Cleansing

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:20-22)

Now, it is certainly true that we have been saved by grace, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. However, this does not mean we can continue living like we once did. Paul charges us here to, “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,”. Paul says this more clearly in Romans 6:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4)

Jesus has already cleansed us of our sin nature, but it’s our job to, through Christ’s strengthening us, resist our flesh. In other words, we should cleanse our-self (again, through God’s strength, and not our own) from things we are tempted towards. One way we can do this is by removing any access to the thing we’re tempted towards. Other things we can do to cleanse our-self is to get in the Word, to pray, and to be around other believers. Also, there’s the obvious thing we can do, which is to obey Paul’s command to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Does God Get What God Wants

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:3-6)

Now, this is one of the favorite passages of Universalists, because of the simple logic that B must follow A. i.e. God wants all people to be saved, God is all-powerful and therefore can get whatever He wants, therefore all people will be saved (come to the knowledge of truth). Now, I personally won’t say one way or the other as to what I believe on this, as I just know somewhere out there, there is someone on both sides who will claim they’ve figured out all the passages on the matter fifteen years ago, after their parents and uncle just died, and using only a spoon, and I just don’t want to have that conversation as of right now. However, I will say that there are passages on both sides of the matter. Some people would say that Matthew 25:31-46 (where Jesus separates the goats from the sheep), for example, teaches that not all people will be saved.

Regardless of your personal belief on universal salvation though, there is one thing that we should never forget, and that is context. So many people read “God wants all people to come to the knowledge of truth,” and then ignore the very next couple of verses! Regardless of whether or not all people will be saved, we can know for a fact that the only way they will be saved, is through Jesus Christ’s death and Resurrection. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (sorry Pope), because He is the only one that can be mediator between God and man. I believe the main point of the passage is that God has provided a way whereby all people can be saved. Does that mean all people will be saved? Maybe, maybe not. We won’t know until we are in Heaven, but we can always be confident that if someone puts their faith in Jesus, He will cleanse them, save them, and make them a new creation in Him.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Faith

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (Luke 17:5-6)

Now, real quick, it’s worth noting that this is not saving faith in God that Jesus is talking about here. Rather, He’s talking about faith that God can give us the power to move the tree (in this case) from point A to point B. Any Christian today, just as back then, can lift a real physical tree, and dump move it somewhere else, if they had the faith that it would happen. Sadly though, probably will never happen, as it is simply too ingrained into our brains that trees can not be lifted out of the ground by anything other than physical labor, much less by faith. However, there is something which even we are able to recognize as being possible, and that’s uprooting Spiritual trees in our life.

Be “Spiritual trees,” I mean sin struggles in our life which seem to have dug in and appear to have a firm grip on us. But Jesus can uproot anything, and if we ask Him to (and have faith that He will), He will indeed help us overcome the sin. That being said, we do still need to spray tree killer.-We need to cut off any chance of the sin gaining a hold on us again, but cutting off our access to whatever it is that’s causing us to sin.

Jesus is all-powerful, and because of His death and Resurrection for us, is more than capable of doing anything, regardless of how hard we believe the task to be. Our part in matters is to simply continue looking to the cross, and thinking on all that Christ has done for us. When we do that, we will gain faith, and God will work through us to will and to do.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Alive in Christ

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. (Luke 11:18-22)

This is something we should always remember. Because, though the Devil was strong, and we had no chance of escaping from Him, Jesus was and is stronger. Sometimes we have sin struggles in our lives that seem to dominate us; to overwhelm us so completely that think we may never get free. It’s when we have times like this, when we think that we will always be in bondage to sin, that we should remind ourself of these verses: Jesus is stronger. He has already overcome the Devil on the cross. Though the Devil can attack us, He can never capture us again; He can never in-bondage us to sin for long.

That being said, when we are attacked by the Devil, we shouldn’t simply surrender to him. Jesus is superior in every way to him; for us to simply surrender to the Devil would be like a massive army (the “massive army” is my way of referring to Jesus’ power. We, by ourself, are but half a man in our own power.) surrendering to a lone man. God will always provide a way out for His children when they are tempted [1 Corinthians 10:13]; He will always provide strength. But we must use the strength that He gives us. We must cut off every access point that we might have to sin in the way that we are being tempted in, and actually resist when attacked.–We must resist, in Jesus’ power. We need to pray and ask Him to give us strength, and we need to look in His word for strength, and we need to go to other believer’s to give us strength. Jesus is the one who has overcome the Devil by His death (and we through Him), and whenever we are tempted, it will be Jesus that overcomes through us.

But there is one last question left to answer: why?  If we can never be enslaved to sin, why should we bother resisting it? This is a very good question, to which the Bible gives a very good answer:

²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2)

We will never be in lasting bondage to sin again, because when we are tempted, we are given grace to overcome. Does this mean we should go searching out sin and temptation? Of course not! We are no longer those who are enslaved to sin, but those who are enslaved to Christ Jesus. How then can we do anything but resist when we are tempted? Yes, sometimes we will still fall. But our new bondage to Jesus will never allow us to stay there. Where before, we would sometimes do random acts of good work, our bondage to sin would pull us back, now the opposite is true of us.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14)

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

The Unforgivable Sin

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. (Matthew 12:31)

A quick warning: you may find that I’ve over-clarified to the point of confusion. It may help to just skip to the last paragraph to see what I’m actually saying.

The only thing that won’t be forgiven, is… Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I would’ve thought that the one and only sin that won’t be forgiven would be something more (physically) dramatic, like blowing up someone’s house, or mass-murder. What makes “blasphemy against the Spirit” so bad that it won’t be forgiven? (Its important to know what it is, in order to not do it). To answer that, let’s review what blasphemy actually is:

“the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God” (According to: this dictionary)

What could you do to be irreverent to the Holy Spirit? Would hitting Him be insulting? Possibly, but as its completely impossible to hit the Holy Spirit, that doesn’t bear thinking about. What about taking His name in vain? That’s the typical thing we think about when we talk about blasphemy after all. And, to be sure, that would likely offend Him. But, is it truly unforgivable?

The thing is, we’re not looking at what the Holy Spirit actually comes to do, and therefore can’t see what truly sinning against Him would be. He comes to show us, and convict us of our own sin and depravity, and to point us to Jesus as our cure. If we ignore that, we’re sinning against the Holy Spirit. We’re “blaspheming” the Holy Spirit, because when we reject Christ as our savior, we are putting ourself in the place of God; saying that we have the power to save ourself, which we most certainly do not.

To put it simply: rejecting Christ is the only sin which will never be forgiven.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Examination of Fruit

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. (Matthew 7:15-17)

Now looking out for false prophets, teachers, and the like is necessary; we should be making sure that everyone we hear preach, or teach in some manner, has good fruit. i.e. That their family isn’t in disarray, that they aren’t in disarray (in sin), etc.. But have we ever looked at our own fruit before?

What are our own lives like? What are the sin struggles in our lives? More importantly though, are we asking God for His strength to overcome, or are we trying to overcome by our own strength? Anyone can play “pick apart the pastor”, but the struggle is in realizing, and being able to admit to ourselves, that something is a sin, and that we must rely on God to help us overcome it. This verse says it better than I do:

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you–unless, of course, you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5)

We are to examine ourselves, to make sure that we aren’t lip-worshipers only, but are actually living as a Christian should – uprightly. Paul, in the above verse, also tells us why we are to examine ourselves: he poses the question, “Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you”. We are to live upright, and holy lives, because Jesus lives in us. Romans (chapter) six tells us that our old nature has been crucified, and Jesus has come to fill the void. Thus, we should no longer want to sin, but rather, we should want to serve and bring glory to God. (Our flesh, however, still wants to sin).

The whole point of even putting ourselves to this test of fruit, is to see if we’re living the life of one saved by the death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, or the life of one still living in sin. All Christians, at some point, will give into the flesh. So, even if we do for a time fall to sin, all true Christians will eventually “bounce back”. That being said though, we aren’t to put ourselves in the path of train! We shouldn’t put ourselves in positions where an opportunity to sin might present itself. In fact, putting ourselves into situations where we could sin is in of itself “bad fruit”. Instead of doing that, we are to put ourselves in situations where we might have a chance to do whatever God wants us to do.

The point being this: we are to examine our fruit. Are we in slavery to sin, or are we free in Christ? Are we trying to give glory to God, or trying to do the bidding of Satan? Bondage to sin is nothing to mess around with it, it is very serious. In order to have a will to break free, much less the means to do so, we need Christ’s help; in fact, we need Jesus to do it through us, because in of ourselves have no power to resist or fight back. Which is why we must make sure we aren’t simply those who profess to be in Christ, but aren’t. Otherwise we will never break free from sin – it will continually have a death grip on us. And if we do find ourselves to be lip-worshipers only, we should ask God to forgive us, and to free us.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

The Sermon Today

Hello again!

Today my dad preached at The Fountain of Grace Church, here’s what he said:

Psalm 107:23-31 ²³ Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. ²⁴ They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. ²⁵ For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. ²⁶ They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. ²⁷ They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits’ end. ²⁸ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. ²⁹ He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. ³⁰ They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. ³¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.

Romans 16:1-16 ¹ I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. ² I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. ³ Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. ⁴ They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. ⁵ Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. ¹² Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.

Let’s pray together.

We are finishing up the book of Romans, we’re in the last chapter now. Today we’ll look at the first 16 verses and then next week we’ll finish the last few verses of Romans. Next week is a very powerful passage of Scripture; it’s the grand finale, the crescendo of the entire Book.

So the first 16 verse of Romans 16 are by far the most intimate expression of love and appreciation that comes from the tender heart and inspired mind of the apostle Paul. He reveals this deep affection for many Christians, as he signs off his letter to the Romans. It is a rich and rewarding section to study.

There are so many things we can learn from this passage. I’ve titled the sermon “Commendable Christians” because Paul commends numerous people in Rome. He speaks well of them in this letter. So we can challenge ourselves right up front with a question: are we commendable Christians? As we read through this today, see if any of the things that Paul says could be true about you. Are we living our lives in such a way that will cause others to speak well of us like Paul speaks of the Romans?

Another thing we can learn right up front is that we should commend others, should speak well of our brothers and sisters, publicly. Maybe not during a sermon, as that will keep the church small, but in speaking with one another, and in our writing back and forth we should find something commendable and express it. And even as Paul is writing in the role of a parent here, parents should learn to commend their children. “Well done Suzy…that was very good how you helped your sister, Jim”, etc.

Finally, just by way of introduction, notice Paul’s warm, tender heart for people. A local church should be a friendly, welcoming church—an open, gracious church. There should be no strangers here but all who believe are family.

So now let’s begin to look at this passage, and we read this in vs. 1: Romans 16:1-2 ¹ I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. ² I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.

Here is a commendable Christian. And notice Paul commends her in three ways: as a sister in Christ, as a servant of the church, and as a sucouror of many (that word just means helper). She was family, a sister to many, she served, the word is “deaconess”, and she spent her life helping people. Maybe feeding the hungry, or giving clothes to those who need it, or visiting the sick, or those in prison, or the elderly. She was known for being helpful to many people. She’s a commendable Christian. Would you look with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 25. I picture King Jesus saying these words to Phoebe:

Matthew 25:34-36 ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Matthew 25:40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ This is Phoebe.

Of course she’s just following Jesus Who left heaven to come and give His own body and blood as spiritual nourishment to us, who on the cross thirsted that you might be quenched, and who gave His robe of righteousness to us who were naked in sin. And Phoebe follows in His steps and loves to serve and to give and to help people.

Then let’s see a couple of other commendable Christians. In vs. 3 Paul says Romans 16:3-4 ³ Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. ⁴ They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets in their house.

How commendable is this couple. In the original language it says they “risked their own necks” for Paul. The mental picture we get is someone placing their neck on the chopping block to save someone else. Now I don’t think it’s recorded what they did, but clearly they placed their own lives in jeopardy for Paul, probably to rescue him from the Jews who wanted to kill him.

What love that is, to see someone in danger and to step in to rescue them. This is the greatest love in the world. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Priscilla and Aquila are commendable Christians.

And of course, they are just following Jesus.  Jesus give not only His neck, but His back to be struck, and His cheek to be hit, His beard to be yanked, His hands and feet to be nailed to a tree for Acquila and Priscila, and for you. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep, and here are two people following in His steps.

I want to ask you 2 very important questions, please think about these: First, have you ever experienced that kind of love, the love of Jesus Who gave Himself for you? Have you seen Him willingly putting His neck on the chopping block for you? That is, dying on the cross for your sins? Secondly, have you ever loved others that way?

Look with me for a moment at the Book of 1 John chapter 3. John addresses these two issues. Let’s see them both: 1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us (put His neck on the block for you). And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  Acquila and Priscila got that, and we have to get the order right. We are not Muslims that instruct people to go and die for Allah, no we are Christians who have a God Who came and died for us. And our response to His love is to love others in the same way. We’re not winning His favor by dying for Him, Jesus won His favor for us by dying for us. And we too want to show people that love.

Now let’s look at another commendable Christian. In vs. 5 it says, “Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ.” What does that mean? Firstfruits? Well Paul is referring us back to the Law, and in the Old Testament at harvest time they were to set apart the first fruits of what they gathered, and honor those first fruits as a sign of things to come. Epenetus was a commendable Christian because he was a bold Christian, having placed his faith in Jesus before anyone else dared to do so. And here he is set apart and honored as the first believer in Achaia.

Maybe you’re the first believer in your family. Maybe you’re the first Christian at your job. Or maybe you’re the first believer from the bar you used to drink at. Maybe you’re the first young person you know who loves the Bible and prayer and church. It’s commendable to be a bold Christian, the first Christian where you are.

Now here’s another one in verse 6.  Romans 16:6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.” In 1 Timothy chapter 5 Paul is giving a definition of a widow who is worthy of being supported by the church. He says in vs. 10 she should “have a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.” That’s what this Mary was known for. She knew what happened at the cross, where Jesus purified a people to make them eager to do good works.

Now let’s learn something here. Mary was a hard worker, but nowhere is it mentioned what she did. Her works, though hidden from us, are known to God; and her name is recorded with honor in this book of life. Maybe the work you do is behind the scenes and nobody sees what it is. God sees. God knows, and they will be rewarded. Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

Now in vs. 7-12 Paul mentions people whom he loves, of various households, who all were commendable Christians, worthy of mention and honor. You can see some who were like Mary in that they labored much in the Lord, like vs. 12 you can see 3 people who worked hard in Christ. And we learn that the Christian life and ministry is made up of hard work. The Christian life can be described as an oxen in a yoke plodding along, laboring much. But you know what? All who work in the Lord find that the yoke of Jesus is easy, and His burden is light. Because He’s right there in the yoke working with us and in us. Paul said, “I worked harder than all the rest, yet not I but the grace of God in me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10.

Then he mentions a few more people in vss. 8 and 9 and then we come to vs. 10 where Paul says Romans 16:10 “Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ.” Wouldn’t you love to have that as your tombstone: Tested and approved! The mental picture we get  is precious metals, like as gold and silver, being heated up in a furnace, being tested and purified.

And we have to understand God does that with each of us. And I want to illustrate this point, so if you would please turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 8. Here the Israelites were completing their journey and about to enter the promised land, and Moses is reviewing their history. He says in vs. 2:

Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. And just like that a Christian can look back on his life and see ways in which God humbled us and tested us. Apelles passed the test, he was approved. He was a commendable Christian. Peter was humbled and tested and he failed, but was then restored. So even if we have failed the test in our lives God loves to forgive and restore. Isn’t it interesting that Peter wrote:

1 Peter 1:6-7 ⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

And now we come to a very interesting person. Notice vs. 13: Romans 16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Here is this choice Christian named Rufus. But we’ve heard his name before, and here’s something we can learn if we connect the dots. Mark 15:21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. Rufus’ father was Simon who carried Jesus’ cross. It’s very easy to imagine what an effect Simon had on his son. Maybe he said, you know son, Jesus prayed for His crucifiers, I was there, I heard him. Jesus forgives sin, Rufus. He forgave the thief who was crucified next to him. I heard him say to that thief, “today you will be with me in paradise.” And then Rufus, I’ll never forget when He died, because people came to life, they were just popping out of their graves like popcorn, as if His death brought life to them, just like it does us if we believe, Rufus. “Dad, tell me about the earthquake again, was it scary?” Oh, the earthquake happened right when He died, and the rocks split in two, and you know Rufus, His death broke my stony heart in two also. Oh, and then some Jewish rabbi came running up to us shouting that the curtain in the temple was torn in two, because Jesus’ death opens the way for you to go to God son. And I still remember the soldier who just crucified him saying “surely this man is the Son of God.” And Rufus listens to his dad, and eventually comes to faith in Jesus. Oh what an influence fathers can have on their children, if they know and love the gospel of grace.  

Well Paul finishes up his greetings in vs. 14-16 by mentioning additional commendable Christians and then tells them in vs. 16 to greet each other with a holy kiss. We might interpret that to say be affectionate toward one another in a holy way.

Let’s conclude this morning by reminding ourselves that we are all dying, and that one day something will be said about each one of us. We will be known for something. Will it be that we served people, that we worked hard in ministry, that we were tested and approved, that we influenced our children for the gospel? May God make it so with each one of us, that we might also be commendable Christians.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

The Sermon Today

Hello again!

Today my Dad preached at The Fountain of Grace Church, here’s what he said:

Psalm 107:10-16 “¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, ¹¹ for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. ¹² So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. ¹³ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. ¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. ¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, ¹⁶ for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.” Let’s sing together:

Romans 15:14-22 “¹⁴ I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. ¹⁵ I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me ¹⁶ to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. ¹⁸ I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done– ¹⁹ by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. ²⁰ It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. ²¹ Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” ²² This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.”

Let’s pray together:

We have now completed the major doctrinal teachings of the Book of Romans. And what we come to now is an epilogue, where Paul makes 3 comments about the Romans and then 3 comments about his ministry. Then he talks about his future plans, gives some personal greetings, and he closes with a benediction. That’s all that’s left in Romans.

And today we’re going to study Romans 15 verses 14-21 and this passage could be summarized by these three points having to do with the Apostle Paul: 1—Paul the Priest (vs. 16), Paul the Preacher (vss. 17-19) and finally we have Paul the Pioneer (vss. 20-21). Let’s see what we can learn, and what we can apply by studying Paul in these 3 roles.

Now in verse 14 Paul says the following things about the Romans: that they are, 1—full of goodness, 2—filled with all knowledge, and 3—able to admonish one another. Now it would really benefit us to look at these things together this morning.

First, Paul said the Romans were full of goodness. They had high moral character and were living righteously. Shouldn’t this be the aim of every Christian, to have character and conduct that represents Christ? Maybe you’ve heard that Ghandi said, “I like your Christ, I don’t like your Christians.” Well this should never be said of us, our character should be such that people see we’re full of goodness. Jesus said to “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

But wait a minute, Paul taught in chapter 3 that all people are sinners and fall short of God’s glory; that we’re born in sin and that we practice unrighteousness. So how did these Romans get to be full of goodness? We’re not born that way. Well this is simply part of the great exchange that happened at the cross, where people who were previously full of evil become full of goodness. Picture for a moment, Jesus Christ dying on the cross. What do you see there? You see that God has taken your sin away from you and put it on His Son, that’s why Jesus is dying. He is taking your place, suffering your punishment, making payment for your sin. Your sin is now nailed to a tree and buried in a tomb. And look what He is giving you in its place: His righteousness. This is the great exchange that happens for all believers at the cross. As a believer you are full of goodness because you are full of Christ.

And the believers in Rome genuinely hated evil and loved righteousness, they were full of goodness, and so they showed by their very lives that they were transformed, that their old lives had gone and the new had come.

Question: if people look at our lives, would they see that we are full of goodness? Have we consciously turned away from sin and burned all our bridges to it, and radically amputated all access to it? Can they see that we’re living in the light, that we’re not in bondage to any habitual sin? That we live in truth, in love, in holiness, in purity? The Romans were not perfect in their lives, but they were full of goodness.

But notice also from verse 14 that the Romans were filled with all knowledge. They clearly had a hunger for the truth, they searched it out, they gave themselves to studying, to learning, to gaining knowledge. Maybe they read what God said in Hosea, that “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” so they said, “that’s not going to be me” and they set out to learn. Oh what a blessing it is to want to learn.

But what Paul means here is not that the Romans had general knowledge and information about their world that they lived in (that they knew mathematics and science and history, etc.), but that they had the full knowledge of the gospel. They were learned in the gospel. They were doctrinally sound. They saw all the Bible as pointing to Christ, because in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. You see? They were filled with Christ.

They were filled with goodness and knowledge, or virtue and truth. They had “a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith”. They knew God, they knew His truth, and, by the power of His Spirit, they were committed to living holy lives.

The third thing Paul says about the Romans in verse 14 is that they are able to admonish, or competent to counsel one another. They were qualified by the first two: they full of goodness and full of knowledge, therefore competent to counsel. Paul is talking about the responsibility that every believer has for encouraging and strengthening other believers.

You know what is so sad? Many people today are convinced that competent counseling can only be done by a person who is trained in the principles of secular psychology—despite the fact that the various schools of psychology are at extreme odds with God’s Word and with each other. But this passage tells us exactly what qualifies us to counsel one another: spiritual maturity; that is, being filled with goodness and truth.

So God has set down for us how counseling is to happen: it is to be Christian counseling Christian. If we have a problem in our lives we are supposed to go to a wise and mature brother and sister in the Lord; not someone trained in worldly wisdom but someone who is mature in Christ, and has character, and especially who loves the gospel. They can counsel us, admonish us, instruct us.

So Paul made these three comments about the Romans, now we’ll see him as priest. He says in Romans 15:16 that he was “a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” See how Paul compares himself, in preaching the Gospel, to the priest performing his sacred duty—preparing his sacrifice to be offered, arranging it on the altar, adding the oil, so that the sacrifice would be acceptable to God.

See what is being taught here? It is preaching of the gospel that makes people acceptable to God. If you’re here today and you believe this message that I’m giving you from the Bible, that Christ died in your place and rose for your justification, you are acceptable to God.

Now this is such an important point and I want to illustrate it. If you would, look with me in your Bibles to the Book of 2 Kings, chapter 4. This is a story from the history of the nation of Israel. A story about the prophet Elisha. 2 Kings 4:38-41 ³⁸ Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these men.” ³⁹ One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. ⁴⁰ The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it. ⁴¹ Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Now notice, the stew was not acceptable. There was poison in it, there was death in the pot. It was unacceptable. So what did Elisha do, did he tell the people to start pulling out the poison, just reach in and take out the bad? No, you could never do that, it’s all mixed in together. Instead, Elisha said to put in the flour, the substance. And this flour acted like a sponge, and soaked in all the poison, and left the stew perfectly acceptable. As if this flour took all the poison into itself, and left nothing but pure stew. It took the death to itself and left life for those who ate it.

Now let’s not miss the point. We were all like that stew: born with poisonous sin in our hearts, unacceptable to God. And what did God do? Did He tell us take out all that sin, clean up your life, you better remove lying and lust and greed and selfishness, etc. NO! He sent His Son to die for us, thereby taking all our sin to Himself, and giving us life. Jesus is the substance that makes us acceptable to God.

Now this passage has very practical teaching for us. A family can have sin in it, poison in the pot: father and mother yelling at each other, the kids disobeying, and what needs to be done? Focus on the bad and try to remove it? No, add Christ. Add the substance of the gospel. Fathers add Bible study to your home. Add singing of hymns and worship songs. Bring your family together for prayer. Add Christ and there will be nothing harmful in the pot.

Churches can have sin: gossip, people speaking ill of other people, slandering, backbiting, dissention, division. And what is needed? And what role should the pastor take? Point out everyone’s faults and failures? How about preach the gospel, add the substance of Christ and there will be nothing harmful in the pot.

It is preaching of the gospel that saves people, and sanctifies people, and in the next chapter we’ll see it is preaching of the gospel that stabilizes people (16:25). Do you see how extremely important preaching of the gospel is?

So we’ve seen Paul as the priest, next we see him in the role of preacher. And this is very important: why? Because we’re looking for a preacher for this church. And so I want to give us five features of a faithful preacher. Let’s remember these as we’re looking for a preacher:

First, the preacher should take no credit for himself. Paul says in Romans 15:18 “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.” In other words, he was not boasting in what he accomplished, but rather in what Christ accomplished through him. Look for a preacher who has accomplished a lot, but who knows that it was Christ who accomplished all that through him. “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” We have no right to take any credit for any spiritual effect that we have had. Paul refused to boast in anything, except his weakness. The preacher should take no credit for himself.

The second feature of a faithful preacher is that he emphasizes obedience. See in verse 18 “…leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done.” See the gospel calls people not only to faith in Christ as Savior but to obey Him as Lord. Notice Romans 6:17 “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.” A faithful preacher must call people to, and emphasize the need for, obedience to God.

The third feature of a faithful preacher is personal integrity. Look at the end of verse 18: “by what I have said and done.” Paul led people to obey Christ through both his words and his life. His life was totally consistent with his message, without hypocrisy or self-righteousness. There should be no difference between the message we proclaim and the life we live. A preacher must have integrity. No hidden sins, nothing that could come out and cast shame on the name of Christ or the church.

The fourth feature of a faithful preacher is God’s approval of his ministry. Look at verse 19: “¹⁹ by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.” God attested to Paul’s ministry. A preacher ought to have conversions; people who have turned from sin and are now following Christ because of his influence. This is God’s hand of approval on him. We ought to be fruit inspectors when pastors come to us—where are the conversions, the baptisms, the real spiritual influence?

The fifth feature of a faithful preacher is a laser-like focus on the gospel. Notice Romans 15:19 (NIV) “¹⁹ …So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.” The message should never change, no matter where he preaches. Let’s not be as interested in whether or not he is funny, intense, relevant, significant, but let’s ask ourselves one question: does he preach the gospel? I remind you of Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” This is a laser like focus on the gospel. That’s what preachers are supposed to preach.

So Paul was not only in the role of priest, and a preacher of the gospel, but also a pioneer. He says in Romans 15:20 “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” And he quotes Isaiah 52:15: that “those who were not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”

So Paul was a partner, a priest a preacher and a pioneer. He was someone who didn’t take credit to himself, someone who emphasized obedience, someone who had personal integrity, someone who had God’s approval on his ministry and who focused squarely on the gospel. May we be the same!

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Giving Our All

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6)

Paul wanted them to live in harmony; to live in harmony, and with one voice give glory to God. He also reminds of the means by which they can live in harmony: Christ Jesus (“in accord with Christ Jesus”). Christ enables us to live peaceful and peace-making lives, thus allowing us to give unified praise to God. Through His being the focus of the World’s hate and sin, we are given His peace and ability to live in harmony with others. Through His giving of His life, we are able to live our life to give glory to God.  Which is exactly what we should be doing!

It’s not all about becoming #1. Life isn’t about trying to become the President, or the CEO of some massive company (though, for the record, there’s nothing wrong with being President or the CEO of a big company). It’s about making the most of the opportunity that God has given us, to praise Him, while we have the chance. This is the attitude that we should go about our day with; our one goal should be to serve God to the best of our ability. A goal, which includes being in harmony with others. – How much better than just yourself, is several people praising God together.

Earlier in Paul’s letter to the Romans, he talks about being living sacrifices. God no longer wants burnt offerings, He wants live ones; He wants us. He wants us to praise Him in everything. As Paul says in another place, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) The “all” there, means all; everything. Eating, drinking, working, or anything else is included in “all”.

So let’s do what God wants us to do: because Jesus gave us His all, let’s try to give Him our all.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Saved by a Great God to do Great Things

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Every person in the World has been born. Every person whose been born, has had a sinful nature… Yet, everyone whose been born again, is born without a sinful nature. He’s become a “new creation,” and is currently only a faint mirror of Christ. Yet, like all babies, a new Christian will grow if he has milk, the ‘basic’ teachings of the Bible, to nourish his little self. – If he isn’t fed, however, he’ll end up nothing more than skin and bones; useless to everyone. – This is what Paul means, when he says, “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The old sinful nature is done away with, now we’re clothed in a new body! Still, as of yet, imperfect; we still have a physical body which defiles our Spiritual one. Yet when our physical body (finally) dies and returns to dust, our Spiritual selves will finally be taken to Heaven… In the mean time, we should be like Paul:

²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. (Philippians 1:21-24)

He wanted to depart and be with Christ, but stayed in order to bring more to Christ. This is exactly how we should be; like mirrors, though somewhat dimly and not as clearly as when the layer of skin and bone will be removed, we are to reflect Jesus. What we do should reflect Him; likewise what we say, etc.. We should show our love for God, by our actions for Him.

The point being this: we’ve been changed by a great God, in order to (through, and in, His power) do great things in His name… Or, to say it as the Bible says it:

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland