Hope that Glorifies
Notes
Transcript
So for the past several weeks, Paul's been highlighting for us the call that we should embrace the weak in faith.
That we should EMBRACE them...
BUT NOT so we can quarrel with them...trying to get them to live like us...
Now, I know that a lot of questions can run thru our minds when we hear these things...
Which is why we need to always remind ourselves of who Paul is talking to...and who he's talking about.
He’s talking to Christians....about Christians...
So if a friend of ours comes along, who is NOT a believer, and they express their opinion about a topic...
...we can surely discuss things with them...
...in LOVE...
That we might win them to Christ.
NOW, with that said...
What did Paul call us to:
Consider the conscience of those weaker in faith
Consider the conscience of those weaker in faith
• We should always filter...what we're doing thru the WORD of God...AND...
• We need to take into account those around us who are weaker in faith...
• ...And we should consider this because we know...
Serving Jesus doesn't include abusing the liberty found in Christ
Serving Jesus doesn't include abusing the liberty found in Christ
• We are free to eat whatever we want...but it's not always helpful...
• EATING things around the kids* - (THERE ARE THINGS THEY SHOULDN'T EAT)...SOOO there are times I need to decide NOT to eat those things
• And we do all these things -
• We think thru what the conversation is about (Essential or NON-Essential) things
• If it's a NON-ESSENTIAL issue...
• then we consider the conscience of the weaker brother or sister...
• ARE THEY GRIEVED BY THIS ISSUE...?
• IF SO...
• Then i need to adjust what i do BASED ON THAT, and not based on my freedom in CHRIST...
• Paul told us that the kingdom of GOD is about Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit...
And we need to take hold of this because – 3. FAITH IS AT STAKE
• WHEN we focus on those things...and NOT the NON-ESSENTIALS...
• we'll walk in LOVE...
• We'll walk like Jesus...
And this is what Paul is wanting...
He's wanting us to walk like Jesus did...
Think of all that Paul has called us to so far, since chapter 12...
Present your bodies as a living sacrifice
Be transformed in mind
Do not think more highly of yourself than you should
Look inward to gauge your own standing before God - look at your own faith
Have Genuine Love
Love one another
Outdo one another in showing honor
Do MANY things for Jesus
Rejoice in Hope of what's to come
Seek to show hospitality
Give lavishly
Bless those who persecute you
Show empathy to those around you
Live peaceably with all men
Overcome evil with good - be proactive in this
Submit to governing authorities
Love each other with a Christ-glorifying LOVE
Welcome those weak in faith
Do not cause another believer to stumble...
We read these words and think - HOW in the WORLD am I supposed to do this??
Today, Paul's going to point to the Example we have in Jesus Christ...
But not JUST that...
Paul's going to GROUND us in something that will help us joyfully embrace this LONG list...
What is he going to ground us in...let's see.
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
4 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.
5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,
6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
For the past couple of weeks, Paul has been giving us some declarative commands as to how we should live our lives in the midst of others...
And along the way Paul has helped us by giving us examples...
This week is no different.
There's 4 points we're going to make our way thru today...ALL of them connected with one POWERFUL thing...HOPE
Now, where do we find HOPE in these verses?
We're looking at verses 1-7, but this HOPE is mentioned in verse 4.
So verse 4 is actually going to be our anchor today...as we walk thru these verses...
So let's get our eyes on all the verses together...
*SLIDE 1 - Romans 15:1-7
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 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. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
SLIDE 2 - Hope Highlight (below)
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 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. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
See, Paul is calling us to be certain kinds of people...
And only BY HOPE can we actually HOPE to become more like what Paul wants us to be...
...more like Christ.
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
SLIDE: HOPE: Strong Faith Blesses Weak Faith...in Hope
HOPE
HOPE
Let's look at verses 1-2
*SLIDE 3 - Strong Bless Weak
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Let's stop there...
Again, in thinking back to our context here...Paul is focused on those strong in faith, and those weaker in faith.
And this week, Paul gives a little more detail as to how we go about ACCEPTING those weaker in faith...
he says - we have an obligation...
We, as believers....as those redeemed by Christ...MATURE in the faith...
Have an obligation...(the word here is - DEBT)...
...we owe this debt...
TO DO WHAT?
...to bear with the failings of the weak.
...to CARRY the failings of the weak...
...to ENDURE the failings of the weak...
Sounds like parents dealing with their children right?
Our kids are weak in so many areas...and what do we do as parents...?
We endure their failings...
We carry their failings...IN LOVE...sometimes (a LOT of times) neglecting our own preferences...
*Forsaking something permissible for the sake of a child (Food, Not Going on Trips, Hobbies, etc.) - (peanut butter, trips to Nashville)
Point being - it's not always fun to BEAR with the failings of the weak...
BUT - being STRONG in faith, we rest in - - the HOPE that we have (VERSE 4).
And resting in THAT HOPE, our minds solely focused on what? Pleasing them!
Making sure they're OK...
Building them up!
This is what HOPE does!
HOPE helps us see thru the struggles....the pain...TO THE joy before us...
**Are there people in your life who - seem to ALWAYS increase your HOPE?? Man - praise God for that!
And we saw this back in Romans 5
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And so it seems like this HOPE builds us up...makes us stronger...
And we NEED this HOPE don't we?
14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
Man, most days we're just trying to figure out how we're going to get dinner ready by 5:30
Most days we're just trying to keep our kids alive.
Most days we're just trying to keep from going postal!
We KNOW this is true...ALL THE MORE reason that we need this HOPE...
Why?
Because we are called to these things...
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
So this HOPE that we rest in...builds up ENDURANCE as we look forward to what's coming!
And it's by this endurance that we're able to now BEAR the failings of the weak...
...to welcome them and embrace them! - PURSUE their GOOD!
NOW, who else do we know that sounds like this?
Someone that bore the failings of the weak...?
Yes - Christ...
We see these attributes in Christ...
But why does Paul point us here to Christ?
Well...I think we'd agree that He's the BEST example that we have...
Well...I think we'd agree that He's the BEST example that we have...
SLIDE: HOPE: Found in Jesus Christ, Our Example
HOPE
HOPE
Let's look at verse 3
*SLIDE 4 - Christ our Example
3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
So what Paul's saying here is this - If you want to become the kind of person who joyfully serves others...
Then look to Christ...
But don't just look to Christ...
Look to His sin-bearing, substitutionary work on the cross!
This is how we change.
We look at the One who took upon Himself the FAILINGS of the world...
Christ KNEW who He was dying for...
He KNEW the kind of people that He was laying His life down for!
And YET HE DID IT...
So how did He do it?
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
So Christ Himself, facing the biggest trial ever known to man...
"Taking on the sins of the world"
"Ready to face the wrath of God"
ENDURED...by looking to the joy before Him...
We NOW...
by faith...united to HIM
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
rejoice in HOPE of the glory to come!!
We rejoice in HOPE of what Christ bought with His blood...
His truth becomes the fertile soil where our HOPE grows...
4 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.
SLIDE: Hope: Founded On, and Springs Forth From Scripture
HOPE
HOPE
Let's look at verse 4
* SLIDE 5 - Hope Grows in Scripture
4 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.
So in verse 3, Paul references Psalm 69:9, and gives us a picture of Christ's sin-bearing work...
and now in verse 4...
he shows us the importance of the Scriptures...
..."that what was written in former days was written for our instruction..."
Do you see God's love in this?
God wants us to endure...
He wants us to be encouraged...
THEREFORE He gave us HIS word!
The problem is - most times, we don't want it...
Francis Chan:
“The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time.”
So you can see that when we ignore the Scripture, we're actually ignoring being blessed by God with endurance and encouragement...
And THEREFORE, we're in a sense, shooting ourselves in the foot, when facing trials...
OR trying to BEAR the failings of the weak...
Listen to how Ephesians 5:25-26 ties this all together...
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
sanctified by the Word...
If we want to be self-denying servants of others, then we must be in the Word...
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
All throughout Scripture we see this call to the Scriptures...a DELIGHTING in the WORD...
And it's from this delight that point 4 (our last for today) is realized...
SLIDE: HOPE: Aims Toward the Glory of God
HOPE
HOPE
Let's look at verse 5
*SLIDE 6 - God's Glory
5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This point here is one that bothers a lot of people.
Many people read Scripture, and hear God in Scripture calling us to worship Him.
What they THEN do put God in man's place and treat Him like a man.
They say - Well that's ridiculous...!
God looking at us and saying - "Praise Me!"
That rubs people the wrong way.
Erik Reece was a writer-in-residence at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, teaching environmental journalism, writing, and literature.
He published a book entitled, An American Gospel: On Family, History, and the Kingdom of God.
On May 13, 2009, he did an interview on National Public Radio with Terry Gross on the program Fresh Air about his book.
Reece grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home, but he rejected it.
In the interview, Terry Gross pointed Mr. Reece to page 28 of his new book. On that page, he quotes from Jesus in Matthew 10:37–39.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Then after quoting Jesus, Reece says, “Who is the egomaniac speaking these words?” Terry Gross asks him, “Would you elaborate on that reaction?”
Reece replies, “Well, it just struck me as ‘Who is this person speaking 2000 years ago, a complete historical stranger, saying that we should love Him, (who we can't emotionally love anyway) more so than we should love our own fathers and sons?’ It just seemed like an incredibly egomaniacal kind of claim to make.”
So here is Jesus saying: “Love me more than you love anyone in the world. If you don’t you are not worthy of me.” And Erik Reece says: “That is an egomaniac talking.”
Erik Reece is not alone!
We all know who C.S. Lewis is right?
C.S. Lewis, eventually professor at Oxford and great writer of Christian apologetics and fiction 60 years ago, was slow to come to Christ.
He was 29 before he was converted.
And he says in his book "Reflections on the Psalms" that one of the great obstacles in coming to believe in the God of the Bible was that when he read the Psalms...
C.S. Lewis:
...the constant demand from God to praise Him seemed (to him) to picture God as craving “for our worship like a vain woman who wants compliments.”
In other words, he stumbled, just like Erik Reece, over the self-exalting commands of God that we praise him...
...and the self-exalting commands of Jesus that we love him more than we love our parents or our children or our own lives.
To Lewis and Reece, this was sheer egomania.
But listen to what we read in verses 5-6
*SLIDE 6 - God's Glory
SLIDE:
"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another (GIVING YOU HOPE), in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May God grant you to glorify God...
The encouragement and endurance to sustain you through BEARING the failings of the weak...
THAT encouragement and endurance does the bidding of God...
HE gives these things as HE pleases...to us
...that we might Glorify HIM...
God gives us HOPE SO THAT we would glorify GOD...
His aim in our HOPE, is HIS OWN GLORIFICATION....
We've seen today that: SUMMARY
SLIDE:
HOPE
Strong faith blesses weak faith
Found in Jesus Christ, our example
Founded on and springs forth from Scripture
Aims Toward the Glory of God
1. Strong faith blesses weak faith...in hope
1. Strong faith blesses weak faith...in hope
The HOPE that we have in what's to come, builds endurance
And that endurance helps us SEEK to build up others....and not please ourselves...
We've seen...
2. Hope is found in Jesus Christ, our example
2. Hope is found in Jesus Christ, our example
We read that Christ IS our Hope
We look to His sin-bearing sacrifice as our EXAMPLE...
...that we would embrace the Calvary Road of suffering...like He did for the joy set before Him....
His victory over the grave becomes our HOPE...
His life and death becomes our HOPE...
3. Hope is founded on and springs forth from Scripture
3. Hope is founded on and springs forth from Scripture
The Bible was written for our instruction...
To build this HOPE that will sustain us...
To encourage us
And what's the whole point?
4. God's aim in our hope - His glory
4. God's aim in our hope - His glory
The purpose of our HOPE is that God be glorified...
He is the only being in the universe for whom SELF-Exaltation is LOVE....
If we are going to look to Christ, God must incline our hearts to look to Christ and open our eyes to see his glory (2 Thessalonians 3:5).
If we are going to meditate on his word, God must incline our hearts to his word (Psalm 119:36).
If we are going to endure and be encouraged, God must give us the endurance and encouragement through his word (2 Thessalonians 2:16).
If we are going to have hope that sustains our love, God must make it abound through the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
Do you see how ALL of this flows FROM God...WHY?
UNTO His GLORY!!
and since it DOES, let us pray now that He would move IN us to CHANGE us
Let's Pray...
