DATE: 3-8-26

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

Each week — during our worship services — we set aside some time to pray for people, circumstances, and situations going on in our congregation, community, country, and world.

Today we’ll be praying for our church elders — those who lead us here at Gateway. We’ll pray for our local police officers and a Bible study recently started for them. And we’ll pray for the wars going on around the world.

Please join me in prayer.

Heavenly Father, in your Word to us — you show us the kind of men you call to lead your people. 

1 Timothy 3:2-7 NLT

A church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. 3 He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. 4 He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. 5 For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? 6 A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. 7 Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.

And you give them this mandate:

1 Peter 5:2-4 NLT 

Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. 4 And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

Father, we thank you for the men who serve us as your shepherds. For Matt Buttermore, Dana Fought, Ed Grable, Matt Heft, Terry Jolliff, Scott Sharpe, Kevin Snyder, Justin Stiles, and Jim Tomlinson. Thank you for their faithfulness to you and to the call you have on their life as elders of your people. Thank you for their care for your people. Thank you for their eagerness to serve you and your people here at Gateway. Thank you for their leadership — and for leading by a good example. Remind them of the crown of never-ending glory and honor that will be theirs.

As we turn our attention to our local law enforcement — we want to pray specifically for the Bible study that’s recently been started in our community specifically for them. Thank you for the many officers and staff who have shown up to learn about you through your Word. Thank you for their openness and curiosity about who you are. Spirit, lead, guide, and direct more officers to come to the Bible study so that more of the men and women who serve our community in this way would be people who know the one and only living God. Thank you for the hope that your Word gives — may your Word give the officers the eternal hope that’s found only in Jesus Christ.

And as we pray for our world — Father — we can’t help but think of the warring going on halfway around the world. Pakistan and Afghanistan. Israel, Iran, and our nation — and many others getting involved or experiencing attacks. War was never your intention for your creation. Peace was — and is — your intention for your creation. Yet we are a people who war with one another. Father, forgive us. Jesus — our Prince of Peace — bring peace to our world. Holy Spirit, change our hearts — from hearts that desire rebellion, death, and destruction to hearts that — because of faith in Christ — desire and live for faithfulness, and life, and restoration, and reconciliation. This work — that only you can do — is a work for people of all nations — including those in Pakistan and Afghanistan — in Iran and Israel — as well as the hearts of people here in the US.

Father may you be glorified as the message of Jesus Christ continues to go forth to all people by the power of the Holy Spirit. And may we be found to be faithful goers and sharers of your News until Jesus returns. And we pray all of this in his name. Amen. 

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in James this weekend. Learning from the wisdom section of the New Testament. And boy do we have something to learn from wisdom today. What’s that — you may wonder — what does wisdom want to teach us today? That simply hearing God’s Word is insufficient — for we must do God’s Word.

But don’t take my word for it — here’s what we find in our verses from today. We’re in James chapter one — beginning in verse twenty-one. There we read…

James 1:21–25 ESV

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Here’s where we’re headed today. We’re going to see what it means to be a doer of God’s Word by looking at what a life of repentance and faith looks like. Then we’ll see what a life of self-deception looks like. Then we’ll see what a life of true faith looks like. And — I know — “Josh, the first and third points sound the same.” Yes, they both include faith — but you’ll see that faith has two aspects to it which James highlights in our verses.

The life of repentance and faith. The life of self-deception. And a life of true faith. Together — these will show us the difference between being someone who merely hears God’s Word versus someone who hears and does the Word of God. And — as I said a moment ago — hearing God’s Word is insufficient — we must be people who do God’s Word.

A LIFE OF REPENTANCE AND FAITH

So let’s begin by looking at a life of repentance and faith. We’re back in verse twenty-one. There we read…

James 1:21 ESV

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Our verses for today build on what’s come before — that’s what the word “therefore” tells us. Anytime you find a “therefore” in Scripture — pause and ask yourself, “What’s the therefore, there for?” 

Therefore is a connecting word. It connects what comes after it with what comes before it. So what comes just before our verse? These words from James that Joe Sherrieb had us look at last week.

James 1:19–20 ESV

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Which leads to our verse…

James 1:21 ESV

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Here’s another way of seeing the relationship between these verses. Ask the question “why”. Here’s what I mean. Our verse again is…

James 1:21 ESV

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

And our question is, “Why, James? Why are we to put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and so on…?”

Because — that’s another way of saying “therefore” — because…

James 1:20 ESV

20 The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

To which we ask another question — “Where — one of those famous W’s we’re taught to use in English class — where does the anger of man come from James?”

This kind of ungodly anger comes from within — and it shows up when we’re not…

James 1:19 ESV

19 quick to hear, slow to speak, [and] slow to anger;

I hope that’s helpful — me showing you how to ask questions and not just simply droning on while reading the Bible. For we’ll never be doers of God’s Word if we don’t understand it. And understanding — often comes when we slow down and ask questions.

So — back verse twenty-one. What is James telling us? He’s telling us — in his own words — to repent and believe. For a life of repentance and faith is the first step away from a life that doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. And it’s also the first step towards the life that does produce the righteousness of God.

Repentance means to turn away from — and faith — is what we turn towards. What do we repent of — or turn away from — according to James? All filthiness and rampant wickedness. “Put it away,” James says.

Filthiness — in the original language — is a word that means moral impurity. Wickedness — again, in the original language — means evil or depravity. And — to wickedness — James adds the word “rampant” — which means an overabundance of wickedness — or an excessive amount of evil and depravity.

The word translated as “filthiness” is only found here in the New Testament — but the word translated as “wickedness” is used quite often in the New Testament. And — when it’s used — we find it used similarly as in our passage — where wickedness is something to put away or put off or to turn away from. Here are some examples.

Ephesians 4:31 ESV

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

And…

Colossians 3:8 ESV

8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

In these examples the word “malice” is the same word translated as wickedness.

1 Peter 2:1 ESV

1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

And…

1 Peter 2:16 ESV

16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Evil’s the same word as wickedness.

Finally — and in about as clear of a statement as we could ask for — in showing how repentance is turning away from wickedness — in the book of Acts — Peter says…

Acts 8:22 ESV

22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

We’re to repent — or turn away from — filthiness and rampant wickedness. And that’s all of us. Christian or not. Remember — James is writing to followers of Jesus — he’s not writing to those who don’t believe — but repentance is for everyone — Christian or not. And James is reminding his readers to keep turning away from filthiness and rampant wickedness. And why does he do this?

Because — unfortunately — following Jesus doesn’t rid us from choosing to do such God dishonoring activities. And we shouldn’t pretend otherwise. For those who pretend — or deny that they’re capable of making such filthy and wicked sinful decisions — are those who usually destroy their lives — or the lives of others. Or they’re the proudest and most obnoxious people you know. Often they’re the most intolerable people to be around. Not only do they forget that…

Titus 3:3 ESV

3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

They act as if this was never the case for them — much less the case for them presently. And they do all of this while claiming to follow Jesus — giving Christ — and his followers — a terrible reputation. We’ll get to these folks a bit more in a moment.

Now — if you’re not a Christian — you may be all like, “That’s right Josh. Get ‘em. Those people are the worst!” But I want to take your eyes off of them — and ask you to do some self-reflection. You see, the first step in following wisdom — which we saw weeks ago — is repentance. For the God who created everyone and everything — including you — has spoken. And he’s given his Word on what is good and what is wicked. He’s told us what is pure and what’s filthy. And wisdom is asking you, “Will you take God at his Word?”

But here’s something both counterintuitive and incredible: Us taking God at his Word is a work of God. This is how gracious and good and kind God is to us — to you. For he knows that none of us will take him at his Word if left on our own — so God does a work in us — so that — we’re awakened to the truthfulness and reliability of his Word. James tells us this in the last half of our verse when he writes…

James 1:21 ESV

21 and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Here James tells us wonderful news: The Word of God has been implanted in our hearts. And who put God’s Word in our heart? The Spirit of God did. For the Spirit implants God’s Word in the hearts of God’s people. And the implanted Word will do its work — the work’s guaranteed to happen. What work? The work of salvation. Where the Spirit of God takes the message of the Word of God — the gospel — and through the gospel gives new life. Meaning a spiritual resurrection takes place — this is a death to life experience — when the Spirit uses the Word to awaken us to the truth.

At this point — a great question for us to ask is, “What is the gospel?” The gospel is this: In the beginning God created everything. And it was good — meaning — it was whole, perfect, without the pains and sorrows we now experience — like cancer and war, the heartache of relational turmoil and the death of those we love. 

The cause of these pains and sorrows is found all the way back to a decision that our first parents — Adam and Eve — made when they distrusted God and believed the lies of our Enemy. As a result — sin — which means “missing the mark” — entered God’s creation. Adam and Eve missed the mark — they did not trust God — they didn’t take him at his Word much less do his Word. And ever since — all humans have sinned — missed the mark — and have distrusted God — not taking him at his Word — not doing his Word. This includes you — and this includes me.

Sin resulted in our relationship with God being destroyed. For God — who is holy and pure — cannot be in the presence of the unholy and impure — or in the presence of filth and wickedness. So we were cast from his presence — kicked out of the Garden — and sent out into the wilderness as our punishment. And — not only that — but death entered creation. Physical death — and all of the aging, and disease, and illnesses, and stresses, that comes with it — and spiritual death — separation from God. Spiritual death is probably the best way to describe our natural relationship with God. For he is Spirit and Life and — because of our sin — our spiritual life was killed.

But God…two of my favorite words in all of the Bible, by the way.

Ephesians 2:4–10 NLT

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

God — in love for his people — sent his Son, Jesus Christ — to seek and save those who were lost. Jesus came to save sinners. And the way he ensured our salvation was by giving his life — on a cross — in our place — for our sins — for the wages of sin is death.  Yet during his life — Jesus lived perfectly. He always trusted God the Father — he always took God at his Word — he always did what God’s Word required. And on the cross — though sinless — he took the punishment we deserve for our sin — the punishment of death. And in his resurrection — he defeated Satan, sin, death, and Hell and promised a new and abundant life — he guaranteed a resurrection empowered life to all who turn to him in faith — this is a guarantee to all who take Jesus at his Word.

That’s the Good News — that’s the gospel — that’s the message all need to hear. Whether it be your neighbor — or your coworker — or your child — or your spouse — or a group of people halfway around the world who’ve never heard the name Jesus before. The gospel is the only message that saves — for Jesus is the only Savior.

A LIFE OF SELF-DECEPTION

Returning to our verses — next James says…

James 1:22–24 ESV

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

And — at this point — I can’t help but wonder if James had one of his older brother’s parables in mind. I say this because — what James just wrote is basically a very short parable. A parable — if you’re unfamiliar with the term — is a short story that’s meant to teach a lesson. Here’s a parable that Jesus once used to teach some folks.

Luke 8:4–15 NLT

4 One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him: 5 “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. 6 Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’ 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. 12 The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. 13 The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. 15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.

What kind of soil is your heart like? Those whose hearts are like the good soil — are hearts that are gentle towards God’s Word. If you’re here today — and you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian — what’s your attitude towards the Bible? Is it gentle or hostile? Are you open to learning or are you closed-minded? Can the Bible critique you or are you the only one allowed to be the critic?

Though we can’t do anything to save ourselves — salvation is in God’s hands — there’s much we can do when it comes to the receptivity and sensitivity of our heart. Often it takes a crisis in life to soften our hearts — maybe that’s why you’re here today and are more open to hearing from God and his Word. But I pray that — even if you’re not in a crisis — that you’d pause and consider the attitude that you’ve brought with you today. And that you’d be open — that’s all — just open to what God is saying to you through his Word.

But for those of us who say we’re a Christian — who claim to be a follower of Jesus — this is where James is really challenging the status quo Christianity that’s prevalent in our country. You see — James is calling out the group of people who call themselves Christians in the US — yet whose lives and behaviors make it clear that they’re not taking Jesus at his Word.

Now hear me out: We need to be very careful in making behaviors — of any sort — the litmus test of proving whether or not a person’s faith is genuine. Right now — my concern isn’t for those who are spiritually proud and full of themselves — my concern is for those who are genuine believers in Jesus and have very sensitive spirits. Who are prone to beating themselves up or tearing themselves down — who view God as if he’s not pleased with them because they’re all too aware of their ongoing sin and shortcomings. And — for these folks — I want you to know that God loves you. If you believe in Jesus — as difficult as this may be to believe — I want you to know that God is delighted in you. He can’t think any more highly of you because — when he thinks of you — he thinks of you with all of the Fatherly affection that he has for Jesus.

I hope that’ll cause you to marvel, and be in awe, and to rejoice, and to be happy — for the God of Heaven sees you — and you give him joy.

Now — with that caveat — a way to test the genuineness of your faith — not a foolproof test, but a test that’s a tool to measure yourself against — and to examine where self-deception may’ve ensnared you — is our discipleship process here at Gateway. Think of this as the mirror that James mentions — a mirror you agreed to when you became a member of Gateway. And I especially want to speak to those of us who are members of Gateway because — as a member — you’ve given your word that you’d be committed to growing in obedience as a follower of Jesus. And our discipleship process is our mirror. It’s how we spiritually grow together as a church. For we’re members of a local church — not solo Christians doing our own thing.

So let’s all take a look in this mirror and see if we’ve forgotten what we look like — what we committed to — when we became members of this church.

Worship is the first step in our discipleship process. And — by worship — we mean regular worship with your faith family. And — I’ll just say it — weekly is best. Where you have a weekly event on your calendar to gather with your faith family to worship God. Some questions that may reveal self-deception or encourage your obedience are…

• How regularly are you worshipping with your faith family?
• Is worship a priority for you and your family?
• What other activities easily keep you from gathering with us for worship?
• What would happen if the rest of us imitated your worship attendance? Would we be attending more or less than we already are?

Our nature — right now — is to have a lot of justification going on in our heads. “Here’s why I’m not here weekly and it’s all very justifiable, Josh, thank you very much.” I’m not asking you to defend yourself to me — I’m asking you to take a look in the mirror of what you committed to and have a talk with the person whose reflection is staring back at you.

The second step in our discipleship process is connect. And we connect with one another in Life Groups. Life Groups are where we apply the Bible to life and care for one another. Yes, there are many great opportunities to learn, study, and discuss the Bible outside of Life Group — but as members of this church — we make it a priority to do this with our faith family — just like we want to care for our fellow church members. Some questions that may reveal self-deception or encourage your obedience — as you look in the mirror — are…

• Am I in a Life Group? If not, why not?
• If you are, how often are you attending?
• Are you coming prepared?
• How are you caring for your fellow group members? Life Groups aren’t the only way care happens around here — but they are the primary place where care takes place in our church. So how are you caring for your faith family members — and how are you allowing your church to care for you through our Life Group ministry?

The next step in our discipleship process is serve. And — by serve — we mean serving those in our faith family. Some questions that may reveal self-deception or encourage your obedience are…

• Are you serving your fellow church members?
• If so, how often?
• If not, why not?
• Since I liked this question so much I’m going to reuse it: What would happen if the rest of us imitated your serving? Would we be serving each other more or less than we already are?

Finally — we go — go is the final step in our discipleship process. Where we go to proclaim the gospel — both here in our local community — as well as in our country and around the world. Some questions to reveal self-deception or encourage your obedience — as you look in the mirror — are…

• How are you going?
• If you’re physically unable to go — how are you supporting those who are going?
• If overseas missions isn’t your thing, how are you serving with our local partners here in Findlay or our national partners? If you don’t know who they are, go to our website — gatewayepc.org/ministry-partners for more information.

And — remember — “and” is the key word. It’s not worship or connect or serve or go. Not “or” but “and.” Just like it’s not going locally or going globally — it’s “and”. And I get it — you may be thinking, “Well this sure seems like a lot! It sure seems like a sacrifice. It sure seems like somebody else is in charge of my life because I’ve got all kinds of reasons to not do all of this.” And you’re absolutely right — Somebody else is in charge. For you are not your own — but have been bought at a high price. 

CONCLUSION: A LIFE OF TRUE FAITH

Now — worshiping, connecting, serving, and going are no guarantee that you’re not living a life of self-deception — but I’ve found it to be a principle that most people can only keep up appearances for so long before they give into whatever their heart really desires — which leads us to the life of true faith. We’re in verse twenty-five.

James 1:25 ESV

25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Here James says that when we look into the perfect law — a law of liberty — a law of freedom — which is James’ way of saying “the gospel” — James says when we believe the gospel we’ll persevere as someone who does the Word of God. What he’s saying is that those who look to the perfect law won’t forget the message. They’re no mere hearers of the Word — but are the people who live in response to the gospel — who do the Word. And these are the men, women, and children who will be blessed. For — what they do — in response to what they believe — pleases God. And they do the Word because the soil of their heart is producing a huge harvest of righteousness — an abundant harvest of obedience and of joy in Jesus and of hope — because they-re looking to — and not forgetting — the One who died so the seed of the gospel would be planted within them.

This is the life of true faith. It’s not a perfect life. It’s often a life of tripping and stumbling and full of reasons for much repentance. But it’s a life with a holy stubbornness to it. A stubbornness that refuses to forget — that refuses to turn from the mirror — it’s the life that keeps looking to Jesus. For he’s the mirror to which our eyes are to be fixed — and when we look to him — we will be doers of his Word. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you for not leaving us dead in our sins. Thank you for your plan to rescue and save your people — to set us free — to raise us up from the dead.

Spirit, may you — right now — take the gospel and implant it into the hearts of those who hear my voice. May you soften their hearts so that — like good soil — a harvest of righteousness will be the result. 

And — Jesus — the hope we have is because you did for us what we can’t do for ourselves. You were no mere hearer of the Word — but a doer. And you obeyed — never wavering or distrusting your Father — on our behalf. And you gave your life of perfect obedience on a cross — so that we might be given life. 

So as we look into the mirror — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — help us not to forget what you’ve done for us so that we live for you — as doers of your Word. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / Faith in Jesus = Resource Center)

May you go with your eyes fixed on Jesus — for then — what you do — will be in obedience to his Word. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 11-30-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

Today we begin our Christmas series. At each of our Gateway campuses — an Advent candle has been lit — we’ve heard a passage from the Christmas story and — as explained at the beginning of the worship services — this will be something that happens each week as we approach our Christmas Eve services.

And — in case you can’t tell — the theme that’s tying our Christmas series together is the theme of light. As old man Simeon declared…

Luke 2:30–32 NLT

30 I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

The light — which reveals who God is to the nations of the world — is a person. And he’s the glory of God’s people because he is their salvation.

INTRODUCTION

So with that as our introduction to this series — let’s turn to our passage for today. This may not be a passage that immediately comes to mind when you think of the Christmas story — but when we consider the theme of light — and the salvation that it represents to us in the Christmas story — I think we find a wonderful connection between this passage and the Christmas story.

We’ll be in the Old Testament prophet of Isaiah today. Specifically — chapter sixty — of the book of Isaiah. If you have your Bible — please turn with me there — to Isaiah chapter sixty. There we read…

Isaiah 60:1–22 ESV

1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord. 7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will beautify my beautiful house. 8 Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows? 9 For the coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful. 10 Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. 11 Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. 12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 14 The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. 16 You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. 21 Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. 22 The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it.

What we’ve just read reveals to us a sobering truth: We live in a world clothed in darkness. And — yet — there’s hope. For the light of the Lord has pierced the darkness of our world. 

This is what we’re going to look at together today. A world clothed in darkness and the light that’s broken through.

A WORLD CLOTHED IN DARKNESS

The prophet Isaiah describes our world of darkness in a few places. Beginning in verse two we read…

Isaiah 60:2 ESV

2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples;

Later — in verses ten and eleven — Isaiah describes the walls and gates of the city. Walls were a means to protect a city from enemy forces. Gates were shut at night to keep people out. Walls and gates were protection from threats — and threats are a way we recognize the darkness around us.

In verse fourteen — Isaiah mentions people who had caused affliction to God’s people — who despised them.

Then — in verse fifteen — he writes…

Isaiah 60:15 ESV

15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through…

Jerusalem — the city of God — is described as being forsaken and hated — the city’s been abandoned with no one passing through it.

And then — in verse eighteen — Isaiah mentions that violence, devastation, and destruction have been experienced by God’s people.

This is a description of a world clothed in darkness. Violence. Devastation. Destruction. Walls of protection needed to keep foreign enemies out. Gates kept shut for security purposes. Forsakenness. Hatred. Even economic despair as no one does business in the city any longer.

Can you imagine the hopelessness such a scenario would bring? I’m sure you can. For it’s the kind of world we live in today, isn’t it?

Though many may not acknowledge sin in their own life — very few are willing to ignore the results of sin in our world. Because — living in a world clothed by darkness — can’t be ignored. The results are too obvious. The results of living in a world clothed by darkness drives our politics today. It drives economics. It drives entertainment. It drives social media. It drives headlines. It drives our legal system. And so on.

Obviously — since there isn’t agreement on solutions to living in a world of darkness — whether politically, economically, and so on — we find ourselves fighting with each other — which also happened to God’s people in the Old Testament. Where — instead of hope, peace, joy, and love — we experience war, fighting, hatred, and despair. Because — unless we have light to see — we’re all bound to stumble around blind in the darkness of this world. And — in our blindness — we’re unable to see the beauty of our world because — without light — what’s beautiful goes unseen because it’s covered in darkness.

CS Lewis describes an example of this in the final book of his Narnia series — The Last Battle. In the final battle, there’s a stable with a door. And the door represents the entrance into eternity. For those who have faith in Aslan — the Christ-like lion figure — going through the stable door leads to eternity in the New Narnia — which represents the New Heaven and New Earth. But for any who do not have faith in Aslan — going through the stable door led to a place of darkness. Darkness even darker than the horrific battle they were just engaged in. Can you imagine a darkness that makes the horrors of war seem light in comparison?

Now — at this point — let me say that Lewis does something theologically questionable, but I still find it to be a helpful illustration. Hopefully, none of us are building our theology on fiction anyway, right? 

But — at this point in the book — the kids — who are in the New Narnia — are surrounded by light — revealing to them beauty never imagined before. Yet — they notice — huddled in a circle — are some dwarfs. And this is what Lewis writes.

They (the dwarfs) had a very odd look. They weren’t strolling about or enjoying themselves (although the cords with which they had been tied seemed to have vanished) nor were they lying down and having a rest. They were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another. They never looked round or took any notice of the humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost near enough to touch them. Then the Dwarfs all cocked their heads as if they couldn’t see any one but were listening hard and trying to guess by the sound what was happening.

“Look out!” said one of them in a surly voice. “Mind where you’re going. Don’t walk into our faces!”

“All right!” said Eustace indignantly. “We’re not blind. We’ve got eyes in our heads.”

“They must be darn good ones if you can see in here,” said the same Dwarf whose name was Diggle.

“In where?” asked Edmund.

“Why you bone-head, in here of course,” said Diggle. “In this pitch-black, poky, smelly little hole of a stable.”

“Are you blind?” said Tirian.

“Ain’t we all blind in the dark!” said Diggle.

“But it isn’t dark, you poor stupid Dwarfs,” said Lucy. “Can’t you see? Look up! Look round! Can’t you see the sky and the trees and the flowers? Can’t you see me?”

“How in the name of all Humbug can I see what ain’t there? And how can I see you any more than you can see me in this pitch darkness?”

“But I can see you,” said Lucy. “I’ll prove I can see you. You’ve got a pipe in your mouth.”

“Anyone that knows the smell of [tobacco] could tell that,” said Diggle.

What is Lewis describing? No matter what the kids try to do — the dwarfs can’t see. They’re surrounded by darkness — they’re blind. 

Then Aslan appears. And to prove to the kids how blind the dwarfs are — Aslan sets a feast before the dwarfs. Though they recognize it’s food — the dwarfs don’t have any idea that it’s a feast. They think they’re more or less eating slop kept in the stable for animals. To which Lewis writes…

But very soon every Dwarf began suspecting that every other Dwarf had found something nicer than he had, and they started grabbing and snatching, and went on to quarrelling, till in a few minutes there was a fight and all the good food was smeared on their faces and clothes or trodden under foot. But when at last they sat down to nurse their black eyes and their bleeding noses, they all said:

“Well, at any rate there’s no Humbug here. We haven’t let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”

The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs. Do you know the mantra of a world clothed in darkness? It’s summed up in “the Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.” A statement whose many variations are found in our world today: Look out for number one. Follow your heart. And put yourself first.

THE LIGHT OF THE LORD

Yet all is not hopeless. For — as Isaiah describes for us — the light of the Lord has penetrated our world clothed in darkness. As he writes in verse two…

Isaiah 60:2–3 ESV

2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

And about this Lord who is to come — Isaiah says…

Isaiah 60:12 ESV

12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste.

And even though…

Isaiah 60:15 ESV

15 you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age.

Leading to a great renewal in the land — where…

Isaiah 60:17 ESV

17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness.

For the light of the Lord has come. A light so piercing and brilliant that…

Isaiah 60:19–20 ESV

19 The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.

What hope for the people of God! What hope for people of all nations who turn to the Lord who is the everlasting and eternal light.

• For he will be a protector of his people — and all who oppose him will perish.
• And he will bring restoration to his people — their forsakenness will be turned to majestic joy.
• He will bring renewal and abundance — bronze will be gold. Iron will be silver. Wood becomes bronze. Stones become iron. Everything is amplified in value and abundance. 
• But even more remarkable — instead of violence, devastation, and destruction — peace and righteousness will rule the land.
• For the glory of the people — what they will find majestic and beautiful — will be their God. 
• And their mourning will be no more — for the Lord — who will come to them — will be their everlasting light of hope.

CONCLUSION

Simeon was looking forward to the day when the light of the Lord would pierce the darkness of the world. He had been promised that he would live to see the Messiah — the Lord’s Christ — the Savior of the world — the Light of the Lord. 

And remember his words. Here they are again.

Luke 2:30–32 NLT

30 I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

In Jesus’ birth — the light of the Lord pierced the darkness of the world. Yet there was work to do first before Isaiah’s prophecy could be fulfilled. Work that Jesus would accomplish so that eyes could be open to see in the midst of the blinding darkness.

For the light of the Lord was born to die. And — through his death — darkness has been defeated. And though many still wander aimless in the darkness — blinded by their sin — mistaking a wonderful feast as slop prepared for animals — the news of Jesus — the gospel — the message of what he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection because of his great love for people — including you — gives sight to people today. 

Leading more and more people to say — along with Simeon — and may this be true for many among us today — may you be able to say, “God, I have seen your salvation.” For this is who Jesus is — the Savior of the world. The light of the Lord who’s pierced the darkness of our world — including the darkness of your world. 

Do you see him? Do you see his light shining all around you? Turn to him and receive his steadfast protection, and majestic joy, and the life of renewal and abundance, and everlasting hope that he gives to all who believe in him. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you are the giver of every good gift — including the gift of sight. Open eyes to see the beauty of Jesus — the light of the Lord.

Holy Spirit, work in the hearts of those who hear my voice. They see the darkness of the world — give them eyes to see the light of Jesus Christ. His beauty. His radiance. His love. The hope that’s found in him.

And — Jesus — to you — the light of the Lord — the salvation of God’s people — the glory of God in flesh. Thank you for your love. Thank you for bringing peace. Thank you for giving us joy. And thank you for offering us hope. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

In Christ — the light of the Lord has come — and has pierced the darkness of our world. May this give you hope — and may Jesus be your hope. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 8-17-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend and — to everyone’s delight — we’re moving on from the topic of politics — three weeks on the subject was enough. But we are continuing in Paul’s letter — and we’re in the application section — where he’s showing us how what we believe is to change how we live. 

So — if you have your Bible with you — please turn with me to Romans chapter thirteen. We’ll be in Romans chapter thirteen — looking at verses eight through ten. There Paul writes…

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Today we’re going to focus on what it means to be people who love others. And we’ll do so by looking at — one — what Paul means when he says that we owe others our love — two — how our love fulfills the law — meaning the Ten Commandments — and — three — what it means to love others as ourselves. What does Paul mean when he says we owe others our love, how does our love fulfill the law, and what does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? That’s where we’re headed today.

Now — if you’re here and wouldn’t call yourself a Christian — know that for those who follow Jesus — God’s Word is our final authority on all things — or at least it’s supposed to be. We Christians are a work in progress — individually and corporately — so don’t hold our failures against God. But with God’s Word as our final authority on all things — his definition of love and what it means to be a loving person is what we aim for. Again — God’s Word gives us the ideal — of who we Christians can and should be — but because of our sin — just like you — we regularly fail at being who we long to be. That doesn’t invalidate God’s Word — in fact — many times our failures prove the truthfulness and trustworthiness of God’s Word because — often — it’s like, “Yup. The Bible did say that would happen if I did that.”

• That you’d experience anxiety by putting all of your hope in keeping up your appearance rather than being honest with others about what’s really going on in your life.
• Or that you’d face a seemingly insurmountable gap in your relationship by betraying your spouse for that one night stand on a work trip.
• Or that you’d know the feeling of loneliness by refusing to practice spiritual disciplines that God designed for his people’s good.

So — yes — God’s Word is our final authority. And — yes — we Christians still often try to find a way to fulfill what we long for while ignoring God’s Word. But we gather together each week to sit under God’s preached Word — so that — we’re all drawn back to God and his Word and live the “therefore lives” that Paul’s describing to us. Which — today — is on how we’re to love others.

WE HAVE A LOVE DEBT TO PAY

So let’s jump in by returning to the beginning of verse eight where Paul writes…

Romans 13:8 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other…

With as slow as we’re going through Romans — it’s hard to remember how what we’re currently reading relates to what we’ve previously seen in Romans. But not too long ago, Paul wrote…

Romans 12:9–13 ESV

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

We looked at this passage back on Mother’s Day — three months or so ago — which is long enough to miss the connection between it and our verses for today. My point is that our love for others isn’t a new topic for Paul. He brought it up back in chapter twelve — early in his description of what a life changed by Christ looks like. In fact, I’m not sure that Paul ever left the topic of love. In describing genuine love — in Romans twelve — Paul mentions “holding fast to what is good” and “honoring” others. He then tells us how to overcome evil with good and — as we’re all familiar with by now — he goes on to talk about how we’re to honor those who are in authority over us. Including the words…

Romans 13:7 ESV

7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Which then transitions nicely to our verse…

Romans 13:8 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other…

Paul’s made it clear — I think — that those who believe in Jesus are not to go delinquent on the debt we owe. Whether it be taxes to the government. Revenue for something we’ve purchased. Respect and honor to those in authority. But — now — he adds love. And Paul says that we’re to owe no one anything — except — to love each other. 

Some take Paul to be saying that Christians are not to have debt — no credit card, car, or mortgage debt. Yet this would be quite odd for Paul to say right after saying, “pay back what you owe people” — including financial debts. I’m not saying we’re free to pile on a bunch of debt — there’s biblical warrant for being careful about debt — but what I am saying is that this kind of debt isn’t on Paul’s mind in our verse — he’s focusing on a different kind of debt we owe: a debt to love others.

In fact — the point of this sermon’s title — “love does no wrong” — is to highlight the importance God has put on love in the life of his people. For God calls his people to be lovers of people — where everything we do is to be done as a loving person. And love does no wrong towards the one loved. As Paul writes elsewhere…

1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV

14 Let all that you do be done in love.

…including — paying back the debts we owe. Which means that we — who believe in Jesus — don’t just pay our taxes — even non-Christians can and should do that. But we’re to pay our taxes — not reluctantly, or angrily, or indignantly — but lovingly. And we pay for our purchases lovingly. And we show respect and honor — and are to do so — lovingly. And we know exactly what Paul means by love. For he defines it when he writes…

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Words used in wedding ceremonies — but unfortunately — have failed to be applied to the breadth that Paul originally intended. For Paul wasn’t even writing about marriage when he wrote these words. He was just talking about love. Love for husbands and wives? Sure! But also love that Christians are to have for other Christians. And love that Christians are to have for non-Christians. Even love that Christians are to have for their enemies.

Now — in our culture — love is often described as a subjective feeling. Then there are people who — if you say, “You never say ‘I love you’,” will respond with, “My actions demonstrate that I do.” Paul challenges both of these views of love. Love isn’t a subjective — undefinable — feeling — he’s defined love! — and neither is it purely action. As one pastor has said…

Love is not just an action toward a person; it’s a mindset, an attitude, a disposition that produces behaviors that are good for people. Isn’t it amazing that Paul’s description of love contains almost entirely inner dispositions not outward actions. To be sure all these dispositions produce certain outward behaviors, but that is not the essence of love: patience, not envying, not arrogant, not irritable, not resentful, not rejoicing at wrong, rejoicing in the truth, bearing, believing, hoping, enduring. These are all acts of the soul first, not acts of the body.

Which means — you can be doing all of the “loving things” while still not loving people — or God — for that matter.

So — here’s where we are. Everything we do is to be done in love. And love is specifically defined for us in God’s Word. Yet we still haven’t seen how loving others is a debt we owe them. Remember Paul tells us to…

Romans 13:8 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other…

Admittedly confusing language — because — owing something usually means that they’ve given us something. Whether we agree with all that it goes to or not — we owe taxes because we receive benefits from the government. We owe someone revenue because we’ve received something from them. And so on. But there are many people who’ve never given you or me anything — and yet — Paul says we owe them our love. So what does he mean — how did we get in their debt? 

Let’s make this personal — how did you get into my debt — where you owe me your love — just as I owe you my love — just as we all owe each other our love — just as we owe everyone in Findlay and Bucyrus — and ultimately the world — our love? That’s a really big debt to owe, right? So how’d we get into such debt?

Again Paul says, “Owe no one — that’s all inclusive — anything, except to love each other” — and the “each other” refers back to “no one.” So — for the Christian — this command includes loving Christians and non-Christians — because loving everyone is a debt we owe. So how’d we get into this debt?

We believed in Jesus.

Look at what Paul wrote earlier in Romans.

Romans 1:14 ESV

14 I am under obligation (“I owe a debt”) both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

And what is the debt Paul owes them? He goes on to tell us.

Romans 1:15 ESV

15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The debt he owes — to Jews, Greeks, barbarians, slaves, and freemen — is sharing the gospel with them. And why is Paul under this debt? He tells us in his opening words of the letter.

Romans 1:1–7 ESV

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God had called Paul — called him from spiritual death to spiritual life — called him from being an opponent of Christianity to an apostle. He says that God set him apart for the gospel — set apart is one of the most common phrases used to describe God’s people — holy ones, saints, set apart ones — something true not just of Paul but of all who believe in Jesus. Additionally, Paul says that God had given him grace and faith — and gave these gifts to Paul for the sake of God’s name being proclaimed among all the nations — including those in Rome who are loved by God. And — all of this — put Paul in debt.

And since — if you believe in Jesus — God has called you from spiritual death to spiritual life. And God has set you apart for the sake of his gospel being proclaimed throughout all of his creation. And God has saved you through faith in Jesus Christ and all that he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection on your behalf. You also are in debt.

Yet this is not a debt you can pay back to God. So the debt you owe isn’t to God — you can’t pay that debt back. Yet — the debt we owe to others isn’t because of something we’ve received from them either. The debt we owe — to love others — all people — Christians, non-Christians, even our enemies — with a love that is patient and kind, isn’t arrogant or rude, and so on — the debt of love you owe to others is because you’ve been loved by Christ when you did not deserve his love. And — in response to his love for you — not to pay him back — but because you want to honor him and make him and his love for you look glorious to the world — you love all people.

• What about those who don’t deserve your love? Remember — you didn’t deserve Christ’s love.
• What about those who won’t receive your love? How long did Christ love you without you receiving his love?
• But, Josh, this sounds awfully self-sacrificial and costly.

1 John 3:16 ESV

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought (are debtors) to lay down our lives for the brothers.

1 John 4:11 ESV

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought (are debtors) to love one another.

Two questions before we move on. First, do you know that God loves you in this way — unconditionally so? God doesn’t love you because he weighed his options and thought, “Well, I’ll get a little more something out of this one than that one, so I’ll love her and not him.” He didn’t think, “Look at how pathetic she is, I’ll only give her a little bit of my love, but not all of it.” Nothing like that.

When God chose to love you he knew everything about you. Including that…

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

1 you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, [and how you followed the] the course of this world, [and followed] the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, [and how you carried] out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

And — yet — he said, “This one’s mine anyway. I love him. I love her. She’s my daughter. He’s my son. They’re my forever children.” Pastor Tim Keller described all of this with these words: “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”

And — in being loved this way — we find ourselves obligated to love God in return — so much so that our love for him overflows into our love for all people. And this kind of love is a love that fulfills the law.

A LOVE THAT FULFILLS THE LAW

As Paul writes…

Romans 13:8 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

And…

Romans 13:10 ESV

10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

The “law” — here — refers to the Ten Commandments. We know this because Paul quotes some of the Ten Commandments in verse nine. This is important for us to understand — because this highlights the difference between true Christianity and what many think is Christianity. Many think that Christianity is — if you do these things — or don’t do these things — then God will love you. Where — what you do — earns God’s love. And that’s not Christianity. 

Christianity — true Christianity — is what Tim Keller said. Yes — you are more flawed and sinful than most of us would ever dare admit about ourselves. And — at the same time — you’re more loved and accepted by Jesus than most of us are able to dare believe is true. But — in being loved — not because of what we have or haven’t done — but simply because God has chosen to love you — now — what you do isn’t done to earn God’s love, but is done because you are loved. Meaning the motivation behind what we do — having believed in Jesus — isn’t the law — “if you do this you’ll be rewarded or if you do that you’ll be punished” — but is love. For the God who created everyone and everything has said, “You are my forever loved son or daughter.” Love — not law — is the motivation for what the Christian does. And — plot twist — that includes — obeying God’s law!

So it’s not that the law — or the Ten Commandments — is unimportant or out of date. What Paul is stressing is that the motivation for the Christian — when it comes to…

• Worshiping no other gods.
• Including the idols of our day.
• And not taking God’s name in vain.
• And resting as we remember the Sabbath.
• And honoring our fathers and mothers — which — as we saw the past few weeks — applies to all who are in authority.
• And our motivation for not murdering.
• And not committing adultery.
• And not stealing.
• And not lying.
• And not coveting…

…is love. God’s love for us and our love for him in return. And our love for God can’t help but spill over into our love for other people. I mean — right — more than half of the Ten Commandments are about our relationships with others. And our obedience to these commandments — like all of the commands — is love.

Which may make you wonder, “Then what’s the point of the law?” Traditionally there are three reasons for God’s law — but we’re only focused on one: God’s law shows us how to love God and love others. That’s why — when Jesus was asked…

Matthew 22:36–40 ESV

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

LOVING OTHERS AS WE LOVE OURSELVES

I’m sure you noticed — if you hadn’t already — that Paul quotes Jesus when he writes…

Romans 13:9 ESV

9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” is a quote from the Old Testament book of Leviticus. What an interesting command — the wording, I mean: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Some have tried to take Jesus’ two commands and make them into three. 1) Love God. 2) Love others. 3) And love yourself. But that’s not what he says — that’s not what Paul says either. 

It’s 1) love God and 2) love others…as you already love yourself — or in the same way that you already love yourself. You see — Jesus and Paul — and the rest of the Bible for that matter — assume we already love ourselves. Now — because this is what we do — we go to a few exceptions. Like, “What about the suicidal person? Do they really love themself?” There’s not enough time to explore such a personal subject like suicide. All I’ll say is that — exceptions like this — prove a principle — they don’t disprove it. And what we see all around us is that the vast majority of people are experts at loving themselves. Thus God found no need for “love yourself” to be a command. 

So what are Jesus and Paul saying? Essentially they’re saying, “With all of the passion, zeal, energy, and focus that you put in loving yourself — make that your measure of what it means to love others.” Sometimes we Christians are way too quick to call the idolatry card on others simply because they’re finding enjoyment in God’s creation. And — to be clear — being loving towards yourself and enjoying God’s creation aren’t necessarily sinful — though they can become sinful.

For example…

• For those who love to golf — who find great joy and delight in getting out on the course. Take the same passion you have for golfing — the zeal, the time you put into it, and so on…Paul says, and “Put in the same effort toward loving God and loving others.” Then you’ll know that golf is simply a gift from God that you enjoy and not an idol of your heart.
• Or maybe you find joy in sewing, or crafts, or painting — what Jesus and Paul are saying to you is to put the same passion you have for your sewing, crafting, painting, or whatever — the same zeal, the same time and effort you put into it, and so on…and put the same effort in your loving God and loving others. Then you’ll know that your hobby is simply a gift from God that you enjoy and not an idol of your heart.
• Whether it be running, or listening to music, or playing video games, or going on vacations to Disney World, or whatever you find joy in — put the same energy and focus into your love for God and others — so that you love others as you love yourself.

Now — some of you are playing mind referee right now. Instead of thinking about yourself — you’re thinking of someone else. If this is you — the first thing you should do is repent. And — second — know that the very real spiritual enemy we face loves nothing more than for you to hear truth from God and ignore how it applies to your life by thinking of how it applies to someone else. 

Does it apply to others? Absolutely! But the point of hearing God’s Word preached is for God to speak to you about your life first. 

• All of us have good gifts from God that are vying for the affections of our heart. 
• All of us have an enemy who wants us to hear God’s Word and — instead of being changed — to become religiously smug and proud. The irony being that — in doing this — we end up being unloving towards ourselves.
• So I’ll be honest for all of us: We all have room to grow in our love for God and others. None of us have matched our love for others with our love for ourselves. 

So…

• How might God want you to love others? 
• To love your family? 
• To love your spouse — if you’re married? 
• To love your co-workers? 
• To love those who are part of your church family? 
• To love the kids in Kidway? 
• The youth? 
• To love your neighbors?

CONCLUSION: LOVING OTHERS AS JESUS FIRST LOVED US

Yet we can’t talk about loving God and loving others — without remembering two other things Jesus said on this subject. 

Luke 10:25–37 NLT

25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” 27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” 29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. 31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ 36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

Jesus’s point is obvious: it’s possible to be very religious — and — very unloving. You can even be an expert in God’s Word — and — be an expert in being unloving. At the same time — someone can not fit the mold of those same religious so-called experts — and yet be someone who fulfills the law by their love.

Second, Jesus said this about love.

John 13:34 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Followers of Jesus are not only to love our neighbor in the way we love ourselves — we’re to love others in the way we’ve been loved by Christ. For Jesus is the true and better Good Samaritan who didn’t leave us to eternally perish on the side of the road because of our sin, but entered into our world to soothe and bandage the wounds caused by our sin. And he took our place — not just half dead beside the road — but on a cross where he died for our sins. And it’s this love — Jesus’ love for you as displayed in his life and death — that he now commands you — and me — and all who believe in him — to love others with. For this is the only love that does no wrong — not to God or others. For it’s a love in response to — and empowered by — the perfect love that Jesus Christ has for you. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Loving Father, today your Word has told us of your great, powerful, and saving love for your people. And — in being loved by you — we’re indebted to love others. Forgive us — we ask — for the many times we’ve not loved you or our neighbors. And forgive us for forgetting and doubting your love for us. For when we really trust in your love — grasp your love — dwell on your love — we will be changed into people who love.

Spirit, you’re the One who causes this change in us. Change us, we ask. Give us new hearts. Open our eyes and ears. For those who already believe — stir in us an increasing passion and trust in your love so we live a life of loving others.

And — Jesus — you are the perfect display of what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. We’re so grateful for your love. May we keep our eyes fixed on you so that we show the world your love for them through our love for them.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — to any who’ve yet to trust in your love — may you draw them to you — giving them new life — as you give them faith to believe and trust in your love for them. And we pray all of this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / I believe, now what? at Resource Center)

May you go knowing that Jesus gave his life in love for you — and in response — may you love God and love others. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 7-13-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re returning to our series in Romans this weekend. After taking a few weeks to explore the topic of suffering — we’re returning to the apostle Paul’s letter to Christians living in the city of Rome. And — if you remember — the chapter that we’re currently in — chapter twelve — is the pivotal point in Paul’s letter. 

After eleven chapters of rich theological truths — he gets to the so what? Meaning — how does all of the theology — of the first eleven chapters — play itself out in how we live — or at least — how should it influence how we live? That’s the journey we began earlier this year with Paul’s big “therefore” statement — when he writes…

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

In light of the theology he’s taught us — Paul now tells us to live our lives as sacrificial offerings to God — where our lives are acts of worship that make our God look glorious to the world.

And since the beginning of Romans twelve — and for the majority of our remaining time in Romans — we’re getting very specific with ways that our lives can make God look glorious. We’re getting into the nitty gritty of life so we see how — what we believe — shapes how we live. And how — as Christians — what we believe — is to change how we live compared to how we lived when we didn’t believe in Jesus. So incredibly practical stuff — how the Christian faith changes us.

With that — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter twelve. We’ll be in Romans chapter twelve — looking at verses fourteen through twenty-one. There Paul writes…

Romans 12:14–21 ESV

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The summary verse — of all we just read and will encounter today — is verse twenty-one. If you want to know the point of this sermon — where we’re headed today — it’s in Paul’s words:

Romans 12:21 ESV

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Everything else is an explanation of this summary verse. So our goal for today — is to understand what it means to not be overcome by evil — but instead — to overcome evil with good. For this is a change Paul says we should expect in those who believe in Jesus.

But a few important ground rules before we begin.

If you’re here today and wouldn’t consider yourself to be a Christian — I know this may be hard — but I need you to set aside whatever definitions you have for evil and good. We’re reading Paul’s letter and so Paul gets to define for us what he means by evil and good. All I’m asking you to do is to give Paul the same consideration you’d want us to give to you if you were the author of the letter — you’d want us to use your definitions of evil and good.

A quick example: If you’re a business owner and you make a contract with a company to supply you with a certain number of items for a specific price — definitions matter. You want the exact number of items for the exact cost you agreed to. If the shipment contains less items than you paid for — or if the bill comes back at a much higher price than you agreed to — I don’t think anyone would simply accept the excuse, “Well, I was using different definitions than you when we made the contract.”

When Paul uses the words evil and good — he’s using biblical definitions. He was highly trained in the Jewish religion and — after an encounter with the resurrected Jesus — became a follower of Christ. So — for Paul — evil is anything that is “morally disgraceful, sinful, or wicked.” And evil — biblically speaking — usually falls into two categories: evil against fellow humans (murder, theft, adultery, and so on…) and evil against God (unbelief, idolatry, blasphemy, and so on…). Though you may have your own opinion on what is evil — Paul would be thinking biblically.

Good is biblically defined by God’s nature — meaning his character — and his actions. And this means that for us — humanity — to do good — whatever it is we do must be done with God’s nature and actions in mind. Which means that the good we do is only truly good if it’s done to make God look glorious.

Again — a quick example may be helpful. Helping an older gentleman reach something off of the top shelf at Walmart is a good deed. But — biblically speaking — if the act isn’t done with the intent of making God look glorious — then it missed the mark. “How dare God demand that our good deeds be done with making him look glorious in mind!” Think of it this way — though admittedly this is an imperfect illustration.

If while helping the old man get something off the top shelf — you simultaneously steal his wallet — did you do a good deed? Yes and no, right? You did help him get something off the top shelf — good — but you stole his wallet — evil. When we do good things without the purpose of God being glorified — we’re doing the equivalent of robbing from God what he deserves.

“Well that’s a high standard Josh. Am I really supposed to have God on my mind that much?” That’s what Paul’s “therefore” statement is all about. If you believe what the Bible says — your goal in life will be to grow in glorifying God in all that you think, say, and do — because — your life is not your own — but belongs to God. For Jesus gave his life in love for you — and now in response — in love — you give your life — all of it — for him.

That’s the goal of the Christian — to give more and more of our life — in love — to Jesus. And — today — we’re learning how to give more of our life to him by not being overcome by evil — but by overcoming evil with good.

BLESS OTHERS

To this we now turn — how do we avoid being overcome by evil and — instead — overcome evil with good? Part of Paul’s answer is that we do so by blessing others. We’re in verse fourteen.

Romans 12:14–16a ESV

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

We have a repeated command — and its counterpart — and then a description of what obeying this command looks like. The repeated command is to “bless.” Paul tells us to “bless those who persecute you; bless…” and then comes the counterpart — “do not curse them.” The rest of the verses just read explain what it means to bless and not curse.

Now right away — if you’re familiar with the Bible — you may be thinking, “This sounds awfully familiar — ‘this whole bless those who persecute you’ stuff.” And you’d be right. In fact — it seems that Paul has words that Jesus spoke on his mind. For Jesus said…

Luke 6:27–36 ESV 

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

In a day and age when it was acceptable to love those who were part of your tribe and hate those who weren’t — Jesus says something radically countercultural. Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you.

In saying this — was he just being idealistic? Sentimental maybe? Or was Jesus showing us what it means to live a “therefore” kind of life — a life that exhibits a change between who we were — before we believed — and who we are — having believed?

Think of some of Jesus’ final words while he hung on the cross. He said…

Luke 23:34 ESV

34 “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Even as he was dying — Jesus blessed those who were murdering him.

What do you make of Jesus’ words — or Paul’s rendition of them? Are these options that we can pick and choose from? Or are these expectations that God has for those who are his people? I think the answer is obvious — though it’s not easy, right? Jesus isn’t giving us options to choose from — he’s giving us the characteristics of a life that’s been changed by him.

A life like Stephen’s who…

Acts 7:59–60 NLT

59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

Stephen shows us that it’s possible to live a “therefore” life. A life where — because of what we believe — we bless those who persecute us — even as they kill us — we bless and do not curse them.

Blessing others doesn’t mean we have to put ourselves in potential danger — for example — if someone abuses you — it’s good to remove yourself from them and the situation. But that doesn’t mean you can’t bless them. And pray for them — as Jesus said. Their sin doesn’t justify you disobeying what God has said in his Word: do not curse them. 

Now I know — because it’s the cultural air that we can’t help but breathe in — I know we’re told to get revenge, to take back what’s ours, and so on. That’s the way of the world but not the way of Jesus. You can either follow the world or Jesus — but you can’t follow both — for they’re headed in two very different directions.

Back to Paul. In fleshing out what it means to be a blessing to others — Paul tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Rejoicing with those who rejoice can be incredibly hard, can’t it? Why is this? If we’re honest it’s because we can easily be jealous of others’ success and achievements and reasons for rejoicing.

• It’s hard to rejoice with the individual who got the promotion you also applied for.
• It’s hard to rejoice with the couple who announce their pregnancy when you struggle with infertility.
• It’s hard to rejoice with the parents of a child who’s doing great when you parent a child who has significant struggles.
• It’s hard to rejoice when your college roommate gets engaged when you’re still waiting to go on a date.

Rejoicing when others rejoice can be incredibly challenging — impossible even — when we try to live with any other goal than God being glorified in our life. For when that’s our goal — God gives us everything we need to overcome evil with good.

And we’re to weep with those who weep. Generally speaking — we Christians are much better at this than we are at rejoicing with others. I think this is partly due to our society still viewing it to be pretty nasty to not be sympathetic with those who are in the midst of sorrow. 

We recently had to put down our family cat. He lived a long good life — but his body started to shut down and it was time. One of our Gateway families is a vet in town and they were so kind to us throughout the process. The whole staff were very gracious. About a week later — we received a sympathy card in the mail that the staff had signed.

Weeping with those who weep is still valued in our culture.

• This would include weeping with your friend who didn’t get a promotion.
• And weeping with those unable to get pregnant — even if you’ve just announced your pregnancy.
• Weeping with the parents whose child is struggling.
• Weeping with your friend who’s still longing for a godly relationship.

Though we must be careful to neither rejoice or weep when the cause of either is dishonoring to God — it’s good and godly to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping when what we’re rejoicing or weeping is biblically justified. And all of this is where our value of being a family is best experienced — a value most clearly expressed when we gather in Life Groups.

Though I know it’s summer — and many Life Groups are taking a break — may I encourage you to check in with each other? Reasons to rejoice and weep don’t take the summer off — and there may be folks you can come alongside — even during the summer — and bless them as you rejoice or weep with them.

Paul also tells us that — to bless others — means we live in harmony with one another. This is one of Paul’s favorite ways to describe the “therefore” life — a life of living in harmony with your fellow Christians. For example, later in Romans he writes…

Romans 15:5–6 ESV

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

To the Corinthians he writes…

2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV

11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

And to the Christians in Philippi he writes…

Philippians 2:1–2 NLT

1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

And to two Christian women who found themselves in a disagreement Paul writes…

Philippians 4:2–3 NLT

2 Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3 And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

Notice why Paul appeals to us living in harmony with one another.

• To the Romans — so that with one voice — together — we glorify our God and Father.
• To the Corinthians — agree with one another — because — the God of love and peace will be with us.
• To the Philippians — work together with one mind and purpose — because — you belong to Christ.
• To the two women — settle your disagreement — because — you both belong to the Lord.

The purpose of living in harmony with one another isn’t self-serving — it’s not about what we’ll get out of it — it’s about who we belong to and who we honor by living in harmony with each other.

Finally — to be a blessing to others — Paul tells us to not be haughty — but to associate with the lowly. To be haughty is to be proud — and God opposes the proud.

As Jesus’s younger brother — James — reminds us.

James 4:6 ESV

6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

And as Peter tells us…

1 Peter 5:5 ESV

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

For as David writes…

Psalm 18:27 ESV

27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.

And…

Psalm 31:23 ESV

23 Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.

And — though these warnings against pride should be sufficient in themselves — there’s the positive example of Jesus that Paul puts before us.

Philippians 2:3–11 NLT

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ — the only Savior — humbled himself for our sake. He didn’t look out for his own interests — but ours. He gave up his divine privileges and took the position of a criminal on a cross. He did so in love. And in keeping with Paul’s theme — “therefore” — we who benefit from Christ’s humility are to be men and women of humility — who are not proud or haughty — who associate with the lowly. The outcasts of society. The lonely and forgotten. The discarded.

The people of God are at their God-glorifying best when they humble themselves and serve those the world has forgotten. This is how we conquer evil by doing good.

YOUR VIEW OF YOURSELF

But this isn’t the only way that we do so. For — not only are we to bless others — we’re to have a biblical view of ourselves. We’ve touched on this briefly — but now Paul turns our attention directly to the idea — when he writes in verse sixteen…

Romans 12:16–20 ESV

16b Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Here there’s just one command — but this single command comes with a lengthy description of what it means to obey it. The command is “never be wise in your own sight.” Other Bible translations say, “Don’t be conceited.” (NET/NIV) Or, “Don’t think you know it all.” (NLT)

Who wants to raise their hand when I ask, “Who thinks they’re a know it all?” Though many of us may want to raise our hand for someone else — few of us really desire to be the “know it all” in our circle of friends, family, co-workers, and — hopefully — the church.

Something I find interesting about the age in which we live is how we can’t get enough of “know it all” types. There’s a whole group of people who are popular solely because they’re conceited. This is the person who records street interviews where their sole goal is to make the other person look like an idiot. We can’t get enough of this junk — as long as the people they go after aren’t our kind of people, right?

Yet — when this kind of individual shows up in your life — well — we all know how we feel about a “know it all”. 

• They’re the family member everyone does their best to avoid at the holiday gathering. 
• The guy no one talks to at the high school reunion. 
• The gal who everyone dreads showing up to the book club.

And though some of us enjoy having a conversation with a “know it all” — for me — my enjoyment doesn’t come from a very God-honoring part of my heart. I once had to kick a “know it all” out of my house — the only person I’ve ever had to kick out of my house. But it was intolerable. I mean — I enjoyed it for a while because his assertions were so ridiculous. But when he started saying that we — Gateway — have a basement here at our County Road 9 Campus where we sacrifice chickens — and I couldn’t convince him that we don’t even have a basement — much less sacrifice chickens — and my kids were present — well — my enjoyment was over — so I kicked him out when he wouldn’t apologize. I remember laying in bed and just waiting for my wife to let me have it for not being patient enough with him. So I brought it up — and she totally surprised me. She said something like, “I can’t believe you lasted as long as you did.”

Don’t be a “know it all” — no one will like you. You wouldn’t even like yourself if you weren’t so blind to who you are.

Having a godly view of ourselves also influences how we treat others. We saw this earlier — but Paul repeats the idea. Don’t repay evil with evil — do what’s honorable instead. We live in a “pay back evil with not only evil — but amp it up a notch” culture, don’t we? We even see justification for striking with evil first — “get them before they get you.” Whether it be celebrity feuds or the way politicians speak about each other — we live in a culture that lacks being honorable — and far too many of us are taking cues from culture instead of God’s Word. For God’s Word tells us…

Ephesians 4:29 NLT

29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

I wonder how many of us are surprised to find out that God forbids us using foul language? It’s a biblical idea, not just a “wash your mouth out with soap” conservative cultural one. 

Peter tells us to…

1 Peter 2:12 NLT

12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

Additionally, we’re to live peaceably as Paul says. For those who follow the Prince of Peace are to be peacemakers in this world at war. To do so we must be aware of ourselves — our tendencies — ways in which we promote war and division and dishonor instead of the peace that God has called us to. And Paul tells us to live peaceably with all people. And “all” means “all” here. 

What a high expectation in our “therefore” lives, right? This doesn’t mean we won’t experience conflict or disagreement, but what it does mean is that we each have the responsibility to not leave things there. We’re to pursue peace — meaning — if you find yourself in a conflict — even if you think it’s the other person’s fault — you’re responsible for pursuing peace with them.

“But, Josh. Don’t you know how stubborn people can be? How they can be so convinced that they’re right and I’m wrong that there’s no peace to be had.” I didn’t say you had to convince them that they’re wrong and you’re right — you may be right, they may be wrong — they may be right, you may be wrong — even both of you may be wrong. What I said is that you must pursue peace with them.

• This may mean forgiving them for sinning against you even if they don’t ask for forgiveness — and — not holding on to any bitterness against them. This is pursuing spiritual peace with them even when relational peace is unattainable. This is what I had to do with the guy I kicked out of my house. 
• This may mean making an uncomfortable phone call and setting up a time to meet. I know how easy it is to wait for them to initiate — but as a follower of Jesus — you follow the Peacemaker who entered into our warring world of conflict — he didn’t wait for us to come to him — he took the initiative — and he commands his followers do likewise.
• This may mean making yourself a resolution — like my life resolution number eleven: To stop postponing difficult conversations. Do you know why I have life resolutions — “Yeah, because you’re weird, Josh.” That’s probably the case — but in addition to that — I have them because I’ve recognized areas in my life where I need to grow — where — by having a biblical view of myself and who God calls me to be — I see a gap that I want to narrow. One of those gaps is my natural ability to postpone difficult conversations. If there was an award given out for being the best at postponing difficult conversations — I would’ve been the winner many times over. But not anymore. In fact — if you talk to the elders and staff that I work most closely with — they’d probably tell you of other areas I need to work on instead of this — because — having this life resolution has worked. Having a proper view of myself led me to be dissatisfied with a gap between who I was and who God had called me to be.
• I wonder where there’s a gap in your life when it comes to being a peacemaker? I wonder how content you are with that gap? I also wonder how satisfied God is with this gap in your life?

In having a proper view of ourselves — in our effort to overcome evil with good — Paul tells us to never avenge ourselves. Never. Like ever. You and avenging yourself are like Taylor Swift and an ex-boyfriend. You’re never ever getting back together. That was for my daughter. 

For God’s people are to trust him when he says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” Instead of getting revenge — what we’ve been commanded to do is to love our enemies. If they’re hungry — feed them. If they’re thirsty — give them a drink.” For as we heard Jesus say earlier…

Matthew 5:43–44 NLT

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

CONCLUSION

You see — in the end — the way we overcome evil with good — is by being people who love God and love others — who obey what Jesus called the greatest commandments. Neither creating our own god to love — a god who always agrees with us, never challenges us, never asks us to change — nor choosing who we’ll love. Instead — we follow Jesus and obey his commands. And — when we do — evil will be conquered in our lives and in our world — and good will prevail — as we live a “therefore” life. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for your word to us today. Reminding us that evil can be conquered — that it doesn’t have to prevail — that it doesn’t have to rule our lives — but instead — good can overcome it. Good as you define good to be — not us — for you are God and we’re not — and we must submit — not only our lives — but also our definitions of good and evil to you.

Holy Spirit, we need your help and power to live this “therefore” life we’ve been called to live. To be a blessing to others — to have a proper view of ourselves. To love. To be peacemakers. To not seek revenge. All of these things — and more — can only be done by your powerful presence in our lives. May we live by your power and not our own.

And to you — Jesus — the Prince of Peace. The One who first loved us. The One who lived honorably. The One who conquered evil with good…thank you. Thank you for all that you’ve done — in love — for us. May many respond to your love today — resting in your love — receiving your love — and allowing your love to change them so they now live a “therefore” life. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Μay you gο conquering evil with good — by being a blessing to others as you follow Jesus and all he’s commanded. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 6-29-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And — if this happens to be your first time worshiping with us — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series where we’re looking at some of King David’s psalms that address the topic of suffering. We’ve seen that there are many aspects to suffering — many reasons for our suffering — that David touches on in his psalms. And regardless if you’re currently in a season of suffering — I think we all understand that suffering has a way of showing up in our lives — often unexpectedly — which makes it wise for us to prepare for. 

We’ve also seen that — for the follower of Jesus — suffering is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to spiritually grow for those of us who follow a Savior who experienced suffering. Not an easy opportunity to grow — it’s often a painful opportunity — for suffering comes when life is most challenging. But — in another sense — suffering is one of the easiest times to grow — because — when life’s most challenging we’re forced to change.

And today we’re going to continue to see how our Christian faith offers a different opportunity in these hard moments of life: an opportunity to become more like our Savior — Jesus — who — in love for us — experienced suffering, trials, persecution, hardships, rejection, hatred — and he experienced all of this so we might have hope in the midst of the sorrows we face.

And I say this knowing not all of us believe in Jesus. But all of us have experienced suffering — or know others who have. And — if you’re honest — it’s frightening. Because our culture offers no good reason as to why we suffer or how to suffer well. Which is where the Christian faith comes in with unexpected hope for all of us travelers in a suffering-filled world.

This hope is what we’ve been discovering as we look at a few of David’s psalms — including today’s psalm — psalm eighty-six. So — if you have your Bible — please turn there — to psalm eighty-six. 

• While you’re finding psalm eighty-six — especially if you’re just joining us — we began this series by looking at psalm six and the relationship between suffering and our prayer life. 
• Then we looked at psalm thirty-two and the suffering we experience due to unrepentant sin in our lives. 
• Last week we looked at psalm fifty-six and the suffering we experience at the hands of others. 
• And — next week — our final week in this series — we’ll look at the important relationship between suffering and salvation. 
• But — today — we’re looking at the relationship between our suffering and our worship. 

David addresses this in our psalm for today — psalm eighty-six — when he writes…

Psalm 86 ESV

1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. 3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. 6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. 7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me. 8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. 9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. 10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. 12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. 14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them. 15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. 17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Here’s where we’re headed. We’re going to begin by briefly looking at David’s suffering. Then we’ll see how — even in our suffering — worship always begins with God. And — finally — we’ll see how — when our worship begins with God — our prayers will be bold and worshipful. 

David’s suffering. Worship always begins with God. Which leads to bold worshipful prayers.

DAVID’S SUFFERING

We’ll begin by looking at David’s suffering — we’ll begin in verse three. There David writes…

Psalm 86:3 ESV

3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day.

Skipping to verse seven we read…

Psalm 86:7 ESV

7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

Jumping down to verse fourteen we read…

Psalm 86:14 ESV

14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.

And a few verses later — in verse seventeen — David writes…

Psalm 86:17 ESV

17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Like some of the other psalms we’ve looked at — David doesn’t give us enough information to know the specific situation he’s writing about. Verse fourteen gives us the most detail — a group of individuals are seeking his life — but that’s not enough for us to nail down exactly what moment David’s describing for us — for he experienced many “people seeking his life” moments.

Regardless — whatever he’s going through has caused him to cry out to God — which he says he’s doing quite often. He calls this time in his life as the “day of his trouble” because — as I said earlier — there are people out to get him because they hate him. 

Now given that this is our fourth week in this series — and having looked at David’s history with suffering — I don’t think we need to spend any more time on the specific reasons for his suffering in this psalm. I just want to make the point — again — that if you’re suffering — if you can relate to any of what David’s describing in our psalm — if your days are full of trouble — if there are people against you — if you’re in a situation where you are endlessly crying out to God — Christian or not — if you know what it’s like to ask why me — or have ever vented to friends or on social media about the injustice you’ve experienced — if you know the life companion whose name is sorrow — then there’s something for you to learn from David today.

And — even if you’re not in sorrow right now — David’s going to give you some advice that — if taken — it’ll be a source of strength when a season of suffering comes upon you.

WORSHIP BEGINS WITH GOD (EVEN IN SUFFERING)

Now — even without knowing all the specifics of David’s suffering — we’re going to see the connection between suffering and worship. And what David’s going to show us is that worship begins with God. Even in our suffering — our worship begins with God — because worship always begins with God. 

In verse five David writes…

Psalm 86:5 ESV

5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Skipping to verse eight we read…

Psalm 86:8–10 ESV

8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. 9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. 10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.

Remember — these are the words of a man who’s in the midst of much suffering. Later — in verse thirteen — David says…

Psalm 86:13 ESV

13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

And in verse fifteen he writes…

Psalm 86:15 ESV

15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

First things first about worship. If you’re here today and you wouldn’t consider yourself a Christian — or even a religious person — you may think, “This worship stuff is only for religious people — what does this have to do with me?” Worship and suffering are much more practical to you than you might think — because — regardless if you’re a Christian or not — and regardless if you view yourself as a religious person or not — all of us are worshippers. We can’t help it. It’s like it’s part of our DNA or something.

By worship — I simply mean how we’re all prone to center our lives around something or someone. Your career or family, being seen as successful or being free to live however you want, having a romantic partner or being viewed as smart and capable, people even center their lives around not suffering — you name it — people worship it. And — to worship — means we pursue whatever it is — we make sacrifices for it — it gets our time, energy, and money. We give our lives to it — because it — whatever it is — gives us meaning and purpose — it gives us our identity. 

These its we worship have been called idols of the heart. Idols — as you probably know — used to come in the form of wood or metal statues — and you’ll still find those in many parts of the world today. But for us in the West — idols take on other forms — career, family, success, money, youth, beauty, and so on. As one pastor has said, “Nobody is truly an unbeliever. Either you trust the real God or you’re enslaved to something you treat as a god.” And this may surprise you — but non-Christians agree. 

Twenty years ago — while delivering the commencement speech at Kenyon College — David Foster Wallace — who wasn’t a Christian — said, “A huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded. Here’s one example of the utter wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of: Everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe, the realest, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely talk about this sort of natural, basic self-centeredness, because it’s so socially repulsive, but it’s pretty much the same for all of us, deep down.” That’s his way of saying, “Here’s something else we worship — ourselves.”

He goes on to say, “There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. [Remember — he’s not a Christian. He goes on to say…] And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it J.C. or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths…is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you…Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out…Look, the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful; it is that they are unconscious. They are default-settings. They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing.”

So be open to the idea that you are a worshiper — even if you’re not sure exactly what it is that you worship. And — if you call yourself a Christian — be open to the idea that there are some idols of your heart that you may not be aware are vying for your worship. 

So — for all of us worshipers — I want to show us Someone who’s worthy of our worship — in fact the only Someone worthy of our worship. We find this Someone in verse five of our psalm.

Psalm 86:5 ESV

5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

What a powerful statement, right? About this verse, one scholar has said…

The chief encouragement in prayer is knowing the character of God. David has come to know God through his Word and through his experience as a believer. The better he knows God, the more certain he is of God’s willingness to help him in his need. What an incentive this is for us to study the attributes of God—his divine characteristics as they are revealed in Holy Scripture—and to walk with God [in] faith so [we] know him better!

The character of God that David’s focusing on — while he suffers — is God’s steadfast love — which he mentions three times in our psalm. One children’s book author has described God’s steadfast love as his, “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.”

We have our definitions of love — this is God’s definition. And this is what he means when he says he loves his people. 

It’s a love that never stops. The Christian faith teaches that there’s nothing you can do to earn God’s love — which means — and this is glorious — there’s nothing you can do to un-earn his love. When God loves you — he loves you. And there’s nothing you can do to stop him from loving you.

Additionally, his love for you never gives up. Though we may reach our breaking point — or turn our backs on God — and distrust him and question him and doubt him and betray him — he never gives up on us. He pursues us. He calls us back. He whispers to us — in our sorrow and grief — I love you.

His love for us is unbreaking. God’s love is an always and forever love. From eternity past to eternity future — those whom God loves — he eternally loves.

This is just one attribute of God that’s meant to change the way we worship him. For our God is also compassionate, and faithful, and all-knowing, and all-powerful, and just, and righteous, and merciful, and slow to anger, and good, and kind, and eternal, and Creator, and so much more — which is why our worship must begin with God. For — when it begins with him — our worship will be spiritually red hot — on fire — regardless of our circumstances — yes — even when we’re suffering.

Don’t believe me? You don’t have to take my — or even David’s — word for it. Take Job — who after the tragic death of all of his children and the loss of all of his wealth…

Job 1:20–21 NLT

20 Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. 21 He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!”

Or take Paul and Silas who — while locked in chains in prison — at…

Acts 16:25–26 ESV

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

Or take Hannah — who though childless and ridiculed by others because of it — continued to pour out her soul before the LORD in prayer. And — after the fulfillment of the promise given to her — that she would have a son — she prayed…

1 Samuel 2:1–2 NLT

1 “My heart rejoices in the Lord! The Lord has made me strong. Now I have an answer for my enemies; I rejoice because you rescued me. 2 No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

Or take the prophet Habakkuk who was given a prophecy of judgment for the people of Judah. Habakkuk received a hard word about the punishment the people of God were going to experience. And yet his book ends with these words.

Habakkuk 3:17–19 NLT

17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. (For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)

The words in parenthesis tell us this was a song to be sung in worship by the people of God. “When there’s no fruit on the trees — when there’s a famine in the land — when all of the herds have died — I will still rejoice in the God of my salvation.” That’s some red hot, spiritually on fire, kind of worship, right?

“But, come on Josh. Those were people in the Bible. Of course they could worship God in the midst of suffering. Don’t you have to be a super spiritual hero to make it in the Bible anyway?” You don’t have to be a super spiritual hero to make it in the Bible — but here are some non-biblical folks who show us that this kind of worship — while suffering — is possible.

Take Horatio Spafford who — after his four daughters drowned in a shipwreck — penned the hymn It is Well with My Soul as he traveled by ship to meet his wife. One of the lines in the hymn states “Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well, with my soul.”

Or take Corrie ten Boom who was imprisoned in a concentration camp because she and her family had helped around eight hundred Jews flee from the Nazis. Her family was betrayed and were arrested. Corrie smuggled a Bible into the concentration camp and held worship services. She famously said, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.” If God’s steadfast love could meet Corrie and others imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp — might it be possible for his love to meet you in whatever dark pit of suffering you find yourself in?

WHICH LEADS TO BOLD WORSHIPFUL PRAYERS

The examples could go on — but I think you get the point. For many — because of the God they worship — the God who’s revealed himself in this book — they were able to worship even as they suffered. And when we follow in their steps — by worshiping the same “steadfast-loving us always-God”  — we will find ourselves praying big, bold, worshipful prayers. We’re back in verse one where David writes…

Psalm 86:1–4 ESV

1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. 3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

Jumping to verse six we read…

Psalm 86:6–7 ESV

6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. 7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

Skipping to verse eleven David writes…

Psalm 86:11–12 ESV

11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. 12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Finally in verse sixteen we read…

Psalm 86:16–17 ESV

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. 17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Pay attention to how David begins his big, bold, worshipful prayer. He begins with humility — acknowledging that he’s poor and needy. Now — remember — he’s king David. The giant slaying hero who God appointed as leader over his people. This is no man in an ordinary position — this is like being the president of our country — and yet David begins his prayer displaying God-honoring humility.

How do your prayers begin?

Once Jesus told a parable — a short story meant to teach a moral truth — to…

Luke 18:9–14 ESV

9 some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In Jesus’s day, everyone would’ve assumed that a tax collector would need to humble himself before God — but a Pharisee? If anyone was a super spiritual hero of the day it was a Pharisee. Yet Jesus makes it clear that everyone must approach God in prayer with humility. Something David — though a king — understood. And if it’s fitting for a king to humble himself before God — I think it’s safe to conclude that the same is true for all of us non-kings and queens.

Bold prayers are still humble prayers. Boldness and humility are not enemies — they’re friends — partners — boldness and humility are characteristics of those whose worship of God begins with who God is — as we saw earlier.

“But, wait. Josh, you may’ve gotten ahead of yourself. Don’t you see how David describes himself in verse two? He says, ‘I am godly’ and that doesn’t sound very humble to me — that sounds just like the Pharisee.” David isn’t making a self-righteous statement — he’s simply saying that he trusts in God. In today’s language David would say, “I’ve put my trust in Christ alone.” That’s not what the Pharisee was doing.

Yet David knows how his heart is fickle. Our hearts chase after many lovers and gods — even after we’ve put our trust in Christ. That’s why David prays — in verse eleven — for God to unite his heart to fear his name. Remember — men are after David. They want him dead and obviously don’t want him to be their king — there’s division in the land. Yet here — as he prays — David shows that he’s just as concerned for his divided heart as he is for the divided nation. His desire is that his whole heart would be committed to trusting in God’s promises and doing God’s will.

What’s the bigger concern for you — which gets the greater attention of your prayer life? Divisions around you — political divisions, racial divisions, relational divisions, religious divisions, and so on — or the division within your own heart? Does it even bother you — for this is true of you just as it’s true of me — that your heart isn’t fully committed to trusting God’s promises and accomplishing the will he has for you? That even though you long to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength — yet — you know you live with a heart that’s divided.

Those who are humble before God — who — even in suffering — worship him — will ask God not only to relieve them of their suffering — which they do ask for in prayer! — but also to teach them. To teach them about their divided heart. To help them walk in truth even as they suffer. To not allow their suffering to give voice to the lies that chirp in our ears: “If God loved you — you wouldn’t be suffering like this.” “See, you’re not a good person. Good people don’t go through what you’re going through.” “You’re unloveable. You’re unforgivable. You’re worthless. You’re ugly. You deserve this.” 

CONCLUSION

The way to combat these lies is to know God’s Word. For this book tells us wonderful, life-changing, hope-in-the-midst-of-suffering truths. Who God is. Who we are. What God is doing in the world. What Jesus accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection. And where all of history is headed.

I know that for many — the Bible is intimidating. So — if you don’t know where to begin — let me encourage you to grab a copy of this booklet — how to make the most of your devotional time — at the Resource Center at your campus. You can also get a digital copy on our website — gatewayepc.org. 

Here’s another step you can take to grow in your understanding of who God is: Worship with us weekly. Every week your heart faces a battle — it goes to war. Will an idol of your heart get your allegiance and worship or will the one true God? I know that we get sick. I understand that we go on vacation. But the vast majority of people who don’t worship weekly aren’t missing because they’re sick or on vacation — they miss because an idol has demanded their worship. We don’t call it worship — but go back to what I said earlier and see if you can find a better word. And on a day you find yourself in the midst of suffering — none of those idols will give you what you need. And you may even find yourself wondering where the One true God went off to — when the truth is — he never went anywhere. The question is: Where’d you go?

But know that — even in our wandering — and even with our divided hearts — God is so good, and kind, and patient, and gracious, and forgiving, and — yes — loving — that he always welcomes his children back into his loving arms when we return to him. Even when our suffering’s caused by our own hands — even when it’s caused by others — and even when there’s no one to blame for our suffering — the God who is good and forgiving — who abounds in steadfast love to all who call upon him — is with us. His name is Jesus. And may you turn to him right now — receive his love — and worship him even in your suffering. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, as we pray to you we want to begin by acknowledging who you are. As we’ve been reminded today — you are good and your steadfast love endures forever. What hope is found in knowing that you are good. Not a tyrant. Not wicked. Not unfair. Good. And your steadfast — never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever — love endures for us today, tomorrow, and always.

Holy Spirit, comfort those in need of comfort. Point all of us in the direction of knowing who you are more clearly and accurately. Reveal to us the idols of our hearts — false gods vying for our worship and demanding our devotion. Call us to repentance and help us to do so as we trust that you always forgive those who come to you repenting of their sins.

And — Jesus — all of this great and glorious good news is possible and true because of you. What you accomplished in your perfect life, death, and in your Satan, sin, death, and Hell defeating resurrection. We have hope and can worship you — even in suffering — because you — in love — first suffered for us. And you are with us in our suffering. And you love us through our suffering.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — call many to believe, trust, rest, and worship you today. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available | DEVO BOOKLET | Suffering and need prayer)

May you go worshiping the One true God — for he is good — and his steadfast love for you endures forever. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 6-8-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series looking at some of King David’s psalms that address the topic of suffering. There are many aspects to suffering — many reasons for our suffering that David touches on in his psalms — and each is important for us to consider. And though you may not be in a season of suffering — suffering has a way of showing up — often unexpectedly. Yet — for the follower of Jesus — suffering is an opportunity: suffering is an opportunity to spiritually grow for those of us who follow a Savior who experienced suffering.

Now — for sure — suffering is not an easy opportunity to grow — often suffering comes when life is most challenging. But — in another sense — suffering is one of the easiest opportunities to spiritually grow — because — when life is most challenging we’re forced to change in some way. The question for us is: Will our change be to become more like Christ?

So let’s continue to see how our Christian faith offers a different opportunity in these hard moments of life: an opportunity to become more like our Savior — Jesus — who — in love for us — experienced suffering, trials, persecution, hardships, rejection, hatred — you name it — he experienced it so that we might have hope in the midst of the sorrows we face.

And I say all of this knowing that not all of us believe in Jesus. But all of us have experienced suffering — or know others who’ve experienced it. And — if you’re honest — it’s scary. Because there’s no good answer offered by our culture as to why we suffer — and even more importantly — how to suffer well. That’s why so many turn to coping mechanisms to numb themselves — drugs, alcohol, overeating, sex, binge watching Netflix — or give up on life altogether in a seemingly never-ending depression.

But is that all there is — is that the best offer on the table in a world full of suffering? It’s not.

Which is what we’re exploring in this series as we look at some of David’s psalms — including today’s psalm — psalm thirty-two. So — if you have your Bible — please turn there — to psalm thirty-two. And while you’re finding psalm thirty-two — last week — if you weren’t here — we looked at the relationship between suffering and our prayer life. And — in the coming weeks — we’re going to look at the suffering we experience at the hands of others, we’ll see the important relationship between our suffering and worship, as well as the relationship between suffering and salvation. But — today — we’re looking at the suffering we experience due to unrepentant sin in our lives. Not a topic many want to address when it comes to suffering — especially in the victim mentality age in which we live — but we must face the reality that — there are seasons of suffering that are a result of decisions we’ve made. David addresses this in our psalm for today — psalm thirty-two — when he writes…

Psalm 32 ESV

1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Today we’re addressing an unpopular aspect to suffering: Suffering we experience due to unrepentant sin in our life. But there’s good news in this not so good news — unrepentant sin need not be the cause of our suffering. There is hope — even for those whose suffering is due to our own sin.

THE UNREPENTANT

Let’s return to our psalm — but — before we do so — it’ll be helpful to know that many scholars believe that David wrote this psalm in response to his sin with Bathsheba. David and Bathsheba is a biblical story most people have heard about — but to make sure we don’t leave anyone behind — here’s what happened.

At this point in history — David is king of Israel. And one day — while his army was off at war — David was back at his palace when…

2 Samuel 11:2–27 NLT

2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. 3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. 5 Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.” 6 Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. 8 Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax.” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. 9 But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. 10 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?” 11 Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.” 12 “Well, stay here today,” David told him, “and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. 14 So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. 15 The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” 16 So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. 17 And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers. 18 Then Joab sent a battle report to David. 19 He told his messenger, “Report all the news of the battle to the king. 20 But he might get angry and ask, ‘Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn’t they know there would be shooting from the walls? 21 Wasn’t Abimelech son of Gideon killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him from the wall? Why would you get so close to the wall?’ Then tell him, ‘Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.’” 22 So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. 23 “The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city gate, 24 the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.” 25 “Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!” 26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with what David had done.

Around a year goes by before God sends a man named Nathan to confront David and — eventually — David responds with repentance. But it’s this year of unrepentance that David’s probably describing when he writes — in verse three of our psalm…

Psalm 32:3–4 ESV

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

And skipping to verse nine we read…

Psalm 32:9–10 ESV

9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. 10a Many are the sorrows of the wicked…

Did you notice how David describes the consequence of his unrepentance? Similar to last week’s psalm — David says his bones were wasting away. Last week — when David used this phrase — I mentioned how we don’t know if David’s suffering was self-inflicted or caused by others. But — here — we’re fairly certain that this is self-inflicted suffering. Yet he uses the same phrase — “my bones waste away” — which means his sorrow and suffering has affected all of who he is — down to his bones. I’ve been reading a book titled Counseling the Hard Cases and — in one chapter — there’s a repeated idea: The mind affects the body, the body affects the mind, and a downward spiral begins.

In David’s case — it could’ve been the anxiety of being found out — someone doing pregnancy math and saying, “This doesn’t add up.” Or someone blabbing about the orders he gave to have Uriah murdered. The mind affects the body and the body affects the mind.

I wonder how many of us can relate? Have you ever done something and waited in angst for the consequences?

• Maybe you’re sixteen and you accidentally ran a red light. You didn’t tell your parents, but live in fear that — every ring of the doorbell is the police.
• Or a night out having fun and partying and too much to drink led to a night you can’t remember. And — as you wait for the pregnancy test result — your stomach’s upset, your head aches, you experience involuntary shakes. The mind affects the body and the body affects the mind.
• Or you’ve maxed out your credit card and know you can’t even make the minimum payment. Your body is tense — your temper is short.

One of the reasons why self-inflicted suffering is so hard is because — deep down — we know we don’t have anyone else to blame for our situation. We were the ones looking at our phones while driving. We had the extra drink. We saw our version of Bathsheba and — like David — made sure we got what we wanted.

“Well how do you know that what David’s referring to was self-inflicted?” By the way he personally takes responsibility in other verses in our psalm. David uses the phrases “my sin” — which he uses twice — and “my iniquity” and “my transgressions” to describe the cause of his suffering.

But it’s not just the act of sinning — that’s the cause of his suffering — David’s unrepentance is also a contributor. To repent means to turn away from sin — which includes confessing — or admitting — the wrong you’ve done. Unrepentance is what David describes in our psalm when he gives the command to not be like a horse or mule which must be curbed — or restrained — by a bit in its mouth.

What a picture of how stubbornly unrepentant we can be. That I can be. That you can be. God help us all to respond to our sin with repentance — and to respond to those who lovingly point out our sin with gratitude. For rare is the friend who loves us enough to call us to repentance. It’s much easier — isn’t it — to distance ourselves — “if I don’t see him I won’t have to talk to him about…” — or explain away — “that’s just her personality” — it’s tempting — and all too easy — to avoid doing what Nathan did for David.

Yet none of us are without sin — we’ve all sinned. And — if we’re honest with ourselves — some of the suffering we are — or have experienced — is due to sin that we’ve committed. And — until it’s repented of — it will waste away our bones and dry up our strength and cause us to groan — which is what we experience if we’re blessed. Because many — instead of groaning and dried up strength and wasting away bones — many continue in their stubbornness and unrepentance and will experience far more serious — and eternal — consequences.

THE BLESSED

But — for those who are blessed — the groaning and wasting away and weakness — is not God’s end goal. Instead — as we read in verse one…

Psalm 32:1–2 ESV

1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Let’s be mesmerized by the blessing of forgiveness. David says that blessed — or happy! — is the one whose transgression is forgiven. Transgression is a word that means “rebellion against God.” So blessed — or happy! — is the one whose rebellion against God has been forgiven. And blessed — or happy! — is the individual whose sin is covered. Sin means “turning away from the true path.” So blessed — or happy! — is the person whose turning away from the true path has been covered. And blessed — or happy! — is the person who the Lord counts no iniquity. Iniquity means “distortion, evil, perversion, or disrespect for God.” So blessed — or happy! — is the man, woman, or child whose disrespect for God is no longer counted against them.

What’s being described here are the actions that happen to us — and our sin — when we repent — when we turn from our sin and turn to God in faith.

First, we’re forgiven — which means that our transgressions are removed from us — our rebellion against God is removed from us. Second, our sin is covered — it’s concealed from sight. And — since our sin has been removed from us — that’s what forgiveness means — this concealing of sin doesn’t mean that the sin is still present with us — remember it’s been removed from us — but this sin which has been removed from us — God no longer regards — he no longer considers — it’s not on his mind. Which results in God not counting our iniquity — or are disrespecting him — against us.

This is what it means to be blessed — which results in us being happy! For what could possibly make us more happy than to know — I mean think about this — that the God who created everyone and everything — who we’ve had the gall to disrespect — because we’ve turned from our sin and turned to him — he forgives us and no longer counts our transgressions against us — and puts it all out of his mind.

Which — with great hope — should cause all of us to ask: How do I receive this blessing? Meaning — how does one go about having their transgressions forgiven? Who are these people that God counts no iniquity against them?

REPENTANCE LEADS TO BLESSING

We find out in verses five and six of our psalm.

Psalm 32:5–6 ESV

5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.

How do we receive this blessing — what’s the key to true, lasting happiness? Repentance — acknowledging our sin to God. No longer covering it up and trying to hide it away. Instead we confess our sins to God as we turn to him in faith — trusting that he forgives all who come to him truly repentant of their sin.

What sin might you need to acknowledge to God — to stop covering up and pretending as if it’s not part of your life?

We often think of sin as bad things we do — and that’s definitely an aspect of sin. But — equally important — sin also includes not doing the good things that we’re commanded to do. Here’s an easy example.

Stealing — stealing is sin. It’s wrong to take from someone what’s rightfully theirs. We get that — Christian or not. But the Bible goes further. For you can not steal — and yet — still sin in regards to money. For example, you can be selfish with it — greedy — and not be generous towards others which is also a command in the Bible.

“OK. I get all of that Josh. So what’s the big deal?” The big deal is that this tells us that sin isn’t just the presence of evil — sin also includes the absence of good. After all, Jesus’ younger brother did write…

James 4:17 NET

17 So whoever knows what is good to do and does not do it is guilty of sin.

Thus the biblical goal — in regards to money and wealth — isn’t just “don’t steal” — though it’s one of the ten commandments and should be obeyed — but the biblical goal — in regards to money and wealth is to be generous. The absence of generosity is sin in a person’s life — which I know can be hard for us to grasp — that the absence of something good can be just as sinful as the presence of something evil.

To which — one theologian said…

If I have a hole in my sock, the hole is not anything at all, it is just an absence of wool or cotton or whatever, but it is a perfectly real hole in my sock. It would be absurd to say that holes in socks are unreal…just because the hole isn’t made of anything…Nothing in the wrong place can be just as real and just as important as something in the wrong place. If you inadvertently drive your car over a cliff, you will have nothing to worry about; it is precisely the nothing that you will have to worry about. (Systematic Theology 13.3.5. Sin as Privatio)

I wonder how many of us are comfortable with the absence of something good in our lives — not realizing that its absence is just as sinfully serious as accidentally driving your car off a cliff?

Now you’ve heard me say the words repentance — which I’ve said is turning from sin — and confession — but what is confession? Confession means either to admit sin or affirm belief. Both aspects are important for us to understand. Most of us — I think — when we define confession usually focus on the admitting sin part — and it’s an important part. But — similar to what James taught us about not doing the good we know to do — confession also has a positive side to it: confessing what we believe.

In church history, confessions — or statements of belief — have been written to positively articulate what Christians believe. And confessions have been used — not only to guide us in knowing when we’ve sinned — but also in fighting temptation before we sin by reminding us of the truths we believe. In our church tradition — the Westminster Confession of Faith is a positive statement of what we believe.

What does the Westminster Confession have to say about repentance? It says…

Repentance which leads to life is the blessed product of the gospel working in believers’ lives. (WCF 15.1)

Jesus connects repentance to the gospel — the Good News of what he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection — while explaining how all of the Bible was about him to his disciples after his resurrection.

Luke 24:44–48 NLT

44 Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ 48 You are witnesses of all these things.

What good news indeed! There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.

The Westminster Confession says…

In this repentance the sinner is able to see his sins as God sees them, as filthy and hateful, and as involving great danger to the sinner, because they are completely contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God. Understanding that God in Christ is merciful to those who repent, the sinner suffers deep sorrow for and hates his sins, and so he determines to turn away from all of them. And turning to God, he tries to walk with him according to all his commandments. (WCF 15.2)

The Bible distinguishes repentance from the sorrow of being caught. Paul explains it this way to Christians in Corinth who had received a letter calling them to repent.

2 Corinthians 7:8–11 NLT

8 I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. 9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. 10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 11 Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.

Repentance leads to change — a change of direction — a change in our choices. Repentance leads us away from sin and towards God. True repentance even results in thankfulness for the one whom God used to call us back to him — no matter how severe and painful it was to hear.

About repentance — the Westminster says…

Just as there is no sin so small that it does not deserve damnation, so there is no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent. (WCF 15.4)

Two truths we must remember. First, there are no insignificant sins. Every sin is worthy of eternal judgment — may this humble all of us and call us to repentance. Second, no sin is so great that forgiveness can’t be offered to those who repent. As the apostle John tells us…

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And as the prophets of the Old Testament remind us…

Micah 7:18–19 NLT

18 Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love. 19 Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!

And…

Isaiah 43:25 NLT

25 “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.

For as the Westminster Confession says about God…

He is completely loving, gracious, merciful, and long-suffering. He overflows with goodness and truth. He forgives wickedness, transgression, and sin, and rewards those who diligently seek him. (WCF 2.1)

Friends, this is why it’s important to know what you believe and to have Scripture that backs it up. This is why the historic confessions of the church are so helpful — and necessary — in our day when many believe that biblical illiteracy is at an all time historic high. May the truths we’ve looked at today lead us to repent when we sin and fight against sin when we’re tempted.

REPENTANCE LEADS TO JOY

For all of this good news — this good news about repentance and forgiveness and who God is —what does it all lead to? It leads to our joy. In verse seven of our psalm — David writes…

Psalm 32:7 ESV

7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

And skipping to verse ten…

Psalm 32:10–11 ESV

10b but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Even when our suffering is self-inflicted due to sinful choices we’ve made — joy is still possible. How so? Because the steadfast love of the Lord surrounds those who trust him — who trust that he always forgives those who turn to him in repentance. 

Earlier we saw the command to not be like the stubborn horse or mule. Here — the commands are much more positive. We’re commanded to be glad in the Lord and to rejoice and to shout for joy! Why? What’s the source of our glad rejoicing and shouts of joy? This truth: The steadfast love of the Lord surrounds the one who trusts in him.

Nothing else in all of creation can guarantee unwavering joy — even in the midst of suffering — accept knowing that you are surrounded by the love of God. A reality we so easily forget. A truth that our spiritual amnesia is the first to snatch from our hearts. This is why you hear from me every single week what? That God loves you. And that I love you too. Because no one hears these words enough — and none of us believe them to the degree that they’re true. We don’t. I don’t. You don’t. But here’s what I so love about us.

We’re believing in God’s love for us more and more every time we gather together. Our forgetfulness isn’t as quick as it once was. And — not only are we remembering God’s love for us — individually — but we’re reminding each other of God’s love for us. It’s the norm now — when I talk to you on the phone — for the call to end with us saying “I love you” to each other. And I pray that this isn’t just when it’s me on the call — but that we’re all loving each other and reminding each other of God’s great big forgiving love.

CONCLUSION: LISTEN TO GOD!

Therefore — may we all leave here today listening to God! As David writes…

Psalm 32:8 ESV

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

This is God speaking and acting in these verses. It’s God who is instructing and teaching us the way that we should go. It’s God who’s giving us counsel — who’s attentive to what’s going on in our lives — even in our seasons of suffering. Therefore — may we all leave here today listening to his instruction — receiving his teaching and counsel on repentance and forgiveness and how loving, kind, and merciful he is. May we leave here knowing that he’s aware of what we’re going through. And may this bring us comfort — may it give you comfort — that the One whose steadfast love surrounds you is the God who so cares for you — that he offers relief from our suffering even when we’re the cause of it. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Gracious Father, what a marvelous truth: your love surrounds those who trust in you — even when we’re suffering. Even when our suffering is due to sinful choices we’ve made.

Holy Spirit, help us to trust — to really believe — that we’re loved by you. For when we know that we’re loved — repentance will be our heart’s desire. For our love for you will exceed our love for sin.

Jesus — you came to make forgiveness of our sins possible. For the joy set before you — you endured the cross — to pay the debt for our sins. And now — for the joy set before us — eternal life with you — we choose to trust in your never-ending, always pursuing and protecting love for us — and that you always forgive those who turn back to you in repentance. 

For you — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — are completely loving, gracious, merciful, and long-suffering. You overflow with goodness and truth. You forgive wickedness, transgression, and sin, and reward those who diligently seek you. May many more seek you today. May many trust in your love. May many repent of their sin. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / Self-inflicted suffering)

May you go with great joy — even in suffering — knowing that the steadfast love of the Lord surrounds you. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 5-4-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend — taking a final look at the spiritual gifts that Paul mentions in his letter so we all understand what these gifts are and how they’re to be used in our faith family. These aren’t all of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible — just the ones Paul mentions here in Romans.

So — for the last time for some time — the purpose of the spiritual gifts is this: Spiritual gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for ministry, both for the edification of the church and for God’s salvific mission to the world. – Lexham Survey of Theology

Here’s what Paul says about the gifts — in Romans chapter twelve — beginning in verse four. There we read…

Romans 12:4–8 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

We took two weeks to explore the gift of prophecy. Then we looked at the gifts of service, teaching, exhortation, and giving. And — last week — we looked at the gift of leadership. Which means that — today — we’re going to look at the final spiritual gift that Paul lists in our verses — the gift of mercy, which he mentions in verse eight where he writes…

Romans 12:8 ESV

8 the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

WHAT IS THE GIFT OF MERCY?

So let’s begin by answering the question, “What is the spiritual gift of mercy?” The definition of this gift that I shared with you a few months ago is…

Mercy

The gift of mercy is the divine strength or ability to feel empathy and to care for those who are hurting in any way.

Like the other spiritual gifts that we’ve looked at — mercy is something that’s both a spiritual gift and is something that all Christians are to practice regardless if we have the gift or not. Which means — no matter if this is a spiritual gift you have — and regardless of your temperament or personality — being merciful towards others is something you’re to regularly practice if you’re a follower of Jesus.

Jesus made this clear when he told a parable — a parable is a short story meant to teach a moral lesson — and the parable I’m referring to is known as the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Jesus purposely made the religious leaders — the priest and the Levite — merciless in the parable. And the individual — who the expert in religious law couldn’t even bear to say who he was — the despised Samaritan — is the one who is merciful in the story. So what’s the point of the parable? 

Jesus is telling us that we can be very religious and — yet — lack mercy. We can do rigorous religious activities and still miss the point of what it means to follow him.

This is what the prophets of the Old Testament had told the Jewish people.

Micah 6:8 NLT

8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

And…

Zechariah 7:9–10 NLT

9 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

And we’re to be merciful towards others because God has first been merciful towards us. As we also read in Scripture…

Psalm 103:8 ESV

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

And…

Lamentations 3:22–23 ESV

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

And…

Psalm 145:8–9 ESV

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

And possibly the greatest display of God’s mercy is seen when…

John 11:35 ESV

35 Jesus wept.

We worship a merciful God — thus we’re to be people who are known for our mercy.

THE GIFT OF MERCY AND THE CHURCH

Yet — we want to better understand how the spiritual gift of mercy is a benefit to us as a local church. So let’s look at a few examples of this gift in Scripture. But — before we do so — I want to share a quote on mercy that I think paints a clear and compelling picture as to why this gift is so vital to our life as a faith family. Here’s the quote:

Mercy means to be led by God to be compassionate in our attitudes, words and actions. It is more than feeling sympathy towards someone; it is love enacted. Mercy desires to answer the immediate needs of others and alleviate suffering, loneliness, and grief. Mercy addresses physical, emotional, financial or spiritual crises with generous, self-sacrificial service. Mercy is a champion of the lowly, poor, exploited, and forgotten, and often acts on their behalf.

We’ve seen how mercy is something that all Christians are to live out — yet — for some among us — because of the Spirit’s empowering presence in you — you’ve been gifted with mercy in a way where you can’t help but desire to meet the immediate needs of others, to alleviate their suffering, loneliness, or grief. You can’t help it — it’s like you’re compelled — to serve those who are poor, exploited, or forgotten by others. What a needed and necessary gift if we want to be the church that Jesus gave his life for us to be.

THE GIFT OF MERCY IN SCRIPTURE: JESUS

Speaking of Jesus — here’s an example of mercy from his life. One day — as he and his disciples…

Matthew 20:29–34 ESV

29 went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

When you read the gospels — pay attention to how many times Jesus is stopped like this — where his plans are interrupted by the needs of others. And how — instead of moving on to the business at hand — he paid attention to the interruption — for often — the interruption was the business his Father wanted him to attend to.

For those who have the spiritual gift of mercy — you can’t help but read this passage from Matthew and think, “Yup. That’s exactly what you do. You stop and care for the person in need. And how dare the crowd try to get the two guys to be quiet!” If I may tap into your gift of mercy for one moment — for those of us without this gift — let me admit — it’s easy to miss the interruption as God’s business. I know this isn’t good of us — but — when you don’t have the gift of mercy — even when we know the commands about being merciful — it’s easy to be just like — not only this crowd — but Jesus’ own disciples — who once — when they were with Jesus and…

Mark 6:34–37 NLT

34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. 35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. 36 Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” 37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”

It’s easy to ask “With what” — or to tell some blind beggars to be quiet — before, “This is an opportunity to be merciful” crosses our mind. We’re working on it — but know that this is why we’re so thankful for the Spirit’s empowering presence in you through the gift of mercy. For those with this gift rarely ask “with what” when told to feed a large crowd — or shush those begging for Jesus to heal them — and this is the Holy Spirit at work in and through you for our benefit — especially when someone’s in desperate need of mercy. 

And — as Paul says — you do so — you show mercy — and you do so with cheerfulness. Meaning — unlike others of us — who don’t have the gift — sometimes our mercy comes off a little less cheerful — or lacks it altogether. But for you — because of God’s Spirit displaying himself through you in this way — you’re able to lift the spirit of those who are suffering. 

Again — we’re all growing together here — and thank you for your patience and mercy towards those of us without the gift.

THE GIFT OF MERCY IN SCRIPTURE: DEACONS

John Owen — a pastor who lived in the 17th century — wrote, “Mercy has to do with man’s misery.” Historically — in the church — the people who have been known as ministers — or servants — of mercy — whose ministry is often called “mercy ministry” — are the deacons. Our deacons have been brought up a few times in these sermons on the spiritual gifts and — as you’ve heard me say before — this is an important group of individuals in the life of our local church. Now we add to our running list of why they’re important: they are our ministers of mercy.

Deacons first appear on the scene in Acts chapter 6. We’ve looked at this passage a few times before — so we won’t turn there now — but here’s a snapshot of what was going on. The church had grown quite quickly and Christians — of both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds — were all figuring out how to follow Jesus together. But they were still dealing with cultural hangups — like we all do — resulting in some of the widows in the church not having their needs met.

So the apostles — the key leaders in the church at this time — told the people to select individuals who would make sure the widows’ needs were met. Because — not having what you daily need to survive — is a recipe for misery. 

Seven individuals were selected and they are the first deacons — or ministers of mercy — in the church. And their important ministry of mercy continues today.

Here at Gateway we have 15 individuals — men and women — who serve as our deacons. To ensure that everything they’re responsible for is covered — they’ve divided themselves up into four teams. A group of deacons is responsible for preparing the communion elements and cleaning up after our monthly communion services. Each Gateway campus has its own communion team. In a few minutes we’ll be taking communion at both of our campuses and know that a deacon was the behind the scenes hands preparing the bread and juice for all of us. An act of service for which we should all be thankful.

Now — though important — preparing communion doesn’t fit the ministry of mercy that we’ve been looking at today. Again — deacons do many important tasks for us — not all are acts of mercy. But earlier I said that the deacons have divided themselves up into four teams. 

One of those is the Benevolence team which oversees the distribution of benevolence funds to those within our church family who are in need of financial assistance. Priority for assistance is given to church members — specifically those who are sick, handicapped, single parents, or elderly — though other members or active regular attenders may also be assisted through the fund. This is definitely a ministry of mercy.

There’s the Service team which helps with meeting a variety of hands-on, physical needs within our church family. These needs include setting up Kidway spaces each weekend, shoveling church entrances on a Sunday morning, and providing building access for a variety of events held at the church. Additionally, they handle requests for physical help such as yard work, help moving, or light construction work for people in need. There are definitely times when this team does acts of mercy.

Finally, there’s the Food team which is responsible for a variety of food needs within the church. These include funeral meals, as well as food and snacks for volunteer training and church or outreach events. One of our deacons also oversees our Meals Ministry, which comes alongside Life Groups to provide meals to people after a new baby is born, or someone has surgery, when there’s a death in the family, and so on. Again — many times when this is a ministry of mercy.

So that’s a snapshot of what our deacons do — generally speaking. But — specifically — here are some ways these mercy ministers have allowed the Spirit of God to display himself through their acts of mercy for people in our faith family.

There’s the young mom who’s part of our church. Her husband wasn’t able to work for over a year — due to health issues — and her availability to work was limited because their toddler also had health issues requiring regular appointments at Nationwide in Columbus. How did the deacons help this family? They worked with our local partner — the Women’s Resource Center — and got them diapers. One of our deacons gave them some hand-me-down clothes for their toddler. Meals were coordinated. Gas and grocery cards were provided. And the deacons coordinated eight weeks of childcare while the husband recovered from a surgery.

For two elderly men in our congregation — who were both limited by health issues — the deacons lined up people to mow their lawns and take care of yard work. Similarly, the deacons put a team of six people together to do some fall landscaping for one of our elderly couples who aren’t able to keep up with the yard work as easily as they used to.

For one of our single women — who needed a new roof but didn’t have the funds — the deacons helped her to pay for the new roof through our benevolence fund.

For a family who had some hot water issues — one of our deacons helped them out twice. Once to repair their old hot water heater and then — five months or so later — to help them install a new one.

For one of our young families — who needed some financial help — the deacons were able to help them cover some medical and dental bills, provided them with some food gift cards, and helped them with some car maintenance issues. The deacons provided similar help to an international student studying at the University of Findlay who needed some help with their car.

They helped another of our young couples move. And — if all of that wasn’t enough — one of our deacons even went and helped deter a pesky skunk from one of our church member’s property.

And — oh by the way — that’s just some of the ways the deacons have done acts of mercy in the past year. What a group of deacons we have — ministers of mercy who are allowing the Spirit of God to use them to be a blessing for us.

CONCLUSION

Now — as we wrap up this series on spiritual gifts — something that’s been encouraging to me — over the past few months — has been the increase among you all in signing up to volunteer in areas of ministry. The church staff have mentioned that more of you have signed up to serve as you desire to allow the Holy Spirit to use you — with the gifts he’s given you — to be a blessing to the rest of us. This has been such an encouragement to me.

I’ve also been encouraged to hear about many of you wanting to explore what gifts you’ve been given. From asking for advice on spiritual gifts tests and how to discern which gifts you have — I’m thankful for the curiosity and interest in wanting to know how the Spirit of God has gifted you for God’s glory and all of our good. Keep searching. Keep serving in different ways. Keep praying and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you your gifts.

Finally, I want to thank our elders. They’ve made themselves available to pray with you throughout this series on the spiritual gifts. They all serve in many other ways — but they didn’t hesitate to stick around after our worship services to bless you — and lay their hands on you in prayer — as you’ve come forward desiring a particular spiritual gift. And so many of you have come forward for prayer — which has been incredible to see.

Your shepherds pray for you — I hope that encourages you — your elders care about you and there’s no group of men I’d rather have by my ministry side than the men we’re blessed with as our elders. 

Would you please pray with me?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you are the God of all comfort who comforts all of us in our afflictions. And your mercies are new to us every morning. There’s not a day that’s gone by that we haven’t experienced your mercy. What a thought to behold. I wonder how we’ve already experienced your mercy today?

Holy Spirit, thank you for empowering some among us with your gift of mercy. A unique and impactful way you use your people in the most difficult days of life. When sorrow abounds — your stewards of mercy bring healing as you use them to lift us up. When the darkness doesn’t lift — your ministers of mercy bring the light of Christ to shine in our dark world. When our grief is an overwhelming burden — too heavy for us to carry — your servants of mercy put their shoulders under our burden and lift it up — giving us some reprieve.

And — Jesus — this is all possible because of the mercy you displayed in giving your life on a cross for our sins. When mercy was the last thing we deserved — you gave it to us anyway. In fact — when we held back mercy from you — you gave us mercy anyway. What a faithful and merciful Savior you are — thank you for your mercy towards us. And — Jesus — if there are any here who’ve yet to receive your mercy — may you faithfully offer it to them again today. 

Right now — Jesus is offering you mercy — forgiveness of your sins — reconciliation, joy, hope, peace — a light shining in the darkness around you. Will you receive his mercy? Will you run to the One whose arms are open — ready to embrace you with unending love?

We pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

DATE: 4-20-25

He is risen! He is risen indeed! As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re concluding our Easter series today. Last Sunday — Palm Sunday — we remembered Jesus entering Jerusalem and all that will happen during the final week leading up to his death on a cross and his resurrection three days later. Then on Thursday evening — we had our Maundy Thursday service. A tradition in the Christian church where we remember the night when Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples and how — during the meal — gave new meaning to the bread and the cup. No longer a remembrance of the death of the lamb during the Israelites rescue from the land of Egypt — it’s now a meal that points to the death of Jesus and the sacrifice he made in giving his body and blood to rescue his people from God’s wrath.

A little Holy Week trivia for you — if you’ve ever wondered what the word maundy means — we call it Maundy Thursday after all — the word maundy comes from the latin word for “command” as Maundy Thursday not only celebrates the Lord’s Supper, but also the new command that Jesus gave to his disciples: to love one another — a love he displayed by washing their feet before his greatest act of love — his sacrifice on the cross.

Which leads us to today — Easter Sunday — also known as Resurrection Sunday — when we remember and celebrate that death did not defeat Jesus — no — Jesus defeated death for the tomb was empty on Sunday — and is still empty today.

Our text — for this Easter — includes some verses we looked at last week from Psalm 118. Today we’ll be looking at verses 14 to 24 from Psalm 118. There we read…

Psalm 118:14–24 ESV

14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, 16 the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” 17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

As we learned last week — this psalm was an important one for the Jewish people during the week of Passover — the week where they remembered and celebrated their rescue out of Egypt which took place under Moses’ leadership. This is the same week that Jesus entered Jerusalem which led to his crucifixion.

Last week — however — we focused on the shout of the people as Jesus was entering Jerusalem. If you remember — the people were quoting from Psalm 118 when they shouted…

Matthew 21:9 ESV

9 “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Again — that’s old news for us — we saw that last week. The reason why we’re revisiting Psalm 118 is because — not only does it have strong connections to Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem — but it also has equally strong connections to Jesus’ death and resurrection. We’ll look at two and then an implication for all of us.

THE ONE WHO WAS REJECTED

The first connection we’ll look at is to Jesus’ death. In verses 22 and 23 our psalm states…

Psalm 118:22–23 ESV

22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

Some strange language — to be sure. A stone — that’s rejected by a group of builders — who apparently think the stone isn’t worth using — actually is the most important stone in the building project — the cornerstone. But — this rejection of the stone — is God’s plan. Again — strange, vague language.

Let’s see if we can clear this up.

Earlier in his ministry, Jesus told this parable — a parable is a story that’s meant to teach an important lesson.

Mark 12:1–12 NLT

1 Then Jesus began teaching them with stories: “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 2 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. 4 The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him and beat him over the head. 5 The next servant he sent was killed. Others he sent were either beaten or killed, 6 until there was only one left—his son whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’ 7 “But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 8 So they grabbed him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard. 9 “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others. 10 Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. 11 This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’” 12 The religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

You don’t have to know the Bible very well to pick up on — if the religious leaders are the wicked farmers in the story — and given that he quotes our verses from Psalm 118 — which we know are connected to his death — somewhere in this story Jesus must have included himself. And — again — it doesn’t take an advanced degree in the Bible to put two and two together and see that he’s the son in the story — the heir of the master who the wicked servants murder.

Jesus predicted ahead of time the rejection he would experience. For he’s the Son of God and — just like the son of the master in the parable — Jesus would be rejected, and schemed against, and — ultimately — killed. Yet — according to Jesus — this is all the LORD’s doing. Meaning — this is the will of God. Jesus being rejected and killed — though rightfully horrific — in some way is “wonderful to see.” How so?

IS THE ONE WHO LIVES

We find the answer to our question in verse 17 of our psalm.

Psalm 118:17 ESV

17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.

Though murdered on a cross and buried in a borrowed grave — three days later the tomb was empty — for Jesus was not dead — but alive. Just as our psalm says — the One rejected and killed is the One whom death could not keep in the grave.

As you heard read earlier — from Acts — the apostle Peter said…

Acts 10:39–41 ESV

39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

Or — as we read in Luke’s gospel — after his resurrection — while walking with some men on a road leading to the village of Emmaus…

Luke 24:25–27 ESV

25 He (Jesus) said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Jesus recounted for them — not only the deeds of the LORD — but all of the ways the Old Testament was pointing to Jesus and the hope now offered to the world because of what he accomplished in his death and resurrection.

WHAT SONG ARE YOU SINGING?

And what this news of hope is meant to do is stir a reason in each of us to rejoice and sing and be glad because Jesus — the One who was rejected — is now the Lord of our salvation. Beginning in verse 14 of our psalm we read…

Psalm 118:14–16 ESV

14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, 16 the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

I love the picture these verses are meant to bring to our mind. Joyful and joy-filled songs being heard sung from the tents — the homes and houses — of those who are right with God. Songs that proclaim the mighty strength of our saving God. The victory that he’s secured. That our God has triumphed over our enemy. Because the Lord is my strength. He’s my salvation. He’s the song that I sing.

A song that declares there’s nothing better in life than our God. For the One who knows everything about us — our shortcomings, flaws, failures, sin and rebellious ways — is the God who chooses to call us his sons and daughters — even his friends.

A song that praises the One who turns seasons of mourning into reasons for dancing. Who makes beauty out of ashes. Who takes our shame and turns it into glory. And — he does so — because he’s also the God who took a grave — and turned what was a place meant for death — and turned it into a garden — a place where new life would begin for all who turn to the death-defeating Savior.

And it’s this new life that we celebrate and sing about and are to live out — not just on Easter — but all our days — because this new life was made possible because our Savior — Jesus — is not dead — but is alive. Let’s pray

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for life — new life. For knowing everything about us — our failures, flaws, shortcomings, sin, and rebellion — and choosing to love us anyway. What a God you are.

Holy Spirit, I’m sure there are many listening to my voice who are in a season of mourning, of ashes, of shame — of what feels like the grave. Would you do the work that only you can do and turn their mourning into dancing, make beauty out of the ashes, transform their shame into radiant glory, turn their grave into a life-giving garden.

And — Jesus — all of this is possible because you gave your life in love for us. Though we rejected you — you didn’t reject us. Though we crucified you — you did not allow our lust for death to be the final answer — instead you defeated death and our lust for it — and offer us life — new life — everlasting life. For this we thank you, and praise you, and sing songs of salvation in response to all that you’ve done for us. In your name we pray. Amen.

DATE: 4-6-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend — taking a look at the spiritual gifts that Paul mentions in his letter so we all understand what these gifts are and how they’re to be used in our faith family. Now the purpose of the spiritual gifts is something I have and will continue to remind us of: Spiritual gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for ministry, both for the edification of the church and for God’s salvific mission to the world. – Lexham Survey of Theology

Here’s what Paul says about the gifts — in Romans chapter twelve — beginning in verse four. There we read…

Romans 12:4–8 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

We started off by taking two weeks to explore the gift of prophecy. Next, we looked at the gift of service — then the gift of teaching. And — last week — we looked at the gift of exhortation or encouragement. Which means that — today — we’re going to look at the gift of generosity or giving, which Paul mentions in verse eight when he writes…

Romans 12:8b ESV

8b the one who contributes, in generosity;

WHAT IS THE GIFT OF GENEROSITY?

So let’s begin by answering the question, “What is the gift of generosity or giving?” The definition that I shared with you a few weeks ago is…

Giving

The gift of giving is the divine strength or ability to produce wealth and to give by tithes and offerings for the purpose of advancing the Kingdom of God on earth.

You may remember that this is one of my top five spiritual gifts — along with teaching and prophecy — two other gifts we’ve looked at in this series on spiritual gifts.

Now — giving — like many of the other spiritual gifts — is not only a spiritual gift — but is also something God expects of all his people. Like you’ve heard me say about other gifts — just because you don’t have the spiritual gift of giving doesn’t mean you’re off the hook when it comes to the commands about money, wealth, and giving that we find in the Bible.

In fact our vision is that every follower of Jesus — who’s part of this faith family — would be generous. In many ways — collectively as a church — giving or generosity is a spiritual gift that we’re known for. This was long part of Gateway’s DNA before I arrived — but is something I’m happy to continue promoting. Whether it be our Christmas Eve offering — which we give entirely away — or how much of our church budget goes to missions — and specifically to people groups around the world who have little or no access to the gospel — being generous — especially with our resources — is a characteristic of the kind of disciples of Jesus that Gateway is known for.

In fact — I’m reminded of Paul’s words about the Christians in Macedonia — when he writes…

2 Corinthians 8:1–9 ESV

1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. 8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Though experiencing a severe test of affliction and extreme poverty — because of their abundant joy in their Savior — the Christians in Macedonia overflowed in their generosity. Collectively — as a church — each person gave according to their means — because giving is something God expects of all of his people. Yet — many went beyond their means in their giving. And the way Paul applies this to the Christians in Corinth — whom he’s writing to — is by reminding them that — just as they were striving to excel in their faith, speech, knowledge, and so on — to excel in their giving too. Why? Because our generosity proves that our love for God and one another is genuine. What does your generosity say about your love for God and others?

And — if that wasn’t motivating enough — Paul goes on to remind them — and us — of what Jesus gave up for our sake. He left the infinite riches of Heaven and became poor on our behalf. Born — not to a king and queen — but to a poor couple. He lived most of his life dependent on the generosity of others — as we’ll see in a moment. And — when he died — he was buried in a borrowed grave. Jesus did all of this so that — through faith in him — we are made co-heirs with him — those who are promised the infinite riches of Heaven.

EXAMPLES OF THE SPIRITUAL GIFT OF GIVING

But — this isn’t a general sermon on giving — this is a sermon on the spiritual gift of giving. So — let’s look at some possible examples of this spiritual gift in the New Testament. 

There are a few examples — from the life and ministry of Jesus — where we see something like this gift at work. You may have noticed how I keep saying that these may be examples of the gift of giving — and that’s because — in none of these do we find a statement such as “And this was the spiritual gift of giving on display.” But this doesn’t mean there isn’t something we can learn from these examples.

Here’s one from Luke’s gospel. In Luke chapter eight we read…

Luke 8:1–3 ESV

1 Soon afterward he (Jesus) went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

These women — Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna — and some others who are unnamed — financially supported Jesus’ ministry of proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Given that the church today is funded by the generosity of others — it’s interesting to notice how infrequently we hear of how Jesus’ ministry was financially funded. Which is why — when we do come across these passages — we should pay attention.

Jesus — and his twelve disciples — are able to do full time ministry because of the generosity of these women. I’m sure others supported them — gave them food to eat, a place to stay for the night and so on — but these women are highlighted by Luke. In the church today — we prefer to keep the giving of individuals private. Know that this hasn’t always been the case even though it feels “right” or “the only way” to us today. 

Pastor Ben — Gateway’s founding pastor — once told me that the church he grew up in as a boy listed all of the financial givers in the church publicly. And — the list was based on how much an individual gave — with the biggest giver at the top of the list. Obviously, there might be all kinds of bad reasons to put the biggest giver at the top of the list — but think of how our view of giving in the church has changed in pastor Ben’s lifetime?

Yet Luke — inspired by the Holy Spirit — has no qualms mentioning these women by name because of their financial contributions to the ministry of Jesus. Maybe this is to highlight how the Spirit of God worked in and through these women in a special way — through the spiritual gift of generosity — as they supported Jesus and his disciples.

Here’s another possible example — this time we’re in Mark’s gospel. After warning his listener’s about the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of the day…

Mark 12:41–44 ESV

41 He (Jesus) sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

For many of us — just the idea of clearing out our savings account and giving it all away — is beyond comprehension. It’s not that you’re any less of a Christian — you can’t help but think of biblical passages about financial prudence and planning — rightly so. Yet — for some Christians — especially those with the spiritual gift of generosity — it’s not that they aren’t financially prudent or that they fail to plan — the call to give all of their financial resources away is a matter of obedience.

This too — unfortunately — can become a point of division among Christians. Where — those with this gift can view other Christians — who are being faithful in their giving as commanded in Scripture — as if they’re being greedy for not giving more — or all — of their resources away. And — at the same time — those without this spiritual gift can view those with it as being financially irresponsible — which may be the case — but isn’t always the case.

As I mentioned — this is a spiritual gift that makes my top five. My wife also has this gift. At one point in our marriage we were led by God to give away everything in our bank account. Our kids were all in elementary school and younger at the time and — in the eyes of most people — this wasn’t a good time to give everything away. But this was a matter of obedience for us. Was it scary? Absolutely! But we’re never told that following Jesus won’t lead to unusual — or even scary — circumstances in life.

So — we did it. We gave everything in our bank account away. And — within two months — without being solicited or knowing about our decision — other Christians started sending us money. Like thousands of dollars. Now — listen to me very carefully — because I’m no health, wealth, and prosperity preacher — but I am one who preaches about the faithfulness of our God. And he took care of us — I believe — because we were obedient. “Well, Josh, would God have taken care of you if it wasn’t really him telling you to give everything away?” I don’t know — that’s not what happened! But — for us — it was the one time in our marriage where we felt called to do something that — in the eyes of nearly everyone else — seemed crazy. And God showed up in ways we didn’t expect or anticipate.

Like the widow — we didn’t give out of our abundance — though we have done that for most of our marriage — this was an instance of giving everything we had to live on so we could experience — not only dependence upon God to meet our needs — but his faithfulness in supplying all that we needed and more.

Here’s another possible example of the spiritual gift of giving — we’re in Acts chapter four. At this point in church history, the church had grown quickly and the Christians have started to experience persecution. Things haven’t gotten that bad for them yet — but it’s becoming evident that not everyone is going to be open to this new religion. Yet the poor, widows, orphans, and outcasts of society are finding hope in the news about Jesus. And here’s how Luke describes the church in Acts chapter four.

Acts 4:32–37 NLT

32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. 36 For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. 37 He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.

Our focus will be on Barnabas again — we looked at him last week — he’ll later become one of Paul’s companions in ministry. Now Barnabas is obviously not the only Christian being generous — but he’s highlighted in this story which is why we’re focusing on him. He sells some land he owns and gives all of the money to the apostles — the leaders in the church. We’re not told that he sold all of his land — or that he gave all of his wealth away — but he did give all of the money from the sale of this particular plot of land to the church. An act of generosity above and beyond the giving expected of followers of Jesus.

And — if you don’t know — the very next story in Acts is an account of counterfeit generosity. We’ve looked at the story in previous sermons — so we won’t read it now — but it’s the story of a husband and wife — Ananias and Sapphira — who sell a piece of land they owned. And — in wanting to appear to be generous like Barnabas — and the other unnamed individuals — they claim to give all of the proceeds to the church — when — in reality — they kept back some of the money for themselves.

Now — to be clear — they had every right to keep some of the money from the sale of their land — that’s not sinful — which tells us that’s not why they die — spoiler alert — if you don’t know their story. They die because they lie about their generosity. They wanted the accolades for doing what Barnabas did without the sacrifice. Which tells us that the spiritual gift of giving — just like prophecy and teaching and other gifts — has a counterfeit. Meaning — just like we’re warned about false prophets — in the Old Testament — and false teachers — in the New Testament — we’d be foolishly unbiblical to not be aware of people faking generosity in the church for ill intent.

You see — God’s church isn’t to be bought. And people will use wealth and giving as a way to try and buy the direction of a church — or threaten to hold back their giving if they don’t get their way. And God will have none of it — and neither will the elders of Gateway. Thankfully — this isn’t something we deal with often. But giving to God — and his church — isn’t done to get something in return. It’s done because it’s a commandment to obey. And — for those who recognize the beauty in Christ — which we looked at earlier — the desire to control anyone or anything with their giving will be put to death and not an option.

Now something I find conflicting — in regards to the spiritual gift of giving — is that — because giving is something that’s such a private affair among us American Christians — we’re unable to be grateful for those who the Holy Spirit displays himself through this spiritual gift for our good. Think about it. A few weeks ago I named a bunch of different people who the Holy Spirit displays himself through the spiritual gift of serving. The next week I named individuals when I preached on the spiritual gift of teaching. But if I was to start naming folks who display evidence of the spiritual gift of giving in our church — well — things would get weird, wouldn’t it?

And I think that weirdness is less biblical than we realize. Think about the passages we’ve already read. We know the names of the women who financially supported Jesus’ ministry just like we know Barnabas’s name. But I recognize the culture in which we live — so I’ll just suggest that there’s some room for us all to grow in recognizing how to be grateful to specific people among us who the Holy Spirit uses in this way. Not so we show favoritism, but so that we show honor. For all spiritual gifts are needed and all parts of the body are to be honored — and maybe the spiritual gift of giving is one of the parts of the body that Paul called “unpresentable” — but we still need to honor and show thankfulness to those whom the Spirit uses in this way.

Nevertheless, thank you to those among us whom the Spirit of God has empowered with the gift of giving. We’re a more generous church because of the Spirit using you in this way.

CONCLUSION: SOME REMINDERS ABOUT GIVING

I’d like to conclude with some reminders about giving. Though these are some general reminders — for those with the spiritual gift of giving — these are the verses that make your heart sing. And for those who have yet to develop or discover if they’ve been given this spiritual gift — may these verses stir in you a desire to pursue being used by God in this unique way.

On his way to Jerusalem — Paul called for the elders of the church in Ephesus to come and meet with him. He reminds them of what he taught them while he was with them. He warns them about people who will try to lead the church astray. And then he says these final words to the church leaders.

Acts 20:32–35 ESV

32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Final words matter. We don’t just save our best words for last — we save the most important matters for last. And — in his final words to these church leaders in Ephesus — Paul quotes Jesus in saying, “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” Paul used some of his last words to remind these church leaders about giving.

Similarly — years later when Timothy was pastoring this same church in Ephesus — Paul would write to him…

1 Timothy 6:6–19 ESV

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Be watchful of what you desire — for those who desire to be rich will find themselves in eternal ruin and destruction. The love of money leads many away from following Jesus. And those who follow Jesus are to flee from such things. And instead are to pursue righteousness — being right with God — godliness — becoming more like Christ — faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness as we hold firmly to the eternal life we’ve been given.

And — in the age in which we live — we are the “rich in the world.” The least wealthy among us are still rich compared to the vast majority of the world. Thus we’re to take to heart Paul’s command to not set our hope on riches, but on our God who’s so generous that he richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

So do good. Be rich in your good works. Be generous and ready to share with anyone in need. For — in doing so — you will be storing up treasures in Heaven where you will experience God’s presence — and his glorious riches — for all eternity. Let’s pray together.

PRAYER

Father, thank you for being rich in kindness and mercy towards us. For being generous to us by providing us with all we need and infinitely more in Christ.

Spirit, what a unique way you’ve called your people to live. You call all of us to be generous — and yet you empower some of us to display your power through the spiritual gift of giving. This is a gift we need in order to grow into our full maturity in Christ as a congregation. Thank you for those you’ve called and gifted in this way. 

And — Jesus — you left the riches of Heaven to come to earth for our sake. And — because of your love for us — as displayed on the cross — we’ve been made co-heirs with you. Eternal riches will be ours for you have guaranteed this in your blood. 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — generously pour out your favor, grace, mercy, and kindness on those who don’t yet believe in Jesus by drawing them near to you and giving them the gift of eternal life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / ELDERS AVAILABLE)

May you go with grateful hearts for the Spirit’s work in making us a generous people. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 3-30-25

INTRODUCTION

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend — taking a look at the spiritual gifts that Paul mentions in his letter so we all understand what these gifts are and how they’re to be used in our faith family. Now the purpose of the spiritual gifts is something I’ve reminded us of each week: Spiritual gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for ministry, both for the edification of the church and for God’s salvific mission to the world. – Lexham Survey of Theology

Here’s what Paul says about the gifts — in Romans chapter twelve — beginning in verse four. 

Romans 12:4–8 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

We took two weeks to explore the gift of prophecy — followed by a week to look at the gift of service. And — then — last week we looked at the gift of teaching. Which means that today we’re looking at the gift of exhortation, which Paul mentions in verse eight when he writes…

Romans 12:8 ESV

8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation;

WHAT IS THE GIFT OF EXHORTATION?

So let’s begin by answering the question, “What is the gift of exhortation?” The definition I shared with you a few weeks ago is…

Exhortation/Encouragement

The gift of exhortation is the divine strength or ability to strengthen, comfort or urge others to action through the written or spoken word and Biblical truth.

So exhortation and encouragement are related words — though encouragement is a more familiar word to many of us. Yet — though related — the two words do have a slight difference to their definitions. One definition of biblical exhortation is “an urging done by someone close beside.” (Got Questions?) Another is “an urgent recommendation or encouragement to pursue a course of action.” (Logos Factbook)

Whereas biblical encouragement is defined as “giving someone confidence or boldness to do something.” (Logos Factbook) Or as “one person inspiring another person with comfort, counsel, and confidence.” (June Hunt)

So the words have similarities and differences.

Like all spiritual gifts — exhortation is a supernatural ability. In fact — the Greek word translated as exhort or comfort in verse seven — is related to something Jesus promised to us. Let’s see if you can figure out what I’m referring to.

John 14:15–17 ESV

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

What I was referring to is the word “Helper” — which refers to the Holy Spirit. In other places the Holy Spirit is called the “Comforter, Advocate, or Counselor.” I bring this up to remind us — again — that these spiritual gifts are not natural talents or personality traits — but are displays of the Holy Spirit working in and through the people of God. And — with this particular spiritual gift — the work that Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit would do — comfort, advocate, counsel, and so on — is made evident. What an important spiritual gift for the church today.

Now — for me personally — of all of the spiritual gifts — this is the one I currently long for the most. Because — though I can’t say for certain — my guess is that you — like me — love to be around people who have this spiritual gift. Why? Because they’re so encouraging even as they challenge you to grow in your faith and take steps of obedience. When the Holy Spirit displays himself through others in this way — it’s hard to be offended by their correction because you know that you’re being loved. And — if you remember what I said about preaching a few weeks ago — how spiritual gifts come into play as much as an individual’s personality — when I hear others — who have the gift of exhortation teach God’s Word — I just love it and long for more of it in my preaching.

Now — before we go any further with this gift — and its connection with the gift of teaching — which is important — let’s look at some examples of exhortation in Scripture. Think of this as a big overview of the many ways exhortation and encouragement are seen in the Bible. And I know that — for some of us — a bunch of different Bible verses may be hard to follow. If you don’t know — my sermon manuscripts are available on both our church website — gatewayepc.org — and our church app. We make them available so you can follow along with me, go back and look at them for reference in the future, and so on. But — when we talk about topics — like these spiritual gifts — we must see what Scripture as a whole has to say — because often just looking at a verse or two won’t give us the full biblical picture.

Some of these will be examples of how all Christians are to exhort one another — even if we don’t have this particular gift — while others will be examples of this particular spiritual gift at work. 

Now for some examples. In the longest teaching we have from Jesus — his Sermon on the Mount — at one point he says…

Matthew 5:4 ESV

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Most likely the mourning — the sorrow — that Jesus is referring to is due to the condition the nation of Israel was in at the time when he said these words. If you’re unfamiliar with the history of the Jews — the Old Testament records for us a rollercoaster of a relationship between them and God. Now God was steady — he was always faithful to them — yet they — the Jews — would go through seasons of faithfulness and seasons of unfaithfulness. And — many times — the consequence of their unfaithfulness was life in exile — where their land — called the Promised Land — was occupied by other nations. In Jesus’ day it was the Romans. And the Temple — the sacred place of worship for the Jews — was still under construction — because twice it’s been destroyed by occupying nations.

So the people’s mourning and sorrow was due to them being occupied and under the control of Rome. And — the comfort — Jesus speaks of — is the future fulfillment of the Kingdom of God being restored. That’s what many of the Jewish listeners would have understood. 

Yet — some would have also understood this mourning to be a sorrow due to their sin. Others still would have thought of difficult situations they were going through. The beauty of biblical truth is that — though there’s one meaning of the text — those who mourn will be comforted — the applications are many — for countless are the reasons for our sorrow.

Regardless if your sorrow is due to the immoral state of our nation, or a sin you’ve committed that’s caused pain in the lives of others, or is due to the choices an adult child of yours is making — blessed — Jesus says — are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Yes — God himself can and does comfort his people. And — yes — more specifically — the promised Comforter — the Holy Spirit who lives in us — comforts his people when they are in sorrow. But also — yes — the Holy Spirit wants to comfort those who are in mourning through individuals whom he’s empowered with this spiritual gift.

What an intimate call for some among us. To be with people in their hardest moments of life knowing that the Holy Spirit will use you to bring them comfort. Yes — all Christians are called to “weep with those who weep” — but those with this spiritual gift have a way of being a source of encouragement in people’s lives when they need it most.

Here’s another example of exhortation, encouragement, and comfort in the New Testament. We see this in a man named Barnabas. In Acts we read…

Acts 11:19–24 ESV

19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

Due to persecution — the Christians had spread throughout the Roman Empire. Christianity was no longer solely in the hands of the apostles who’d been taught by Jesus. And so these ordinary Christians spread out — yet they keep proclaiming the gospel — for they know that Jesus’ mission for the church was as much for them as it was for the apostles. Yet there’s always been a need to ensure that what’s spreading is the true gospel — for history shows that false gospels and even — “almost the gospels” — spread right alongside the true gospel. So Barnabas — an early church leader — goes to check in on these Christians who’ve been dispersed because of the persecution in Jerusalem. And look at what he does when he finds these faithful ordinary Christians doing the Lord’s work. 

He’s glad — he rejoiced because of what they were doing. And he exhorted them — he encouraged them and urged them to remain faithful in the work they were doing. And — because of their faithfulness and Barnabas’ exhortation — a great many more people believed in Jesus.

Again — that’s my dream role in the church. To show up and — not be viewed like a health inspector showing up to surprise a restaurant or a Bible referee ready to call fouls when you answer a question in Life Group when I’m visiting — but am there to encourage you to keep doing the good work of the Lord that you’re doing. Yes — people need to be corrected when they err. Yes — instruction is important. Yes — doctrine matters. But — more often than not — people just need some encouragement. That’s what Barnabas was able to give to these Christians.

When I was brand new to working in the church — I was on staff of a large church where I oversaw adult discipleship — in our church, think membership class, equip classes, and our Life Groups. There was a man in the church — Wayne Detzler — who was in his 70’s at the time. He had multiple advanced degrees — including a PhD. He’d worked at multiple seminaries, was the president of a seminary at the time, had been a missionary overseas in Asia, and was part of Billy Graham’s team back in the day. And I — well — I had a jazz saxophone degree, no seminary education, and a lot to learn in my late 20’s. 

Wayne asked me to co-teach an adult class with him. We went through books of the Bible verse by verse teaching a class of about a hundred people. And all I remember from that time is Wayne encouraging me. We both knew — he especially knew — that I had a ton to learn. Yet that’s not what Wayne focused on. Instead he encouraged me, and encouraged me, and encouraged me to keep teaching, to keep studying, to keep preparing for the class. 

We were in a small group together and he let me lead. We went through Ephesians and — when we finished the book — Wayne gave me a copy of the book he’d written on Ephesians. He waited until after we were finished to tell me he’d written a book on what we’d been discussing. And — on the inside page — Wayne wrote, “Thank you for leading our group into a deeper understanding of Ephesians.”

It’s not an exaggeration to say that I wouldn’t be here today if it hadn’t been for the Holy Spirit using Wayne to exhort me in being faithful to the work God had for me to do.

I wonder how many Wayne’s there are among us? People with this spiritual gift who the Holy Spirit wants to use to encourage others — especially the next generation — so they remain faithful to the work God’s called them to.

Later on in Acts there’s a theological controversy that the church has to deal with. The leaders of the church gather in Jerusalem, discuss the issue, and come to a conclusion on the matter. And they send their conclusion in the form of a letter to the church in Antioch by way of Paul, Barnabas, Judas, and Silas. After the letter was read to the Christian in Antioch, we read…

Acts 15:32 ESV

32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.

Remember that one purpose of all spiritual gifts is the strengthening of the church. And these two men — Judas and Silas — who we also see were prophets — encouraged the Christians in Antioch — and strengthened them.

In the apostle Paul’s life we find moments like…

Acts 20:1–2 ESV

1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

After a riot in Ephesus — where a large crowd would’ve killed Paul without thinking twice about it — Paul wanted to make sure that he encouraged the Christians who lived there before he departed from their city. I bet they needed some encouragement, right? That’s a hostile city to live in as a Christian. Thus the Holy Spirit used Paul to strengthen the resolve of those who’d continue to live there and fulfill the ministry Jesus had called them to.

And — in my mind — what may be one of the clearest displays of the supernaturalness of this gift — while on a ship at sea that’s caught in a deadly storm and everyone on the boat assumes they’re going to die…

Acts 27:33–34 ESV

33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”

Due to Paul’s exhortation in the middle of raging seas — the men listened — and not one of them died — they all made it to shore. In times of chaos and uncertainty — a word of exhortation — the Holy Spirit speaking through someone — can bring a peace that surpasses all understanding — a powerful word that may even result in the lives of many being saved. 

What a spiritual gift to be appreciated and thankful for — that God the Holy Spirit chooses to use some among us in such a powerful way.

Though it shouldn’t surprise us that the Holy Spirit would display his power through some of us in this way. After all, Scripture does say…

2 Corinthians 1:3–6 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

I wonder if Paul was thinking of Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount — that we read earlier — when he wrote these words. That our God will provide supernatural comfort to his people when we experience affliction and suffering. For sufferings are guaranteed to come. There’s no escaping heartache in this world cursed by sin. We’re in a spiritual war with an enemy who’s afflicted saints in the past — go read the first two chapters of Job if you don’t know his story — and the man whose words we just read — Paul — is the one who said with confidence…

Acts 20:22–24 ESV

22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Dear Christian, you can face affliction, uncertainty, persecution, and sorrow with confidence if you live under the authority of the Word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God. And — even more so — you don’t have to do this alone — you can’t do it alone. For the Spirit of God empowers others with his gift of exhortation and encouragement to strengthen you in the hard days of life.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

And…

Hebrews 3:13 ESV

13 Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

And…

2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV

11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

EXHORTATION AND GOD’S WORD

Before we look at how we should respond — I want to remind us again of our discipleship value of being Word and Spirit Christians here at Gateway. For we want to be followers of Jesus who live under the authority of the Word of God — the Bible — as we live empowered by the Spirit of God — including the Spirit’s gifts.

And the spiritual gift of exhortation has a strong connection with God’s Word — especially to our obedience of God’s Word. For example, in the gospel of Luke we read…

Luke 3:18 ESV

18 So with many other exhortations he (John the baptist) preached good news to the people.

John was preparing the way for Jesus. He preached repentance — turn from your sins — and faith — turn to the living God. He called people to respond to the Word of God and he did so with many exhortations.

Or Peter — in the first sermon he preached — after quoting from the prophet Joel — which we looked at weeks ago — we read this…

Acts 2:40 ESV

40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

Peter calls the people to respond to the Word he just preached to them. By exhorting them — he encouraged them — to respond to the Word.

Or as Paul began the chapter of Romans we’re in with the words…

Romans 12:1 ESV

1 I appeal to (I exhort or encourage) you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

As you heard me say before — because of all the theology Paul taught in the first eleven chapters of Romans — he now appeals to us — he exhorts us — he encourages us to make Jesus look glorious through how we live because of what we believe.

Later he writes these words.

Romans 16:17 ESV

17 I appeal to (again, I exhort or encourage) you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

Words to be obeyed — not just then — but even in our day. 

Or that — pastors today — like Timothy — should…

1 Timothy 4:13 ESV

13 …devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

Look at how the Word is to be my central focus as a pastor. Reading the Bible. Exhorting others to obey the Bible. Teaching the Bible. 

The Spirit gives these gifts — all of the spiritual gifts — not to contradict the Word of God — but to help us live more faithfully to the Word of God.

RESPOND LIKE JESUS

Now — as we close our time looking at the spiritual gift of exhortation — I want to exhort all of you — appeal to you — and encourage you to respond to exhortation like Jesus did. For the Savior you follow — if you believe in Jesus — responded to the exhortation of others in this way.

Mark 1:40–41 ESV

40 And a leper came to him, imploring him (exhorting Jesus), and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”

In response to the exhortation of this leper — Jesus — moved with pity — full of compassion and love for this man — touched the untouchable — and healed him.

Or — when a ruler of the synagogue — a man named Jairus — approached Jesus, and fell at his feet…

Mark 5:23–24 ESV

23 and implored him (exhorted him) earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he (Jesus) went with him.

In response to this desperate father — Jesus — went with him and healed his daughter. 

Another time — after returning from Tyre and Sidon and arriving in the region of the Decapolis — some people…

Mark 7:32 ESV

32 brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him (they exhorted him) to lay his hand on him.

And in response to their exhortation — Jesus healed the man. 

Or when Jesus and his disciples…

Mark 8:22 ESV

22 …came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him (exhorted him) to touch him.

Jesus — responding to their exhortation — touched the blind man and healed him.

If the Savior we follow could humble himself — stoop down to our level — and respond to our exhortations — our begging and pleading and desperate cries — how much more so should we respond to the Spirit of God when he exhorts us through our fellow Christians that he’s empowered with the gift of exhortation? 

What a blessing this spiritual gift is for us. And what a blessing — and what an important part of our faith family — are those whom the Spirit displays himself through this gift. For the Spirit does so for our good and for Jesus’ glory. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, as we’ve been reminded — you’re the God of all comfort who comforts us in our afflictions so we might comfort those afflicted. Comfort your people. And use us to comfort one another.

Holy Spirit, you’re the promised Comforter who lives in the people of God — giving us a peace that surpasses all understanding. Give us this peace, we ask.

And Jesus, you’re the One who calmed the raging seas with a spoken command. Though your disciples were scared for their lives — you spoke a word and creation obeyed. Speak to us and lead us to obey.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — fill us with your words of exhortation and encouragement for the good of others and for your glory. Specially anoint many in this faith family of ours with the spiritual gift of exhortation. And — right now — through me — call some to believe in Jesus — to respond to the most encouraging words they will ever hear: You are loved by God. 

We pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.