Affection and Unity Among Believers

Q: What does the Bible say about the kingdom of God?

The kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, not merely external rituals. The kingdom of God is described in Romans 14:17 as not being founded on meat and drink, but on righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. This emphasizes that true fellowship with God is characterized by the inner work of the Spirit rather than external observances. Righteousness here refers to the imputed righteousness of Christ and the transformative righteousness imparted to believers, enabling them to walk in a manner pleasing to God. The apostle Paul reiterates that authentic Christian life is driven by inward motivations of love, peace, and joy, reflecting the heart of God’s kingdom rather than mere adherence to ritualistic practices.

Q: How do we know imputed righteousness is true?

Imputed righteousness is grounded in the believer’s faith in Christ, who is our mediator and righteousness. Imputed righteousness is a core concept in Reformed theology that asserts believers are declared righteous before God based on faith in Christ alone. This is illustrated in Romans 3:21-26, where Paul explains that righteousness is credited to those who believe in Jesus' sacrificial work. The believer’s standing is not based on personal merit but is secured through the perfect obedience and atoning sacrifice of Christ. This doctrine is essential because it emphasizes God’s grace and the believer's total reliance on Christ for salvation, affirming that apart from His righteousness, we cannot please God. Therefore, believers can approach God with confidence, knowing that they are accepted in the beloved.

Q: Why is unity among believers important for Christians?

Unity among believers glorifies God and reflects Christ's love and acceptance. Unity in the body of Christ is emphasized in Romans 15:7, where Paul urges believers to receive one another as Christ has received us. This unity is crucial because it demonstrates to the world the transformative power of the Gospel and the character of our Lord. Believers are called to be like-minded and to glorify God with one voice, which creates a powerful testimony to the watching world. When the church operates in unity, it reflects the nature of God's kingdom, where love, acceptance, and reconciliation are paramount. This unity is rooted not in external regulations or traditions but in the heart, as believers are unified by the Holy Spirit and their shared faith in Christ.

Q: How does grace affect a Christian's life?

Grace transforms believers, enabling them to live in obedience and joy in the Holy Spirit. Grace is the unmerited favor of God bestowed upon sinners, and it fundamentally alters the life of a believer. In Romans 6:1-2, Paul addresses the misconception that grace permits sin. Rather, grace empowers believers to live righteously, recognizing that they are new creations in Christ. The transformative nature of grace should lead to a life characterized by righteousness, peacemaking, and joy, as mentioned in Romans 14:17. This grace invites believers to serve Christ with freedom, motivated by love for Him and for others, and compels them to joyfully obey God's commands. Thus, grace is not a license to sin; instead, it is the enabling force that provides believers with the capacity to live in a way that honors God.

of them that reproached God fell
on me. For whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, we need to learn from
the scriptures, that we through patience, learning to wait on
the Lord, and comfort of the scriptures, the precious promises,
might have a good hope. Now the God of patience and comfort
grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to the
example of Jesus Christ, after the example of Jesus Christ. That you may with one mind and
one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wherefore receive ye one another. as Christ also received us to
the glory of God. Now most religious people, I'm
very familiar with religious people and most of you are familiar
with religious people and most people in our area are religious. But most religious people are
prone to cling to dogmatically, strongly, and defend
and promote the externals of their religion, and to neglect
those things which really have to do with our relationship with
God. Did you know that? Most, I repeat
that, most religious people are prone to cling to and defend
and fight for and promote the externals, the form, the ritual,
the ceremony, the laws, the rules, the outward things. They cling
to these things and they defend them and they promote them. And
they neglect. In fact, most of them don't even
know about the things that really have to do with our relationship
with God Almighty, the things God really cares about. Most
religious people are majoring on minors. The Pharisees made
a great issue out of the fact that our Lord healed a man on
the Sabbath day, you remember? And they made a great issue of
the fact that he was a winebibber, he drank wine. He ate with sinners. He attended feasts. His disciples
didn't fast. And they condemned the disciples
for eating without going through the ceremonial washings. And
our Lord, turn to Matthew chapter 15. Our Lord condemned these
people. But we have their followers today. In Matthew 15 verse 8, he said,
this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouths, they honor
me with their lips. Their hearts are far from me.
In vain they do worship me. It's teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men, the externals, the traditions, the things that
men have devised. And he called the multitude and
said to them, now you listen to me and understand, it's not
that which goeth into the mouth that defileth a man, it's that
which cometh out of the mouth from the heart. This defileth
a man. And then came his disciple and
said to him, don't you know that these men were offended when
they heard this? And he said, well, every plant
which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.
Leave them alone. The blind leaders of the blind.
Now turn to Matthew 23. And again, this is what I'm talking
about. The externals. Touch not, taste
not, handle not. Sabbath days, holy days, feast
days, traditions, ordinances, forms. Church business, church
government, the right order. They just defend these externals
and neglect those things that really have to do with our relationship
with God. Look at Matthew 23, verse 23. Our Lord said, warned you scribes
and Pharisees, you're hypocrites. That's not three classes, that's
two classes that he calls hypocrites. Scribes and Pharisees, he said,
you're hypocrites. For you pay tithe of everything,
even the herbs, the mint, anise, that's dill and cumin. But you've omitted, you're so
wrapped up in these outward things, externals, you've omitted the
weightier matters of the law even. And that is judgment and
mercy and faith. These things you ought to have
done, these things that are required under the law, keeping certain
days and tithing and so forth, that these things were required
under the law. He said, do these things, but
don't leave undone that which is most important. And there
are proper ordinances, but Paul said, God didn't send me to baptize.
That didn't mean he was against baptism. by immersion, but there's something more important.
And this is what Paul is saying in Romans over here. You know,
I told you to start reading with chapter 14. Don't start in chapter
15, but start in chapter 14. That's what I've tried to educate
this church through the years. Like chapter 15 verse 1 says,
we then. Terry, he's talking about what
he just said. This being true, then this is true. Alright, so
let's go back to verse 17. For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
What is the kingdom of God? Well, the whole universe is under
God's reign. God's King of kings and Lord
of lords. He reigns over the whole universe. Everything is
under his control. He has all power over all flesh.
No question about that. But what he's talking about here,
the kingdom of God, is the kingdom of Christ. It's the kingdom of
heaven. It's true eternal life and fellowship
with God. It's the church. That's the kingdom
of God. It's the people who are his,
who are loved by him, chosen by him, redeemed by him, and
called by him. The real kingdom of God, the
real people of God, real fellowship with God is not in meat and drink. No sir, it's not in meat and
drink, it's not in deeds and duties. Though meat and drink
is important, and deeds and duties are important, and ordinances
and so forth are important, but this is not the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is not in meat and drink, it's not in the
form. This is the way we do it in our
circles. We'll do it that way, but it still won't bring you
to God. Ordinances, diet, observance of traditional things, temperance,
reformation, outward duties, keeping the day. There are certain
people who won't take a paper on Sunday, who won't watch a
football game on Sunday. There's certain people who pay
a strict high, 10%. There's one man we get a check
from every once in a while. He's a faithful supporter of
this television ministry, and his check comes this way, $246.15.
Or $271.50. You see, and there's some people who would not serve
a glass of wine. Some people will. There's all
these things that religion But the kingdom of God is not
in these things. The kingdom of God, listen, is
in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now what is this righteousness?
Fellowship with God, eternal life, is in righteousness. It's twofold. It's the imputed
righteousness of Christ. I have no righteousness of my
own. My righteousness is a filthy rag. In my flesh dwelleth no
good thing. In the flesh I can't please God
Almighty. I don't care. Standing here preaching
His gospel with His Word open and having studied and prepared
and loving you and I trust loving Him and wanting to preach for
His glory. When I get through, I will not
have pleased God. I can't do it. There's too much
self in this. There's too much lack of faith, there's too much
hesitation, there's too much, and I wish I could say it was
totally for the glory of God. Only in Christ can I please God.
Just like we studied this morning in our Sunday school lesson,
in front of that veil, in front of the Holy of Holies was an
altar of incense. And that sweet incense burned
all the time going up to heaven. Before the veil, before you entered
the veil, before you went into the presence of God, you encountered
the prayers of Christ. And I'll tell you this, thank
God, before I ever call His name, before I ever approach Him, before
I ever stand up here, I encounter the sweet incense of His prayers
and intercession. He stands for me. And He'll make
right what I say. He'll make accepted what I do.
That's right. He'll make my person accepted
in Him. That's the intercession of His
righteousness. I'm clothed in His righteousness.
And also there's a righteousness imparted. Not only imputed, but
imparted. God's people are new creatures
now. I heard a man say one time, we'll
never do business with a deacon. They'll beat you every time.
God's deacons won't. A fella said to me one time down
here at a store, he said, there's not a preacher in this town that
pays his bills. I said, God's preachers do. God's
preachers do. The devil's preachers don't,
but God's preachers do. Ah, there are a bunch of hypocrites
down at the church. There may be some, but most of
them aren't. God's people are not hypocrites.
No, they're new creatures. They have a righteousness imputed
through Christ and a righteousness imparted by Christ. They're new
creatures. They walk in honesty, integrity,
and truth. And they regret any wrong step
they take. They take plenty of them, but
they regret every one of them. And they weep over them. Yes
sir, the kingdom of God is not in how you keep a day. It's not
how you diet and what you eat. The kingdom of God is not what
you put in your belly. The kingdom of God is in righteousness
and peace. Peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. The peace of God in the heart
by the work of Christ and faith in Christ. And peace with one
another. God's people are peacemakers.
That's exactly right. God's people are peacemakers.
They love peace. They want peace. They try to
establish peace. They're not troublemakers. They're
not grumblers. They're not fault finders. They're
peaceful people. That's right, peace. And God's
people are people who have joy. Joy in the Holy Ghost. Turn to
Philippians chapter 3. Oh, they have their troubles
and sorrows and heartaches and tears, but under it all, underlying
it all, they have the joy of the Holy Ghost. They rejoice
in Christ Jesus. Isn't that right? Philippians
chapter 3. Look at verse 3. We are the circumcision. We are the true Israel. We're
the true circumcision. Who worship God in the spirit. That's how we worship God. Not
just in the day, in the form, in the law, in the ritual, in
the diet, in the meat, in the drink, in touch not, taste not,
handle not, all these things. We worship God in spirit, from
the heart. We're in the heart business.
That's where it all is done, in the heart. And we rejoice
in Jesus Christ. We rejoice in his incarnation. We rejoice in his obedience.
We rejoice in his death. We rejoice in his resurrection.
We rejoice in his intercession. We rejoice in his presence. We
rejoice in his mercy. We rejoice in everything having
to do with and only in Christ do we rejoice. And we have no confidence in
this flesh. So back to the text, Romans 14,
17, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It's righteousness,
peace, and joy. And look at verse 18, For he
that in these things serves Christ, he that in these things, not
in meat and drink, not in ordinances and rules and regulations, right
church, right baptism, right day, right tithe, right this,
right that, right law, right duties, right details, right
responsibility. No, that's not it. He that has
discovered the heart business, the heart love, peace and joy,
he that in these things serveth Christ, he's acceptable, not
only to him, to God, but to people who know God. They know those
of like mind. I sat down right here a moment
ago and jotted down some things. You know why God has blessed
this church? One of the reasons, blessed it because He wanted
to, I know that. Blessed it because He chose to. Whatever we are,
whatever we know, whatever we do is by His grace one thousand
and ten percent. But some of you folks have discovered
what those two verses are saying. Some of you discovered what those
two verses are saying. I remember 20 years ago, if there was a precious missionary
who was serving in Mexico with a wife and five children, six
counting the adopted child, He'd been down there for several years
and didn't have proper support, didn't have anything. He was
just about ready to quit, just about ready to come home, driving
an old rattletrap Ford truck with 130,000 miles on it. Do
you remember? He stopped at a church, almost as big as this church, and preached for them. And it
was a church that's always been known for its orthodoxy and its
separation and its doing things right, theology straight, everything
straight. Straight as a gun barrel and
twice as empty. And they gave him $68. Here's
a man traveling 1,200 miles from home in an old rattletrap Ford
truck. trying to preach the gospel to
the Mexicans, and gave him $68 and said, God be with you. Something in James about that,
isn't there? About you say to a brother, be warm, be clothed,
and you give him nothing to be warm, be clothed with. Your faith
is no good. He came down here. I wasn't even
here. The pastor wasn't even home. And Eddie Robinette and
some of the men of this church, I think Jim Terry, Stan, some
of the men of this church, Charlie Payne, intercepted him. And they
had him over at your house, didn't they? That first night. And I
think those men got together $300, one with about four of
them, and gave that missionary. And then he came over here and
preached at the church. And you folks bought him a brand new
vehicle and gave him $1,000 and kissed him and said, God bless
you. That's, you can say, God bless
you there. That's different. And you, I
tell you this, you can have your right doctrine, and your right
Sabbath, and your right tithe, and your right morality, and
your right everything else, and you haven't got a heart of love,
you can forget it. And I knew another missionary
that was showing his slides in a certain church, and they were
straight as a gun barrel. They wore these white sidewall
haircuts, you know, back in the 60s and the 70s when if you wore
a beard you was going to hell anyway. You remember those days? Well, this missionary went there
and they wouldn't let him preach because his hair was too long.
It was over his ears. And they stopped his support.
He had hair over his ears. I like hair, you know. But I
mean, that's after all. And then he showed slides at
another place, and I'm telling you things that have happened.
I said I could write a whole long list of this sort of stuff.
He showed his slides at another place, and his son, he has some
fine son, I mean young men who love the gospel. And he pointed
at his son, he said, now that's my oldest boy, and he's in school
in New Orleans, at a certain school. And when his service
was over, they got together and stopped his support because his
son wasn't going to a Christian school. He's going to a secular
school. Then another church right up
the road here recently dropped both Milton and Walter because
they didn't hold to and teach the premillennial return of Jesus
Christ. They didn't have the proper rebuilding
of the temple Israelites and all this sort of thing, dropped
their support. And the pastor of that church
is the son of a missionary. This word says here, the kingdom
of God is not meat and drink, it's not orthodoxy. Orthodoxy
is good, fine, meat and drink, there's some I'll show you something
in just a minute. There's some temperance to be
observed and moderation and understanding, but that's not the kingdom of
God now. That's not eternal life. That's not the fellowship of
God. Eternal life in the kingdom of
God has something to do with what God's done for you in here.
That's what it is. That's where it is. And just
recently, now listen to this. And I'm telling you, one reason
God's blessed you, because He's taught you some things, you've
learned them well, you've learned them in heart, and I can brag
on this church if I want to, I know more about it than anybody.
And I guess I get in more churches than anybody else, but Brother
Milton recently, I'm not going to call any names, it's not anybody's
business, but Brother Milton recently, on this recent trip,
He's traveled 4,500 miles in his truck preaching different
places and going to visit churches that support him. 4,500 miles. That was just
until last week. He'll be here next Sunday. But
he was at a church recently, and I'm not talking about a handful
of people. I know a pretty good-sized church. And he spoke and showed his slides. And after the service, whoever
was in charge came up and said, how far did you drive? And he
said, why? I said, we won't pay your expenses. Oh, well, he drove 4,500 miles,
but not getting there, you know. He also, the rear end came out
of his car, he spent $850 a week before putting a new rear end
in the vehicle. Well, he said, I drove 240 miles. Well, we'll give you $60 for
expenses. Those secular companies don't
treat people that way. Those people who ain't never
heard of God don't treat people that way. Well, they gave him
a $100 love gift. But I told him when he got down
here, I said, if you keep that up, son, you're going to be in
the hole in a little while. What happened here? One of our men checked his truck
and found the radiator needed rebuilding, and this church paid
$400 last week and had it all done. That's the reason God blessed
you. You may not be the most strict,
traditional, orthodox, hardline people in the world, but bless
your heart, you got the heart of Christ, and that's where it
is. Know what I mean? Who's that
says that all the time, Luke? Know what I mean? Know what I mean? And that's
what he's saying here, and I read it again. Listen, the kingdom
of God is not meat and drink. Get all your rules and ordinances
and rituals and business meetings, and you're right here, there,
and yonder. Get it all exact and straight. And miss God. Because the kingdom
of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And he that in these things serves
Christ. Why do you do what you do? To
serve Christ. But you do it because Christ
motivates you. The love of Christ constrains
me. How can I show any less love
than he showed for me? mercy that he showed me, generosity
and kindness. Everything I have is by the grace
of God. All right, see that? All right, let's move on to the
next verse. But, lest anyone should misinterpret the apostles'
words. Now watch these next verses.
Lest anyone should misinterpret the apostles' words and try to
find an excuse for sin. Like I said a while ago, God's
people fail, but they weep over their failures. They sin, but
they weep over their sins. But they love Christ, and they
love His people, and they're generous and gracious. But lest
any man... You know, turn to Romans 6 a
minute. There's people that look for an excuse to sin. In Romans
chapter 6, listen to this. Romans 6, 1 and 2. What shall
we say then? Shall we sin that grace may abound? Salvation's all of grace. It's
through grace. It's by the grace of God. I am
what I am by grace. It don't matter how I live. Oh,
yes it does. God forbid! How should we that
are dead and sinned live any longer therein? No! No! Verse 15 of that same chapter,
Romans 6. Listen to this. What then? Shall we sin because we're not
under the law but under grace? God forbid! God forbid. So lest someone should say, well, for example, let me give you
an example. I was in a Bible conference one time out west,
and there were a lot of people there. And after the service one night,
we went across the street from where everybody was staying,
to a huge pizza place. And I suppose there were, I suppose
there were 40, 35 or 40 of the Bible Conference people there.
Now the people in this Bible Conference from Michigan and
Alabama, Texas and all over, Tennessee, Illinois, and we were sitting at the table
and Everybody was altering, it was around two or three tens,
a man sitting on my right whom I knew, not real well, but whom
I knew, and he knew me. He knew my ministry. And they
were altering, we altered, and he said, I kind of like a schooner
of beer with pizza. I said, I wouldn't do that. He said, do you think it's a
sin to drink beer? I said, now, that's not the issue.
I said, I've been in Germany and I know the believers in Germany,
that's a national drink. I've been in France, I've been
in Spain, I've preached in places where at the church meals they
serve wine. Over in France, Bill Clark's
church in Marseille, we had a dinner after the morning service and
they're proud of their wine. That's a national drink. Some
people do abuse it, the believers don't. And I said, now you, that's
not the issue here. What I think, there are other
believers here. And there's some weaker brethren.
There's some people from areas where it's dead wrong for you
to do that. And I'm telling you, don't do
it. Well, do you suppose he took my advice? His brain stood out
like water hoses. He said, nobody's going to tell
me what I can drink and what I can't drink. Is that the spirit
of Christ? No. See what Paul says in the
next line. Verse 19, Let us therefore follow
after those things which make for peace, and things which wherewith
one may edify another. He wasn't fixing to edify anybody
around there. He was fixing to tear that Bible
conference up and didn't care. For meat, destroy not the work
of God. Is it wrong to eat this meat?
The meat Paul's talking about here is the meat that was sold
in the shambles, the meat that had been sacrificed to idols,
the meat that was cheaper. But there are a lot of believers
who were offended by that meat. They said, that meat's been offered
to an idol. You can't eat that. Well, there's
no such thing as an idol. It's just one God. But Paul said,
hold on. If it offends you, I want it. I'm not going to destroy the
work of God, just prove my liberty. Is that right, John? I might have the liberty to attend
a movie, but I'm not going to one down here in Ashland. Because
there's too many people in this area that watch me on television.
And that's all they got to do, see me down here in a movie and
say, well, he lives like the devil. That's right. You say, well, I'll be a hypocrite.
I'm not. I'm using my brains. I care about offending people.
You see what I'm saying? I wouldn't find anything wrong
with having a glass of wine before a meal, but I tell you this,
I wouldn't order one somewhere around here. No way in this world. No way. And you better not either
if you care for the conscience of other people. And that's what
he's talking about right here. Don't destroy the work of God
for your liberty. You don't need it that bad. Drink
water. You don't drink enough water anyway. Now watch verse
20. For me, don't destroy the work
of God. All things indeed are pure. It's
not what goes in my mouth that defiles me. But it's evil for
that man who eats with offense. That man watching you, he's been
taught that all his life. What about the Apostle Peter?
The Lord told him to rise and eat that meat. He said, I ain't
going to do it. He even told God he wasn't going to do it.
He never had eaten a piece of pork in his born days. And he
wasn't going to start now. He thought it was evil. And if he had eaten it, feeling
that way, it would have been evil. And it's evil for me to
do it and hurt him. Is that right? You're about right
it is. That thing becomes a sin to you
when you do it hurting somebody else. I don't care how right
it is, how much liberty it is, you do it knowing you're going
to hurt somebody, you've offended Almighty God. It's an offense,
it's evil. Verse 21, it's good neither to
eat flesh nor to drink wine nor anything whereby your brother
stumbles or is offended or is made weak. That's how you cover what I'm
saying. And that's not contradicting
yourself at all. That's following the scripture.
That's following the scripture. Verse 22, Have you faith? Do you have faith? I believe
I do. Christ is my all. There's nothing
in the farm, in the ceremony, there's nothing in the meat,
in the drink, there's nothing in the things of this world that
can touch my soul. Christ has redeemed my soul,
my righteousness. All things are lawful unto me,
but all things are not expedient. All things are pure to me, but
all things are not acceptable, if it offends somebody. So do
you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Enjoy your liberty. That way
your conscience is clear before God. Not going to abuse that
thing. Moderation in temperance. Happy,
happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he
allows. Happy is that man who can come
to the house of God, worship God on Sunday morning, rejoice
with the people of God, have lunch, and all week he's working,
that afternoon go out and a few hours hit the golf ball without
any conscience bothering him whatsoever. Come back here at
night and worship God. Happy is that man. But a lot
of people couldn't do it. A lot of people couldn't do it.
Happy is that man who gets his paycheck and he doesn't feel
obligated or constrained to divide it up into the pennies to get
one-tenth of his... What do you bring? What do you
tie? Do you take home a gross or net or what? I don't know.
It's a problem, isn't it? But happy as that man ain't got
that problem. Happy as that man that gives what he feels led
of the Spirit of God to give. Because he loves Christ. See
what I'm saying? Happy as that person. Happy as that man that
can enjoy the things that God, the oil makes the face shine
and wine makes the heart glad. Happy as that man. Happy as that man. And he doesn't
feel condemned. Brother Herrington, now we're
out walking with him. Remember Brother Herrington? Loved him.
He wrote, he published all of Pink's works, you know. And we
were walking along one day and I said, I'd love to have a good
cigar, wouldn't you? He said, more than anything in the world. But my wife won't let me smoke
them. Happy is the man that ain't under
the rule of his wife. That's me. So I got me one. But I wouldn't offend one of God's little lambs deliberately. See what I'm talking about? Happy
is the man that's got a free heart and a free spirit and loves
Christ. And he that doubteth, though,
the fellow that doesn't have that knowledge and doesn't have
that full liberty, and it hasn't been revealed to him, the light
that you have, if he doubts and goes ahead and does it, he's
not damned eternally. The word there is not eternal
damnation. It's condemned. It's under disfavor. He's doing what he ought not
to do. If he has certain scruples and convictions, he better walk
by them until God gives him light otherwise. See what I'm saying? Because he is not of faith. Whatsoever is not of faith is
of sin. But let's read the next one now. We then that are strong,
and none of us, none of us claim to be strong in ourselves. What
he's talking about here is mature believers. Spirit-taught believers. They're not strong in themselves.
No man is. Paul says, when I'm weak, then
I'm strong, because I lean on Christ. But we then that are
strong, taught, well-taught, and some of you are well-taught,
our strength is the faith of Christ. All we need is found
in Him. But we ought to bear the infirmities
of the weak. Now, if you've got friends, I'm
not talking about people that are going about to establish
a righteousness of their own. I'm not talking about people
that have departed from the gospel. I'm talking about people who
really love Christ. But certain things have not been,
they just don't have the light on these things. So you bear
under their infirmities and their weaknesses and don't please yourself.
Please them. Understand. Somebody said this.
I read this one time. On this verse. Let's read. We
then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.
Who are these weak people? And why are they weak? Well,
they're people to whom the liberty and light of Christ has not fully
been revealed. And their weakness is because
of two things. One is immaturity in faith. Immaturity
in faith. And secondly, lack of knowledge. That's the two reasons for immaturity.
One is weakness of faith and the other is lack of knowledge.
Babes in Christ. I know this around the home,
your children are part of that family, a vital part of that
family. But there's certain things you
don't discuss in front of them because they are not ready to
deal with all those things. Isn't that right? And that's
what our Lord said to his young disciples, who were babes in
Christ, he said, I got a whole lot of things to say to you,
but you're not able yet to bear them. So these are weaker brethren,
their faith is not as strong and their knowledge is not as
extensive as yours. And look at verse 2. I'll just
read this and quit. Let every one of us please his
neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself. Our Lord is the example here.
You think how he put up with those disciples and their faults
and failures. Oh, there were so many weaknesses
and yet our Lord was so gentle with them, so kind to them. Remember
that? I could read you, I had some
that don't have time. Even Peter, up on that terrific
mountain, Peter said, let's build three tabernacles, one for you,
one for Moses, and one for Elijah. The Lord just, you don't know
what you're talking about. On another occasion, he tried
to get Christ not to go to the cross. On another occasion, he
said, I don't even know the man. He was so kind to them, so understanding,
so patient. And these things that are written,
verse 4, a fourth time, were written for our learning. We
need to learn what? That we, through patience and
comfort of the Scripture, might have hope. Let's be learners. I've got so much to learn and
so little time in which to learn it. So much to learn and so little
time in which to learn it. Now, the God of patience, My
God's a God of patience, my God's a God of comfort, grant you to
be like-minded one toward another according to the example of Jesus
Christ. Be like-minded. What? The way
Christ is to you. That you may with one mind and
one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wherefore, listen, you receive one another with a kiss of charity. with an open arm and with a sympathizing
heart, you receive one another just like Christ received you.
How do you receive me? Weak, unlovely, unstable, so many faults and failures,
you receive one another. Why? To the glory of God. Old Moses asked God to show him
his glory. The Lord said, my glory is my
mercy. My glory is my mercy and my grace. I want it to the glory
of God show mercy and grace. All right, I hope that's a blessing. Might come later in a closing
hymn.

Affection and Unity Among Believers

What does the Bible say about the kingdom of God?

How do we know imputed righteousness is true?

Why is unity among believers important for Christians?

How does grace affect a Christian's life?

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Affection and Unity Among Believers

What does the Bible say about the kingdom of God?

How do we know imputed righteousness is true?

Why is unity among believers important for Christians?

How does grace affect a Christian's life?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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