Sins atoned and Heavens gained because of Calvary's
love. Thank you, Christina, for singing this
morning of that wonderful love of God. Would
you open your Bible with me please to Romans
chapter 15, where we find a text of Scripture
that we'll use as a basis for our thinking this
morning about the good gifts of God. We'll begin
reading in verse 5 of Romans 15 where it says,
to the glory of God. Seeking acceptance is a
normal drive for most people, and I do mean a
drive. We desire for others to accept us, and
it's amazing what we are willing to do so that
we feel we are accepted. We want to feel worthy.
We want to feel like we fit in, that others aren't
rejecting us. And so some of us change the way
that we look, the way that we talk, the places
we go, how we think, sometimes even the standards
that we live by. Because we have a drive, a need
to be accepted by other people. All of us have
experienced at one time or another the pain rejection.
And we learn to develop defense mechanisms to
try to avoid that pain. Rejection is destructive.
In 1952 there was a probation officer in New
York who tried to find an organization that would
take care of a 12 year old boy. Although this
boy had a religious background, he could find
no organization, including major denominational
groups, that were willing to take him in. The
probation officer, a Mr. Carroll, wrote, his
case was reported to me because he had been a
truant. I tried for a year to find an agency
that would care for this needy youngster. Neither
Catholic, Protestant, nor Jewish institutions
would take him because he came from a denomination
they did not recognize. I could do nothing constructive
for him." Well, if only the principles of Christian
love had been applied to that young man in the
Bronx back in 1952, history might have been written
differently. For the name of that twelve -year
-old boy was Lee Harvey Oswald. Rejection is
destructive, and once it destroys the individual,
it works through the individual to destroy the
society in which he or she lives. Many people
are afraid to come to God because they're afraid
of the ultimate rejection. They are fearful that
God may reject them. Sometimes that's an emotional
fear that comes out of a rejection in the past
by some authority figure, a parent perhaps, or
a teacher, or someone significant in the life.
And that emotional feeling carries over to God.
And so people are afraid that God, the ultimate
authority, may also reject them. Sometimes it
comes out of a sense of guilt. There is a personal
unworthiness that is felt. And because of that
and the knowledge that God is good and God is
holy, a person may be afraid to come to God out
of fear of rejection. Sometimes that fear of
rejection arises because of a misperception of
what God is like. For some see God as stern,
as angry. as distant. The story is told in one
of Spurgeon's books about a minister in his day
in England who went to take some money to a woman
in his congregation who was exceedingly poor.
With the sum of money in his hand he went to
her door one Friday and knocked on the door,
but no one came. Believing, because of what he
could hear and sense, that she was there, he
knocked again, and still no one came. He continued
knocking, and finally left, believing that indeed
she must not be at home. Well, that Sunday he
saw this dear lady, and he went up to her and
said, I came by your house on Friday to bring
some money because I knew that you were in need.
And she said, oh, what time did you come? And
he said, well, I was there about noon. She said,
I heard you knocking, but I was afraid it was
the landlord coming for his rent. And thus she
did not go to the door and receive what she might
have had. Some people are that way with God.
They feel God knocking in the heart. and they're
afraid to go to the door because they don't understand
who God is or what he wants to give. Acceptance
is a good gift which God gives to those who come
to him in humble and honest faith. What a wonderful
gift God desires to give to each of us. Acceptance.
Acceptance in the sense of receiving with approval.
Not receiving with conditions. Not letting in
the front door, but just wait there until you
drip dry. No, God receives all the way. God embraces.
God welcomes. That's the kind of acceptance we're
dealing with. This kind of acceptance is not
an unemotional acceptance. Indeed, the Scriptures
tell us that in heaven there is joy among the
angels every time someone comes to Jesus Christ
in faith and is accepted by God. It is an emotional
thing in heaven and it is on the earth as well.
Acceptance with God is provided by Jesus Christ.
In the text read earlier in the service, Ephesians
chapter 2, it said, but now in Christ Jesus,
in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off
have now been brought near by the blood of Christ.
That verse points out the basic problem we're
dealing with this morning, and that is the barrier
that separates us from God. Yes, indeed, there
is a barrier that separates us from God. It is
a legal claim that is issued against us because
we are criminals in God's universe. We have transgressed
the moral law of God. And because of that, there
is an issue between us and Him. It is an issue
of sin. in our hearts. The sinfulness of the
human heart and the human will hinders our acceptance
by a righteous and holy God. Because God must
punish sin. God is a holy God and he must punish
sin while at the same time he desperately loves
us. and desires to accept us. It seems to put
God in a dilemma of sorts, doesn't it? On the
one hand, there is an issue and a barrier between
us. On the other hand, He desires with all of
His heart to reach out with His arms and receive
us. That brings us to God's provision. Because
God Himself squarely confronted the legal claim
against us. On the one hand, it was a claim that
He enforced as a holy judge. On the other hand,
it is a claim that He Himself dealt with as a
loving Savior. Because God loves us and desires
to spare us of the punishment that we deserve,
He provided Jesus Christ as a substitute to bear
our punishment. That's why it says in Ephesians
2, You've been brought near by the blood of Christ.
That blood that Jesus shed on the cross was the
blood of sacrifice on behalf of others. Not dying
for his own sin, he had none. He died for the
sin of the world. And it is by that blood, the
price, the substitutionary sacrifice, that God
has dealt with the sin issue so that now he can
righteously receive us and accept us. That brings
us to the crucial point of appropriation. Our
acceptance becomes personal. That is, it is my
personal experience to be accepted by God. when
I as a person repent of my sin and place my trust
in Jesus Christ alone for my pardon from the
transgressions I have made against the law of
God. It becomes my personal experience when I
repent of my sinfulness and I turn to Jesus Christ
alone and place my faith in Him. In doing so,
I receive a pardon from God, a pardon for the
crimes against him, a pardon for the transgressions
that I've committed against his law. In his book
Peace Child, Don Richardson records a moving
account of how he and his family discovered the
key to unlock the hearts of the Sawi people in
Irian Jaya. As they got into that culture and
began to preach the gospel to them, they began
to realize that there was a cultural barrier
to those people understanding God's gift of His
Son, the sacrifice on their behalf. Because in
their culture, any demonstration of kindness
was viewed with suspicion and distrust. If one
person or one family did something kind for another
person or another family, the immediate response
was suspicion. How do you explain God's kindness
toward us in Christ to a people whose whole culture
says any kindness is to be viewed from a distance
and with distrust? Until the day, as you know,
that they discovered a cultural secret. a key
to that culture. That was a tradition among the
Sawi people that if a father gave his own son
to his enemy, that sacrificial deed proved that
that father could be trusted. And immediately
when they learned that tradition among the people,
they saw the parallel to what God had done for
us, giving His Son. The tradition also said that
anyone in the village who touched the head of
that peace child, anyone who touched the child
would be identified with that child and would
have from that point on friendly relationships
with the Father who gave the Son to that village.
What a beautiful picture God built into that
culture of what he would do through Jesus Christ.
Anyone who comes to Jesus Christ and by faith
as it were touches him is immediately brought
into a loving relationship with God. A relationship
of acceptance. Acceptance with God is provided
by Christ, but we see something else in our text.
that acceptance with God requires my acceptance
and your acceptance of other believers. I come
back to our text in Romans 15 and verse 7, accept
one another just as Christ also accepted us.
Accept one another. What is the basis for this
command? It is just simply this. that one who
has been forgiven by God and accepted, embraced
by God cannot any longer rightly reject another
whom God also has accepted. And so he says, accept
one another. Now obviously he is not talking
about situations where there is moral compromise.
He is not saying that we are to accept others
who are in doctrinal heresy or false teaching.
He is saying that within the family of God there
is to be an acceptance. Just as we have been
accepted by God, we are to accept others. And
often that acceptance requires forgiveness. It
may be that there's a husband and wife here this
morning who are going through this kind of a
crisis. And right now, because of the failure
of one or the other in some issue, there is not
a full acceptance on the part of the spouse.
We need to deal with what the Word of God says
to us here. That where there is forgiveness and
there is acceptance by God, there is to be full
forgiveness and acceptance by us as well. There
ought to be no issue that arises within our marriage
relationships that causes us to separate from
one another To hold the spouse off until the
spouse proves himself. Aren't you glad that God
doesn't do that with us? And yet there are husbands
that do that to wives and wives to do that to
husbands God says to us in our homes accept one
another Just as Christ accepted us with forgiveness
and compassion and understanding accept one another.
This application is especially important, too,
I think, in blended families. I was a part of
a blended family 25 years before the term was
known. I didn't know I was until years later.
But my mother, who was widowed, married again.
And we became, at that point, a blended family.
I had a stepfather. Well, I can tell you in my
own experience that it was very easy to accept
him. Wonderful Christian man. It was no problem
for me as a teenager at 15 to welcome this man
into our home. It frankly took a lot of pressure
off of me. I didn't have to be the head of the
house any longer as the 15 -year -old. But sometimes
that is a problem, especially when there are
other children involved and there's a blended
sibling relationship, not just a blended parental
relationship. We need to learn to accept one
another and realize that though people come out
of different traditions and different backgrounds,
if Jesus Christ has accepted them and forgiven
them, We can learn to do that too in our blended
family relationships. But obviously the direct
application of this is to the Church of Christ.
For here we are a blended family as well. We
come out of many different backgrounds, lots
of different ideas here. We are to learn to accept
one another in our differences, which are superficial
and non -essential. I appreciated the prayer
of Steve Hinkle this morning when he asked that
God would enable us to reach out to those who
are from different ethnic backgrounds or racial
backgrounds. There is no place in the family
of God for discrimination and prejudice and bias
based upon those kinds of things. We are to accept
one another just as Christ has accepted us. The
purpose of this is that the body of Jesus Christ
might be unified. He talks about that at the
end of verse 5. Notice he says that God would
grant you to be of the same mind with one another
according to Christ Jesus. In other words, we're
to all be tuned in to Christ Jesus. And as we
are, we'll be of the same mind. We'll be listening
to the same person, to the same voice. Let's
suppose this morning that every one of you had
a transistor radio and it was hooked into your
ear. And there may be someone here listening
to what's happening in one of the sports drafts
and there's somebody else listening to Top 40
and somebody else who's listening to a Christian
station and somebody else who's listening to
a classical station. My, though we'd be here
together in one place, we're all listening to
something different. He says be of the one mind
with one another according to Christ Jesus. That's
where you tune on the dial. Christ Jesus. And
he says in verse 6, that with one accord you
may with one voice glorify God. So you see it's
oneness that this acceptance is purpose to prove.
oneness of mind, oneness of heart. We are to
be careful that we be not divided by listening
to other voices, but to the voice of Christ Jesus.
You say, well pastor, all of that's good theory.
That's a nice idea, but how do you live that
out? How am I supposed to accept this brother
in Christ or this sister in Christ or how am
I supposed to accept my wife or my husband under
these circumstances when he or she thinks that
way or does this or that? How do we learn to
accept one another? By the power of God. Acceptance
doesn't come naturally to us. What comes naturally
is rejection. That's why it's so prevalent in
the world. Acceptance comes when we ask God to
give it to us. Notice what he calls God in verse
5. The God who gives perseverance and encouragement.
The God who gives what we need so that we can
accept one another. He gives in the first place
perseverance. The word means to abide under a
load. Whenever I think of this word I think of
the picture of Atlas, who stands there with his
neck bowed and on his shoulders the world sits,
according to mythology. But he bears up under
that load. God calls us to bear up under the
load of accepting one another, and he gives us
the perseverance, the endurance to do it. And
frankly, it takes endurance to accept others
who are different over the long haul. It does.
It doesn't happen easily. And we all fail at
times. We come short of accepting like we should.
But God gives us perseverance so that we can.
God also gives us encouragement, it says here
in our text. The word encouragement is this word
parakaleo or paraclete. It's that word for comforter
in John where the Holy Spirit is called our comforter,
our helper. It means to call along beside someone
else, a helper. God says, I will come alongside
you and give you what you need. I'll give you
encouragement. I think of a coach when I think
of this word. A coach who comes alongside the
player and whispers in the ear words of encouragement.
I've got a son who is playing Little League.
And I've appreciated particularly one of the
fathers who's coaching that team. Oh, he's kind
of a loud guy. And just if he yelled at you,
you'd stop and shake a little bit because he's
just got one of those voices that penetrates.
But when he yells at the boys, he doesn't yell
unkind things. But when they get up to bat, he
says, come on now John, you're a hitter. Get
it out there. You're a hitter. Every boy in that
team's a hitter. And some of them haven't hit
the ball yet. But they're hitters. Why? Because
the coach says they are. He's there to encourage
them. He's there to pat them on the rear end
when they need it. God says, I'll give you encouragement.
I'm going to be with you. I'll be along beside
you as you learn to accept others who are different
than you are. I'll give you the endurance and
I'll give you the encouragement. Our motive for
doing this, it says in verse 6, is the glory
of God. He says, may God grant the sameness of
mind, this oneness to you. to the glorify God
and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept
one another, he says. The glory of God is to
be our motive. What a great motive. Not to glorify
ourselves, not to boast, and look what a broad
-minded, wonderful person I am. But for the glory
of God, we learn to accept others who may be
different than us in some respect. If Jesus Christ
has accepted them, we are commanded, we are required
by God to accept them as well. The Church of
Jesus Christ is to be a place where people belong.
I don't watch the program because I don't care
for some of the insinuations, situations that
arise within it. But the program Cheers is a
very popular one. And the theme song for a while
was very popular. And the reason is because in
that theme song they talk about what a bar is
like. And the basic thrust of it is that when
you go there, people accept you for who you are.
The fact is, if there's any place in the world
that ought to be like a bar in that respect,
it's a church. Where we belong and where we are
accepted in Jesus Christ in spite of our shortcomings,
In spite of our superficial differences, in spite
of our weaknesses and our feelings, it's there
that we ought to be accepted. And that's the
kind of a church we want to build here, where
there is acceptance of others whom God has accepted.
What is your attitude toward other believers
today? Other believers who are different now.
I know it's great to accept people who are like
you People who think like you do and therefore
are right It's easy to accept people who are
right, but what about those who are wrong just
plain wrong in some of the things they think
If Jesus Christ has accepted them were to accept
I Wonder who it may be in your circle of associates
friends, a family, who today needs a hug from
you, an emotional hug at least, saying, I accept
you in Christ Jesus. Just the way you are. You
don't have to do anything to improve. You don't
have to jump through this hoop. You don't have
to live up to this standard. I accept you just
the way you are. Is it your wife who needs that?
Is it your husband, your parent, your child,
a friend? Accept one another just as Jesus Christ
has accepted you. Have you been accepted by Jesus
Christ? Do you know that you have? You say, well,
I hope I have. Dear friend, you can know you've
been accepted by Jesus Christ. Hope so salvation
is not good enough needs to be a no -so salvation
Have you been accepted by him? you see the question
can be Answered by another question that would
say have you accepted God's offer of pardon?
It is when you and I repent of our sin and trust
in Jesus Christ That we accept God's offer of
pardon and when that issue of sin has been settled,
then God accepts us without question in Christ.
In Christ He accepts us. The story is told about
a situation that arose when Andrew Jackson was
president of the United States. A man was given
a court trial and was found guilty and condemned
to die. But for whatever reasons, President Jackson
offered to that man a pardon. And the condemned
man refused the pardon, choosing rather to die.
Prison authorities, the Attorney General of the
United States, and many others, earnestly endeavored
to convince this man to accept the pardon. They
tried to impress upon him the fact that it would
not only spare his life, But if he didn't accept
the pardon, it would be an insult to the President
of the United States. But the man persisted.
Finally, the Attorney General took the matter
to the United States Supreme Court and asked
them if they could not force this man to receive
the pardon that the President had offered him.
The court ruled that, in fact, the pardon was
merely a printed piece of paper. until the man
accepted it. And he went to death. So God offers
you a pardon today because of the blood of Jesus
Christ. Will you accept his pardon? Let's pray
together. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed.
As you sit there, I wonder, have you accepted
the pardon? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ
for your salvation? If not, would you do it at
this very moment? Just tell God that you know
that you need to be pardoned and you receive
the one he offers in Christ because of his death
for you. And if that is your decision, will you
let us know? Give me a call this week at the
office and say, Pastor, on Sunday I accepted
that pardon from God. I'd love to talk with you
about that. Most of us have accepted that pardon
who are here this morning. The question is then,
having been accepted by God, Are we accepting
others in Christ? Father, I pray that there may
be a desire in the heart of every one of us who
is a Christian to be as wide open in our reception
of others in Christ as you are. Forgive us when
we allow petty differences opinions to bring
division. When we are prejudiced or biased because
of superficial things that do not matter, but
teach us in our families, in our homes, in our
church, in our relationships, to obey your word
and to accept one another just as your son. has
accepted us to the glory of your name. Amen.