Book of Romans, 15:3 - "The Reproaches of Them Fell On Me," Pt. 1 (05/22/2022)

It's good to see all of you. I told you that after my mother went to heaven, I found a way to look at old newspaper articles and you can find all kinds of things on this thing called the internet. Have y 'all tried that?

And so I found out one of the things I could see back then Facebook was like the society page on the newspaper. So my grandmother would put little stuff about my mom in there every week just about. So if she she was about Maddie's age when she started playing piano for her Sunday school class in Corsicana.

So and she did that right up till she's in her 80s didn't she? So you will be too Maddie. Except more than a piano. You can play lots of instruments. That was pretty awesome. Thank you for that. Thank all of you for your prayers for our family.

I started feeling better this week. One night I don't remember which night maybe I think I spent a day with Matt and that it was that night I started feeling better. Matt ministered to me. He really did.

And so thank you for your prayers. We are doing much better at least I am and I think most of the kids are too. So turn with me to Romans chapter 15. The good news is we've made it to a new chapter. The bad news is there's lots of verses in chapter 15.

It's gonna take a while to get through it. But Glenda thank you too. That was beautiful this morning. As always you inspire me. Let's pray and well let me let me say hi to Susan Peace though. So great to have you visiting with us.

She's been here quite a few times out towards hill country. Quite a drive to get here and we thank you for driving in. She's a remarkable. She won't want me to say anything but she's a remarkable woman and a wonderful mom herself.

All right let's pray. Lord thank you so much for this day that we have a day together that you've given us freedom that we still have in this country in the world where there's less and less of it even in the European countries even around the world other than in some in some cases Lord you've preserved Texas and we thank you for that.

But we know we've got brothers and sisters around this country that still hang on to their freedom and that's because of you Lord. Thank you help us to be salt and light while we have this freedom and while we can do it even to help some of the other nations of the world that don't have it and be with our families be with each of us as we endure trials and temptations and keep us strong keep our new man in control and Lord be with us during this time of study and we pray in Jesus name amen.

Good to have each of you and our internet family as well. Good to have you guys with us as always from around the country and I'm excited about this message today so let's get right into it. Romans chapter 15 we've kind of already covered verses 1 and 2 and 3 because especially verse 1 and 2 was sort of really the end of Romans 14 chapter 14 because there's no chapters in the real bible right in the originals.

But I'll go ahead and read 1 and 2 because really we're starting out with verses 3 and 4 today. So Romans 15 1 says we then by the way the word then is how we know it refers to chapter 14. It's still talking about the things right above it but we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves.

Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification for even Christ please not himself but as it is written the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me for whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

So I want to talk about those last two verses this morning and you need to note verse 3 because that is a quotation from the old testament. The apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit quoted from Psalm 69.

That tells us something very interesting. So let me let me read verse 3 again and think about it and I think the last part is a little hard to grasp exactly what it means so I'm going to try to help with that right quick but look at it.

It says for even Christ please not himself. So verse 3 is obviously talking about Jesus Christ and it's then it quotes Psalm 69 and the reason that's important is there are a few of the psalms that are known as messianic psalms and what that means is even though David penned it and the Holy Spirit wrote it and some of it is about David's life it's actually about Jesus using David as a type or a picture of Jesus and teaching us about Jesus as we look at David and what he went through so it's actually talking about Jesus in Psalm 69 not David.

Now it also talks about David but the Holy Spirit is showing us in Romans 15 3 that the message he wants us he the Holy Spirit wants us to get from Psalm 69 is about Jesus Christ not so much about David and it's clear it's fascinating it happens in several of the psalms and the way that we often know it's a messianic psalm is because the Holy Spirit tells us in the New Testament that one's about Jesus it's just that clear but look what it says about our Lord it says even Jesus please not himself so with Jesus it was not about self it was about people other people others that is the predominant lesson we can learn if we're going to be Christians is it's about people it's not about money.

It's not about things about buildings it's about people. Now you need money and things and building to help people. So it's about that too it's about all of it but we got to keep our focus on people. And if you want to know what the greatest sin practically I won't say greatest but the greater of the sins is if you hurt one of Jesus's other sheep think about that.

You hurt them verbally you hurt them physically but especially verbally. You say something that doesn't edify and build them. You say something that tears them down and hurts them. Lord takes note of it every time every time he takes note of it because you don't touch God's anointed.

And God's anointed is not the preacher it's his people. It's his sheep. And so he's anointed us with the blood of Christ and with the oil of the Holy Spirit. And so you don't touch him. And the world needs to get that message.

But they don't get it. But they certainly enjoy a lot of punishment because of it. You talked about some of it in Sunday school this morning. But look what it says about our Lord. It says first of all he is not selfish.

It's not about him. It's about others. But look what it says. The reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me now I don't know about you but that's not real clear what that means the first time you read it.

And you have to stop thinking who is he talking about here. What you know. What are reproaches. Well reproaches you know there's you can look at formal definitions of it and so forth. I didn't look at the Greek so much as the English because the English is a good uh the King James English is a very good rendering of the actual Greek of this word reproaches.

But so let me tell you what Webster says about it. It's an expression of rebuke or disapproval. But I want to give you sometimes you know in the big dictionaries it'll say old English or it'll say even say obsolete like it's not used this way anymore.

Well think about it when the King James was written in 1611 that that's what's obsolete now. Right. That's why people don't like it even though it's the most accurate translation from the correct Greek of any English Bible still today but obsolete.

The obsolete meaning of this word reproach is one who is subjected to censure or scorn. And that's what it means here. So let's look at this verse. Then the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Who is. We think me is Jesus. Wouldn't you agree. We know me is Jesus. But who is thee. No no that's what I thought when I was. It's what I thought when I first read it. I'm thinking okay who is that person.

I named myself. I named us. It's God the Father. Is God the Father. The reproaches of them that reproach thee them is human. The fallen human race the fallen humans in their natural state all humans in there even us in our natural state when we're not spiritual when we're not walking filled with the spirit we reproach God.

We bring scorn and hatred. And uh rebuke to God the Father the creator of all. That is right. And so those who bring scorn to God Jesus says here that the reproaches that went toward the the Father now fell on me.

Jesus said now I want you to think about that for a minute. Kind of gives me goosebumps because I've had time to think about it. And you have I've been thinking about it all week. Well not all week but especially that part the last half of the week.

And I'm thinking wow you know what does that mean. So Jesus didn't just die for us. He died for the Father too. You do realize that. Right. Um that's what propitiation means. He died as part of the bigger scope of salvation one part of his propitiation.

It's what Jesus did for the Father when he died. And what he did for the Father when he died. Was he satisfied as the best English word for the word in Greek. He satisfied God's holy righteous just wrathful nature against sin the sin of the human race.

Jesus satisfied that for the Father so that he didn't have to slaughter every one of us. Now think about that because that's what we deserve. You mentioned that in Sunday school too. Um the Father did not have to just snuff us out and start over which is exactly what most of us in the room would have done had we been the Father.

Or then you got your liberals they would have just forgiven everybody as if it never happened. Which that's not happened. God did not do that either did he what God did was a third thing and you know we'd like to think in twos either.

Or human brain is built that way like it's like a computer zeros and ones you know it's like this or that. So either we should kill them all and start over or we should just save them all and everything's okay.

He didn't do either one of them. He did what only God would have thought to do in his infinite wisdom and that is to send his son to die for some of them an elect group of them horribly disliked doctrine today in the world.

But it's on as the great Charles Spurgeon the prince of preachers so many denominations called him that today as he said you would have to take a pen knife to the holy bible and rip out so many portions if you wanted to eliminate election and predestination from the bible because he said it's on just about every page.

And if you know it if you know about it you see it you see it everywhere because that's God that by definition God is sovereign by the very definition of the word God if he is God he is sovereign and and so the reproaches of natural men fall on God.

And Jesus said he took that away and took it on himself so that people the human race would hate him in place of the father for one thing now think about that. But also he took away the father's uh wrath uh from all of God's people that would ever live.

And he did that when he was on the cross. But the interesting thing is it is a direct quotation of psalm 69 which the holy spirit had written 1060 years earlier. And I say the holy spirit wrote it because the scripture says in the book of acts that the holy spirit spake by the mouth of David.

David wrote psalm 69. Now think about it. The holy spirit spake by the mouth of David. So who is the one who spoke in psalm 69. The holy spirit. Not David. David was the penman. That's all he was. All of the writers of the bible the human writers um you know all all 40 of them were penman and the holy spirit is the author of it.

And once you get that the book comes alive to you when you study it knowing God wrote it all right. So verse 4 then says for whatsoever things were written aforetime that is talking about the old testament.

So anything. Now here's another great lesson to teach a new christian. If you're discipling somebody number one realize God wrote every word of the bible and every cross the t and dot of the i God put it there and it's right where it's supposed to be.

And he preserved it and it's God's word number. First lesson you teach a new disciple. Secondly you can teach them this. Everything that's written in the old testament was written for our learning who live in the end of time.

And there's another scripture that says it that way. I'll show it to you in a minute that tells me that everything in the old testament is edifying. And uh for us to read. It's enlightening for us to read because just like psalm 69 is actually about Jesus.

And you wouldn't know that as a new christian probably without teachers to help you know it quickly. You would eventually learn it though because you would eventually read romans 15 3 and you would figure it out with the help of the holy spirit.

But with a teacher you compress time to learn things faster. It might take a preacher 40 years to learn some stuff he can teach you in 10 minutes. That time compression. That's why we're supposed to go to church.

That's why we need each other. Sunday school classes teacher teaching and all this. It helps us learn more faster because we don't have that much time. My mom proved that a few days ago. Her time is over here in some ways.

Not totally because the influence she had is out to the third generation from starting with her. So uh she's still here in a sense spiritually she's. Have you ever thought about this. I've learned a lot from her going to heaven on me because it made me angry at first.

That's part of grieving. I hear it's one of the stages of grieving you first you deny it then you get angry about it. And then like like that you whine a little bit and um but i realize you think about the fact when you get saved you get baptized into the spirit.

Right. You get baptized by the spirit into christ. I should say it that way. You so you are connected to jesus christ and to the father once you're born again. But guess who else you're connected to every other believer that ever.

And you think of it like in church right here like we're all connected together. But do you realize we're connected to every believer that ever lived and ever will live including your loved ones that you still have the exact same spiritual connection you did when they were here.

It didn't even get less. It might have even gotten more. But you are connected to them as much as you were that when they were here it's like they moved to chicago or something. You're still connected except it's a little farther away than chicago and it's not near as liberal.

So it's like they moved. It's like you lived in chicago and they moved to texas went to heaven. Get it. That's a joke. But anyway all right. Did you get that. Marion i bet you like that. He thinks colorado is heaven.

But colorado. Colorado is just a place you visit when you live in heaven you go then you go visit colorado. So so um think about this the old testament. Every page that you read is picturing something about jesus christ.

He's he's on every page in the old testament. And that's what it means when it says everything that was written before time in the old testament was written for our learning for us to learn about who jesus christ and that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope we're going to talk about that a little bit later.

But first let me show you a parallel passage to verse four. There in first corinthians 10 6. If you can turn there right quick and look at it on your phone or in your bible wherever your bible is. Uh take a look at it.

Follow along with me. I'll give you a minute. Ephesians 10 6. First corinthians 10 6. Did i say ephesians the first time. Or just that time. Okay so it's galatians 12 9. You got it first corinthians 10 verse 6.

Never mind you'll never get there at this point i'm just going to read it. Okay now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. So now all of a sudden in the new testament book of first corinthians chapter 10 verse 6 it's pointing back at the old testament especially looking at a certain part of the old testament where like the book exodus and where the children of israel going through the wilderness.

And it says now these things were our example. Sometimes the english word is in sample and brother otis used to make a big deal out of that's different than an example. It's a stronger word than example and it actually is it's a better translation of the of the greek word because the greek word um actually our english word type comes from it.

I don't know if i can pronounce it right in greek it's like typos or typos. I don't know how you pronounce it but it's the same word as type in english. And it comes from the idea of a little um what do you call a thing that you can hit it and put an imprint on something.

I'm omnipresent. All of a sudden i hear me over there. What would you call it. You can emboss it. It's like you a dye is what i'm saying. It's like like a dye. You put it on a piece of leather you hit it and it puts that little insignia on the leather or on the wood.

That's what the greek word literally means. So what does it picture. So it pictures that when we read things in the old testament now these things are in samples or examples they are types. So you may be reading about the story of the life of a person a real literal historic person in the old testament and the trouble that he's going through and the things that he does and all the things you see in the story is a picture of what jesus christ himself is teaching us to either be like or teaching us what he is like.

Are you with me. So that's what it means when it says example the english words way too weak there. But uh the greek word i like the english word in sample which we'll see in a minute to the intent that we should not lust after evil things.

So we watched the old testament saints lusting after evil things like onions. Right. Is it. That's evil. So what makes it evil. Is it. Well because because god didn't give it to him and they wanted it.

Uh the only way you can lust is if you want something you either didn't earn or god didn't give to you. Someone else has it. You want that one that that's incorrect. We should not be that way. So what's it saying.

Look at them. And instead of talking about how weak they were well can you believe the jews went through through the water. And now they're worshiping other idols. And god's saying yeah that's you. It's a type of you because our idols are not the same as their idols but they're just as evil.

It's anything that takes our love and attention and worship away from god. So now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they did. So there it's a type for us.

Now here's another lesson from the old testament passage. Neither be idolaters as were some of them as it is written the people eat. The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. And that's when they were they made a god out of the gold.

Remember that a golden heifer to worship. But that's a type or a picture of whatever our god is. We don't make golden heifers. Hopefully although there's probably people in hollywood doing it and washington dc probably worshiping weird things you don't know about.

You know. Listen i'm not preaching right now. That's just me being funny. But i'm probably right. But anyway so um so we're supposed to look at them doing that. And instead of thinking look how stupid they are they just went through through the red sea and it parted and they walked through it on dry ground and they made an idol and worshipped it.

How stupid they are. And and look what the first part of verse eight says neither let us do this. Neither let us do it. Sorry that was verse seven. But look at verse eight. Neither let us commit fornication as some of them did and fell in one day three and twenty thousand twenty three thousand people.

God just struck them dead because they were playing around that idol and that had sexual connotation and god killed them. So it says don't be like them. So what is that telling us we still have problems with things that they have problems with.

It may be in a different form but it might be in the same form verse nine. Neither let us tempt christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents in verse 10. Neither murmur you as some of them murmured.

Do we ever murmur in churches. Oh boy sometimes we do. And the bigger the church the more murmuring is going on. Because there's more humans in it. Right. And they were destroyed of the destroyer verse 11.

Now all these things happen to them as in samples. There's the great word that otis loved because it's a stronger english word for than example it means a type it literally means like a type. And they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world or the age.

Aeon aeon in greek the end of the age or come it's written for us right. Now everything in the old testament is what this teaches. Everything in the old testament will give you deeper colors and meanings of the new testament concepts.

That's a great second thing to teach new disciples is so they understand that from the get-go. Because i've actually heard people in certain denominations say well why don't you preach. I've had said of me you preach from the old testament too much.

It's a new testament church. Why do you do that. Well they don't understand this. You see they're they're like there is an important difference between old testament new testament. But but that doesn't mean that the old testament is not what where we should focus.

Because it's a type of all the new testament truths. It gives deeper meanings of all of it. Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall. That's the greatest lesson when we look at the jews.

Because when we look at them and say how weak they are and how ridiculous they are when they walk through the red sea and then they come out the other side and make a calf and worship and look at them.

And he says when you're thinking that way as a gentile take heed lest you fall also. And you know one of the things i think about and have thought about more as i get older is i remember more than once charlotte reading through the old testament getting to the kings and being so disappointed when they're so awesome.

And then towards the end of their life as they get old they do terrible things and end poorly. And she goes ah happened again you know like that when she's reading it. And gentlemen we need to be careful as we grow older that we don't have a bad ending to a previously fairly well-led life.

We have to keep running the race keep fighting the fight. And i think that's a warning to all of us ladies and gentlemen as we grow older that we could get discouraged and get weakened and mess up. Let's don't do that.

Okay. In park meadows we don't want to do that. So let's help one another and remind ourselves of this. Because um where you know all of these things happen to them as in samples for us and they're written for those of us who live at the end of the church age.

So there we go. Verse 12. Wherefore let him that thinks he stand take heed lest he fall. There has. But look at how it ends now. This is amazing with this information we just got about all the stupid things that they did in the flesh and warns us not to be that way.

Look at verse 13. I mean you've used this verse a million times but not in context today it's in context. There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to everyone else. So you can't blame it on the fact that well i got tempted above and beyond.

No all every temptation that will ever befall us has already happened to other people including jesus christ. So there's no temptation. Uh let me just start over. Um there's i gotta start the first because it's worded funny.

There has no temptation taken you but such is common to man. But god is faithful which means he'll do it every time. Who will not allow you to be tempted above what you were able to resist. Isn't that amazing.

Think about that verse. So there's never an excuse to sin ever. Because every time we're tempted god gives us an out if we choose to take it. Think about that really important for all of us at every age.

But will with the temptation also make a way of escape means you don't have to sin. You don't have to do that thing that you may be able to bury. Boy that's beautiful. Now let's go back to romans chapter 15 and let's look at the next verse verse 4.

It's it's taught really in detail in first corinthians chapter 10. But it's a parallel of verse 4. For whatsoever things were written before time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort the scriptures might have hope.

Um so the word they're learning is just a greek word that means instruction so that we may be instructed but it also says through comfort of the scriptures. Now what's interesting is that word comfort is the same greek word that the word hope that the idea of the holy spirit being our comforter comes from uh paraclases same word that holy spirit like the paraclete the the comforter it's the same word as that.

So think about it. You have the holy spirit living inside of you. And now the the holy spirit calls the word of god a comforter. And that's something so you're reading uh a comforter and you're being taught that by the comforter at the same time.

And then the word hope is elpsis which is an interesting greek word that has totally changed in english. And you've heard me say it a million times. Uh what it actually means in the greek is a little stronger than the evolution of the word hope in english because now we use it to mean i hope um the mavericks win the basketball game.

But they probably won't. You know that's what we mean by it right ben we hope they'll win but they probably won't. So it's a negative word the word hope now. But in 1611 if the english word hope was a very positive word and the greek word has remained the same so i god wrote the bible in greek and hebrew but because it doesn't change anymore but it actually means the joyful expectation of a future a certain future event.

Think about that the joyful expectation of a certain future event is what this word means. And so uh the lord is saying these old testament scriptures give us hope. They give us a joyful expectation of all the things that god says are going to happen.

The good things that he says are going to happen now in romans 15 3 where it talks about the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me. Uh let's look at psalm 69 with a little bit of time that we have turn to psalm 69 in verse 1.

So what we know about romans 15 3 is it's telling us that psalm 69 is talking about jesus not david. Uh it can allude to david's life but it is a picture of jesus christ. And um so it's called a messianic psalm.

These often describe king david's life's life his sufferings his prayers. But there are also in samples or types of jesus christ himself. So this particular psalm is particularly sweet because it gives us divine information about what was going on in the mind of jesus christ while he was on the cross.

Now you know that predominantly as you read the gospels predominantly he said nothing as he was reviled. He reviled not again as they spat upon him. He reviled not again as they said if your god come down from that cross he said nothing.

Predominantly he's quiet isn't he. So we would know absolutely nothing about what was going on with him if we didn't have psalm 69. So it shows the huge importance of the old testament for us to grow deeper in our knowledge of god.

So i want you to think about this. I mean it is incredible that we have this information telling us exactly what jesus was thinking while he was on that cross dying for us. This is just one of the most incredible things we could study in the whole bible.

So as we consider that let's reverently join jesus and listen to his thoughts remembering that he suffered for us in our place. So look at verse one. This is going on in his mind while he is silent on the cross.

Only only the holy spirit would have known he was thinking this. Only the holy spirit could have given this to us. No one would have known this had the holy spirit not chosen in his sovereign will to give us jesus's mind while he's on the cross.

Save me. Oh god. For the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me. He's praying. He's talking to the father while he is dying on the cross.

I am weary of my crying. My throat is dried my eyes fail. Where i wait for my god. Where are you. I don't see you. Where did you go. I've always lived with you. This is what he's thinking. So while the savior was raised up above the earth on the cross suffering and pain and agony and yet being reviled and reviling not again he silently withstood the cursing and the spitting and the accusations and the temptations.

But on the inside there was a great battle going on even greater than that battle. Save me. Oh god. For the waters are come into my soul. I sink in deep mire. That's like a quicksand a muddy murky quicksand that you're falling deeper and deeper into and you cannot get out of it.

And the more you struggle the deeper you fall into it. Where there is no standing. I can't stand up. It's like an eternal falling. Did you know that the scripture teaches that hell is a place of darkness and a place of eternal falling.

And if you study physics the inside of the center of the earth would be like that. It would feel as if you were falling forever if you were in there. And that happens to be where hades is temporarily.

It's in the center of this earth right now. And so he talks about this. I'm coming to deep waters where the floods overflow me. He cried out to his father with whom he had always been in all eternity in all existence of anything that existed or even before it existed he had always been with the father and he cries out to him.

But his father was not there for him. My god my god why hast thou forsaken me. He was experiencing the very most horrible aspect of hell which is separation from god at this very time. And we're hearing what he's thinking while he's experiencing it.

Think about that. He felt as though he were suffocating under the water of the sins of all the people of god who were fallen from the time of the garden of eden until the rapture of the church and beyond that age into age he felt that he was suffocating under the weight of all their sins and could not breathe.

His soul was sinking in the mire of the bog of quicksand of sin and death of all the human race which he had loved from the beginning of time. I know this because of proverbs chapter 8 verse 21 where it speaks of jesus christ before anything was created before genesis 1 1 when there was only god there was not even heaven.

Yet we think god's in heaven. God's father is not in heaven because heaven has time in it. He's not in there. He is outside of everything that he created including heaven. I'm talking about the father.

So this this is a time when it was like that and jesus was already with him. And it said in verse 21 of proverbs 8 that i may cause those that love me to inherit substance and i will fill their treasures.

That's the first part of this passage. Jesus says i want those that the father loves and that love the father. I'm going to make sure they inherit stuff. Now think about that the modern the preachers going back the last 200 years have said well the christians blessings are all just spiritual in heaven.

I don't think so look at this. He says i'm going to give them stuff. I'm going to give them substance. And i'm going to fill their treasures on while they're on the earth. Look at verse 22. The lord possessed me.

The father possessed the son. The father possessed his son jesus christ in the beginning of his way. Well when did the father's way begin. Or you could say well maybe that's a reference to the son. When did the son's way begin.

Well the son's way began when the father began. And there's no beginning of the father because he's always existed so that's forever. So the lord the father possessed the son of god in the beginning of his way before his works of old.

In other words before he created anything i jesus was set up from everlasting. That is very interesting in the hebrew because it's from beyond the vanishing point is what it says in hebrew. So you go back in time as far as you can go to where there is no time and go a step beyond that.