Sunday Morning, June 21, 2020, AM

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Sunday Morning, June 21, 2020, AM "Accept One Another" (Part 8) Romans 14:1-15:7

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Good morning, everyone.
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Welcome to Sunnyside Baptist Church. This morning, on this Father's Day, we want to recognize, just real briefly, fathers, grandfathers, any great -grandfathers in the room that I don't know about.
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If you're a father, would you stand so that we can recognize you this morning?
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As both a father and a son myself, I can tell you the immeasurable influence that a father has in a culture that we live in today where fatherlessness is rampant.
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We are blessed, especially in this church, to have so many examples of good fathers and good grandfathers to look to who show us ultimately to our
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Heavenly Father. So honor your fathers today on Father's Day. Because of that, we will not be having evening worship service tonight.
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That is for you and your family to be together tonight. A couple of other opportunities coming up Wednesday at 6 .30
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p .m. Bible study and prayer here at church. And then looking ahead to next
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Sunday in the morning service, we'll be having the Lord's Supper. And then in the evening service, truth group for the young adults.
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That's next Sunday. Our fighter verse for this week comes from the book of Galatians, chapter 6, verse 2.
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Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.
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So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
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Another reminder, the offering plate, it's not going to be passed yet, but it is back there on the back table.
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So your tithes and offerings, please continue to give those. Nursery continues to be available both in the morning worship and Sunday school hour.
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Also, if you need a church directory or need to get some of the new names of our new members, those pages are on the back table as well.
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All right, any other announcements that I'm missing? All right, we're going to prepare our hearts for worship, and then after that, we'll pray for us.
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Holy God, we bow before you this morning. We are reminded of what you tell us in your word, to be still, to know that you are
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God. Lord, as we think on that for even just a few moments, we are confronted with the fact that we indeed are sinful people,
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Lord, we need your grace. Even to worship you, we need your grace.
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Our hearts are deceitful and wicked, and sometimes even when we pray, we pray wrongly and we pray with selfish motives rather than praying for your kingdom and for your glory.
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So Lord, we ask that this morning you would give us humble hearts to draw near in the righteousness of Christ, to be clothed not in our good deeds, which are as filthy rags, but to be clothed in Christ, and in him alone do we stand.
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Lord, may we this morning offer to you the sacrifice of praise. May our worship be the overflow of our hearts in gratitude for your goodness toward us in Christ.
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May you bless your word as it is read, as it is preached. May you be glorified in the singing of these songs.
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May your name be exalted as we pray together. And Lord, in all these things, may you knit our hearts together in love.
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May we be truly the body of Christ. Thank you for your loving kindness and your faithfulness.
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And we give you praise and glory and honor this morning in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you stand with me for our call to worship together?
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Our passage this morning is found in Psalms chapter 43. We'll be reading verses three and four.
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Read with me together. Send out your light and your truth.
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Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill, into your dwelling.
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Then I will go to the altar of God to God, my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre,
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O God, my God. Let's sing together. Morning has broken.
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Morning has broken. Praiseful and screaming.
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Sprung in the breeze. The sunlight.
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Mine is the morning. May it shine.
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Praise the new day.
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And then page 295, revive us again. ♪ We praise thee,
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O God, for the Son of Son.
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We praise thee, O God, for the Spirit of life.
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All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain.
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Who has died and risen?
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Be redeemed, O God. Let's turn to the
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Scriptures. Deuteronomy 9, verse 15 to the end of the chapter.
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This is Moses speaking to Israel about their inconsistency and, well, rather their consistency with rebelling against God.
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So I turned and came down from the mountain, while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
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And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf.
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You had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands and smashed them before your eyes.
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I fell down before the Lord as at the first forty days and nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water because of all your sins which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the
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Lord to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the
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Lord was wrathful against you in order to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me that time also.
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The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, so I prayed for Aaron at the same time. I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small until it was fine as dust.
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And I threw the dust into the brook that came down from the mountain, again at Taborah, and at Massah, and at Kibreth -hevetah.
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You provoked the Lord to wrath when the Lord sent you from Kadesh -barnea, saying,
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Go up and possess the land which I have given you, and you rebelled against the command of your God. You neither believed him nor listened to his voice.
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You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day I knew you. So I fell down before the Lord the forty days and nights, and I did because the
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Lord had said he would destroy you. I prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord God, do not destroy your people, even your inheritance, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out from Egypt with a mighty hand.
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Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at the wickedness of their sin.
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Otherwise, the land from which you brought us may say, because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.
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Yet they are your people, even your inheritance, whom you have brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.
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Thank the Lord for his mercy. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your mercy to us, to a stubborn and backward people.
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Thank you, Lord, for your forgiveness for our sins and for the gift of your Son. Thank you,
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Lord, immediately, for the blessing of being able to spend time in the fellowship of your saints.
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Thank you that we're able to gather here again and just the true joy that it is to see the faces of our brothers and sisters.
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I just pray that you will bless Michael as he comes and just give him the strength and the determination to speak the things that you've laid on his heart this week.
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I pray that you would give us listening ears and help us to apply the things that he says to us for this week.
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Just thank you, Lord, for the time we have here, and pray that you'll bless us for being here. In Christ's name, amen. You may be seated.
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I'm thankful for the hymn writers. We have songs to sing praises to our
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Savior, to God our Lord and King. We have both varying songs that were written long ago.
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I think of great songs of faith, of amazing grace, victory in Jesus.
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We just sing, revive us again. But we also have hymn writers today that give us new songs.
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And so sing unto the Lamb a new song. Today we're singing a brand -new song that Lisa has found for us, and the ink is still drying.
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So it's Forever Jesus, and it's from Stuart Townsend in the Gettys. And so let's sing together a new song,
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Forever Jesus. ♪ My hymn of praise shall be forever
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Jesus My firm foundation in shifting steps
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My strength and hope through many fears and failures
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The disappointments of the past His constant love has helped me fast
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So praise I will sing my hymn forever
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Jesus Where the storms may rage,
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He is strong to save He's the way, He's the host
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My soul comes to a stop at once When shadows before my eyes
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My Lord and Friend, Companion through the perilous times
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My left behind, His head will lead me to So praise
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I will sing my praise to the King For great
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He is strong to save In His days
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I will sing my praise
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He still,
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He still,
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He still,
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I know Let's sing that again.
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He still, He still,
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He still, I know Let's pray together.
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Lord, we come to you this morning and we offer our prayers together.
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Brothers and sisters, in Christ, Church of Jesus Christ, we offer our prayers to you at this acceptable time.
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And we look to the greatness of your loving kindness, the hope of your saving truth.
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And we ask,
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Father, because we know that your loving kindness is good and your compassion is great, we ask that you would answer us and hear us as we pray.
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We are in great need of your power, the authority of Christ, the fruit of the
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Holy Spirit to be made manifest. Father, we are in need of your truth to be brought to bear upon our lives, to have your perspective on things, and not only to know how you view the world and our church and our families and our own hearts, not only to see things from your point of view, but to give a warm, hearty, full -throated amen to the way you see these things.
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We need the grace of repentance. We need you to revitalize our worship of you, not only here as we gather, but in our families and in our own private intimacy with you.
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Thank you for loving us. We thank you for your long -suffering. Father, we believe.
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God, help our unbelief. When we fear, we should not fear.
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When we rage, we should cease striving and know that you are God. Strengthen our faith today as we look at Christ.
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You are our heavenly Father. What a great and wondrous love this is that we would be called your children.
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What a perfect Father you are. And so we humbly now come to your table to take from your provision, and we give you thanks.
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It's in the name of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that we pray. Amen. I invite you to open your
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Bibles and turn with me to Romans 15. Romans 15, we'll be reading verses 1 -7 this morning.
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Romans 15, verses 1 -7.
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If you would please stand with me for the reading of God's holy word. These are the words of our
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Lord. Now, we who are strong ought to bear with the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.
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Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good to his edification.
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For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who approached you fell on me.
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For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the
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Scriptures, we might have hope. Now may the
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God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the
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God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept one another just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
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This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. I suppose
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I risk using an illustration unknown to you.
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You have not read, and I do emphasize read,
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Pilgrim's Progress, notwithstanding sincere and robust efforts to put it on the screen.
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It is an excellent commentary on the Christian existence, especially when you read all of the footnotes, the
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Scripture references, that John Bunyan places right alongside all of the conversation and the events that happened to Christian and his traveling companions.
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It is an allegory. If you've never read one, it's just full of symbols and stories which relate to the experience of the
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Christian life. And here in this picture we see Christian and one of his traveling companions,
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Hopeful. They are languishing in the dungeon of Doubting Castle. And Bunyan is writing out of his personal experience at this point as he was often and for a lengthy time in prison for his faith.
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But Christian and Hopeful are languishing in Doubting Castle under the power of giant despair.
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They have been greatly abused by the giant, and they have lately spoken of whether or not suicide is a genuine option.
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Now, why are they in this mess? Well, they decided to take a detour through Bypath Meadow, and it looked to be a kind of easier road.
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But alas, they lost their way, and they were captured and now daily abused by doubts and despair.
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But now we come to the part of the story where they escape. This is
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Bunyan writing. Well, on Saturday about midnight they began to pray, and continued in prayer till almost break of day.
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Now, a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half amazed, break out in this passionate speech.
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What a fool, quoth he, am I thus to lie in a stinking dungeon, where I may as well walk at liberty?
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I have a key in my bosom called Promise. That will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.
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Then said Hopeful, that is good news, good brother. Pluck it out of thy bosom and try.
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Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom and began to try at the dungeon door, whose bolt, as he turned the key, gave back.
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And the door flew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both came out. Then he went to the outward door that leads into the castle yard, and with his key opened that door also.
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After, he went to the iron gate, for that must be open too. But that lock went damnable hard, yet the key did open it.
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Then they thrust open the gate to make their escape with speed. But that gate, as it opened, made such a creaking that it waked
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Giant Despair, who, hastily rising to pursue his prisoners, felt his limbs to fail, for his fits took him again, so that he could by no means go after them.
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So they went on and came to the King's Highway and were so safe, because they were out of that giant's jurisdiction.
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Key of promise. Key of promise. I think of this scene when
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I consider those who have wandered in their hearts and wandered in their thinking away from the clear hope of Jesus Christ.
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Many of them despair, obviously despair without need. I consider those who make too much, too much of the evil and deceptions of our time, and not enough of the promises of God.
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And it is important that we consider this, for despair leads easily to division.
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Despair leads easily to division, and both are needless in light of Christ.
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I think we'll see from our passage this morning, from Romans 15, verses 1 through 7, that accepting one another means agreeing about the promise that we have in Christ.
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The promise that we have in Christ, promises of his salvation, promises of his forgiveness, promises of his everlasting mediation for us.
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So we are to accept one another as those ruled and redeemed by Christ, but we can't do it by despairing of any hope of reconciliation, can we?
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We've been talking about Christ's sovereignty for seven weeks. In Romans 14, his absolute lordship and his accommodating liberty.
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Now we come to consider Christ's sacrifice. We're going to look at that as an example for us in chapter 15, but also remind ourselves of the reality, the power of his sacrifice to save us in a couple of verses from chapter 14.
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Accepting one another, loving each other, being reconciled to one another, many despair of this ever happening, but this cannot happen without Christ.
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For from him and through him and to him are all things. By him all things were created and in him all things hold together.
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God has ordained for everything in heaven and in earth to be reconciled to Christ by the blood of his cross.
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In the final estimation, there will be that and those redeemed by Christ, kneeling as one in adoration of him, and that and those judged by Christ kneeling as one in fear of him.
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But everything and everyone in creation has been and ever will be in orbit around our
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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We've been talking about his sovereignty, his grandeur, his power, and we cannot easily separate his sovereignty from his sacrifice.
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We're not supposed to. This morning, we're going to review a couple of verses we've already seen from chapter 14 to remind ourselves of the efficacy, the real accomplishment that Christ made on the cross for our sake, and then we'll think of his example in suffering.
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Now, in verses 9 and 15 in chapter 14, we are reminded of Christ's efficacious substitution.
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We're looking back at a very particular point in time that Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of obedience to his father, died upon the cross, and something actually happened there, and Jesus says,
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It is finished. What does that mean for us today? It's important that we look back all the way to that event, because we live in a
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TV drama culture. Our angst is episodic.
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People keep on looking for the next episode of whatever to tell them what to believe and how to feel.
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So whatever is the next political scandal or the next egregious injustice or the next upheaval, that's what folks are looking at to know what to feel and what to believe.
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Folks seem to be not so much living paycheck to paycheck as dramatic moment to dramatic moment.
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Some even look toward some kind of catalytic crisis, which would envelop all of society in a fireball of justice, and we all will finally get what we deserve.
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And then the wise and the knowing will put the pieces back together in some kind of symbiotic utopianism. Well, there's good news.
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We don't have to wait around for the catalytic event. We are living nearly 2 ,000 years past the event.
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The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God made
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Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
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For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever will believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
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Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised the third day according to the
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Scriptures. That is the event. Now there is a great deal of divisiveness which comes from living in the past.
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There are those who worship the glory days and those who brood on the legacy of lynching.
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There are those who mourn the failed Confederacy and those who see all of America as a monument to racism.
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There is a lot of division in living in the past. I made that comment to someone the other day.
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We were talking about these issues and having a good discussion even though we were disagreeing. We didn't quarrel.
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And I was making the point that living in the past brings a lot of divisiveness, but I think
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I was slightly inaccurate in that. It's true to a point, the recent past.
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The biblical solution, however, is seeing everything in the now, and even the recent past, based on the far past.
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We have got to go back before the 60s, before the war between the states, before the African slave trade, before colonialism, before European prominence, before Islamic expansion, before the
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Middle Ages. We have got to go all the way back to the year 30. Passover, evening, that's where we have got to go, and the following Sunday, and the following Sunday.
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And that matters not just about the issues in society, but it matters for how we accept one another in our own local church.
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If we live in the recent past, I believe that if we do our diligence, we could find ample reasons to divide.
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I mean, if we reflect and deconstruct the last 68 years, and some of you have been here the whole time, we can find enough patterns, we can find enough partitions, we can find enough evidence of partiality, and we can divide over all manner of things if we really pay attention and deconstruct everything that's happened in the last six, almost seven decades.
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And if we really work at it, we could really fight. Really could. But if we do that, we have failed to look back far enough to the efficacious substitution of Christ.
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It is efficacious. It actually happened. Something occurred. Now look at verse 9.
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We've seen this before. Verse 9 of chapter 14, "...for to this end
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Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."
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And so in the context, Paul is saying, do not judge one another based on your convictions or your freedoms, for if this person restrains himself by conviction, he does it for the
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Lord, because he belongs to the Lord. And if this Christian, about this matter of conviction, this person has freedom and doesn't restrain himself in the very same way, he does it for the
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Lord, because he belongs to the Lord. Why does the weaker brother and the stronger brother, concerning this issue, why do they both belong to the
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Lord? Because he bought and paid for us on the cross. "...for to this end
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Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."
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This word, might, in the text, does not express maybe. It expresses agency.
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This is the way in which he exercises lordship through such humility.
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He at first condescended that he may ascend, and ascend he has.
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There's no maybe in his word. It is finished. There is no uncertain potential in his language.
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I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
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No maybe's there, but the way in which he redeems us, the way in which he purchases us is through his perfect life, his death upon the cross, and his resurrection from the dead.
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So Paul is glorying in the efficacy of Christ's death and resurrection.
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Jesus Christ has done this so as to become the Lord both of the dead saints and the live saints.
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He has purchased us all by his blood and will raise us all from the dead. Neither you or I have done this, only
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Christ. Therefore, you and I don't live for ourselves. We live for the
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Lord. He is our master, and this changes the way that we interact with one another, doesn't it? It secures our unity.
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It secures our unity. Jesus has actually succeeded, and he has been succeeding, and he will succeed in saving all of his sheep.
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So we're relieved from conviction and freedom patrol. We're relieved from having to have everybody else live exactly the way we live.
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We need maturity to see the difference between when something is a sin and we're going to love our brother or sister and holding them accountable to the word of God.
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That's different than the conviction issues. We need maturity and finesse, and we've talked about all that already.
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But the point needs to be made that he who began a good work in us will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. He succeeded.
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Secondly, not only was it efficacious, it was substitutionary, verse 15. Verse 15,
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For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love, do not destroy with your food him for whom
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Christ died. There's the phrase, him for whom Christ died. Hold on to that. When you look at a brother or sister in Christ, when you look at this other person, your fellow church member, you're looking at someone for whom
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Christ died. You're looking at someone for whom Christ died.
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It's a substitution in the place of for the sake of.
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Jesus died for this person. We need to remember that not only when we're face to face, but also behind the back.
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We need to remember that not only when in an elder flock group, but also in an email group. This is the person for whom
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Christ died. We should remember that on a phone call or on our knees in prayer.
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This is what we should remember about our brother in Christ or our sister in Christ. Him for whom Christ died.
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Her for whom Christ died. That is a historical reality which trumps all other history.
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Rather than think of your brother or sister in recent terms, the ways perhaps that they failed you or they've stumbled you or they've scandalized you.
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Him for whom Christ died. Her for whom Christ died. And that is the lens that we have for all the rest of our interactions.
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When there's need for forgiveness. When there's need for long -suffering love. When there's need for accountability.
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The primary thought should be that Jesus Christ suffered and bled and died on the cross under the wrath of God for this person, and that he rose from the dead their
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Savior and Sovereign forever. That's what we should think about one another. And so the question is, you know, what's your problem with Jesus Christ?
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What's your problem with Jesus Christ? None? Then there really is no authentic problem with the one for whom
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Christ died. Disagreements? Yes. Difficulties?
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Sure. But having already been reconciled to God in Christ, he who died for me is he who died for thee.
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That is the basis of our acceptance. So I would as soon attack Jesus Christ as destroy my brother.
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That's how we view each other. Substitutionary atonement of Christ.
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Now, secondly, his exemplary suffering. And we see this in verses 1 through 7 of chapter 15.
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We have in our Savior our example. The way to the Father is also the way of the spirit -filled life.
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Jesus is our shepherd, and so we follow him. Jesus saves us as our king, and so we bow to him.
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Jesus saves us as our master, and so we obey him. Jesus saves us as our bridegroom, so we submit to him.
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You see, everything starts with the gospel and proceeds from the gospel, which is why we have the quote from Stephen Lawson on the front of our bulletin,
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Christianity is Christ. It is believing and following Christ.
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He is the object of our faith and the essence, example, and end of our life. It's well put.
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Due to the transforming, all -encompassing nature of Christ's redemption, we are given through the life of Christ an unfailing example to follow in accepting one another.
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First of all, let's consider what makes Christ's example vital for us, both the
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Scripture's hope and also God's grace. Look at verse 1. Now, we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.
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Paul is recapping much of what he's been saying thus far in chapter 14 with an emphasis now on the responsibility of the strong.
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The responsibility of the strong. What does he mean by strong and weak? Well, we've covered that. Some folks have faith -strengthened consciences which stand unbothered in some areas of Christian liberty where other folks' consciences would quite simply not bear up under the strain of conviction.
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We're not talking about quality Christians and non -quality Christians. We're talking about the freedom we have in Christ to live according to our liberties and our convictions.
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And so Paul says there is a special responsibility for the strong to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not simply please ourselves.
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And this is the second time that Paul has identified himself in the strong camp. He doesn't mind eating off the
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Jewish menu. He's cool with that. But when
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Jewish food is the only thing on the menu, he's not going to bring with him carryout.
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He's going to bear with the weaknesses of those without strength. Verses 1 and 2 together remind us that we are not to be living for ourselves.
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Not just please ourselves, verse 1 concludes. Each of us, verse 2, each of us is to please his neighbor for his good to his edification.
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We are not just to please ourselves, meaning we do not seek to have everything just the way
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I want it. Even though this is the main mantra of many,
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I want to have everything just the way I want to have it, and then everybody will get along. Paul says no, we ought to be thinking about others.
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And Paul uses the term neighbor here, which reminds us that we are living under the rule of Christ and his kingdom.
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We are to please one another. Now notice the qualification, for his good to his edification.
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This isn't man -pleasing. This is seeking the actual good of others, considering others.
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You may remember the story of Absalom. Absalom, the son of David who disagreed violently with his father's failure to take care of another son.
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And Absalom was in exile after murdering his brother, taking justice into his own hands.
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And he was finally let back into the confines of Jerusalem. And Absalom met all the men of Israel coming and going at the gates of Jerusalem.
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And he systematically fanned the flames of insurrection by affirming each man in whatever sense that man had of his suffering and justice.
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Whatever the complaint, whatever his complaint, Absalom told him, you are so right to feel the way you feel.
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You know, if only I were in charge of justice around here, boy, things would be different.
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His tails were as long as his hair. This is not what it means to please your neighbor.
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Just tell them whatever they want to hear. That's not what that means. What it means is to please your neighbor, to serve your fellow
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Christian for his or her good. Not making it about yourself, but how you can actually be for their good.
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And then verse 3, For even Christ did not please himself.
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Right? Isn't he our example? Don't be seeking to have everything just your way.
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Think of the others around you, what is for their good. Now, isn't that the way Christ showed us?
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Think of the example of Christ. And then I'm, you know, anticipating some story from the
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Gospels. I'm anticipating some little note about what Jesus said and some kind of argument that his disciples had.
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Maybe an example from one of Jesus' all -night vigils or how he fed the 5 ,000. I don't get any of that.
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Paul gives us ratification of the example of Christ from Psalm 69.
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Is it surprising that you would go to Psalm 69 to find the example of Christ? I'd probably start with Matthew.
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Paul says, think of what Psalm 69 says about Christ. As it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.
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That's instructive for us. We'll come back to this notion, but it's important to know that Christ's example, that the truths of his person, his character, and his glory are not locked into the four
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Gospels or even the New Testament. I would have you hear Christ from all the Scriptures until he is formed in all of you.
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All of these are for our hope, our hope. So the quote, we want to put it into context,
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Psalm 69. The Holy Spirit never takes things out of context. Psalm 69, and I'm going to just read verses 1 through 12, because it is a beautiful psalm and one of the most quoted in the
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New Testament. Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life.
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I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.
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I am weary with crying, my throat is parched. My eyes fail while I wait for my
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God. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies.
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What I did not steal, I then have to restore. O God, it is you who knows my folly, and my wrongs are not hidden from you.
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May those who wait for you not be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts. May those who seek you not be dishonored through me,
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O God of Israel. Because for your sake I have borne reproach. Dishonor has covered my face.
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I have become estranged from my brothers, and an alien to my mother's sons. For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
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When I wept in my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing,
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I became a byword to them. Those who sit in the gate talk about me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
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Now, if you read the prescript in your Bibles, you might see the title for the choir director, according to the
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Shoshanim, meaning lilies, a psalm of David. David.
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And you hear about David confessing his wrongs, his follies, in verse 5. And obviously, this original author,
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David, he is a sinner. He's also a mediator, as he is concerned about those who are depending on him.
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He says that in verse 6. He is a righteous sufferer, as we see in verses 7 through 9, and we see the depths of his suffering in verses 10 through 12.
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But when Jesus cleansed the temple, when Jesus cleansed the temple, the disciples recalled
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Psalm 69, verse 9, for zeal for your house has consumed me.
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And they said, oh, that speaks of Jesus. That speaks of Christ. There is Christ, the son of David, the fulfillment of David.
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Christ, the substance of the shadow. Christ, the fulfillment of the type. And they said, for zeal for your house has consumed me.
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They said, ah, that's speaking of our Savior, Messiah, Jesus. And the verse goes on to say, the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
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And now Paul is bringing that up in Romans 15. And he says, don't think only of yourself.
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Don't just live to please yourself in these matters. Think about how to edify and love your brother or sister in Christ.
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Isn't that the way Christ lived? Quote Psalm 69, verse 9.
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And the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. So what are we being reminded of then in this quote from Psalm 69 about the person and work of Jesus Christ that serves as our example as those who are strong to bear with the weaknesses of those who are weak?
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You ask really good questions. Christ's zeal, now watch this,
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Psalm 69, 9. Christ's zeal for God's temple led him to do what?
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To declare Ichabod, the glory hath departed, to declare
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Ichabod on the earthly Jerusalem temple. His zeal for the temple led him to declare
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Ichabod on the earthly temple in Jerusalem. And this very same zeal for God's house, for God's temple, led him to the cross where he died to redeem the living stones for the heavenly new
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Jerusalem temple. The reproaches of those who reproach you fell upon me.
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The transgressions, the sins, the offenses which offended God and angered
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God fell upon Christ. His zeal for God's house led him to the cross where he died for our sins to build the temple of God with living stones,
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Peter says. So, he's our example.
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He so suffered for the sake of the temple, for the sake of the living stones of the church. Should we not also be willing to sacrifice, to suffer for one another the living stones of the temple?
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The zeal of Christ for God's house led him to the cross where he suffered for us.
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So, he's our example. Why wouldn't we also put ourselves out for one another for the zeal for God's house?
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We are God's house. Let's say that you do stumble upon someone's weakness.
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You did not mean to, but you did. Let's say that in the divergence of someone's conviction, divulgence,
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I should say, of someone's conviction, something is said which makes it sound like you have been the one who did wrong.
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You just tripped over. You didn't mean to. Somehow, it's being made out that you're at fault.
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You're deficient spiritually somehow. It's being indicated. Someone complains about your kid, or your cooking, or your face tattoo.
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Well, will you bear the reproach with a Christ -like zeal for the temple?
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For the good, for the edification, for the building up of the house of God? Christ, the son of David, is our supreme example in this regard.
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Well, I'm really glad, you know, as we look at verse 4, whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction.
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Through the perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. I'll quote Psalm 69 .9.
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It says, Look, this was written down a long time ago, but it matters even now. It helps us to persevere.
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It encourages us. It gives us hope. I'm really glad that as we see that this is saying,
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Look, there's Christ in Psalm 69 .9, and he's our example. We know how to live. We're given direction here.
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I'm so glad that we have two testaments. We have 66 books of Jesus' instruction for our hope, instead of just four books.
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And I feel compelled at this point simply to stress the sufficiency and holy word of God. Because all of scripture, all the scriptures, is from God the
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Father, through God the Spirit, about God the Son. They are sufficient for all of our faith and practice, fully sufficient for our faith and practice.
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And we have no need to purchase a culturally updated 21st century dictionary, with which to read this book that was completed sometime in the first century.
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It was written over a 1 ,500 year time period on three different continents, in three different languages, by over 40 different authors.
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And it's one message from one God for his one people, robustly instructs us for our one purpose through the one mediator, which is to fill the earth with God's glory.
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The master communicator, God himself, the one who invented all human language, is more than able to supply the definition of his terms, through the comparison of all the terms, and to model for us successfully in his word, how to interpret his word.
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2 Timothy 3, verses 15 through 17. Paul says to Timothy, And from childhood you have known the sacred writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
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All scripture is inspired by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
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The sufficiency of the scriptures. It is this word, elders, that we are to preach and teach, not the whimsical, pragmatic, paganized meanderings of those who are no longer willing to endure sound doctrine, who tickle ears and resort to myths.
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I promise you, church, if we do rely, like trustful children, upon the words of our heavenly Father, we will see our
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God do great things. We will. We will see him do great things. Things beyond our ability to plan.
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Things beyond our ability to anticipate. God's word by God's grace.
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Notice the qualifications here. In chapter 15, verse 4.
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For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that, here's the qualification, through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope.
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We might have hope. Now, notice these two same words, perseverance and encouragement, are repeated in verse 5.
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Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus.
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So we need perseverance and we need encouragement. There's perseverance and encouragement in the scriptures, and God is the
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God of perseverance and encouragement. Perseverance is a word that means to stay under, to remain, to abide.
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I get instantly what it means, the encouragement of the scriptures. Just read it. You'll be encouraged. What does it mean, the perseverance of the scriptures?
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What does it mean? There's an idea here that, yes, of course, when you read the scriptures, it will stick with you, but there is something here that is saying, even as we find encouragement in the scriptures, we find perseverance in the scriptures, we are to be sticking with the scriptures, remaining under the scriptures, abiding in the scriptures.
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Should we fail to trust that this shelter can withstand every storm?
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If we panic, if we run for some other seemingly more modern, more adept, more large or more accommodating structure, that's when we lose hope.
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When we leave the path and we go to Bypass Meadow, what is waiting for us when we leave the clear instruction of the
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Word of God? Doubting castle and giant despair, that's what's waiting for us.
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If we remain under the Word, we will remain where we should, persevering through many tribulations and trials, solidarity with all the generations of our brothers and sisters who have also done so.
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The holy scriptures are a grace of God for us. We should remain under their roof and encourage ourselves as to the sturdiness of their truths.
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I'm not at all advocating a pietistic retreat from a sinful world in need of Christ and saying you all can just go on to hell in a handbasket.
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That's not the retreat. What I'm saying is that in the victories of Israel, we're reading all the stories of Israel going through the land of Canaan and having victory.
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In the victories of Israel, the closer they adhered to the
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Lord's instructions, the more successful they were. And at the end of the day, it was always
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God who brought the victory. So, since all the scriptures are about Christ and all of God's blessings have been merited for us by Christ's death and resurrection, it is according to Jesus Christ, verse 6, it is according to Christ that we will have the same mind.
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To be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the
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God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. One accord and one voice. That's the qualifications for an excellent choir, isn't it?
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One accord, and there's a clearing of the throat over here. There is one accord and one voice.
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You have to have that for a good choir. During the beginning of choir practice, and my mother has a story about this, in fact, you know, folks are always just talking and whispering and twittering about all kinds of things.
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Folks turned every which way, you know, just catching up with one another. Smartphones are out.
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There's not one accord. There's not a single voice. Then the choir director calls for attention.
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Choir director calls for attention, directs the focus to the notes and the words on the page.
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The choir director sets the volume and the tempo, and then the choir sings with one accord and one voice according to the director and the music.
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That is the way in which the grace of God redounds to His glory. That we glorify in our unity and in the acceptance of one another the
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God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That as we are brought into one accord in Christ, then we have one voice.
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By the grace of God, we are brought together as one in Christ. We give glory to God. Notice how our
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Savior is described. He is a God and a Father. Verse 6, the
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God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His humanity, God is His God.
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In His divinity, God is His Father. In His incarnation, He is our Lord.
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Now notice how His example matters to us. First of all, His regard to Himself. Verse 3 says, even
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Christ did not please Himself. We are thinking about how to accept one another and be in unity with one another.
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Let's start there. Christ didn't seek to please Himself. He could have had everything His way. He could have called twelve legions of angels down to make everything happen just the way
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He wanted, but He didn't. He is our example, so let's start there. Christ didn't have to have everything
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His way, neither do I. He sets Himself as our example. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give
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His life as a ransom for many. So keep Christ's exemplary suffering in mind.
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He didn't seek to please Himself. Keep that in mind when you feel pushed, offended, riled, or just persnickety about one another.
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Secondly, Christ's regard for others. Verse 7 says, therefore accept one another just as Christ also accepted us.
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Even as Christ accepted us. Who did He accept? Thick -headed fishermen?
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Zealous hotheads? Shady tax collectors? Women of ill repute?
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Self -righteous Pharisees? Priests? Homosexuals? The effeminate?
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Cross -dressers? Racists? Idolaters? Anarchists? Adulterers?
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Thieves? Murderers? Such were some of us.
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Who has Christ accepted? Who has He raised from the dead?
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Whom has He taken out of death into life? Whom has He given new life in Him?
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Who has He given a new name? These are the kinds of folks Jesus saves by His blood.
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He saves them and redeems them and brings them new life by His Spirit. He accepts the likes of these, the likes of us, and gives us a new name.
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And then we are known as those who are accepted by Christ.
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That's our name. I'm accepted by Christ.
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That's my identity. We're not known by the world.
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We're not known by a pagan system. We're known as those who are accepted by Christ. Well, keep that in mind when regarding one another, when it's time to accept one another.
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If Christ has accepted us, how much more should we accept one another? And finally is regard to God.
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Therefore, accept one another just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God, to the glory of God.
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John 17, Jesus spoke these things. And lifting up His eyes to heaven said, Father, the hour has come.
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Glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom
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You have given Him He may give eternal life. He accepted us to the glory of God, to the glory of God.
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For the joy set before Him, Jesus Christ endured the cross for His delight in the
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Father, for God to be glorified. He suffered for us, He redeemed us, and He accepted us.
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That's our example to serve us in all of our interactions with one another. And will not our due consideration of the glory of God lead us to humble ourselves and see one another in a clearer light?
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It is the glory of God which humbles our pride. It is the glory of God that changes our thinking. It changes our affections.
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It changes our speaking. It changes our deeds towards one another. So we do have hope.
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We do have hope of glorifying God in our Christ -honoring acceptance of one another.
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His sacrifice for us promises and fulfills a spirit -filled life of righteousness, peace, and joy.
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And the next time somebody brings up the past full of sin and division and bitterness and systemic problems and leaves this hopeless hanging weight of offense on the collective conscience of a church, a culture, a marriage, a family, or a whole generation, just tell them, oh, it's worse than that.
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It goes far deeper than that. We can't even make a full accounting of how awful all of this is.
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In fact, we've got to go back a long time. We've got to go back almost 2 ,000 years and think of what happened with Jesus Christ, his suffering, death, and resurrection.
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And there's our hope. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the time you've given us in this portion of your word.
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These eight weeks have been a blessing. I pray that these scriptures will resonate in our hearts and our minds, and that by your spirit you will do your work in us in accordance with your word.
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I pray these things in Jesus' name. Would you stand with me for our song of interdiction?
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We're going to sing verse 2 of Forever Jesus. In the grace of the
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Son, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all. Have a happy Father's Day. We're dismissed.