Okay, now we're looking back
at Romans chapter 15, and we'll start our study by looking at
verse 5 and following. Now the God of patience, the
God of consolation, He's a God of all things. He's a God of
long-suffering. The God of consolation there
is comfort, grant you. to be like-minded, one toward
another, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we come back to
this theme of chapter 14 and chapter 15 of peace and harmony
among believers. Peace and harmony among believers. Now, we are not seeking for peace
among all religious people. Now, that might shock you, but
listen, hear me out. We're not seeking for peace among
all religious people. Truth and error cannot walk together. That's what the word says. Two
cannot walk together except they be agreed. Now, remember from
over here, in chapter 12, don't turn, let me just remind you
of it. He says, if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live
peaceably with all men. We do, we strive to live peaceably
among all men, but we're not seeking for peace and harmony
among all religious people, because truth and error cannot walk together. But we are to certainly strive
and seek to live among believers in peace and harmony, seeking
their good, overlooking their faults, seeking to edify and
build them up in the faith, to love one another, to forgive
one another, even as the Lord Jesus Christ has loved us and
has forgiven us. I quote that verse all the time
and that's from Ephesians 4.32. where it says that we are to
love one another and forgive one another, even as God, for
Christ's sake, has forgiven us. He's forgiven us freely, and
He forgives us all the time. Now, we come back to verse 5
and 6, and here the Apostle Paul prays for believers to that end. Look what he says here. The God
of patience and consolation grants you that you might be like-minded
one toward another. Now remember what he said up
here in the preceding verses? The strong ought to bear the
infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. And then
the superior example, the prime example, even Christ pleased
not himself. So we're not to live for self
but for the glory of God, and for the furtherance of the gospel.
The first thing Paul does when he prays for these people, he
identifies the character of God. He identifies the character of
God. Now, the God of patience. How longsuffering the Lord is
toward his elect among the Jew and among the Gentile. We read
in 2 Peter 3, 9, The Lord is long-suffering, he's long-suffering
to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. And he's praying there about
the elect of God. So he is the God of all patience,
and then he is the God of all comfort. the God of all comfort. In 2nd Corinthians 1.3 he's called
the Father of mercies and the God of comfort. Now if we have
any comfort and any consolation of salvation it's because the
God of comfort has comforted us with the gospel. Now remember
the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter, remember? Now our
Lord said, when he the Comforter is come, he'll take the things
of mine and show them unto you. What does God the Holy Spirit
comfort us with? Christ, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, also in this same chapter,
Romans 15, 13, our God is not only the God of patience and
the God of comfort, but in verse 13 it says the God of hope. The
God of hope. What a great God we have. He's
a God of hope. Our God is all our hope. There is no hope of salvation
apart from Him. We have a good hope through grace.
Christ, you remember, Christ in you is the hope of glory.
Christ who is our hope, He is our hope. But also I found this
scripture. In 1 Peter 5.10, our God is called
the God of all grace. That's a pretty good definition
of our God. He's a God of all grace. All
grace originates with Him being the God of all grace. Being the
God of all grace, it is of necessity that it is sovereign grace, right? There is no grace apart from
sovereign grace. Now think about it. He said,
I will be merciful to whom I will, I'll be gracious to whom I will. Now, what does the apostle ask
for for these believers? That our gracious, sovereign,
almighty Lord would grant us and give us, he says, that make
you like-minded one to another. That is, we might also be long-suffering,
that we might also be patient, bearing one another's burdens. according to the example of our
blessed Savior. Now, find Philippians chapter
2 verse 1, Philippians 2 verse
1. He said, If there be any consolation in Christ, or seeing that there
is consolation in Christ, If any comfort of love, seeing there
is comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels
of mercy, depths of mercy, fulfill you, my joy, that you be like-minded,
having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife
and vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
thing, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in the Lord Jesus Christ. So be like-minded. He prays to
this end that we might be like-minded. Now, look at verse 6. Romans
15, 6. That you may with one mind and
one mouth do what? Glorify God. Now that's the bottom
line in all things. Whatsoever you do, do all to
the glory of God. That you may, with one mind,
having the mind of Christ, and having one mouth, glorify God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God be pleased to
grant you, and give you, to enable you to have a single mind. To have a single mind. Remember
Paul said, set your affection on things above. To have a single
mind. And if you have a single mind,
you have a single mouth. And that mouth is tuned to sing
God's praises. Having one mind and one mouth
to glorify God. Having one heart, one affection,
and one soul. renewed of God to glorify him. May we with one mind believe
the gospel and think true and right thoughts of Christ, that
salvation is of the Lord. And if we have the mind of Christ,
blessed to believe the gospel and think true thoughts of him,
that causes us to speak with one mouth and say things, write
things about the gospel that will do what? Glorify the creature? No, glorify the creator. What is in the well of the heart
comes out through the bucket of the mouth. What the bottom
line is, that in all things God may be glorified. Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but
let him that glorieth in this, those who know me, let them rejoice
always in the Lord. Let me ask you this, when is
God glorified by his people? When is God glorified? When we
believe the gospel of God in Christ Jesus. Turn back to Romans
chapter 4. When is God glorified? When we
believe the gospel. Faith honors him. Remember it
said of Abraham, Romans 4 verse 20, He staggered not at the promise
of God to unbelieve, but was strong in faith, doing what? Glorifying God. So when is God
glorified? When we believe the gospel. When
is God glorified? When we preach the gospel of
God. That's why Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of God, the power of God and the salvation. When is God glorified? When we
worship the Lord, in spirit and in truth around the gospel of
God. And we know the gospel of God
is all about Christ. Now Romans 15 verse 7, Wherefore
receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, and again it
mentions unto the glory of God. You see everything, God is jealous
of His glory. unto the glory of God. Christ received us to the glory
of His grace, His mercy, and His love. Christ received us
because He lived for us and died for us to put away our sin. Christ received us just as we
are, frail, weak, sinful, foolish, guilty. You see, the Lord Jesus
Christ came to save Sinners. Sinners. Paul said, I'm the chief
one. We studied in Luke 19 that the son of man came to seek and
to save that which is lost. We know the Lord Jesus Christ
from studying Romans chapter five, the Lord Jesus Christ died
for the ungodly when we were yet without strength. when we
were yet without strength, without merit, without anything, anything
but our sin. Christ died for us. So, He received us just as we
are. We too should also receive one
another in love, mercy and grace unto the glory of God. The last part of verse 7, Romans
15, 7. Wherefore receive ye one another
as Christ also received us. You see, the gospel is all about
His glory, is it not? Unto the glory of God. Now, consider
verse 8. Now, I say that Jesus Christ
was a minister. He was a minister of good news.
A minister is a servant of God. Jesus Christ the Lord, Jesus
Christ in scripture, is called the servant of the Lord. He was
a minister of God's truths, God's prophet, unto the circumcision or of the
circumcision for the truth. Now here is referring to the
Jewish people. Those descendants of Abraham
were the children of that circumcision covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ
was a minister for the truth unto those who were in that covenant
of circumcision being a descendant of Abraham of God to confirm
the promises made and to the fathers. Our Lord Jesus Christ
was and is a minister of good news, a minister of salvation. He will have mercy upon whom
he will. He is called in scripture God
our Savior, God our Redeemer, but he is our Savior and our
Redeemer not only to the Jew also to the Gentile as it says
in the following verses. It is true that the Lord Jesus
Christ was of the tribe of Judah of the house of David as it says
in verse 12 from Isaiah 11 that he is the root and the branch
out of Jesse that was David's father according to the flesh.
That's what it says over here in Romans chapter 1 if you want
to turn back with me, Romans chapter 1. Concerning His Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh, He's not made the Son of God, He's
made of the seed of David according to the flesh, He's declared to
be the Son of God with power. Now those are two distinct things.
He was of the house of David according to the flesh, but He's
declared to be what He is. He never stopped, when He was
manifested in the flesh, when He was manifested in the flesh,
did He ever stop being God? No, He's God, our Savior. He was born and lived under the
Mosaic Law and was obedient to that law in every jot and detail. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law. The Lord Jesus Christ
died under the penalty of that law for our sin. And doing so,
he redeemed us from the curse of that law. All this happened
and all this was fulfilled to confirm the promises of God given
in the scripture to accomplish the will and work of God as the
promised Messiah revealed in the Old Testament. Now, the message
of the Old Testament is what? Christ and Him crucified. The
message of the New Testament is what? Christ and Him crucified. This whole book, Old Testament
and New, has one message, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ
is everything in salvation. Christ is all and in all. I love
the sermon that the Lord preached to those two men on the road
to Emmaus, remember? We're going to look at it in
a few months in Luke 24. He said to them, Beginning of
Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the
Scriptures, The thing concerning himself." Boy, what a sermon. Beginning of Moses, Genesis.
He said, I'm the seed of the woman. He expounded unto them
in all the scriptures, Moses and the prophets, and in the
Psalms. And then he said, again, the risen Lord in Luke 24, 44,
these are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written in
the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning
me. Now, you remember 1 Corinthians
1, verse 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 1-4, where it says
how the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the
scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Savior of all His elect, all His people, both Jew and Gentile. He has a people out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven. He has an elect.
that he elected in eternity, he redeemed them in time with
his own blood, and in due time he calls them out with the gospel. Now, in verse 9, Romans 15 verse
9, all the way down through verse 12, Paul talks about how the
Lord Jesus Christ was not only prophesied to be the Savior of
those Jewish people, that is, the elect among the Jews, but
He was also prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures concerning
salvation for His people, His elect among the Gentiles. Look
at verse 9, that the Gentiles might also glorify God to confirm
the promises made to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that
the Gentiles also might do what? Glorify God. Now how are they
going to do that? by hearing the gospel and being
blessed to believe the gospel. Remember the message in Ephesians
chapter 1, God elected the people, Christ redeemed the people, and
the Holy Spirit calls them out all to the praise of the glory
of His grace. You see, it's all about His glory.
All about His glory. That the Gentiles also might
glorify God for His You see, it's not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. So
we glorify God, that is, we thank God for His mercy. You know,
His mercy is not giving us what we do deserve. Now what do you
deserve? What do I deserve? The wages
of sin is death. The soul that sinneth must die.
So we glorify God, and we glorify God not only for His mercy, but
also for His justice. Because He saves us in such a
way that He glorifies His justice and glorifies His mercy, that
He might be a just God and Savior, that He might be just and the
justifier of those which believe in Him. As it is written, Paul
goes right to the Word of God. For this cause, I will confess
to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy name." Now, the
Old Testament Scriptures were given to confirm that our blessed
Redeemer is the only Savior of sinners. That the Gentiles, and
here's the first Old Testament prophecy given from 2 Samuel
22, and from Psalm 18, 49, that the Gentiles would glorify His
mercy. For this cause will I confess
thee, that is, I will lift up Christ and preach Him among the
Gentiles. What do the Gentiles need to
hear? The same thing the Jews need to hear, salvation of the
Lord. And when they're blessed to hear it and believe it, they
sing unto his name. Remember God giving him a name,
which is above every name, that at that name every tongue will
bow, every tongue will confess, every knee will bow, that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now, he comes
with another scripture, verse 10. And again, he says, who says? I love the way God the Holy Spirit
quotes God the Holy Spirit. And that's what's going on right
here. Again, He saith, Rejoice, you Gentiles. Now, why would
any guilty, wretched, Gentile, dead dog sinner have any reason
to rejoice with his people? Only because salvation is of
the Lord, is it not? And again, this is from Deuteronomy
32, 43. Gentiles have been made to rejoice
with the saints of God. We are the true Israel, which
worship God in the Spirit, that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we have no confidence in the flesh. And again, I love the
way he keeps going at it. And again, you need more evidence?
And again, he saith, verse 11, this is from Psalm 117, Again,
praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud Him, that is, honor
Him, all ye people. This is from Psalm 117. Sinners are to praise the Lord
and worship Him. Let me give you the exact quote.
Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations. And that's referring to the Gentile
people. Praise Him, all ye people, for
His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the
Lord endureth forever. Now praise the Lord, and rejoice
with Him, and have no confidence in the flesh. Now again, he said,
verse 12. Verse 12, and again. You need
more evidence? And again, and again, we could
go on forever. And again, and again, and again.
All the promises of the Old Testament Scriptures all point us... Remember
they used to have that saying years ago, all roads lead to
Rome. All roads in the Word of God
lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, now he quotes Isaiah.
Isaiah says, and this is from Isaiah 11, and that is a very,
very powerful plain revelation of the coming of the Messiah,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's turn to Isaiah 11. Isaiah
11, look at that. Not too many years ago, you remember
we did a study in every chapter of Isaiah. And you remember Isaiah
11, right? Look at verse 1, "...and there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch,"
notice that capital B, branch, "...shall grow out of his roots."
Now who is this branch? It's the righteous branch, the
Lord Jesus Christ. "...and the Spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge, and
of the fear of the Lord." Now, down to verse 10, is the quotation
found in Romans 15. Look at the marginal reference
there. And in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse, which
shall stand for an enzyme, a sign to the people, a token, a pledge
to the people. And to it, to him, shall the
Gentile seek, and his rest shall be a glorious rest. Didn't our Lord say, come unto
me, all you that labor, I will give you rest." Now, look back
at Romans 15-12. There shall be a root, there
shall be and there was the coming of the Lord Jesus, and that he
shall rise to reign Over the Gentiles, his reign is a righteous
reign. In him shall Gentiles do what? Trust. Trust. Who do you trust for forgiveness
of sin? Well, I trust my repentance.
Well, you've missed it. Who do you trust to have your
sin washed away? Well, I trust my water baptism.
You've missed the gospel. Whom do you trust for the salvation
and justification of your soul? Well, I trust myself. You've
missed it. You see, in Him shall the Gentiles trust. Now, you
remember Psalm 62? I call that the only Psalm. Trust
in Him at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. And again, and again, and again,
the Scriptures declare that salvation in Christ, he that hath the Son,
hath life. He that hath not the Son does
not have life.