I want to remind you that the
passage of scripture I just read is just as inspired as Romans
chapter 8 and Isaiah 53, Paul's final salutations and greetings
and goodbyes to the Romans. Now, I've entitled this message,
and it comes from this passage of scripture I just read, What
We Desire and what we are. Now these desires are desires
that every believer will possess and these are states of being that every believer
is. What we desire and what we are
and by that I mean what we should all aspire to and what we all
already are. Now I want to spend a few moments
on what we should aspire to. Look at verse 6. Greet Mary who
bestowed much labor on us. Look down at verse 12. Salute
Tryphena and Tryphosa who labor in the Lord, salute the beloved
persons which labored much in the Lord. Now that word labor
means a toil that brings on weariness. This woman, Mary, loved Paul. More importantly, she loved the
gospel Paul preached, and she went through great efforts and
much labor on him. Now, we are not told what they
did. I don't know. But I know that
Paul acknowledged it, and he was thankful for that, and he
appreciated that. And I know that you and I ought
to aspire to be people who labor much in the Lord. Now, don't
anybody say, well, what do you want me to do? There's plenty
to do. There's plenty to do. What? But
I want to aspire to be somebody who has this faith. Well, every
believer has a faith that works by love, but I want to aspire
to be somebody like this, someone who labors much in the Lord. Now look in verse 7. Salute Andronicus and Junius,
my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. who are of note among the apostles
who also were in Christ before me." Now the first thing that
is pointed out about these two is they're fellow prisoners. They were in prison with Paul.
And they were in prison with Paul for the same reason, for
preaching the gospel. Now here's something I want to
aspire to. I want to aspire to preach the gospel in such a way
that if an unbeliever hears me, If he had the power, he'd throw
me in prison. And does that mean I want to
stir up a hornet's nest and get people to dislike me and act
rude and ugly? No, it doesn't mean that. I want
to act in a very gracious way, but I want to preach the gospel
so clearly. in such a way that when the unbeliever hears me,
he'll gnash his teeth. And he'll want me thrown into
prison. Paul was in prison for preaching
the gospel. And these people were in prison
for preaching the gospel. They were fellow prisoners in
there for the same reason. And I want to aspire to that.
I want to preach the gospel like that, don't you? I want to be
a faithful witness of the Lord Jesus Christ to where when people
hear me, there's no doubt about what I'm saying. And men hate
the gospel. Now, I don't want them to hate
me because I'm being ugly, but I do want them to hate me because
of the gospel. I want to be that faithful to
the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel message. He calls them
fellow prisoners, and that's something we should aspire to.
And look what he says next. I think this is very interesting.
In verse 7, he said, they are who are of note among the apostles. They are of note among the apostles. The apostles took note of them. They esteemed them, highly esteemed
them for their courage in preaching the gospel regardless of the
circumstances. They took note of their love.
They took note of their humility. They took note of the fruit of
the Spirit in them. They saw the love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. Now, I would like to be somebody. No doubt, I've got bad motives
in it. I can't do anything with that bad motive. But I would
like to be somebody who would be of note among the apostles.
when they see my conduct, my conversation in Christ Jesus,
and it would be something that they would take note of. Now
isn't that something every one of us ought to aspire to? Have
no question about it. Aspire to be a helper, to bestow
much labor. Aspire to preach the gospel in
such a way that I'd be thrown into prison for it. Preach it
that clearly. preach Christ that clearly and
to be of note among the apostles. Now that's something that every
one of us should desire and ask the Lord to make it so. But in
these final greetings we're also given a very clear picture as
to what we already are. Now I don't know if you read,
if you noticed this while I was reading that passage of scripture,
but eight times we read the phrase in Christ or in the Lord. Eight times. Now all of God's
favor is in Christ. You believe that? All of God's
favor is in Christ. He's the one place of God's favor,
safety, and security. Now, when God was going through
the land of Egypt to destroy the firstborn, where was the
one place of safety? In the house with the blood on
the door. Was there any safety outside
of that house? No. The one place of safety was
in the house with the blood on the door. When you were fleeing
from the avenger of blood, where was the one place of safety?
In the city of refuge. Six cities appointed as cities
of refuge. That's the only place of safety.
And if you got outside of that city, what happened? You'd be
put to death. When God sent the flood down,
where was the one place of safety? In all the world, there was only
one place of safety. the Ark, the Ark of God. Now all of God's salvation is
in Christ. Listen to this, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus. who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. If you're in
Christ, you know what that means? That means you're the wisdom
of God. You're the righteousness of God.
You're sanctified. You're completely delivered,
completely saved in Christ. What a blessed place to be. Ephesians 1, 3 says, He hath
blessed us. He hath blessed us. That means
He's already done it. with all spiritual blessings and heavenly
blessings in Christ Jesus. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. You know what that means? You
got a new history. And it's all good. You're a new creature.
That new creature with a perfect history. No bad stuff at all. Paul said, Oh, that I may win
Christ and be found in Him. And you know, there isn't any
greater desire that I have. I'm just sure of this. I want to be found in Christ.
I want it to be to where all God sees is Jesus Christ. That's it. And that's what a
believer is. He's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now look in verse 9, Salute Urban, our helper in Christ, there's
in Christ, but he says our helper, our helper. Now that Word is
generally translated fellow laborer. You know, there's no clergy and
laity. There's no preachers and then
the regular people. We're fellow laborers. You know
what that means? We believe the same gospel. That
means we preach the same gospel. That means we stand for the same
gospel. That means we believe the same thing. That means we're
saved the same way. Every single one of us. Fellow
laborers. We have the same agenda. The
glory of Christ. Preaching the gospel. We want
people to come to a knowledge of Christ. We're fellows in the
same ship. Fellow laborers. That's what
that helper is. Fellow laborers. You know, I think this is important. Whenever I hear a preacher talk
about my ministry, I cringe. It's not my ministry. This is
every believer's ministry. Fellow laborers in the truth. And that's what every... You
know that you think of this. We believe the same. Save the
same way. Want the same gospel to be spread.
We're fellow laborers. Look in verse 10. Salute, appellus, approved in
Christ. There's that word in Christ again,
but approved in Christ. Now this is true of every believer. Now that word approved is a special
word. It's a word that was used with regard to coins. Back then
the currency was coins. Gold, silver, brass, whatever,
they were coins. Now what is going to happen if
you have gold coins and if you have silver coins? What are people
going to do? They're going to try to shave some of it off.
I mean, if they can shave enough off, a merchant might come in,
the coins come in, they shave it off, keep some for themselves,
put it back out, and you don't have the real deal then. When
that coin has had something shaved off, it's not up to snuff. It's not the right amount. Now,
there were people who did this over and over and over again,
and there were some 80 places Rome where you could get the
right currency and when you got the right currency, the right
gold that weighed the right amount that had all the gold in it,
it was called approved. Approved. Genuine. The real thing. Every believer
is approved in Christ. There's nothing shaved off. I
have everything I need. I'm complete in Him. Everything. approved in the Lord Jesus Christ. So much so that Ephesians 1,
6 says, He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Accepted. Accepted by God. Approved by
God where He looks me over and He says, He's genuine. He's the
real deal. He's the real. I don't want to
be irreverent. I shouldn't talk like that about the Lord. He
doesn't say He's the real deal. But every believer approved when
God looks at you, you are perfect in Christ Jesus. You don't need
anything else to be added to you to make you look better.
You're approved in Christ. He's enough to make you beautiful
to the Father and approved. Look in verse 13, Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord,
and his mother and mine, literally elected in the Lord. Salute Rufus,
he's elect. He's elect. Now, one of the things
I love about the Scripture, when you read the New Testament, election
was used in the everyday language of the saints. When Peter writes
to the stranger scattered abroad, the first thing he says is elect
according to the foreknowledge of God. And then when he ends
the epistle in 1 Peter chapter 5, he says, the church at Babylon
elected together with you, salute you. John writes to the elect
lady. And he says, the children of
thy elect sister greet thee. Paul says to the Thessalonians,
knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. Every believer
is elect chosen of God, chosen before the foundation of the
world. Now, I've been thinking about
this issue of election, and the issue is not, does the Bible
teach it? All you've got to do is read
it and see the Bible teaches it. You can't say you believe
in the Bible as the Word of God and not admit that the Bible
teaches the doctrine of election. The issue is not what does it
mean because the Bible makes it clear what it means. According
as he hath chosen or elected us in him before the foundation
of the world. The Lord said you have not elected
me or chosen me but I have elected you or chosen you. I mean we
just go on and on all these scriptures regarding election. The issue
with election is can you preach the gospel and not preach election? That's the issue. Can you preach
the gospel and not preach election? Now, in case you don't know the
answer, no, you can't. No, you can't. He says to this,
the mother of Rufus, elect. Ground in their very thinking. Chosen in the Lord. Salute Rufus,
chosen in the Lord, his mother and mine. And then look in verse
14. Salute Asyncritus, Phleglon,
Hermas. You know, I practice on reading
these things out loud at home today, but I've already messed
it up. You know, it's just hard to read these things. Petrobus,
Hermes, and the brethren which are with him. Notice what he
called them, the brethren. The brethren. All of God's people,
this is the word they're most often called, the brethren. Christians, twice. Believers, twice. Born again,
a couple of times. Saints, 60 some time. Brethren, hundreds of times. The brethren, the brethren. Matt, you made the statement
about believers have this DNA from the Holy Spirit, in the
sense of being birthed by the Holy Spirit. We all have the
same DNA. We speak the same language, Christ,
grace. We have the same Father. We have
the same elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the same
Savior. I love that passage of scripture where it says, for
both he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are all
of one for the which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to call me his,
that's my brother, that's my brother, that's my brother, that's
my sister. What a precious title for the
children of God, the brethren. How important are the brethren
to you? By this shall all men know you're my disciples, by
your love one to another. We know that we pass from death
to life because we love the brethren. What a blessed thing to be a
part of this group called the brethren. Brother Saul, I love to think
of Ananias coming up to him and didn't even know him, but the
Lord had revealed to him that he'd saved him. He was going
to make him the apostle to the Gentiles. Came up to him and
said, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. Now let's go on reading
verse 15. Salute Philologus and Julia,
Nerus and his sister, and Olympus, and all of the saints which are
with him. What are we? Saints. Saints. means holy ones, sanctified ones,
holy ones. It's hard to get hold of actually being a holy one, isn't
it? But every believer is a saint of God. Sanctified, the word
means set apart for holy purposes, to take something common and
ordinary and to set it apart for holy purposes. God the Father
set apart every believer before time began to be holy. God the
Son, listen to this scripture, by the witch will we are sanctified
once for all through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
What Christ did makes me a saint. I think it's, you know, you think
of the world's view of saint, they think of somebody who's
got such a surplus, an excess of good works, all of a sudden
they're saints. Well, you know better than that.
A saint is God's work, elected by the Father, redeemed by the
Son, regenerated by God the Holy Spirit to where they're given
a holy nature, the sanctification of the Spirit. Every believer
is a saint of God. And look in verse 16. Salute
one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute
you. One another. One another. Salute one another
with a holy kiss, which simply means not a sensual one. It doesn't
have anything to do with why a man and woman kisses each other
when they're married. It's not that kind of kiss at
all. It's a holy kiss. It's not a sensual kiss. Salute one another with a holy
kiss. But I want us to think about
this phrase, one another. One another. It's found in the
Bible a lot. One another. Let me read you some scriptures.
Have peace one with another. Don't be at odds with your brethren. Have peace one with another.
Mark 9, 50. John 13, 14, you ought to wash
one another's feet. Now, I love that passage of scripture
in John chapter 13 where the Lord says to Peter after Peter
had said, you're not going to wash my feet. He said, oh, if
I don't wash it, you have no part with me. And he said, well,
wash my head, my hands, and my feet, and everything. And he
said, he that's washed needeth not to be washed again, but he's
clean every whit. If Christ has washed me, I'm
clean. But there's one thing that needs
washed every day. I walk through this world. What
happens to my walk? My feet get dirty. And your feet get dirty. And what do you need when you
have dirty feet? You need to hear the gospel once
again. And that's what that's talking
about. That's not really talking about physically washing one
another's feet. That's talking about preaching
the gospel once again. When your feet are dirty, what
do you need to hear? The gospel. When your brother's feet are
dirty, what does he need to hear? The gospel. You ought to wash
one another's feet. John chapter 13 verse 34 says,
By this shall all men know you're my disciples, by your love one
to another. Not a love that's just in word
only, but indeed in truth. The love that's expressed in
1 Corinthians chapter 13. What are the one another supposed
to do with each other? Love. Isn't it a blessing to be enabled
to love one another? To look at, to love, to love. Somebody loves Christ, I love
them. Don't you? If somebody loves Jesus Christ
the Lord, I love that person, I highly esteem, love one another. And then in Romans chapter 12,
verse 5, it says, we're members one of another. We're members
of the same body. Doesn't get any closer than that, does it?
members of the same body, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Romans 12, 10 says, be kindly affection one to another. And
that word is used with the affection of a mother to her children.
What special affection there is there. And toward one another,
we're to be kindly affection one toward another. And then
Romans chapter 14, or Romans chapter 12, verse 10, it also
says, be of the same mind one to another. Have the same mind.
It's called the unity of the Spirit. The glory of Christ is
everything. Have the same mind one toward
another. And Romans chapter 14, 13 says, let us not judge one
another anymore. Now the next time you're judging
your brother, remember Paul said don't do it. Yeah, but what they're
doing is wrong. Still don't do it. Still don't
do it. If it's wrong, how can I not
have an opinion about it? Well, the scripture says you're
the judge and other, you're doing the same things. Whatever it
is you're judging your brother for, you're guilty of doing something
just like it, the same thing, or, well, no, I'm not. Well,
you're worse than. You're worse than. Let us not
judge one another anymore. And then Romans chapter 14, verse
19 says, edify one another. Build one another up. Don't tear
each other down. Build one another up. And Romans
chapter 15 verse 7 says, receive one another as Christ received
us. Well, how did Christ receive you? Freely. Completely. Not holding you off
or putting you through a probationary period to see how you'd work.
He received you completely. receive one another as Christ
has received us. Romans chapter 15 verse 14 says
admonish one another. Admonish one another. You know,
I don't want to be somebody that can't be admonished, do you?
I don't want to be somebody like that. Somebody who, if somebody
admonishes them, they're so offended and upset and you dare say, how
dare you say that to me? How dare you treat me? May the
Lord deliver us from being that way. Faithful are the wounds
of a friend. David said, let the righteous
smite me. It'll be excellent oil to me.
Now, when you're all going out the door, go ahead and smite
me all you want. Tell me all the bad stuff. Make sure it's
something necessary. What I'm saying is, make sure
it's something necessary. But, oh, may we be enabled to admonish
one another, to have such a relationship with each other that we can do
that without getting all offended and out of sorts. Admonish one
another. 1 Corinthians 12, 25 says, tarry
for one another. Remember what a believer is.
He's going in this group for one another. You know, you can't
worship Christ privately. You can't walk with Christ privately.
You're part of the one another. And he says, tarry for one another
at the Lord's table. Tarry for one another. Galatians
chapter 5, verse 15 says, by love, serve one another. Be a servant one to another.
Galatians chapter 6 too says, bear ye one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ. Now what's your biggest burden? What's your biggest burden? I
know what my biggest burden is, my sin. My sin. What a burden my sin is. Every day, all the time. My sin is ever before me. What's
my brother's biggest burden? his sin. Bear ye, put up with
one another's burdens, and so fulfill ye the law of Christ. Ephesians 4.32 says, Be kind,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. Forgive one another. Ephesians
5.21 says, Submitting yourselves to one another. Showing deference
to one another and submitting yourselves to one another. Philippians
2.3 says, Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory,
but in lowliness of mind let each esteem the other as better
than themselves. Now that's how I'm to esteem
you as better than me. I know me better than anybody
else, and I really believe myself to be the chief of sinners. And
it's not hard for me to think they're better than me. And you
ought to be thinking the same thing regarding everybody else,
because you're the only one that really knows you. Your wife,
your husband, they don't really know you. Not like you think
they do, but you know you, and you ought to esteem everybody
as better than yourself. I ought to do that too. 1 Thessalonians
4 18 says comfort one another with these words comforting each
other with the gospel comfort one another with these words
and I like this Hebrews 10 24 consider one another to provoke
unto love and to good works now I want to be somebody that provokes
you not to irritation but to love me by the way I treat you
by my conduct by my provoke consider one another to provoke unto love
and to good works James 4.11, Speak not evil one of another
brethren. Don't criticize one another.
Speak not evil of one another brethren. James chapter 5 verse
9 says, Grudge not one another brethren. Don't hold a grudge. Forget it. Forget it. Put it
in the past. Grudge not one another brethren. And then James 5.16, this is
the first time I've ever understood this. You know where it says,
confess your faults one to another? How many times have you heard
me say, don't confess your sins to each other? Don't do that. I'm not going to confess my sins
to you, and I don't want you confessing your sins to me. So
what's that mean when it says, confess your faults one to another?
Well, that word fault is generally translated trespass, and I know
what this means for the first time, and I'm sure this is what
it means. Be quick to apologize. Be quick to say, I'm sorry. I've trespassed against you.
I confess it. Forgive me for Christ's sake.
Now, when you're apologizing to somebody, and if you're asking
for their forgiveness, you're coming to them in a sense as
a sovereign. You're not going to say, now you need to forgive
me. It's not right if you don't forgive
me because Christians forgive. And if you don't forgive me,
you're not playing the part of a Christian. Don't say anything like that.
That's offensive. That's not even asking for forgiveness. That's being a jerk is what it's
being. No. Apologize. I am sorry for trespassing against
you. Would you be pleased to forgive
me? Be quick to apologize. Be quick
to forgive. We just read that, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven you.
1 Peter chapter 4, verse 9, use hospitality one to another. Hospitality, be a true friend. And then let's look at the last
ones, 1 John chapter 1. Let's turn there. I had, there's about 30 of these,
so I wouldn't ask you to turn to all of them, but I'm going
to ask you to turn to the last one. 1 John chapter 1. If we walk in the light, and back up to verse 5, this
then is the message which we have heard of him, and declaring
to you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, A lot of people make
that claim, don't they? I fellowship with God. I pray. He hears me. I hear Him speak. He speaks to me. I have fellowship
with God. We walk together. A lot of people make that claim.
If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. It's not real. But if we walk
in the light, He is in the light. Now what
is this light? It's the light of the gospel. You remember when
the Lord said in John chapter 8 verse 12, I am the light of
the world. Well what happened before that?
Well you remember that woman that was taken in adultery, caught,
caught red-handed, and they dragged her before the Lord and they
said, Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned.
What do you got to say about that? And they kept urging him, and
he just looked down and rode into the ground. Don't you hear
us? Not listening. And they kept
urging him, what are you going to do about this? And he stood
up and said, he that is without sin among you, let him cast the
first stone at her. And I have no doubt he was talking
about that particular sin. Somebody says, I've never committed
adultery. Well, you have in your heart. And the Lord said to do
it in your heart is to commit it. So everybody in this room
is guilty of that particular sin. And the Lord said, he that's
without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.
And then they all, convicted by their own conscience, started
leaving. And he was left with that woman
who was caught in the very act. No question about it. Caught
in the very act. It happens. Caught in the very act. And the
Lord looked at her and he said, Woman, where are those thine
accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? What
about these fellows who made these accusations against you?
Where are they? They're gone. And he said, neither
do I condemn thee. How come? Because her sin was
put away. He wasn't just sweeping it under
the carpet. Her sin had been put away. And so he could say,
I do not condemn you because there's nothing to condemn you
for. Now, he says, I'm the light as
to how that can be. Now, if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. True fellowship. I tell you what,
I can have fellowship with anybody who believes the gospel, walking
in the light as to how God saves sinners by Christ. If we walk
in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth
us from all sin. Now we desire to bestow much
labor, we desire to be a fellow prisoner, we desire to be at
note among the apostles, but we are in Christ. We are fellow
laborers. We are approved in Christ. We're
brethren, we're saints, and we're a part of that great group of
one another. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
glorious gospel of thy son. that causes us to be in Christ,
that causes us to be approved in Christ, and chosen in Christ,
and fellow laborers in Christ, and members one of another. Lord,
we thank you for the great blessings of your gospel. And Lord, we
ask that we might allow to be laborers in your gospel, that
we might be fellow prisoners in this thing of preaching the
gospel, and that we might be given grace to be people who
would be of note among the apostles. I bless this message for your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
Wayne. 126, stand and sing. Rock of Ages.