So That Your Cup Overflows

Transcript

Well, good morning, family. If we haven’t had the chance to meet, my name’s Josh. I’m one of the pastors here. And it’s a pleasure to have you all with us this morning. If you’re able to turn in your Bibles to Romans, head on over to chapter 15. If you don’t have a Bible, there should be one in the seat in front of you or near to you in front of you. Or share with your neighbor. Be good to get to know them that way. Well, as Kosano was telling us, it’s a good thing to reflect at the end of the year back on where we have come from. To think through the last year, both the ups and the downs, the good and the bad. I think throughout the year, we tend to minimize the bad that we’ve done and maximize the good and maximize the bad that’s done to us

and minimize the bad we’ve done to others. But New Year’s has a different purpose. New Year’s has a tendency to bring honesty to the front of our minds, to put on the balance, the correct weight of the last year, and to think through truly where we are. It’s also a time to look ahead to the coming year, to make resolutions, to desire to do better. My wife will tell you that I often scoff at these kinds of resolutions because I’m like, we should be doing these every single week, make resolutions. But I miss out on the wisdom that there is to look at the whole year in a big picture and to desire to do better.

Why shouldn’t today be any different? As Kosano was saying, we need to reflect honestly our sin of this last year and where we stand, but also the grace of this last year and the forgiveness that is given, and then to look forward to the coming year and make resolutions, to desire to grow, to mature, to get to know Christ better.

The Foundation of Unity

Often our resolutions are filled with very good things, but somewhat trivial, maybe fitness. That’s a good thing, not as important as your walk with Christ. Perhaps seeing more people that you would like to see, having more people over, and spending more time with friends and family. Good, very good. But what about prioritizing time with Christ? Maybe finally catching salmon and having a good time out on the river. Not as important as prioritizing a relationship with Christ.

So often I hear goals from people talking about, I want to read my Bible more. I want to spend more time in silence and solitude. I want to spend more time praying for people, serving and giving more generously. Family, this is an important thing to think about, to figure out in your walk and your life for this next year, what are some of your goals? But to do so, we also need to look back and reflect on this last year, where we’re coming from.

If we look back very recently, we’ve just come out of the Advent and Christmas season. And I find it really a true joy that we get to enter the new year with this fresh on our minds. Do not be quick to rush out of Christmas. The Advent of Christ brings so many gifts to us. Do not be eager to leave those behind. We got to look deeply into the hope of the arrival of Christ, that we have the promises that God fulfilled at hand, the peace that comes with the arrival of Christ. Sins are forgiven. You can rest assured.

The love of Christ that left heaven that left heaven to pursue those who turned their backs on him, the joy that comes with the arrival of Christ, that we can celebrate his birth, the fulfillment of God’s promises, and the fact that light has broken into a dark and sinful world.

So it seems fitting that we end the year with a benediction. Benediction simply would be a good word, a pronouncement of blessing, following the end of some sort of exhortation. So would you stand with me as we read our passage for this morning? This is Romans chapter 15, verse 13.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope

— Romans 15

(ESV)

. Family, this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Let’s pray and ask the Lord to help guide us this morning.

Heavenly Father, what a year it has been. We can look back and honestly celebrate what you have done. But we do not lose sight of the fact that there have been difficult things happening this year. So we ask that this morning, you would give us hearts to hear what you would have to say. Lord, would you quicken our minds and sharpen our ears? Help us to be attentive to your Holy Spirit, that you would speak to us, and that your power would overwhelm us, and that you would encourage us and spur us on for the coming year. Lord, we love you. We thank you for your grace. Lord, we love you so much. In your name we pray. Amen. Well, I’ll be honest. This is a sweet, sweet passage, but it’s very short.

And so it requires a little bit of context to get into it, so that we kind of understand where Paul is coming from. So Paul is the presumed author of Romans, writing to the church in Rome. And he’s writing to address a very common problem that of division between the Jews and the Gentiles. That kind of just is a really broad summary. There is a lot of theology packed into Romans that delves deep into the Christian walk. But one of the bigger themes is saying that everybody is a sinner in need of a savior. No matter Jew, no matter Gentile, no matter rich, no matter poor, no matter slave, no matter free, every single person is in need of a savior. He points this out very clearly to us in chapter 3, with verses telling us that everybody has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

There is no one righteous, not even one. And you hear the Jews listening to this going, yeah. And he’s like, no, you as well. It’s not just the Gentiles. It’s both of you. Every single one of you needs the savior. And he builds up over and over from the patriarchs on down to where they are present day, how they all are in need, because they are all sinners and they have fallen short. And nobody can fulfill the law, whether they are Jews or Gentile. But then we get to the good news. It’s very clear in chapter 5, verses 6 and 8. I want to read that for us. It says, for while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die.

But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Family, it didn’t matter who they were, where they had come from. Christ had gone to the cross on their behalf. Paul made this ultimately clear also in chapter 8. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Anybody in Christ, he didn’t say, OK, if you’re Jews and you’re doing a lot better, the Gentiles got some work to do. No, everybody is forgiven in God. Those who come and place their trust in him for the forgiveness of sins will have salvation. This idea is central to what Paul is trying to communicate through this, that everybody is equally in need of saving from sin, and everybody is equally saved by faith in Christ. And this is not an idea restricted to Romans. If you flip over to Galatians chapter 3, he goes on even more detail there.

Give me a second. This is Galatians 3

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For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s and you are Abraham’s offsprings, heirs according to the promise

— Galatians 3

(ESV)

. So there is no way to earn ourselves into the saving faith of Christ. Everybody stands on an equal playing field here. And this serves to counter the division that was growing in the early church. The Christians in Jerusalem dealt with this. The Christians in the surrounding area dealt with this. Generally, how it would go is somebody would go and preach the gospel in a synagogue, and the Jews would become believers and Christians, and then it would start reaching out to the Gentiles from there.

And quite often, the Jews were bothered by this because they were the chosen people. They were the ones to receive God’s promise. How is it that you’re opening up the gates to everybody else? You’ve got to become a Jew in order to become a Christian. That’s the first order of business. And Paul here is saying, no, you do not need to do that. Everybody is equal in Christ, both in their need of him and in their saving by him.

Called to Christian Living

So this gives us a little bit of context for chapter 15, verse 13. But I want to back up a little bit into chapter 12. Because really, this whole section here talks about Christian living, particularly Christian unity based on how we live as Christians. He wants to exhort the church, this is how you ought to interact with one another. So we’re going to look at 12, verse 1. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by the testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you,

not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment. Family, the first order for the Christian is to submit themselves fully, completely, 100% to Christ, no matter Jew, no matter Gentile, no matter in Rome, no matter in Portland. The first order of business for the Christian is to be submitted to Jesus in all ways, all days, in your thoughts, in your mind, in your actions, in your words, that everything, not just one day a week, but all days, you are submitted to Christ. Later in 14, verse 7, we hear Paul say, none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. Family, the Christian belongs to Jesus.

We are bought at a price, his life. Therefore, we are his possession. And this should bring us a great deal of comfort, knowing that there is no status you have to earn. There is no sort of goal you have to attain. You are already there. For those who are believers, you are a son or a daughter of the King. And this would’ve been a radical idea for the church back then. So go back to 12. We’re going to go to verse 4. For as one body, we have many members. And the members do not all have the same function. Family, we are all uniquely gifted. Every single one of us has gifts to bring to contribute to the body as a whole. If we look over at Ephesians chapter 4, starting in verse 10, he who descended is the one who also ascended. That is Jesus.

Far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and the teachers to equip the saints, that is the whole church, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the full measure of the stature of fullness of Christ. So what he’s trying to say in both Romans and in Ephesians is that we all, as one body, should seek unity together to push each other towards maturity, to grow together as a body in Christ-likeness. We submit ourselves to Christ as Lord and Savior. We belong to him. And out of an obedience, we then live with one another in unity, humbly regarding where we come from. If we go back to Romans in chapter 12,

he says in verse 3 to not think more highly than he ought to think of himself, but to think with sober judgment. This is not to demean anybody, not to push you down and say, you’ve got to down yourself, but to realize your status does not matter. It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or whether you’re poor, whether you went to college or whether you had to drop out of high school. All of us are one body, the same in Christ. And there is no division there. There is no separation. We are one. And with that unity and with that call from the Lord that we belong to him, therefore we should live lives that are changed. We should conform our minds and our actions and our thoughts and our words to that of Christ. And so that’s what the rest of 12 starts getting into.

Let’s look at verse 9, 12 verse 9. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints. And seek to show hospitality. And he goes on and on and on. But what it means to walk as a believer with other believers. Use your gifts for the good of the church, to the glory of Christ.

Do what is necessary for the brothers and sisters around you. I’m really struck by how he says in verse 9, let love be genuine. Don’t just put on a nice smiley face because somebody is coming to church here, and you’re like, yeah, we go to the same church. Get to know them. Find out what their quirks are. Find out what their strengths are and where their failings are. And love them and encourage them in Christ.

In many ways, this is a reflection of what Jesus told his disciples in Matthew. In response to what the Pharisees were challenging him when he said, what is the greatest commandment? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself.

Push on in Romans 13 over to verse 8. Owe no one anything except to love each other. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Push down to verse 10. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Family, when we love one another without regard to rank or class or background or history, that is what Christ has called us to do. To fully give yourself to one another. To care for each other. To look at the needs of those around you. To see them as more important than yourself. To put their needs before yours.

In this way, the Church walks unified and shows the world what it means to follow Christ. And this is a reflection of his order, of Jesus’ command to the disciples in John. He gave them a new commandment. To love one another. And by this, the world will know that they are his disciples. We should be marked and different. We read that at the beginning of chapter 12. Do not conform yourself to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds to become more Christ-like.

I am so thankful that we get to do confession every single week. And I hope that this is teaching for you a pattern, that this is what your daily walk should be. This is what your daily walk should look like, of confession. But then also preaching to yourself the gospel, that you are forgiven, that your sins do not own you. Christ has lordship over your life. Be conformed to his image. Put to death the sin that threatens to drag you down.

Family, the early church was in danger of being consumed by quarrels and divisions. The gospel seeks to break that down. If it had been up to the early church, if they’d had to do it all on their own, guess what? As soon as Jesus left, it would have failed.

Thank goodness for examples that we have. We have places like Acts chapter 6, where we see the church failing to do its job of caring for widows within its ranks. And we see the installment of the first deacons to help mitigate this issue, to distribute to those who had need in an equal fashion, to make sure that nobody was left out.

Family, the church is not perfect. We should strive to do better, but we are not perfect. We follow in the footsteps of ancestors who are sinners, who are in need of the gospel every single day being preached in their lives. And we are no different. One of my favorite sayings that Greg has often used in the membership class is, hey, if you find the perfect church, don’t join it. It’ll no longer be perfect. Family, you and I are sinners. And we sit in good company. But that is why we need to love one another with the love of Christ so that we can bear with one another when we do not do it all right. If we look back at this last year with an honest reflection, have we met this standard? This is a high and lofty calling for believers.

Honest Reflection

And family, I do not mean to discourage, but rather to probe and ask that you honestly do some introspection this year, to look back at your walk with Christ and see, yeah, Look back at your walk with Christ and see, yeah, I need to improve. I can tell you were not alone in that. I am in the same boat. I can tell you times where I selfishly chose what I wanted to do, probably go fishing, instead of helping others out or spending time with my wife and caring for her needs, where I said things that were quick and sharp without thought to those receiving it.

By the grace of God, we are moving forward. This is where it’s really helpful at the end of these things to have a benediction, because there’s a lot of information that you’ve got to take in, but that you need to know how it is you are going to apply this information. And this section, 12, 13, 14, 15, kind of has two little blessings, two good pronouncements for everybody, the first one being in chapter 15, verse 5.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus. Don’t miss that. The God who you have submitted your life to is a God of endurance and encouragement. He is going to lift you up and give you that strength to walk the walk, to talk the talk. He will provide brothers and sisters to come around you and encourage you and remind you of the truths of the gospel. Do not forsake gathering on Sundays to hear this encouragement. Do not forsake gathering on a weekly basis, on a daily basis with one another. Get in the word. Be encouraging. Be real with each other.

To what end? Back in 15, verse 6. That together you may with one voice, one voice, as a unified body with no division, no separation, nothing stopping you from loving one another. That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Family, we do this for the glory of God. We do not do it for any gain of our own. Think back on this last year, on times when things went well, when you were faithful, when you did obey and follow what God had commanded. Praise God for those moments. Give him the glory that he is due his name.

Family, as a unified body, we should be able to stand together and glorify God. And I just want to say what a privilege it is to be a part of this body of believers. I am so encouraged by you. I am so blessed to be one of the pastors here. Family, it is evident that God is working, that he is alive and well and using you for his glory. So take heart.

Remember Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith

— Hebrews 12

(ESV)

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Abounding in Hope

Family, the God of endurance has given us an example, and that is Jesus, to look to, that we can model our lives after him, that we can strive to do better and be more like Jesus. Oh, yeah, that still seems impossible. That seems like a lot of work on my own. That seems like a lot that I have to do. We’ll go back to Romans 15, go down to 13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Family, our God is a God of endurance, encouragement, hope, love, faithfulness, peace, steadfastness. He is here for you. Hope, we talked about this a few weeks ago. We can have assurance of our final destination because God has fulfilled the promises he made long ago when Adam and Eve first sinned,

to send a Savior, to reconcile humanity to himself. So we can have hope because our God is one of hope, who fulfills his promises. So it is his hope that we lean on. And he does the work of giving us joy. Family, we should be crying out, as David did in the Psalms, renew in me the joy of your salvation.

Family, I hope that when you hear the pronouncement of the gospel forgiveness of sins after the confession, that is joy for you, that for you causes a spark of life and a smile to carry you forward and remind you that you do have forgiveness. And you have all joy in the midst of trials, in the midst of suffering, in the midst of temptation. We can have joy in Christ. And we can have peace, full comfort, full comfort.

There’s a few folks here who are actually taller than me. And I love getting hugs from them. I’m telling you, there’s nothing like leaning into the embrace of somebody who’s bigger than me. There is such a sense of peace there. I’ve got an uncle who’s like this tall. And you lean in, and he holds you. And you can feel that security. You can feel the love. You can feel his care for you. Family, the peace of the Father is way more than that. We can’t fully comprehend it. That is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our help. When he ascended, he told his disciples to wait until the helper arrived. And guess what? He fulfilled his promise. The Holy Spirit came, the third member of the Trinity, to fulfill what God promised through the Old Testament, that he would write his law in our hearts and on our minds,

and he would dwell within us. And so we have the promise fulfilled within us by the Holy Spirit’s presence, so that with all joy and peace and believing, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Family, we do not do this on our own strength. We could not do this on our own strength. If the early church had not waited for the Holy Spirit and gone out and done it on their own, they would have fallen on their faces, and the church would have died then and there. Praise be to God. He sent the Holy Spirit to give power, to equip the saints for the good work of doing the ministry, so that we may abound in hope. Family, what an idea and a concept that is. In my mind, I picture my dad pouring water into a cup, and it just getting fuller and fuller and fuller.

And then you know you get to the top, right before the water starts to cascade over the rim, and all you have is the tension there holding it in. One more drop, and it’s going everywhere. And God just keeps pouring. That hope flows out of that cup onto the table, makes a mess of everything. Everybody at the table gets wet. We are covered in hope. Family, do you abound in hope? Rest assured that your faith is guaranteed by the one that you believe in. You can have peace in that belief, and that you may abound in hope as a unified body.

Family, we can push through on our own and keep trying, but we will again and again fall on our faces. We need to be conformed fully and completely, submitting ourselves to Jesus and his leadership and his guidance. That as a unified body, we can love one another and so glorify him.

Another really, really favorite passage of mine is 2 Timothy 1.7, that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of a spirit of power and a love and of discipline. That spirit is within us, teaching us and guiding us and directing us all the days of our lives.

Family, my prayer for all of us in this new year is that we would make big resolutions, that we would strive for unity as a body of God, for unity as a body of believers. We would look to the needs of the brothers and sisters around us, regardless of how long they’ve been at this church, regardless of whether or not they’ve offended you, regardless of whether or not you feel like it. That this coming year, we would be a church that is unified in a city that is so against churches, so that they would see our love amongst all of our differences. I don’t know if you’ve checked recently, but there are a lot of backgrounds here. There’s a lot of different folks. And that threatens us with division, with creating groups that we are familiar with, people who make us feel comfortable, make it easy.

Let us not fall into that trap this year. Family, this year has the potential to be so divisive. We’re going into an election year. And family, it’s one of the worst things when I see Christians berating other Christians because they have a different political view. We need to strive. We need to push by the power of the Holy Spirit for unity. In a world, in a country that tells us, hey, if you think differently, you’re my enemy.

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Resolutions for Unity

Family, let us love one another. Let us love our neighbors outside of this building. Let that love flow over this cup, out into the neighborhood, and into the city streets, that the gospel of Christ would be known in the city this year. Family, you are an encouragement to me. I pray that you would be encouraged as you walk faithfully with Christ. If you’re here this morning and Christ is not your Savior, if you have not submitted your life to Him, if you’re placing your hope in something other than Christ, I would ask you to consider, is that going to sustain you? Will that fulfill your every need?

I would place a strong bet that it won’t, but it will fail you eventually. Christ will not fail you. Turn to Him. Ask for His forgiveness. And He is faithful to save. All the kids in here, if you’re in here, where are you guys at? I see you. This isn’t just for the adults. Jesus isn’t just an adult thing, right?

Jesus is for you, too. If you are anything like me as I was as a kid, man, I struggled with sin. Oh, I hated my brothers sometimes. They got on my nerves. Jesus helped to change me, to forgive me of those sins and teach me how to love my brothers.

Kids, you need Jesus to save you from your own sins, too. Talk to your parents. I know they’d be overjoyed. It was really scary for me talking to my parents, but they were more than happy to help walk me through that. Family, what are your resolutions for this year?

Push into growth and maturity that we would all be conformed as one body into the likeness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Push into growth and maturity that we would all be conformed as one body into the likeness of our God and King. Would you pray with me now and ask for the Lord to be strong in us to do this?

Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that you have given us clear instructions. Father, thank you that you say difficult things to us, but you do not leave us without encouragement. I ask that your Holy Spirit would comfort us. Lord, would you help us tonight to celebrate this coming year with you in mind? Would you keep at the forefront of our mind the arrival of Christ so many years ago to save us from our sins? And would you spur us on by that assurance to good works, to love, to compassion, to care, to unity? Lord, I pray for this church in the coming year. Lord, I pray for the church in this city, that we would be a united body, that those who are faithful to you would stand with one another, not opposed. And Lord, I pray this for the church throughout our nation and the world,

that we would see one another as brother and sister, not divided, not separated, but one body, unified for your glory. Would your Holy Spirit guide us and direct us through this whole process? Lord Jesus, we love you so much. We ask that you would keep us humble in all these things and looking towards you. Amen.