Yeah. All right, we're going to get started.
All right, let's turn to Romans 15. Romans 15. And we'll be looking at verses
7 through 12 this morning. Now, the hope of every believer
is that we are received of God. Holy God receives his people. And, you know, do you ever think
about that? That we're received by God. God has received us. And why
does he receive us? And he tells us that Our receiving
is in grace, in grace and in mercy, not because of something
that we've done, but because of what Christ, of what our substitute
has done for us. And so it's good for us to remember
why we're here, that we've been gathered by Christ, received
of him, received by him, into this fellowship with holy God. And that it's, this receiving
is not because we've done something to earn it, to earn his favor,
but it's done entirely in mercy. And that's important for us to
remember, especially today, because we don't get ourselves received. We don't do something to get
ourselves received, but a lot of people in religion, that's
how they see it, that their actions or their decision is what gets
them received by God. They wouldn't necessarily call
it works, they wouldn't think of it as works, but that's exactly
what it is. They're trusting in their decision,
they're trusting in their will, they're trusting in their works
to continue to be received by God and even be received by him
initially. And so we have to be careful
that we're not relying on a decision we've made or decisions or works
that we're doing that are keeping us in this fellowship with God,
but that all of our receiving from beginning to end never ceases
to be because of the mercy that God has upon us in his son, Jesus
Christ. All right. And so If it's not
us getting ourselves received, well then it's God's will. It's
his sovereign mercy. It's his sovereign grace that
draws us and calls us and enables us to believe him. And it's in
his sovereign mercy that we are received of him. And we understand
it's by the work of Jesus Christ. It's not by my works, it's by
his work his sacrifice, his willing sacrifice of himself to lay down
his life that he might be received of the Father and that God may
be gracious to us. And so, Paul says, wherefore,
verse 7, Romans 15, 7, wherefore receive ye one another as Christ
also received us to the glory of God. All right. He's saying
you've been received by God in mercy and grace. Well, you received
one another then in mercy and in grace. And so our adoption
into the family of God, as it's termed in Ephesians 1, that we're
adopted into God's family, our being brought into his family
and experiencing and knowing the blessings of God, it's all
in sovereign grace and mercy. And when Paul was writing to
Timothy in 2 Timothy 1 9, he speaks of Christ who had saved
us, he says, and called us within holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, and so
the Lord makes a point of reminding us that our receiving, that one
that we have been received by God, and that that receiving
is not because we've merited it, but because Christ merited
it for us, right? He did all the work, and we're
reminded of that. Even though, you know, so-called
churches today spend a lot of time focusing on you and getting
you to do something to be received of God. God, on the other hand,
says that's not at all how you're received. You're received in
grace and in mercy as it pleases me to show you, okay? And so we're to receive one another
in that same standing, that same ground, not that our brethren
have earned our receiving of them, not that we've done something
of ourselves that we should be received of our brethren because
of us, but rather we're to be received just as we're received
of God in Christ, in grace and in mercy, all right? And so just
as we don't deserve Mercy, right? Grace is showing grace is showing
favor towards someone who doesn't deserve it, who hasn't earned
it, right? And then mercy is withholding
something like punishment, even though someone deserves it, you
show them mercy, right? So mercy is more of a withholding
from something you do deserve, which is punishment. And grace
is showing you something that you don't deserve, you haven't
earned. It's God's kind and gracious to us even though we're unworthy
of it. And so with the understanding
of what sinners we are, Paul says, wherefore receive ye one
another as Christ also received us to the glory of God. So remember that when your brother
or sister offends you, all right, and you think, I don't wanna
receive them into my fellowship. I don't wanna see them right
now. you know, be one with them and forgive them or move past
this. I wanna hold them to it. The
Lord says, well, wait a minute, you're a sinner and you're not
doing anything to earn my favor and I'm receiving you continually.
So you receive your brethren, you receive one another when
they come and they ask your forgiveness, right? And even seek to be reconciled
to them, even if they're not. seeking your forgiveness, all
right? And so that's the spirit we're
to have toward our brethren. And any offense, when you think
about it, any offense that our brother will, you know, commit
against us, any offense that they would commit against us,
if we're honest, we know it hasn't even come near to the offenses
that I've committed against my God continually. We sin in ways
against God that we don't even know or understand or recognize,
and yet the Lord is bearing patiently with us. You think about that.
Our Savior has covered our sins with His blood, and we're yet
in this flesh, still doing things, having thoughts, and doing things
that are sin, that we ought not to do, and yet the Lord is patiently
bearing with us, covering over that sin in love and in mercy
because of Christ's, for what Christ has done, and He's receiving
us. yeah, your brethren are gonna
fall, and they're gonna sin against you, and they're gonna offend
you, be ready to be patient and gracious to them, just as God
is patient and gracious with you in Christ, all right? So, remember that, right? When
your brother or sister offends you, and you say, wait a minute,
you know, you're not doing right by me, and you see them, and
you take them by the throat, and say, pay me that thou owest,
you owe me respect, you owe me, you know, a favor, or you owe
me something that you're not giving to me, right? Pay me that
thou owest. And the Lord says, well, wait
a minute, I've forgiven you much more than you're asking from
them. So why not let them go when that,
you know, that thing that's a hundred pence, when I've forgiven you
a multitude of offenses that you can never repay to me, right? So, so we're to remember that
our standing is in grace and mercy, and we are to receive
our brethren in that. I've titled this message, Christ
also received us. Christ also received us. So let's
look at our receiving here. You know, Paul is making a rather
bold assertion to us and telling us to receive one another. All
right, that's, it's, it seems bold because, because he's saying,
receive your brethren as Christ has received you. And we know
it's difficult because James tells us in James 3 verse 2 that
in many things we offend all. We offend people all the time
in our actions, in our mannerisms, or what we say. And so certainly
here in the Roman church there were offenses occurring. Rome
was the center of that whole kingdom right and so there were
people not just jews and gentiles but even asians and europeans
if you will right there was great differences between greece and
then asia minor there was probably some people living there that
were from all over and they had different customs and and beliefs
and ideas that they grew up with and so there were offenses that
were occurring there And if you read it, if you read chapter
15 here, it would seem that it was actually the Gentiles that
were losing their patience with the Jews, actually, right? The Gentiles were probably having
a harder time. Well, the Jews were having a
hard time with them because, you know, when they were invited
over for dinner, their Gentile brethren would set a pork chop
in front of them. And for the Jew, that was probably hard because
they grew up not eating pork. It was an offense to eat an unclean
animal like what the Gentiles were used to eating. They were
used, you know, their mom set a ham sandwich out for them at
lunchtime, you know, and that was pretty common, but not for
the Jews. And so the Jews were having a
hard time because they couldn't understand why the Gentiles were
just so in their face and offensive with these things. And the Gentiles
were saying, haven't you heard the gospel? Aren't you listening
to what Paul is saying we're free. We're free from certain,
you know, unclean animals and this thing of being able to eat
certain things or not eat certain things and certain days being
more important than others and we're free of that. Why are you
still getting so bogged down with that? And it's because,
you know, the Gentiles, you can understand how they would enjoy
a certain liberty because they were never under the yoke of
Moses, right? They didn't grow up. with under
that yoke, that binding yoke. Now you have been in very strict
churches, so-called, right? You that grew up and spent a
lot of years in it, you know that there are certain things
that someone could say that really hit you hard, because it draws
upon all that fear that was instilled upon you as a child, right? And so some people who never
grew up in that strict form of religion, they usually have an
easier time with their liberties and don't think anything of it.
To them, it's not even sin, but for you that grew up under some
very harsh, strict punishment, you know, either from your parents
or from what was being said in the pulpit, it's hard. There's
certain things that are still hard for you. You still, you
know, think or recall, you can recall it at least, of how it
made you feel just with what with what they can say and how
they can hit you, right? And so the Jewish brethren were
having a hard time with this freedom that the Gentiles had.
And so to address the frustration that was likely coming up in
the Gentiles' minds, right, they're getting annoyed with how weak
their brethren are and how slow they are to see what God has
wrought for us in his son, Jesus Christ. He reminds them that,
brethren, he says, you enjoy your standing as a result of
what the Lord has done for the Jewish people, right? You enjoy
the things that you now enjoy, the hope that you have in Christ
is realized because of what the Lord has done in ministering
to this people, the Jews. And so he says in verse eight,
here he says, now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of
the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises
made unto the fathers. Now the circumcision was a term
that was used to describe the Jews. It was a term that singled
them out from all other people, the circumcision of the flesh.
And the Jews were a people that God himself had gathered together. He called out Abraham and blessed
Abraham's seed in forming them as a people. And it was for the
purpose that he should work out salvation for all his elect scattered
among the various tribes and tongues and nations in the appointed
time. But first he gathered together
this people and he wrought many wonderful things. They had certain
blessings because they were the people of God. But, you know,
through the law, you know, he gives us today, we have the types
and the pictures and the shadows of Christ. and how our God deals
with us, how he's kind and gracious to us, seen in those pictures
and types and shadows, which means that those Jewish people
went through all that. They had to go through very hard
and trying times, pressing times, fearful times, that God might
show how he is gracious to his people and how unequivocally
this is of the Lord and not of man's flesh. They had the law
and the history of the kings and the prophets that they received. That was all for our benefit
here today, us Gentiles who didn't go through what they went through. And so, as Paul says in verse
four of Romans 15, four, for whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. And so he's
saying, you know, Christ came and ministered to this group
of people that you're so frustrated with right now to confirm the
promises made to the fathers. And he came under the law himself,
and he fulfilled all the law that he might be a fit and perfect
sacrifice unto the father in laying down his life and bearing
your punishment that you should go free and have fellowship with
God and have this wonderful hope and joy and rejoicing, not fearful
of death, but welcoming it when that time comes, right? Being
glad that whatever the Lord does, we know he's doing it for my
good. And if he takes me home today, great, I'll be with the
Lord forever, right? And so we have this great hope
now, which which was accomplished by Christ in using this people,
the Jews, right? And so the Lord saying, I'm extending
all these promises to you. You're brought into these promises
to rejoice and be glad in them, all right? And these were promises
made to the nation of Israel, right? They were made to the
nation of Israel. And so, in other words, us Gentiles,
right, or even us people who, you know, who get frustrated
with others who are coming from a legal background, but we now
enjoy these liberties, he's saying, well, actually what he's saying
to the Gentiles is, you're being received by the Jews. They're
putting up with you. You know, and you can see it,
right, when you think about how us in religion, who, you know,
if you look at the whole of Christianity today and you say, all right,
well, maybe it's, you know, maybe they're the people of God there.
And, you know, you look at this, you think of how the Lord is
looking at Christianity today, you know, either with Catholicism
or other, you know, Presbyterian churches, which are binding themselves
with the law and works, not even preaching the gospel anymore.
They don't speak the gospel and, you know, they're not even, exalting
Christ. They're just talking about man
and what he needs to do and to get himself saved or to make
himself accepted with God. And that's all that man speaks
of because he's an idolater today. And you think about the Lord,
what if the Lord turned from the Gentiles and brought salvation
back to The Jews called out his elect out of the nation of Israel
and dried up the gospel among the Gentiles. That said, when
you think about that, and you can feel what the Israelites
felt when they saw that I didn't receive what I sought for, but
God's giving it freely to the Gentiles. What if it happened
to us where the Israelites who were off in this, you know, vain
idolatry of theirs, you know, still not even seeing the Messiah,
but what if God brought it back and forsook us and dried up the
gospel among us? It could be a stumbling for you,
right? It could trip you up and you'd
be like, why are you treating us so bad? We need your grace
and mercy too. And so the Jewish brethren are
accepting what Paul's saying, that God sent his salvation to
the Gentiles, right? He's being merciful to them,
all right? And so we're made recipients
of these promises that were made to the Jews for the purpose that
the Gentiles might glorify God, verse nine, for his mercy. And so that's what the Lord does
in saving any person. It's for his glory. It's to the
glory of his praise and his honor. and it's in mercy. It's always
in mercy, and so that's how we're to be towards one another, merciful,
because God is merciful to us. All right, so, you know, these, the Gentiles, they're
getting frustrated, and Paul's just saying, you, as Christ has
received you, you receive your brethren, right, as Christ also
received us to the glory of God. All right, and so, These Gentiles
are received now of their Jewish brethren, right, who were the
circumcision. And Paul, what he does is to
verify this, he gives four scriptures, just boom, boom, boom, boom.
Four scriptures are given from verse nine down to verse 12.
And I just wanna look at those with you here this morning. He says in verse nine, in the
second half, as it's written, for this cause, I will confess
thee. And in the original, it's, I
will give thanks unto thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy
name. Now that verse there that Paul
gives us in verse nine is from 2 Samuel 22, verse five. And what the Lord's saying is,
I'm gonna teach the Gentiles that salvation is of the Lord. When he says, I'm gonna give
thanks unto your name, in the midst of the Gentiles. I'm gonna
sing of you. So that the Gentiles who were ignorant and in darkness,
they would come to know that, oh, God saves sovereignly by
his grace and power, not by works that I do. And so the gospel
does just that, right? It reveals to us the sovereignty
of God and our salvation, lest we should think that it's by
our power or our will that God has saved. And it says in Romans
11, Verse five, you're there in Romans, so look at Romans
11, verse five. And he says, even so then at
this present time also there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. All right, so every saved sinner
is a sinner saved according to the election of God. All right,
he chose us before we were ever even born, before we were, ever
created, before this world was created, God chose a people in
Christ. And so he says, and if by grace,
verse six, then it is no more of works. Otherwise grace is
no more grace. And so through this gospel, he
continues to affirm to us just what he's saying, right? That
it's, it's not of, of grace, but I mean, it's not of works,
but of grace. You know, when, when When those
who have a confidence in their works or in their decision, they see a verse like
we rejoice in Ephesians 2.4 when it says, but God. Ephesians 2.1-3
is speaking of what we are in Adam in our deadness of nature.
We were dead in trespasses and sins, we walked according to
the course of this world and under the spell of the prince
of the power of the air, but God. And when we see that, we
rejoice because this is, oh, this is God who's in sovereign
mercy and grace saves his people. But the one who hopes in their
decision and in their will, they see that verse as your ability
to turn from those wicked ways, those evil ways and your blindness
and death somehow, and that you hang your hope on God. But God,
all they see that as is their ability to hang their hope, come
to a knowledge and understanding that, oh, it's God who has to
save me. And so, but they still see themselves
as turning to God. They don't see the glory that
when that says, when that verse four says, but God, that it's
speaking, it's declaring his sovereignty. And so the Lord
through the gospel continues to teach you and affirm you because
every one of us in our flesh is an Arminian, right? revert
back to that old pharisaical nature and start negotiating
with God by what we'll start doing better now if he just eases
up on the pressing we feel from whatever trial we're going through.
All right, so then he says now back in Romans 15, 10, here's
the second verse. And again, he saith, rejoice
ye Gentiles with his people. So that what the Lord's doing
here is declaring that I'm opening up my grace to the Gentile peoples,
right? Not just the Jews, but I'm opening
up this marvelous, wonderful, magnificent grace to all to all
peoples, that is, all my elect scattered throughout the earth.
I'm going to show them what I've done for my people in grace.
And so the Jews, remember, they had a schoolmaster, which was
the law, right? And the law was their schoolmaster
until Christ. I think it says unto Christ,
but it means until Christ, so that when Christ came, the schoolmaster
had no need. And so the Lord's saying that
Christ is the salvation for the people and we enter through Christ. He said in John 10 9, I am the
door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall
go in and out and find pasture. And the difference, the reason
why I'm just pointing that out is because religion always slips
in another door, don't they? They always want to slip in that,
wait a minute, you can't believe on Christ, you've got to submit
and come under the law first, or come under our bylaws first,
or come under our catechism first. You've got to do what we tell
you to do before you can have a hope in Christ. They're always
trying to put another door, another fence or another gate before
you believing on Christ, right? Because anything else is too
easy. So, you know, I know that some
of you have been through things where, you know, you were taught
that until you sink low enough, don't even say the name of Jesus
Christ on your lips. You can't speak that name. And
it sounds absurd to some of us who haven't come up under that
bondage, but they did. And so you can see the Lord's
calling out people from from a variety of backgrounds and
a variety of strictness that really makes it hard for some
people to fully embrace and enjoy that liberty until the Lord,
through the gospel, gives them rest and settles them and just
shows them in his timing, helping them to see their liberty in
Christ, not to go and sin against that which God has showed us,
right? We know it through loving our
neighbor, right? And if you're gonna love your
neighbor, then you're not gonna do those things that you know are hurting
them and harmful to them, all right? So there's no prerequisite,
all right? There's no prerequisite to coming
to Christ that man can put, all right? The Lord will show you
you're a sinner. He'll show you your need of Christ, right? If
you don't have a need for Christ, then you won't come to him, but
it's not the law. It's not first going through a religious school
of sorts that man says you need to go through before you can
come to Christ. All right, and so all who are
sinners, all who come to a knowledge of their sin under the preaching
of the gospel, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, they, and
they hear what Christ has done. If they're the Lord's, they'll
hear him and rejoice. They'll receive it and believe
on the Lord, and it'll all be to his praise and glory. All
right, then he continues with another one in verse 11. He says,
and again, praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud him, all
ye people. All right, now that one comes
from Psalm 117. Oh, just so you know, the other
one that came from Deuteronomy 32, 43 was rejoice ye Gentiles,
but this one, Psalm 117, one, where he says, praise the Lord,
all ye Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people. So what the Lord
saying is there's no other salvation There is only one name given
among men under heaven whereby he must be saved All right. We have there aren't other ways
that we can come through our Idolatry, you know and stump
worshiping to God and please him not at all, right? There's
only one name. It's the name of Christ that
we are saved and so the Lord is gracious to open up our eyes
and bring us to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We weren't
kept in darkness from that. All right, and then Romans 15,
12. And again, Isaiah saith, there shall be a root of Jesse,
and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall
the Gentiles trust. And that's Isaiah 11, verse 10.
And so, From these verses, especially
this last one, the Lord is demonstrating to us that he didn't limit his
salvation. He didn't base it on our backgrounds. He didn't base it on what we
grew up knowing or what we've learned. He doesn't base it on
anything within us. He's very gracious to us in spite
of us. And this is all going to, therefore
don't put up boundaries and certain fences for your brethren, those
who hope in the Lord too. Be gracious and be merciful to
them and patient and understanding even when they don't see things
you know, have the same knowledge as you. Again, I'm not saying
that we give a comfort to those who hope in their works for righteousness
or continue to boast in their will, but there are many who
just use the same language that they've heard and the Lord gives
you an opportunity to kindly, graciously, mercifully speak
to them and declare what the Lord has actually done for you
and what he does for all his people in sovereign mercy, right?
We speak to them kindly and with patience, you know, against those
who oppose themselves with their own foolish dark knowledge, because
the Lord might have mercy on them and deliver them from that
darkness, all right? And so, the Lord didn't limit
his salvation to the Jews only, he opened it up to us Gentiles,
all right, and he received us in Christ, and so it's because
Christ is so glorious and so wonderful. He didn't limit it
just to the Jews alone, right? And then in Isaiah 11, verse
12, I just wanna read this. It says that, he shall set up
an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of
Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four
corners of the earth. And we know that Christ is the
ensign, right? He's the sign, he's the flag,
the banner that is held up before the eyes of his people. And his
gospel signifies his grace and willingness to receive us in
grace, all right? And so be patient with your brethren,
just as we've been received by Christ himself. And I'll close
with Galatians 3, verses 26 through 29. For ye are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free.
There is neither male nor female. For ye are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are
ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. And so the Lord
receives us all the same way through grace in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So remember that. See your brethren
in that same standing as your hope is that God sees you in
Christ. Well, see your brethren in Christ
as well and remember that that you may be merciful and gracious
to them as well. All right, let's close in prayer.
Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for your mercy toward
us and your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you that you didn't
shut us out from Christ, that you didn't turn us back to our
own works in the flesh, which can never please you. But Lord,
you had mercy upon us and your son And Lord, we ask that you
help us. These are bold things for which
we in our flesh could never accomplish. We can never receive our brethren
and treat them with mercy and patience. But Lord, by your grace
and by your spirit, you enable us to walk in the spirit of love
and patience and kindness. And we ask that you would help
us to love one another and to receive one another, even as
Christ has received us. It's in the name of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray these things, amen.