Christian Fellowship (1) Unrestrained Acceptance

Introduction: The Context of Christian Fellowship in Romans

0:04 The following message was delivered on Sunday morning, September 26, 1993, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now will you follow in your Bibles, please, as I read from Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 15, verses 1 through 7. Romans, chapter 15, this portion of the Word of God, Paul is drawing to a conclusion his discussion of the concerns resident in the church at Rome, growing out of the fact that there were differing religious and cultural backgrounds with varying judgments with respect to religious days and the eating of certain foods. And the drinking of certain beverages. And Paul has been seeking to sort out these matters in terms that he designates as weaker brethren, stronger brethren. And as he brings his discussion to a conclusion, he writes, Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

1:26 Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good. It is good unto edifying, for Christ also pleased not himself. As it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.

1:55 Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of the same mind, one with another, according to Christ Jesus. That with one accord ye may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, receive ye one another, even as Christ also received you to the glory of God. Now let us again seek God's face and ask the, and the enablement of the Spirit of God as we come to the study of his word.

2:40 Our Father, we thank you for that clear word of promise given to us from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ, that if we who are evil know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will you, the Heavenly Father, give the Holy Spirit to those who ask you? Amen. We would therefore come as your adopted sons and daughters pleading that you would grant us in this hour copious measures of the presence and power and ministry of the Holy Spirit, that he may be operative in every mind as the Spirit of illumination, where necessary in every heart as the Spirit of conviction, the Spirit who takes the things of Christ, and reveals them with power. We pray that he would be present as the Spirit of faith. O Lord, send your Holy Spirit in conjunction with the ministry of the word, that that word may come to us not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance. Hear us, we plead.

4:03 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Salvation is of the Lord and Nurtured by God-Appointed Means of Grace

4:14 From what can only be called the dark, abysmal depths of the belly of a great fish, the wayward prophet Jonah exclaimed, Salvation is of the Lord. It is to be feared that more sound theology was spoken in that unusual classroom of God's discipline, upon his disobedient prophet, than is spoken from the majority of the pulpits across the land in this day. Yes, salvation is of the Lord. It is of the Lord in its eternal design and purpose, it is of the Lord in its procurement, its execution, and application, and equally of the Lord in the means ordained, both for its procurement and its application from beginning to end. And it is with respect to this last issue, namely the ongoing application of God's salvation to his people, that we are presently considering the fact that there

5:36 are no effective substitutes for the God-appointed means of grace in living the Christian life. This salvation which is of the Lord from beginning to end is equally of the Lord with reference to how that salvation once imparted is to be nurtured and cultivated and developed in the life of God. Now, having identified those means which are primarily private or individual in their exercise, we are now concentrating on those means of grace, those means appointed by God for the nurture of the life of God in the soul of a child of God, which are public or corporate in their nature. And using Acts 2.42 as an outline of some of those major corporate means of grace, we have seen, first of all, that if a Christian is to grow in grace, he must, like those early disciples in the Jerusalem church, continue steadfastly in the apostles' teaching. That

7:00 is, he must be committed to an assembly of the people of God where the reason for his salvation is not in the gospel, but in the message of God. This is the main point of our reading, preaching and teaching of the word of God by God-given men of God is a central aspect of those public gatherings. Then last Lord's Day we began to examine the second major corporate means of grace as described in Acts 2.42, namely the matter of fellowship. This text indicates that these early believers in Jerusalem were not only continuing steadfastly in the apostles' teaching, but they were also manifesting a principled, consistent involvement in the manifold expressions of church fellowship. For we read in that text that they continued steadfastly in the fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the

Defining Distinctively Christian Fellowship: Concept and Context

8:06 process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process of fellowship. We then proceeded to take up the process uses the term fellowship and the primary word translated fellowship and secondary words not only with reference to things peculiar to the people of God but it speaks of people having fellowship or communion with demons and light and darkness being such that they cannot experience communion one with another and so we are jealous to try to understand the biblical concept of

8:51 distinctively Christian fellowship and the basic idea is that of joint participation a communion a sharing in a participation with others in something it is the opposite of what is coin us I'm sorry it has its roots in the concept of what is common coin us that which is held or experienced or shared together and as John Stott has very helpfully written in his commentary on first John 1 3 fellowship is a specifically Christian word and denotes that common participation in the grace of God the salvation of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is the spiritual birthright of all true believers. And so the biblical concept of distinctive Christian fellowship focuses upon that which the people of God share in common as the people of God.

10:07 And then secondly, we sought to identify and describe the biblical context of distinctively Christian fellowship.

10:19 We noted that those of whom Luke writes in Acts 2.42 are not just anybody who happened to show up, but these all who continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and in fellowship were a clearly identifiable group. And we noted from the analogy of Scripture that the context of distinctively Christian fellowship is comprised of at least these four things, and this list was not exhaustive, that all true Christians are united to the same Lord and Savior, 1 Corinthians 1.9.

11:03 All true Christians have been placed into the one body of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12.13. Thirdly, all true Christians are members of the same family of Christ, Mark 3, Galatians 3, and Galatians 6 and verse 10. And that in the Scriptures, all true Christians are found joined to a local manifestation of the body and family of Christ.

11:34 In our foundational text, those who continued steadfastly in the fellowship were those who on the day of Pentecost were added to the 120. And it was in the context of identification with this local manifestation of the body and family of Christ that they continued steadfastly in fellowship. I'm afraid there are a lot of professing Christians today who are like the man, who said, I love humanity. I get on well with humanity.

12:14 My only problem is that I don't get along with people.

12:20 I have problems getting along with my wife. Problems with my children. Problems with my work associates. I get on fabulously with humanity.

12:31 I only have a problem with people that I know and with whom I have to relate. And I said, I'm afraid there are many professing Christians like that. Who would profess to have great love for and affinity with the church of Christ universal, they will say. I love the people of God.

12:53 I have a great commitment to the church of Christ. All in broad generic terms like humanity. But put them in a specific, local, concrete expression of the body and family of Christ. and alas, they can get along with no one.

13:12 They're like the drunk with the Lindberger cheese on his nose. He staggers into one place and smells and says, this place stinks, I'm getting out of here. And he staggers into another and it isn't long before he says, this place stinks and I'm getting out of here. And from place to place he goes, not knowing that the horrible smell is coming up into his nose from his own mustache soaked with the Lindberger cheese.

13:43 Well, it's a crude illustration, but I don't think you'll forget it. And alas, there are many church hoppers who can never, never sink their roots into a specific concrete local expression of the body and family of Christ. Oh yes, they love the church. Like the man who says, I love humanity in some general nebulous, non-concrete expression of humanity.

14:12 But the word of God knows nothing of a Christianity that cannot flourish in a specific concrete expression of the body and the family of Christ. So that is the context of distinctively Christian fellowship. It is the reality of a people who, who have embraced by faith the same Lord and Savior, who have been placed by the Spirit into the same body, who have been by the grace of adoption incorporated into the same family, and in the providence of God find themselves in real, living, specific interaction in a specific local church. Now today, we move on from the basic concept of distinctive Christian fellowship and the context of distinctively Christian fellowship and begin to examine some of the major elements that comprise the content of distinctive Christian fellowship. And in the time allotted today, I want us to focus upon what is the concept of distinctive Christian fellowship.

The Fundamental Element of Fellowship: Unfeigned and Unrestrained Acceptance

15:33 in my studies of this issue is, according to my present light, perhaps the most fundamental element comprising the content of distinctive Christian fellowship. And what is it? It is the unfamed and unrestrained acceptance of one another on the basis of what God has made us in Christ. It is the unfamed and unrestrained acceptance of one another on the basis of what God has made us in Christ. Now, as I have珸 attempt to open up what I've affirmed, I want first of all to spend a few moments and give a brief definition of the words I have used, then secondly an exposition of the key text which addresses this aspect of distinctive Christian fellowship, and then thirdly make several specific applications

16:49 of that text. First, a brief definition of these words used. When I say that the fundamental element comprising the content of distinctive Christian fellowship is the unfeigned acceptance of one another, what do I mean by unfeigned? Well, to feign something is to make a false show of it.

17:16 It's to play, let's pretend. It's to imitate or to simulate. It's sister word is faint, not f-a-i-n-t, swooning, but what a halfback does when he's in the open field and there's no one but him and the free safety between the goal line. And he's running at full tilt and he faints to the left with his head and his hips, and the moment he sees the free safety, make a commitment. He cuts to the right, and he goes home free and scores his touchdown. He faints. He pretends to go left when he's only intending to set that man between him and the goal line off balance that he might attain his goal. But that which is unfamed has no fainting to it.

18:12 It's like what they do when they get down near the goal line, and more and more teams are doing it now. They'll bring either an offensive or defensive lineman who's 6'5 or 6', weighs 285 pounds, and they'll bring him in and place him in the backfield, and you know when he gets that ball, he isn't going to do any fainting or fainting. He's going to take that ball and just round that 280 pounds of bone and muscle straight down into the direction of the goal line. Well, unshamed means without any attempt to make a faint.

18:47 No attempts to imitate or to simulate, to pretend, or to make a false show. Unfamed acceptance means an acceptance that goes beyond the smile on the face, beyond the hand being stretched out in the symbol of acceptance, beyond all the other tokens and symbols of acceptance, and it means that at the deepest level of the human character, in the consciousness, in the heart, in the soul, in the spirit, whatever term you want to use, there is an unreserved embracing of that brother or sister. It is the unfamed, and then I've used the word unrestrained.

19:40 To restrain is to hold back, to contain a person or thing. Not only, you see, is this dimension, this dimension of fellowship,

19:54 that in which there is an unfamed acceptance, but an unrestrained acceptance. There is nothing tentative about it. There is nothing that is moving but holding itself back. There is no pulling back on the reins of the heart running out to that person who is the object of that acceptance.

Exposition of Romans 15:7: The Duty and Manner of Acceptance

20:19 Now, that's what I mean by the terminology, and I hope it will help you as we come now to our exposition of the key text which addresses this aspect of distinctive Christian fellowship, and it is found in Romans 15 and verse 7. Wherefore receive ye one another, even as Christ also received you to the glory, of God. I believe this is the most pivotal text in the New Testament with reference to the question what constitutes the content of distinctively Christian fellowship. And I'm saying nothing is more basic than the unfamed, unrestrained acceptance of one another on the basis of what God has made us in Christ.

21:22 Remember, the general setting of the text. The situation in the church at Rome was one where there was a diversity of backgrounds religiously, ethnically, culturally, socially, all of these differences, and in that one congregation at Rome, it meant that there were people that had different tastes and different scruples on matters that were not inherently right or wrong. And when they became aware of these differences, they had the tendency to do what the human heart always does in the presence of those who differ with us in their tastes and inclinations and in their scruples. What were they doing? Look at verse 3. Let not him of chapter 14, I'm sorry, let not him that eateth, said it not, him that eateth not, let not, not him that eateth not, judge him that eateth, for God hath received him.

22:28 Who are you that judges the servant of another? You see what they were doing? There was a tendency to set one another at naught. That is, to do something that was out of the orbit of unfeigned and unrestrained acceptance of one another for what they were in Christ.

22:53 They were setting one another at naught. They were standing in judgment upon one another for these differences that grew out of diversities of backgrounds and all of the baggage that those diversities carried with them. And verse 13, let us not therefore judge one another anymore. The indication being, that Paul had some information that they were indulging a sinful, judgmental attitude one toward another which was putting barriers in the experiential enjoyment of true fellowship, of true oneness, of vital spirit rock, koinonia. And so the apostle writes in chapter, in chapter 14 through to this section that I read in your hearing in chapter 15 to address this very issue. And at the conclusion of his treatment of this issue, we have verse 7, the specific mandate of this text. And it focuses upon two things.

24:16 The duty commanded and the manner of that duty delineated. The duty commanded. What is it? Wherefore, receive ye one another.

24:32 Very simple. Receive ye one another. Do not hold each other off in the face of these differences. Do not keep one another at a distance with a judgmental attitude.

24:50 Don't even keep one another at a distance with a judgmental attitude. Do not keep one another at a distance with a so-called neutral attitude waiting to see if your brother or sister will come around to your judgment about the keeping of certain days, the eating of certain meats, and the drinking of certain beverages. No. No, you are actively, aggressively, immediately to receive one another.

25:19 You are not to draw back because of your known and your own. You are not to draw back because of your known and your own. And manifested differences in these areas that do not relate to the right and wrong of the law of God. They relate to matters of scruples over things that are not moral issues.

25:40 Do not hold each other off. Do not judge one another. Do not draw back from one another because you feel uncomfortable around those who differ from you in these things. Receive one another.

25:55 There is an imperative verb which demands the immediate, the unfeigned, the unrestrained acceptance of one another on the basis of what God has made us in Christ, not on the basis of what time may do to make us acceptable to one another in all of these particular that have no reference to Christ or to right or to wrong. The duty commanded then is immediately without reservation to receive one another. But then the duty commanded is followed by the manner of the duty delineated. And look at the text. Wherefore receive ye one another. And then we have that very potent little Greek word kathos, which in a context like this is like an equal sign.

26:57 Even as. Just as. Here is the manner in which we are to receive one another. Just as Christ also.

27:10 And we have the same verb in a different form, but the same verb just as Christ also once for all for initial conversion through the gospel. Just as Christ also received you to the glory of God. Just as Christ received you to the glory of God. Now Paul is saying this to all the Romans.

27:42 When the Jew who had been held in the grip of his empty formalism. When the Jew who perhaps like Paul as he describes in Philippians 3 who had gloried in his religious bloodlines and his privileges and his heritage. When he had come to see the truth of Romans chapters 118 through 321 that there is no difference. Jew and Greek stand equally under the condemnation of God's holy law which all men had broken.

28:19 When the Jew saw that the only hope for him as a sinner was in the Holy Spirit. In the person and work of Jesus whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. When that Jew by the mysterious mighty operation of the Holy Spirit had been regenerated given a new heart and as the first expression of that regenerating grace came in repentance and faith to the Lord Jesus. How did Christ receive him?

28:56 Did Christ say now wait a minute Mr. Jew I've shown you your lostness I've shown you your hell deservingness I've shown you my own perfect work on behalf of sinners Jew and Gentile but since you lived so long as a proud snubby Jew turning your nose up at the coin the masses of the Gentiles I'm going to receive you tentatively I'm going to receive you half-heartedly I'm going to put you in a halfway house of acceptance until you learn your lesson not to be so snobbish and if you behave yourself then I'll open my arms to you and receive you unfeignedly and unreservedly with all my heart. Now is that how Christ received a penitent believing Jew in the Roman church?

29:52 Were you to ask any Jew in the Roman church if that's the way Christ received me? He said no no and he would quote perhaps the earlier verses of this very epistle for in chapter 10 the apostle wrote the same Lord is rich unto all who call upon him verse 12 there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all and is rich unto all that call upon him when that Jew with all of his religious heritage and the snobbery that went with it in the self-righteousness and all of the rest when he came in the brokenness of true penitence and in faith what did he find Christ to be? An open-handed open-hearted Savior fulfilling the very promise read in our hearing this morning him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out well how can he promise not to cast him out unless coming he's received you see the greatest assumption in that text is coming we will be received and having been received we will never no never ever be cast out now the apostle says to that Jewish element in the church there at Rome receive

31:21 one another even as Christ received you the glory of God then think of that pagan Roman he came with all the baggage of his paganism perhaps one of those described in the opening chapter one of those who have been enmeshed in all of the foul fruits of idolatry maybe he had indulged in every known form of sexual perversion even in conjunction with his temple worship he thought low and ignoble thoughts of God he had likened God unto four-footed beasts and to creeping things and to birds and all that he was as a pagan Roman idolater and all of the debauchery of his life when he too felt the smart and the pain of Holy Ghost conviction that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against the world against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men and he too had heard that gospel which pointed him to the Lord Jesus Christ in the uniqueness of his person son of David according to the flesh the declared son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead when he had been pointed to the Lord Jesus

32:49 as the only hope of life and salvation and that pagan Roman came how was he received? did the Lord Jesus half-heartedly tentatively receive him and say now look you're bringing an awful lot of baggage you're not only bringing all of the ingrained patterns of your pagan lifestyle and all of the twisted thinking about God and his worship and all of the trappings of that whole pagan culture in which you were molded and shaped and formed furthermore you're bringing all of these silly notions about your special feast day and all of the rest and frankly you could really be a source of irritation in my church so I'm going to put you in some holding house until I see how well you do in beginning is that the way Christ received the pagan who came to him? you say Pastor Martin you're beating it kind of thin at the edges aren't you? no I'm not dear people there's a purpose for getting so specific you see when the apostle said in this context to this amalgamation to this amalgamation to this amalgamation of people of such a diverse ethnic religious social cultural educational background receive one another Christ received you

34:17 to the glory of God he was binding their consciences to a reception of one another that had no less a standard than the very manner in which Christ received them and when Christ received them how did he receive them? freely unqualifiedly lavishing his love and his receptive grace upon them so that in their new standing the context of fellowship Paul can write as he does in Galatians chapter 3 27 and 28 a pivotal text for any true biblical concept of fellowship as many of you as were baptized into Christ as many of you as by the spirit were united to Christ you did put on Christ there can be neither Jew nor Greek and you can be there can be neither bond nor free there can be no male and female for you are all one man

35:43 in Christ Jesus now when Christ received you what did he do? in terms of the manner in which he received you and the new spiritual status he conferred upon you he obeyed and obliterated the differences that hitherto had divided you the Jew looking down upon all non-Jews as the Goyi the masses of the Gentile dogs the free man looking down upon his slave as his property the slave feeling the temptation to resent every free man feeling that I have a right to be what he is and I am and the age-old warfare and struggle between the male and the female from the moment of the fall of man Adam instead of being Eve's nurturer becomes her accuser Eve instead of being in the place of joyful submission has a role reversal and takes the lead in that home and is implicated in the fall and all of these

37:11 barriers and divisions that spin off a thousand kinds of horrible manifestations in interpersonal relationships from the family to society at every level Paul says when by the grace of God you were brought into union with Christ and put on Christ all of these distinctions with reference to spiritual standing and privilege are obliterated the distinctions in terms of function are not obliterated that's the stupid use of this that the so-called evangelical feminists in Christ neither male nor female were in Christ in the church then males and females get in interchangeable roles no the apostle taught no such thing this same apostle who wrote these words by the inspiration of the spirit wrote I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man wives be subject to your husbands as the church is subject to Christ slaves be in obedience to your masters masters in ordering the affairs of your slaves remember you have a master in heaven Paul is not here saying that these distinctions in terms of function and social standing and relative relationship responsibilities

38:40 are all done away in the Christian community that's nonsense it's patently unbiblical but my friends what he is saying is that in terms of spiritual standing and privilege these distinctions are obliterated Christ received us as needy sinners period and he's made us sanctified in Christ now he says you receive one another as Christ received you to the glory of God there should be no comma after the words receive one another even as Christ received you comma to the glory of God as though it's our reception of one another that brings glory to God no it is Christ's reception of us that his glory glorified God as the subsequent context shows because in so receiving us he fulfilled every prophetic utterance about him that he would confirm the promises made to the fathers and the key and central promise made to the fathers is that promise made to Abraham that in him and his seed

40:08 should all the families of the earth be blessed and so Christ glorified the Father by his own by confirming those promises and in his mediatorial work not only dying for all of the elect from all the nations under heaven but when each one in his own life history is dealt with by the spirit of God through the word of God and is brought to repentance and faith every single one is received with equal enthusiasm by the welcoming Savior no resurrection no resurrection no reservations no feigned reception no restrained reception we come just as we are without one plea but that his blood was shed for us and we find him to be the Savior who fulfills his promise him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out and now God says to us as his people would you please pray for us in this church we're talking now about humanity we're talking about this concrete expression of the body of Christ this concrete expression of the family of God would we experience true Christian fellowship well where

41:37 does it begin it begins not only with the recognition of the context in which we all find ourselves ourselves, if we are true believers, that we have all embraced the one Lord and the one Savior as He is revealed in the Scriptures. We have all by the one Spirit been placed into the one body, and all by the one grace of adoption have been placed into the same family, but in being so received, all of the things that would keep us from receiving one another have been totally discounted by God. And when the apostle would drive home the final nail on this issue of dealing with those factors that were keeping the church from wrong to experience, or keeping it from experiencing, that level of true, intimate koinonia, he says, here's the answer to that situation. Wherefore, receive ye one another, even as Christ also received you to the glory of God.

Application 1: Condemnation of Prejudice and Superiority in the Church

43:05 That's the key text. I've sought to open it up in terms of the duty commanded, the manner of the duty delineated. Now, I want, in the time that remains, to make several, what I trust will be helpful, as well as pointed applications. What does this text say to us in the most practical terms? Well, first of all, it condemns all forms of prejudice and attitudes of superiority within the church of Jesus Christ. It condemns all forms of prejudice and attitudes of superiority within the church of Jesus Christ. It condemns all forms of prejudice and attitudes of superiority within the church of Jesus Christ. It condemns all forms of prejudice and attitudes of superiority in the church of Christ.

43:52 Well, you see, if you were received by Christ, how were you received? You say, as a hell-deserving sinner. Anything else? No, hell-deserving sinner, period. Good. Because if you came with anything else, you've not been received by Christ. You see, anyone who comes and says, Lord, I'm a sinner. I've got good bloodlines. I come from this.

44:16 I come from this ethnic background. I come from this religious background. And Lord, put that in offer with the virtue of your perfect life and your death. No, no. If I add anything to Christ, Paul says, I have fallen from grace. How did you come to Christ as a needy, serving, helpless sinner? Well, if you came in that posture and received in that posture, and you find yourself shoulder to shoulder with others whom Christ has received and has received them, because that was their posture, then where in the world is there any room for prejudice and attitudes of superiority in the church of Jesus Christ? That's why in Christ's church, no social snobbery must be

45:04 tolerated. Read James 2, 1 to 10. James goes after it with the fiery spirit of an Old Testament prophet, and he describes in concrete terms a situation that may well have actually been occurring in the church of Jesus Christ. And he describes in concrete terms a situation that may well have actually been occurring in the church of Jesus Christ. And he describes in concrete terms a situation where someone came in with all the accoutrements and the physical symbols of wealth and of refinement. He came from the upper crust. Another man came in with all of the external symbols and accoutrements of poverty. And you know what they were doing? The ushers were acting distracted like they had to take care of the lights when the fellow dressed in the symbols of his poverty came. But when the hot shot man came from the ritzy park, out of town with his diamond rings glistening and his thousand-dollar custom-made suits draped perfectly upon him, oh, suddenly they were all eyes. And so we take you down and gave him the best seats. And you read what James says about this kind of business going on in a Christian assembly. He said there is no place for social snobbery. There is no place for ethnic elitism.

46:22 Ethnic elitism. Ethnic elitism. My group, my nationality, my common cultural heritage and language and background has things in it that make me superior to you and to others. There is no place for social snobbery, for ethnic elitism. There is no place for racial antagonism, suspicion, the kind of stereotyping that makes us fearful of those who aren't, quote, like us. Whether it's black to white, white to black. Whether it's Hispanic to black. Whether it's Oriental or Asian. And I sat at my desk and I began to think of all the ways this cursed sin

47:11 manifests itself. And though we might not be so bold to say it, people come up with their own little ditties. If it's not cultured, it's not kosher. If it's not white, it's not worthy. If it's not red, it ought to be dead. If it's not white, it ought to be dead. If it's not it's not black, it ain't beautiful if he's not yellow, he's not my fellow you could just go on and use your imagination and see how every ethnic group has its unwritten code of inherent superiority you have yours and I have mine by nature but in Christ to be out to death in the death of Christ and in the open free reception of Christ of all of his people receive one another

48:12 as Christ received you it condemns every form of prejudice and attitudes of superiority in the church of Christ and if there is any prejudice and attitudes of superiority unmortified in your heart and mine we may go through the symbols of acceptance but at some point they will be famed symbols and if not famed they will be reserved and I'm saying that the basis of true fellowship the content of the stuff of which true fellowship is comprised is the only thing that makes us unfeigned and unstrained acceptance of one another for what has made us not what our bloodlines made us not what our cultural conditioning formed us not what our social standing has done to give us a slot in the so-called stratas of economic identification middle upper middle lower middle low poverty line

49:40 and all this other nonsense in those distinctions do not exist and as a segment of the new humanity dear people of God we are to bear witness by our patent manifest unfeigned unreserved acceptance of one another that the gospel does something that all the legislation and all the marches on Washington and all the the

Application 2: Commendation of Legitimate Expressions of Acceptance

50:43 the world is to send his only begotten son not merely to take away the guilt and hell deservingness of individual sinners but to constitute the new humanity in Christ to be the city set on the hill to be the light that points the way that the gospel alone has the answer to those things which pit man against his fellow man and in Christ there is reserved acceptance one of another and then the second application I would make from our text is this it commends all legitimate expressions of our unfeigned and unrestrained acceptance of one another if we are told receive one another as Christ has received you to the glory of God then surely implicit in that command is a commendation of every man the legitimate expression of our unfeigned and unrestrained acceptance of one another this command receive one another

52:10 is a command that touches the heart we know that but you see we're not disembodied spirits and what has our hearts will have our eyes our hands our countenances and even here in the scriptures I was fascinated in my preparation to just park for a while on that passage in Galatians chapter 2 in seeking to look up every usage of the word koinonia and the family of words dealing with fellowship one cannot overlook Galatians 2 and verse 10 for in this passage where the apostle is describing his experience in having a meeting with the leaders of the church at Jerusalem he writes in Galatians 2 9 and when they perceived the grace that was given unto me that is James Cephas that's Peter and John they who were reputed to be pillars gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of koinonia they gave to me and to Barnabas the right hands of fellowship now that's hands of Peter and James and John

53:40 were very tangible physical sensual it could be touched and felt commodities and Paul says after I laid before them what I was doing the message I was preaching and their consciences were persuaded that God had indeed called me to my mission to bear the gospel primarily to the Gentiles and their conscience and their conscience there was an unreserved unfeigned acceptance of me and of my mission the disposition of the heart triggered something in the right hand you see it see he could have said and when they perceived the grace that was given me James and Cephas and John who were reputed to be pillars they acknowledged that from their hearts they fully accept my mission to the Gentiles I led them I said something but the Holy Ghost is recorded not what they said but what they did what they did and Paul understood that when those three pillars stretched out the right hand that they were saying with all of our hearts as symbolized in the stretching out of our right hand we enter in without reservation to identify with God's work in you God's call upon you and God's work

55:09 and we long for God's blessing to go with you in this mission that will take you primarily to the Gentiles simple little thing isn't it but dear people is there not implicit in that a commendation of this legitimate expression of our unfamed and unrestrained acceptance of one another there's some interesting stories sad stories in church history and one of the saddest is during the period of the reformation when God raised up strong men with strong convictions who wrote strong treatises exposing what they felt were each other's heresies and when some of them would greet one another they would show their total non-acceptance by withholding the right hand from a warm handshake and church history has recorded it as one of the dark chapters see where I'm going my friend what does it cost you if indeed in your heart there is an unfamed unrestrained acceptance of a brother or sister what does it cost you to stick out that hand and let every fiber of your heart's acceptance find expression in the grip of your fingers

56:36 among us can say we're too busy our schedule's too pressed we have no time not to mention the five imperatives in the New Testament four of them greet one another with a holy kiss Peter says greet one another with a kiss of love it is something tangible it is something that can be felt a memory of which can linger in the mind of a brother or sister that there was the embrace the handshake the concrete expression of the disposition you see if we're all honest dear people even though God has been very gracious to us and made this particular local church like the church universal in microcosm in terms of our backgrounds many ethnic backgrounds many racial backgrounds different religious associations look if you're honest you've got your fears you've got your prejudices we all have but what are we to do we are to look upon one another in terms of what we are in Christ and look upon one another in terms of how Christ received that mother I've got some fears about a certain group of people I was brought up believing

58:05 that anyone from that particular ethnic background will lie through his teeth or from that particular background they're all a bunch of cheats and from that particular background they're all a bunch of tight wads from that particular we've all picked up that baggage along the way and you see if we have this idea that until we are convinced that there was no substance and no reality to that and hold back until our emotions catch up with what God says we will never know an obedience to this text we are in spite of those fears in spite of the reservations in spite of those perceptions the word of God is clear receive one another right now here immediately receive one another right now even as Christ received you to the glory of God and one of the best ways to overcome those things is just to do what that unfamed and unreserved reception would do in its outward expressions and lo and behold you'll find as you get close enough to begin to get on a first name basis and free interchange basis of thought and concern from the mundane to the deep and to the serious that many of those suspicions begin to vaporize and you say what a fool I was for ever thinking that

59:35 you see we all tend to have a herding mentality and drift to our own kind because we feel most comfortable and I'm not saying that we should not have various groupings who have particular aesthetic and cultural interest together is it not? is it wrong that those who like classical music should go in and listen to the New York Philharmonic together? no nothing wrong with that at all but if all of your cultivated associations are only with those who have similar aesthetic and cultural interest you will not be fulfilling this mandate to receive one another for the people of God it takes work it doesn't just happen it takes conscious deliberate effort as it takes effort for me and has over the years to go to those people if I waited for them to come to me I wouldn't shake their hand but once every six months but when I can I go to them take the initiative let them know my heart is toward them by the stretching out of the hand of fellowship if we can't get to them catch their eyes as they pass us in the hall

61:01 give them a holy wink let them know you recognize them let your countenance be speak the love and the acceptance that is in your heart dear people of God if we would know what it is as a congregation to continue steadfastly in this corporate means of grace of true Biblical fellowship we must we must if not as the most fundamental element in the content of that fellowship surely one of the most fundamental elements we must experience the unfeigned unrestrained acceptance of one another on the basis of what God has made us in Christ as he has made us all the same in Christ in terms of our spiritual standing and privilege therefore there is no room for snobbery there is no room for suspicion there is no room for elitism there is no room for anything other than a joyful company of hell deserving sinners who have been freely unqualifiedly received by a welcoming savior and in the fellowship of his welcome we receive

Call to Unbelievers and Concluding Prayer

62:29 one another if you are here this morning and you are not a Christian you see you don't fit this text it says receive one another as Christ received you but you see Christ hasn't received you because you haven't come to him and I ask you why haven't you come to him what is there in the savior that is so unseemly that you would not go to him when all he offers you in the gospel is for your highest good in life in death in judgment in the age to come my friend the savior comes to you in the word of the gospel today and says come to me all ye that labored or heavy laden I will give you rest that's why it's commendable you're here and you take your place among the people of God and hear the word of God but that's why you really don't feel a part of the people why because you're not in the company of those whom Christ has received the reason you're not in that company is because you've not come to him is because you've not come to Christ or why haven't you come to him is there something unseemly in him or is it that you are still so blind to your need that you don't see that you desperately need all that he is and all that he offers in the gospel if so pray God to pull the blinders from your eyes

63:56 and give you better peak of what you really are and then you'll run to Christ you will not let this day pass until you know that Christ has received you as he's received us needy helpless sinners whose only plea is what he is and what he's done for the likes of us may this day find you going to him and then you'll understand what it is to receive us and we to receive you as Christ has received us to the glory of God let us pray our father what thanks can we render to you this morning that you have sent your son to be the savior of sinners and we with a sense of shame on the one hand and yet joy on the other take our place as needy sinners whose only hope is in a welcoming savior we thank you Lord Jesus that your reception of us was not half hearted we thank you that it was not tentative we thank you that you received us

65:23 unfeignedly and unreservedly and we have found you to be all you promised you would be to sinners who came to you oh may some taste the sweetness of that coming to you this day and for those of us who are your people Lord teach us at a level that we have never known before what it is to receive one another as Christ has received us to look upon one another not in terms of all the differences that we've carried into the Christian faith but in terms of all the commonalities that are ours because of Christ that we have the one Lord we've been brought to embrace the one faith and undergo the one baptism we call upon you the one God and Father who is above all and over all and in us all oh our God we pray bring us to new levels of true spirit wrought fellowship in this assembly and may this foundational element be increasingly present and resident among us we plead these mercies through our Lord Jesus Christ

66:49 Amen