comfort. Again, because there's a lot of turmoil over these things. There's a lot of guilt. There's a lot of burden. There's a lot of stress and tension. And the God of comfort is the one who gives us the patience.

And we need the God of comfort to be involved. We need comfort from God so that we can comfort one another in order to be like-minded. And so it really requires us to look to God, to be comforted by God, and to have patience from God for one another in order for us to be like-minded. Verse 6, he goes on to say that you may be with one, or that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here is the real mission here.

A lot of times we get on a mission and it's the wrong mission. But here's the real mission. Your life is to be glorifying to God. That's your mission. And as a body of Christ, as believers who gather together, our mission is to be glorifying to God. Our gatherings, our church services, our fellowship is to be glorifying to God. And so this is the real mission. And so we bear with the weak and

so that we can glorify God with one mind and one mouth. And we're pleasant to one another. We're a pleasant neighbor, so that we can glorify God with one mind and one mouth. And that's what Paul is saying here, is the whole objective here is so that we can be together and work together to glorify God.

But what happens so many times is that we are divided, and division is a tactic of Satan. It's a tactic that distracts us from our real mission. And so now we're on this other mission, and we're trying to get people to be on our side and believe what we believe or do what we do or think the way that we think. And now we're on this pursuit, and we've forgotten about the real mission of living our lives in a way that is glorifying to God.

This is an effective tool that the enemy uses. And this is why it's so important for us to understand. We have to fight against division. We have to fight for unity, not fight one another and be divided, but we need to fight to stay together and to be pleasant to one another and to bear with one another and to love one another.

Because Satan wants to divide us, to distract us, to get us off course. Don't let yourself be used as an instrument of the enemy in that way. It's an effective tool. It works really well. So make sure that you're not the tool. You're not the one that the enemy is using to bring division. And again, we could consider all kinds of division. Divisions around doctrine. Again, that is not essential doctrines.

divisions around convictions that we might have. Or many times, of course, division is created because of sin that happens or hurts that are done towards one another because that's what happens as we gather together. We're sinful and we're going to hurt one another. And we need to be careful that we don't allow division to derail the real mission, that we bear with one another, that we are a pleasant neighbor so that we can glorify God together, so that we can be like-minded. Verse 7 says,

Therefore, receive one another, just as Christ also received us to the glory of God. And so he says, receive one another. This is how we're to behave. Since our mission is to glorify God, here's what we must do. Receive one another. In the same way that Christ received you, receive the believers around you. This word receive is

It's used in a variety of contexts, and I want to walk you through some of those contexts. I shared it also two weeks ago, but I think it's good to refresh our memories in this so that we understand kind of the implications of what Paul is talking about here. The word receive literally means to take to yourself. Take to yourself.

And so to receive one another, that means I take you and I bring you to myself. Now, that's not talking about possession or ownership, but it's just a closeness. And the word is used to take as one's companion. So, hey, I'm going to the store. You know, would you come with me? You're my companion. Or I'm going to work on this project. You know, would you be alongside of me in this? To receive one another means to have that kind of companionship together.

But it also is used to talk about taking someone by the hand. So this isn't just we're walking together or we're working together, but we're hand in hand together. There's a closeness there. There's an intimacy there. There's a relationship that is a little bit deeper than on the surface doing things together. It can also be used to talk about receiving someone into your home.

And so it's that hospitality, that welcoming in. And so as he talks about receiving one another, we're to have these kinds of ideas in mind and this type of way of receiving that, hey, we'll work together and we'll be hand in hand and you're welcome in my home. Come and be where I live. And you have that kind of relationship together. But then it is even used in more intimate ways. It talks about granting access to your heart to someone.

And so that's letting someone know who you really are and not just on the surface discussions, but this is who I am. This is what I struggle with. This is the areas that I have strengths. This is what I love. This is what I'm passionate about. This is my heart. And so it's describing all these kinds of friendships and these relationships that we can have with one another. And he says, receive one another in this way, just as Christ received us.

receive one another in the same way that Christ has received us. So don't divide over all these lesser issues. You believe the gospel message, that's enough for you to be my friend and for you to be in my home and for me to walk with you hand in hand. And you can have access to my heart because we're centered around, we're in agreement on God.

the gospel. We're in agreement on who Jesus is and what he's done for us. Hey, we can disagree and have different opinions about anything else, but on those core essential doctrines of the faith, we agree, and so we can receive one another. We can have real friendship with one another. We can let all lesser things go. We can let all the little things go, even all the big things that are big for us, but they're not big according to the scriptures.

And we can pleasantly discuss and consider other viewpoints. That's totally fine. But we don't have to fight or divide or be upset over those things. Instead, we can be together, friends with one another, love for one another, fellowship with one another in order to glorify God together. Again, that's the objective. That's the mission.

Jesus told us in John chapter 13, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Here's your main mission, Jesus says. Love one another, because that's going to be the way that the world will know that you're my disciples. You want to glorify God? Have really awesome, good relationships with other believers.

love one another in the same way that Christ has loved us. And he says, receive one another in the same way that Christ has received us. And think about how Jesus received you. He didn't make you think everything that he thinks and believe everything that he believes and, you know, make sure you get everything straight so that then you could finally have relationship with him. He invited you into relationship with him, however you thought and whatever you believed.

And he said, come on in. Yeah. And hey, in the process of the relationship, we're going to talk about these things. And he's going to deal with those things in our lives in a gentle and pleasant way. The Lord is pleasant to be around. And he calls us to be believers that are like that, that we receive one another. Yeah, you might have different opinions. And maybe yours are wrong. Or maybe mine's wrong. But we're going to seek the Lord together. We're going to talk about those things. We're going to have a good time doing it. And we're going to love one another through the whole process.

When we are divided, we will not be effective at glorifying God. We can't glorify God divided. John says later on in the epistle of 1 John, if we hate our brother but say that we love God, he says, you're a liar. You're lying. If you hate other believers but you say, I love God, you're lying. It's not true. We have to love one another in order to be able to glorify God together. Well, let's finish it up in verse 8 through 13. Here's point number 4.

and we're to serve one another like Jesus.

So not only do we glorify God together, but we serve one another. In verse 8, he says, And so now Paul's going to elaborate on this picture of Jesus. So receive Jesus or receive one another as Jesus received you. And then he considers that a little bit further. Think about how Jesus served others.

What did Jesus do? He became a servant to the circumcision. Now, the circumcision is a reference to the Jewish people. And Jesus was Jewish. He came to the Jews and lived as a Jew according to the laws that were given to Jews. But what's interesting to think about that is all the liberties that were accomplished by Jesus, right?

could have been enjoyed by Jesus because his coming was the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new covenant. It was a change in what God required of his people. And so Jesus could have enjoyed all the liberties that he wanted, but he became a servant to the circumcision and he limited his freedoms to

to fit in with the rules and the regulations that God had set for the Jewish people. He came and lived life as a Jewish man in order to confirm the promises that were made in the Old Testament.

And so all of the hundreds of prophecies about the Savior that God would send that we find in the Old Testament are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He walked in that. He made himself a servant of those things so that, going into verse 9, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. So you see what Jesus did here. He came as a servant to the circumcision, to the Jewish people, to the Old Covenant. And as a servant to the Old Covenant, what he accomplished was

If you think about this, this is kind of an interesting method. Jesus did not reach the Gentiles by becoming like the Gentiles. He didn't reach the Gentiles by even going to the Gentiles. In fact, he specifically focused on the Gentiles.

on the nation of Israel, the Jewish people. That's whom the Father sent him to reach. And so Jesus reached the Gentiles by fulfilling his call among the Jews. Now, why am I making all this point? Well, because of this. Our call is to glorify God and to reach the world around us with the gospel message. And I'm not suggesting that we're not to, you know, reach out and share the gospel message, but here's what I'm suggesting.

Our reaching out to unbelievers will never be effective if we do not love one another. See, loving one another in the same way that Jesus came and served the circumcision, we are called to serve one another, to receive one another, to bear with the weak and be a pleasant neighbor and to love one another. And that is the way, that is the core thing. And the overflow of that will be the reaching out to the world around us.

And again, I'm not saying we don't go out. We send out missionaries. Yeah, that's important. That's part of it. We do go preach the gospel. But if we try to do all of those things without the first step of loving one another and serving one another and bearing with one another and being a pleasant neighbor, it's not going to be effective. The way that we reach the world is by, first of all, loving one another as believers in Jesus Christ. It's what God's called us to do.

Now, Paul will kind of illustrate this a little bit in the next few verses with four different quotations from the Old Testament. And we're not going to dig into these in great depth, but let me just read verse 9 again to you. It says that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy as it is written. For this reason, I will confess to you among the Gentiles and sing to your name. And this is a quotation from Psalm chapter 18, verse 49. And so the result of Jesus' confession

serving the circumcision was that the Gentiles would glorify God. And the Gentiles would, well, they would get to experience or hear about the Savior. The witness would be brought to the Gentiles about the Savior because Jesus was a servant to the circumcision. And then in verse 10, and again he says, This is a quotation from Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 43.

And so it goes from, okay, the Gentiles are going to hear about Jesus because he was a servant to the circumcision. But now the Gentiles are going to get an invitation. Hey, come rejoice with the people of God. So not only do you get to hear about the Messiah, the Savior, but you get an invite to come participate in that and rejoice and celebrate with the people of God. And so Jesus serving the circumcision results in joy.

the witness going forth, and then the invitation being brought to Gentiles to join in. And then in verse 11, And this is a quote from Psalm 117, verse 1.

And so it goes from a witness to the Gentiles to an invitation for the Gentiles to join in and then a call for the Gentiles to praise the Lord, to worship the Lord, to engage with God. It's an invitation, a call for them to be saved and to enjoy all the benefits of salvation. And then in verse 12, and again, Isaiah says, "'There shall be a root of Jesse, "'and he who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, "'in him the Gentiles shall hope.'"

And this is from Isaiah chapter 11, verse 10. And so here you see that there's hope for the Gentiles. And so here's the point. Jesus served the circumcision. And as a result of him fulfilling the call of God in his life, the Gentiles were witnessed to, they were invited to join, they were called to praise, and now they have hope. They have eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ because he did what God had called him to do in serving the circumcision. And the

Application of that for us, what Paul is saying is, OK, so we need to receive one another in the way that Christ received us. We need to serve one another like Jesus served. We need to fulfill our call, the fulfillment of what God has for us in our life. And that's the most effective way to be a witness, to invite unbelievers to join with us and call them to believe in Jesus and give them hope of everlasting life.

And that's why I often say the best thing that you can do for your friends, your family, your co-workers is to be right with God by faith in Jesus Christ and have an awesome relationship with God. It's the best thing that you can do in order to reach the world around you. But in this context, Paul is saying Christians have really good relationships with one another because that's the best thing that you can do. The overflow of that is the reaching out to unbelievers and

that they will be invited to join and they'll be called to praise the Lord and they'll be able to have the hope of everlasting life by faith in Christ if you love one another and receive one another because of the gospel. Well, finishing up in verse 13, he says, And I think this is an appropriate verse to

for us to conclude with this evening. Because, well, again, we started out praying for the tragedy that took place today in San Bernardino and those who were killed and just horrific things that happened. But again, all of those kinds of things are happening all over the world. There's tragedy everywhere. There's all kinds of hurt and heartache. But he

But he concludes here saying, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. And so our relationship with one another and receiving one another, the result of the gospel and our serving and loving one another benefits us.

In that we get to be filled with joy and peace. In the midst of turmoil, in the midst of a crazy, insane world, in the midst of all the hurts and pains that we face, by believing in Jesus, we get to be filled with joy and peace and abounding with hope where we can look around the world and think there's no hope.

But there's hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we can have hope and be filled with joy and peace as we believe in the Lord, and specifically as we join together as believers, believing in Jesus, the best way for us to be filled with joy and peace and hope.

is to be believing in Jesus and loving one another as believers, joining together as believers. And as we join together, God does an amazing work of filling us with joy and peace and hope. And people, we need that. People need that. And again, this is why it's a much needed message in the church today. Satan uses the tactic of division, keeping us apart, keeping us separate, keeping us divided, because he doesn't want us to be filled with joy and peace and hope.

But if we'll love one another and receive one another because of the gospel, there's going to be a great work of God in our hearts that will overflow to the people around us. Let's pray. God, I pray that you would impress upon our hearts

the need, Lord, for these things that Paul is teaching. Lord, that we would have hearts that are consumed with the gospel, with the amazing thing that you've done for us in dying upon the cross for our sin, that by faith in you, we might have everlasting life. And Lord, that it's just by faith. There's no other requirements. You don't require for us to jump through hoops or keep a bunch of laws, but Lord, to approach you, believing you and receiving what you've done for us.

And God, I pray that you would give us such freedom in that, that you would give us such great peace and hope in the midst of that. But Lord, I pray that you'd also help us to be pleasant to be around in the midst of it, God, that we wouldn't...

take and limit our freedoms to things that you don't really pay that much attention to or talk about in your word, but Lord, that we would allow the freedom that you give to us to unite us together. Lord, that we wouldn't get upset or bent out of shape or distraught or divided over things that they might be big issues to us, Lord, but they're not big issues to you. Lord, help us not to live to please ourselves, but really to live to please you. And Lord, when we do that,

There's not going to be much that divides us. But Lord, we're going to be able to be united together and love one another. And Lord, as we do that, may you fill us with joy and peace and hope. Lord, that's the real way to be satisfied, to have the abundant life that you promise. And so Lord, fill us. Draw us near to you, but also near to one another. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

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