Alrighty, once again we're in
the book of Romans and we're getting down to the end of it.
We're in the second to the last chapter still, chapter 15. Romans
chapter 15. This is our 36th study. We've
kind of gone through Romans a little fast because there's a lot of
instructions in Romans which are good for us and we've read
through it all. We've not skipped over anything. We've read through
it all. All of God's Word. is good for
our edification and our learning. But much of it is practical godliness. And you take a big lump of the
practical godliness and you mix God's grace into it, and that's
the gospel. If you just preach the practical
godliness like a lot of preachers do, and you go through and you
expound only in the scriptures what those words mean, you miss
the grace of Christ. Christ didn't do that with the
two men on the road to Emmaus, did he? No, he expounded in all
the scriptures. Granted, the New Testament wasn't
printed, wasn't written at that time, but he expounded in all
of the scriptures pertaining to the things of himself, pertaining
to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, pertaining to the mercy
that he has upon his people. So we've gone through the Romans
kind of quickly, But I think we've done a pretty good job
of going through. We can go through it again in
six months and it'd be just like all brand new again, wouldn't
it? Be just like all brand new. I think the Lord is gonna lead
me to bringing a study from the first to second Corinthians next.
We might just go right into the book of first Corinthians next.
I don't think I've done that one. I'm pretty sure I haven't. So Lord willing, we might just
do that. In our last three studies, we've considered what we called
our reasonable service. Now, in chapter 15, the Apostle
Paul merges our reasonable service, walking with our brothers and
sisters in Christ to the results of our godly fellowship, one
with another. Let us set our table by looking
again at verses four through six Romans chapter 15. For whatsoever things were written
aforetime, Romans 15 verse 4, for whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning. And we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures that we, through patience and
comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. Now the God of patience
and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another
according to Christ Jesus. Verse 6, that ye may with one
mind and with one mouth glorify God, even the Father, and our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's setting the table
to what we're about to see in these next few verses. Look at
verse 7 with me. Romans chapter 15, verse 7. This
is the launch pad for us. Wherefore, because of what we
just read, because whatsoever things were written aforetime,
written for our learning, because now the God of patience and consolation,
wherefore that he might grant us to be like-minded one towards
another, according to Christ Jesus, that we may be of one
mind, wherefore, it said in verse seven, receive ye one another,
as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Did you know
that the Lord received us? Did you know that he received
us to the glory of his Father, the Lord? Folks, that's what
he came to do. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
has always been the Son of God. He just wasn't Jesus Christ in
the flesh. Not till a little over 2,000
years ago when he was born of the flesh into this world, manifested
in the flesh as man to glorify his Father. He said, I came to
do my Father's will. And what was the Father's will?
You remember that scripture? The scripture says that Jesus
Christ should lose none. We are to the glory of the Father. Christ accomplished what He had
determined to do, what He had covenanted to do with His Father. Verse 8, 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, in verse
7 we see there where it says, Receive ye one another. into
your hearts, communion and fellowship of all believers. Some of us
have gone to other churches at times. Brother Michael and Shirley,
they'll understand. Kathy and I, we just got back
from a trip not too long ago back in Tennessee where we went
to three different churches. We went to Brother Frank Tate's
place up there. We'd never met the folks up there
other than Eric Floyd and Frank Tate. Man, I'll tell you, it
was just such a joy. It was such a joy, wasn't it?
Am I wrong? It was such a joy to meet God's
people, those who are of the same faith, those who are of
the same mind, that Jesus Christ is the Almighty, that He's not
sitting around waiting for you and I to do something. He's fulfilling
His purpose. It's such a joy to be around
God's people. I love being around. Folks, I
love to be around my son, but I don't have the fellowship with
my son as I do with you. Pastor Gene Harmon and his wife,
Judy, Every time I talk to him, Lord forgive me for not doing
this, but every time I talk to him, he says, be sure to give
those folks there at Rescue My Love. He's never stopped loving
us. We are so dear to him and his
heart. Both him and his wife get up every morning and they
have their prayers. Kathy and I are part of it. You folks are
part of their prayers. Brother Mike, our brother Gene
and Judy pray for you three or four times a day. They just stop
and think about you Cheryl is what you're going through and
moving. They've been there. They know
what it's like. They understand a little bit. That's the love
of God's saints. We have a love for each other
that no one else in the world has. A love for our Savior who
gave himself for us. I'd drop anything except for
eating pie. I'm just kidding. I couldn't
help but say that, throw a little humor in on that. I would drop
anything to be able to help you in any way that I can, in any
way that I can. Communion and fellowship of all
believers, welcome in our hearts communion and fellowship with
all believers of Christ, whether weak or strong, poor or prosperous,
male or female, bond or freed, Jew or Gentile. Welcome and love
them all as Christ loved and received you into himself. for
the glory of God the Father. We read again, read that in verse
eight again with me. He says, if you would, now I
say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision, the Israel. That's what that means, of the
circumcision. It means he was a minister of
Israel for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto
the father. It is true that the Lord Jesus
was born a Jew. that he was made under the law,
that he was circumcised and obedient unto the laws of Moses. He was
promised. He was the promised Jewish Messiah. He was the seed of a woman. He
was of Abraham and of David. This was to confirm and to fulfill
every promise, every prophecy, and every type that was given
to Israel regarding the Messiah. Now remember, Israel was a picture
of God's people. So that means that everything
that he gave of himself, all those promises were actually,
to you and I, spiritual Israel. The Lord's promised us a Messiah,
a deliverer. I've titled this morning's subject,
Joy and Peace in Believing. There is joy and peace in our
believing. What? Believing Him. Believing
who He is. Believing what he's done, believing
what he says. Oh, there is so much. And as
a child of God, you know exactly what I'm saying here. There is
so much in God's Word that we don't understand. But I believe
it all. Many say that they can understand
how Christ was made sin. I'll tell you right now and here,
I don't care what they've tried. I've tried to understand what
they say. Brother Clay Curtis, I love the man much. He's tried
and tried to explain to me what it means for Christ to be made
sin. I can't comprehend God Almighty
being made my sin. I can't understand it, but I
believe it. His Word says that His promises that He gave in
the Old Testament, they're promises to you and I. Israel. Our Lord confirms And he fulfills
every prophecy, every promise, every type that was given to
Israel regarding the Messiah. But this was not to indicate,
as some thought, that his mercy and salvation were not for the
Gentile. He disapproved of those who said
it was for the Jews only. Hold your place here. Mark your
place in Romans and turn over to Luke. Turn to the left to
Luke, if you would, please. Go over to Luke chapter four.
I want you to see what I'm talking about here, how the Lord turned. He was as much for the Gentiles.
Folks, that's what I am. I need to know that He's my Savior. Turn over to Luke chapter 4.
Look at verses 25 through 27. Our Lord says this. Now, this
points to His elect, but it also points to His elect in the Gentile
world. Listen to these words. 25, but
I tell you of a truth, says our Lord and Savior, many widows
were in Israel in the day of Elijah, when the heavens was
shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout
all the land. Many widows, there were many
widows of that time, but unto none of them was Elijah sent,
save unto Sepharta, a city of Sidon unto a woman that was a
widow. One widow. God sent his prophet
to one widow. I don't know who else God sent
his prophet to that day I came here to rescue and heard his
message preached, but I know this. God sent that man standing
in this pulpit to preach to that one man sitting over there in
the pew. And that one man was called out of darkness that day. One, listen to verse 26, verse
27. And many lepers were in Israel
in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed,
saving Naaman the Syrian. Naaman wasn't a Jew. He was a
Syrian. He was a Gentile. See, folks,
the promises are for all of us. for each and every one of God's
people throughout every tribe, throughout every tongue, every
nation. Back in our text in Romans, look
here with me in verses nine through 12. Romans chapter 15, nine,
beginning of verse nine, and that the Gentiles might glorify
God. For his mercy, as it is written,
for this cause, I will confess to thee among the Gentiles and
sing unto thy name. Turn over to Psalms. Well, you
know what, let me, I'll do it, I'll do it. I can turn over there
a little quicker. Let me turn over to Psalms for
you real quick. I wanna read one verse over there. This is
the quotation that Paul is making here in Romans, in Psalms 18,
verse 49. And here, of course, I flip right
by it twice now. Come on, get there. Here we go,
18. In verse 49, here's what Paul
was quoting from in the Old Testament. Therefore will I give thanks
unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, the Gentiles, and sing
praises unto thy name. I don't know about you folks,
The more I hear about God saving Gentiles, the more joy I get
in my heart. The more I hear about the Lord's
promises being for people of every tongue and every nation,
the more peace I have because I believe, because God has given
me the ability to believe his word. You know, we can fall very
short, can't we, in our faith. We can have stuff rise up against
us to where we just feel like at some point is God even with
us. But our faith, our belief of who he is, what he's done,
and where he is right now, does that not hold us up to a degree
at some point? Does that not bring us a little
comfort? Maybe not much, but a little. Continuing on there,
verse 10, and again, he saith, rejoice ye Gentiles with your
people. And again, praise the Lord, all
ye Gentiles, and loud him, all ye people. Verse 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. That's in Isaiah 11, verse one. These prophecies, folks, from
the Old Testament, they reveal that the Gentiles were included
in the purpose and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ our Lord.
That the Gentiles might glorify God, it says, this is the highest
object of all of God's work and glory, is that his people. What did we read back there in
verse seven? As Christ also received us to the glory of God. In other words, here is mercy
to you and I. All believers glorify God for
his mercy in Christ Jesus. There's not a word in the scripture
anywhere that encourages either Jew or Gentile in hoping for
salvation through our own merits or through our own righteousness.
Salvation is God's mercy to an unworthy sinner. The power is
of the Holy Ghost. The Father gives hope. These
prophecies come from three, let me give you four verses. Just
sit back and hear these words for just a moment. 2 Samuel 22.50,
listen to this prophecy of the Lord through the Old Testament.
He says, therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among
the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. So we
see all the way back in the book of Samuel, we're talking about
the Gentiles, the heathen nations. These promises are not just for
Israel alone, they're for all of God's people, spiritual Israel
throughout all time. When the Lord says, I shall not
lose any, he's talking about all of his chosen people throughout
all time, all of spiritual Israel. In Psalms 117 verse one, we read
this, O praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise him, all ye
people. All nations, all people, throughout
all of those, nations throughout all the people. Isaiah 11 verse
10, and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall
stand for an instant of the people, and to it shall the Gentiles
seek, and his rest shall be glorious in them. Is not the Lord's rest
glorious to you and I? And Revelation 5, 9 sums it all
up. It says, and they sung a new
song. saying, thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and
has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and
tongue and people and nation. Promises of God are for us, folks.
They're just as much for us as they were for Israel of that
day. Back in our text, look at verse 13. Now the God of hope
fill you. The God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. Paul is expressing a prayer just
like he did back in verse 5 of chapter 15. He says, and now
the God of hope. Our God is called the God of
hope because all true hope with respect to forgiveness for our
sin and divine favor is from God himself. There's no hope
in our flesh. There's no hope in this one who
stands before you. There's no hope in me at all. There's no
hope in you. But we have a great hope in our
Savior. This hope is affected in the
hearts by God himself. Any hope of which he is not the
author and the giver of is a false hope. It says in that verse,
fill you with joy and peace and believing. The true joy and the
true peace are the gifts of God in his son, the Lord Jesus, and
are not natural to human's nature. Joy and peace generated by human
philosophy and fleshly comforts are temporary. I was thinking
about this. I was thinking about this. I
know I'm going a little bit longer than I normally do, but we've
got some time. I want to share with you, joy of the flesh will
come to an end for every person, for every man, for every woman. What we find is joyous of this
world, whether it be fulfilling our flesh or fulfilling our desires
of our mind, will come to an end. when every one of us go
through that doormark death. This beautiful yard, the animals,
the gorgeous creatures that fly down out of the trees, the red
hawk and hunt in the front yard here. The beautiful waves that
Kathy and I were able to sit in and relax and enjoy for a
day at the beach. the gorgeous sunset as we watch
the sun drop down into the mist on the edge of the earth. Those
things are all temporal. The joy of holding your child
in your hand, the joy of loving this woman that I've had all
my life, ever since we've come together out of high school,
is a temporal joy that will go away when we go through that
doormark death. My good friend Arlie, his wife
died and he's left alone in a home for the elderly where nobody
but myself and his sister who lives miles away come to see
him, is desperately torn apart, begging for God to kill him and
take him. Because the joys he had in this
world are gone. But God's children have a joy
beyond that. Our Lord has reserved a place
in heaven for us. That's our joy. God himself has
had mercy on some people. That's our joy. That's an everlasting
joy. True joy and peace are the gifts
of God and my Savior, Christ Jesus. Our pleasures of this world. are in sin and they are only
for a season. The joy of redemption and the
peace of Christ are eternal and are real even in the midst of
human misery and severe trial. Paul goes on to say after that,
he says that you may abound, that you may burst, that you
may grow in hope. The more believers know the joy
and the peace that we find in Christ, the greater our hope
will be. Joy and peace as well as all
spiritual blessings come from God through faith. The more we are able to rejoice
in our blessings in Christ and enter into the peace of Christ,
the stronger will be our confidence and our hope of future glory. Then he closes that verse with
this, he says, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Our Lord gives
us hope. He is the God of hope, but he
gives it through the agency and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Again, hold your place and turn over to John chapter 14. Look
at 16 through 18 of John chapter 14. And I will pray the Father and
He shall give you another comforter." Has Jesus Christ prayed and ever
not been heard? This is talking about the hope
that we have coming from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
who speaks to us through God's Word, and I pray, says the Lord
Jesus Himself, the Father, and He shall give you another comforter.
that he may abide with you forever. Folks, if you know the promises
of the old days that a Messiah would come and you see that fulfilling
of that promise in the Lord Jesus Christ, you see the promises
of God coming to you personally. This is a promise that he may
abide with you forever. Verse 17, even the spirit of
truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you." Back in our text, verse 14. I've got to get
through this or I'm going to go all the way through the whole
hour. And I myself also am persuaded
of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled
with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another." This
is so important. Remember what I said in the beginning,
Paul is writing to us now, he's writing to the Romans, that we
might find joy and peace in our belief and that all of what we've
read in the last several chapters about our reasonable service leads
us to these things, our reasonable service and how it brings us
closer together. Nevertheless, brethren, I've
written and more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you
in the mind because of the grace that is given unto me of God,
writes Paul in verse 15. And then in verse 16, he says,
that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,
ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles
might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. He says, I
was made a minister of Christ to the Gentiles. That's what
he said over in Acts chapter 9, or chapter 9, verse 15, of
the gospel of God. ministering not the service of
the tabernacle, nor the law of Moses, nor the tradition of the
fathers, but the gospel of Christ, that the Gentiles themselves
might be acceptable to God through Christ Jesus being sanctified
by the Holy Spirit. Close with me, if you would,
at verse 17. I have therefore whereof I make glory through
Jesus Christ and those things which pertain to God. In Christ
Jesus, Paul says, I have reason to rejoice. and glory in the
things which God has accomplished through me. God does use men,
he uses these vessels of clay to preach the gospel, to take
the gospel to those that he shall call, and we can rejoice in what
God is pleased to do through these human instruments. Do we
not rejoice when the Lord brings a new one into the church to
hear the gospel for the first time? I can tell you this, Pastor
Gene cried Literally tears pouring out of his eyes. When he saw,
you know, he was telling me one time, he says, you know what,
John, we have treasures. We have treasures here on earth. He goes,
you know what my treasure is? Watching the Lord do a work in
your wife's heart. Five years I've been coming to
this place and hearing the word of God and blessing my Lord. And one day the Lord called her. And we all stood and cried right
there at the side of the church. That's the blessings that we
have. That's the treasures that we have in these earthen vessels
to bring the gospel to God's people and God to use it to call
people out of darkness. We can rejoice in what God is
pleased to do through us as human infants. And Paul says, but I
will not take to myself any of the praise for the work of my
Lord. I have preached, and God had
been pleased to bless the word. Look with me, if you would, in
closing, over to Philippians. Turn to the right. Philippians,
just before Colossians. Look at Philippians chapter one,
right after Ephesians, just before Colossians. In Philippians chapter
one, we read this in verse 14. And many of the brethren in the
Lord, Many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by
my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Folks, there are so many preachers
out there that are better than me, but our messages are always
the same, and that's the power of God, the message of Christ
and Him crucified. Verse 15, some indeed preach
Christ, even with envy and strife, and some also of goodwill, The
one preached Christ of contention not sincerely, supposing to add
affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I
am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Notwithstanding
every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached,
and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. Does it bring
great blessings to your heart when a minister stands up and
preaches? Christ and him crucified. I just love our brother Mike
Lesher in his prayers when he closes in prayers. Lord, thank
you. Thank you for sending us a minister
to preach Christ and Christ alone. I say the same thing, amen, amen,
and amen. Would you