Welcome to Mill Creek Church in Belleville, Texas, where our worship service is in progress. Today, Pastor Monty Byrd continues with his sermon series on the Book of Romans. And now, Pastor Byrd. Join me in prayer, please. Lord, as we approach your word this morning and continue our study of Romans, I just pray that you would open up our hearts and minds to your truth, that we would embrace your word and apply it to our life. In Jesus' name, amen. We're in the 15th chapter of Romans. Last week, we were in verse 5. We're going to expand that a little bit. We're going to be in verses 5 through 7. And if you recall from last week, Our subject matter was unity. And Paul here in the 15th chapter is instructing the church, specifically the strong believer, to live in unity with the new and less mature believer. And in fact, this is how he opens up the 15th chapter. In 15.1 it reads, we then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak and not to please ourselves. And let me put a caveat to that as I have throughout the 14th and the 15th chapter. This isn't regarding sin. You can misread 14 and 15 horribly. if you read it in the fact that we acquiesce to sin. That's not what this is about. These are two groups of people that are both pursuing Christ. The weak believers, and in our specific example of the Roman church, of both the Jewish believer that's new and having trouble not giving up Saturday Sabbath, as well as the Gentile believer who's having trouble with their idolatrous past and the consumption of idol meats. They both are in pursuit of God. And so 14 and 15 have to be read within that context. that all the people in unison in the church are pursuing God in how to best live their life according to the teachings and truth of God. And he tells the strong believer to bear with the scruples of the week. The benchmark isn't our neighbor, it isn't our Sunday school teacher, it's not our pastor, the standard, the benchmark is Jesus Christ. And you can see that in verse 3 of Romans 15, for Paul wrote, for even Christ did not please himself. Let's stress that, for even Christ did not please himself. But as it is written, the reproaches, those who reproached you fell on me, for whatever things were written before were written for our learning. that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded towards one another according to Christ Jesus. So here Paul is telling us that are mature in the faith to bear with the scruples of the week. And our benchmark is Jesus Christ. And as I preached so far through Romans 15, I've made this comment that unity isn't unity for unity's sake. Unity has a purpose. And if you look at verse five and six, it tells us what that purpose is. In verse five, it says, now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded towards one another according to Christ Jesus. that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another just as Christ also received us to the glory of God. The purpose of unity, the ultimate purpose of unity is to glorify God. And that glorification of God built upon unity is through a cohesive doctrinal truth. In other words, as I mentioned last week, unity does not mean that we are all buddies. And in fact, for the people that have that view, that I'm going to be best friends with everybody in the church. That is absolutely unrealistic. Now, I have to say that we have a loving congregation, but we also are from all different backgrounds, different generations, different past. We're unique individuals, right? We all have different aspects of things that we like, things that we don't like. It's just normal. And to sit there and think that we're all going to come together in unity, the definition of unity is that we're all best friends. That's not realistic. And that's not scriptural. Unity is built upon the teachings and truth of Jesus Christ and that unification of belief. We all come together and when we're unified upon the teachings and truth of Jesus Christ, we glorify God. You and me and the Father and the Son are one. And in fact, you see that in the Lord's prayer in the garden of Gethsemane in John chapter 17. Join me there. John 17, starting in verse 20. And this is what Jesus is praying in the 20th verse. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. That all may be what? One. That all may be one. As you, Father, are in me, and I in you. That they also may be one in us. That the world may believe that you sent me. and the glory which you gave me, I have given them, and they may be one just as we are one." See what just happened there? Unity and glorification are tied together in the Father and in the Son. We are called to be one. And we are one when we believe the teachings and truth of Jesus Christ. And as we come together, and as the teachings and truth of Jesus Christ are across every generation, every economic class, every age, every background, but we with one mouth and one voice lift up the teachings and truth of Jesus Christ, we have unity. And through that unity, we glorify God. He goes on in verse 23, I in them and you in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. When the church is on the same doctrinal page, we are a strong and mighty voice to deliver the gospel to a lost and dying world. And that's the problem that we have now in our society. There has never been more fragmentation across denominational lines than what we have right now. And in fact, we have apostasy in some segments of denominations. That's not unity. Unity is truth. It's standing on the truth and teachings of Jesus Christ. And when we have that unity, we glorify God. Now, we're gonna spend some time on glorification. What does it mean to glorify God? Now, in the original Greek, the word for glory is doxa. Now, can you think of a hymn that starts off with doxa? It's doxology, isn't it? You're singing to glorify God. It's a hymn to glorify God. And we're going to spend a lot of time, because I think it's very important since that is our chief end, right, to glorify God. We're going to spend some time on what it means to glorify God. However, I want to make this point, and I'd like to begin with this particular idea as we spend more than one Sunday on this concept. Non-Christians are not unfamiliar with this concept of glory. Let's stop right there. The concept of glory. However, it's not pointed to God, it's self-glorification. And there's the difference between people that know Jesus Christ and people that don't know Jesus Christ. The natural man is into self-glorification. After Jesus healed the blind man at the pool of Bethesda, If you recall in that story, the Jews were furious that he had healed on the Sabbath. And Jesus responded in John chapter five, verse 41 in this way. He says, I do not receive honor from men, but I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my father's name and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe who receives honor from one another and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? How can you believe who receive honor from one another and do not seek the honor that comes only from God? Self-glorification. That's the difference or should be the difference between the saved and the unsaved. All men are guilty of self-glorification. And you can see this exacerbated in the society that we live in today because we live in a day of celebrity, don't we? Of self-promotion. And it has invaded every single aspect of our life. It's invaded our politics. It's invaded our institutions. It's everywhere. And now that we have TikTok and Reels and everybody has a camera, everybody's into it. Look at me. Look at me. It is self-glorification. And in fact, if you turn to Galatians 5, starting in verse 19, Paul outlines the works of the flesh. And in verse 19 it reads, Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murderers, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in times past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, as you look at that particular group of verses, let's start with verse 20. Look through those verses and identify Which works of the flesh specifically deal with self-glorification? I think you could underline contentions, because after all, if you are contentious, you're about your way, right? I am more important than you are. That's what happens when we're contentious. we're fighting for our quote-unquote rights, correct? Jealousies, if you're jealous, you're jealous because somebody has something that you think makes them look better than you. Selfish ambitions, dissensions, envy, I think if we look at these in detail, we would all agree that these things have to deal with someone promoting themselves. It's the works of the flesh. And Paul tells us that if this is your nature, those who practice such things, if this is your nature, you will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now that's profound. If you really think about it, if you can be defined by your dissension, if you can be defined by the fact that you are a divisive person, it's just illustrating the fact that you've not been transformed by Jesus Christ. Because if you think about what the gospel of Jesus Christ is about, it's about not only forgiveness, but it's also about regeneration, isn't it? As I've said a million times, salvation isn't your token that you put in your pocket for heaven to be used when you get there. Salvation is about abiding with the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we are abiding with Jesus Christ, he transforms us. And we migrate from the works of the flesh to the fruits of the spirit. And those things that we fought so vehemently before as a lost person aren't important to us anymore. But the natural man is about self-glorification. And in fact, you can even see examples of religious in quotes, religious people promoting oneself. Turn with me to the 18th chapter of Luke, starting in verse nine. It reads, also he, referring to Jesus, spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Let's just, before we get to the parable, it tells us where he's going with that. They trusted in themselves. that they were righteous and despised others. And then Jesus gives us the parable starting in verse 10. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers. or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the tax collector standing afar off would not as much raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Now, the Pharisee, He was a, quote, religious person, wasn't he? A religious person. And I don't know if you catch this as you read these verses, but in verse 11, it said the Pharisee prayed with himself. In other words, he wasn't going anywhere, was it? He was all in the self. And he was using the tax collector. to promote himself. The tax collector was a tool, or we might say in our modern language, a prop. He was using the tax collector as a prop to make himself look good. It's something that we have to be aware of, that we as believers, should not be promoting self. And I think that's the great temptation of the day. And we'll get to that in more detail later on. But you see it in lost people. You see it specifically with religious people as a specific example, as I gave you here. And then you also see it with false teachers. Paul dealt with this in the Corinthian church. In 2 Corinthians 10, verse 12, and I used this verse earlier on in our study of Romans, and it's kind of wordy, and you have to read it a little bit slow and think about it. But in 2 Corinthians 10, 12, as Paul is dealing with false teachers who are promoters, And in fact, if we think about some of the charlatans that we see in televangelists today, they're promoters, right? They have their name on the side of the church. It's not their church. Well, it may be their church. The church is Jesus's church. It's his church. It's not our church. And as Paul dealt with these false teachers, look at what he said in verse 12. For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they measuring, talking about the false teacher, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us, a sphere which especially includes you. For we are not overextending ourselves, as though our authority did not extend to you, For it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ, not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in another man's labors, but having hope that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's sphere of accomplishment. But He who glories, let him glory in the Lord. For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends. Compare ourselves with others. You could say that's a benchmark, right? We use benchmarking all the time. And the false teacher, The self-promoter is using themselves as the benchmark. When you use yourself as the benchmark, you always pass, don't you? And one of the things that we need to be careful of as we look out into a society that is clearly in decay, it's so easy to look out and say, Man, I'm doing pretty good. I'm doing good. But that's what the Pharisee did. The Pharisee used the tax collector as the prop. Look at that guy. God, look at that guy and look at me. I'm doing good. That's not the benchmark. Do you remember in school, and I'm sure you can relate to this, you probably had a teacher at some point as a student that loved to give quizzes. I hated that. And I remember I had this teacher that gave a daily quiz, just the way you'd like to start class. And then she would let you self-grade your quiz. And you would turn in the grade. And I had some buddies that, in the process of self-grading, always had a really good grade, as they graded themselves. And I was quite incensed by this. I'm sure you're not surprised. I'm mad because I'm worried about my own grade. One day after class, I approached her and I said, look, I'm not going to call any names here, but I'm really upset as we self-grade, that there are some people that are always giving themselves a good grade. And she said, Monty, you got to understand, Your daily quizzes are really insignificant with your overall grade. It's the major tests that are important. And she said, these kids are just cheating themselves. They have a false sense of assurance. Well, I don't know if that really made me feel any better, but I recognized the truth that was in that. Self-benchmarks are always easy. If I want to self-benchmark myself or give myself a test compared to a neighbor or a derelict, I'm always going to pass. And in fact, you can see that in witnessing. And as I've used this as an example, I would imagine today, if you and I went out into the neighborhood and we knocked on the door and we said, why would Jesus Christ let you into his heaven? That used to be a question. That was a big question, a door-to-door evangelism. If you were to die today, why would Jesus Christ let you into his heaven? And I remember when I was a lot younger and I used to do door-to-door evangelism at our church, the answer was, well, I haven't stolen anything and I haven't killed anyone. Pretty easy test, right? It's a self-benchmark. How about if Christ is our benchmark? That's a different story, isn't it? And as I mentioned last week, the church should be about a Christ-centric worship, where we focus on Christ. And when we focus on Christ, we get to where Paul said, let him who glories, glory in the Lord. but him who glories, glory in the Lord. Now that, I read you in 2 Corinthians, but Paul also used that quote from Jeremiah. That's where that quote is from, Jeremiah. He also used it in 1 Corinthians 1. And I wanna read this to you. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26, he says, for you see your calling, brethren. That's you and me, right? For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise, according to the flesh, that not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, God has chosen. And the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are. that no flesh should glory in his presence. That's you and me, isn't it? That no flesh should glory in his presence, but of Him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that as it is written, He who glories Let Him glory in the Lord. In other words, as a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ, I recognize that it wasn't through my intellect, it wasn't through my logic, it wasn't through my self-righteousness in which I find myself saved. It is only through the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because of that, I recognize that I was depraved before and now I'm forgiven. And I glory in the Lord. I don't glory in self. And you don't glory in self. We are here today, my friends, not because we're righteous, not because we're smart, not because we have a certain intellect. In fact, what Paul tells us here, we're the opposite of that. We're here today out of the mercy and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for that reason, we give him the glory. We have a choice. And as we've seen that in scripture today so far, that the natural man glorifies himself. And as we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, our glory of the Lord should get that much greater. We should glorify him because of what he's done for us. Join me in prayer, please. Our Father, we just thank you for your truth this morning. And I pray, Lord, that both collectively as a church and individually, that we should look at our lives and we should ask that question, am I living to glorify God? Am I using every waking minute to glorify you? I pray, Lord, that we'd be convicted of that, that we would evaluate our life and ask that question, not compared to our neighbor, but using Jesus Christ as our benchmark, and that we would glory in Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. Our church services are as follows. Sunday morning Bible study is at 9 a.m., followed by our worship service at 10 a.m. We have Wednesday night prayer meeting and Bible study, and they are at 6.30 p.m. For more information and our mission statement, please visit our website millcreekchurch.org.