Establish the Church and Save All Nations (Rom. 15:1-13)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” The title of today’s message is, “Establish the Church and Save All Nations.” What does it mean to establish the church, and why must we save all nations? If someone’s life is in the flow of these words, then that person is already successful and they are prepared. God is fulfilling His Word even now, and if I’m receiving God’s Word, it means that I am obeying and submitting to God’s Word. We call that, “faith.”
What is the life we are living in today? It’s the Age of AI and the Age of Mental Illnesses, it is an age of addictions and mental problems. The age is different from what it was in the past. There are people who have diseases in this age. Even though there are many scientific and medical advancements, we are losing our knowledge in the spiritual things, and because we lose our spiritual knowledge, we have spiritual powerlessness. As a result, we are having more and more spiritual problems.
What is a spiritual problem? It means that problems are happening that don’t have to do with God. In other words, we are meant to communicate with God, but the opposite is happening. As a result, we are enslaved by Satan, and that is the spiritual problem. That problem cannot be solved or diagnosed by the world. Then, what does the church do? Only the Bible and the church can diagnose the problems, and give the answer to those problems. If people go to church without knowing this, they will fall behind the age because the church is a place that can diagnose the problems of the world and give the answer to those problems. People who have faith in the Bible lived like this, age by age. Joseph was able to diagnose the problem of the age and give them the answer. They didn’t just say, “Believe in Jesus Christ,” but they knew the problem of the age and gave the answer, and the answer is Jesus, Who is my answer.
Many people know Jesus but they don’t know the problem of the age. Then, you can’t really say you know Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for our problems, but if you don’t know what our real problems are, then that’s an awkward gospel. If you don’t know what your true problem is, and you say you believe in Jesus, that’s a little strange. What is our problem and what is our weakness? That is the reason Jesus died on the cross. If this gospel really becomes my answer, then I must be able to give this answer to the world for the world’s problems. So, through worship and through the Word, we must continue to receive the answer on, what is our problem and what is the solution. When our eyes are opened to see this, then God can begin to use you. Before you realized this, your eyes were still closed so you could not really see the world. That means you’re living blind in this world. So, I hope you will not become a Christian like that, but instead, live as a Christian who is able to diagnose the problems of the world and give the answer to them. That’s what every main figure in the Bible did.
During the age of Daniel, no one was able to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, but Daniel did, and nobody could interpret Pharaoh’s dream, but God gave the answer to Joseph, and during the age of Rome, God gave the answer to the problems of Rome through Paul. So, how do I know Jesus Christ? Do I believe that Christ is the answer to all of my problems, or am I simply believing in Him by grace? We cannot just believe that Jesus is the Christ; we need to know why He died on the cross, why He had to resurrect, and what state I was in that needed to be saved, then you will understand your past, you’ll understand your family, you’ll be able to understand the spiritual state of your parents. If you’re not able to understand these things, it means Christ has not come as your answer yet. Even so, you believe in Him by God’s grace, just like the Israelites who applied the blood of the lamb on their doorpost, some of them knew the real problem of Egypt and why they had to apply the blood; some just did it by grace because God told them to. But for the latter group, after they had the Exodus, they still had more problems in the wilderness and they kept on stumbling through them. But, for the people who really had their answer in the blood of the Lamb, they followed their faith and went into the land of Canaan. You were supposed to spiritually take over the field you are in—your job or your school—but instead, you are being taken over. You were supposed to conquer Canaan, you were supposed to conquer your field in the name of Christ, but if you don’t know the problem and you don’t know the answer, you’re going to wander and struggle. The Israelites who did not know this were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and died. So, even though they believed in Jesus and went to heaven, they lived powerlessly. That’s not the life that God wants for us Christians.
If you want to know this, then you need to know what kind of people come to churches. Everybody has a different background, and we don’t know what kind of family background, what kind of spiritual problems or scars they have, but everybody has them. There are people who have these scars and look at everything in the world based on these scars. You cannot take a test to come to church, there’s not a fee to go to church. You don’t get a license in order to attend church. This is a place where anybody and everybody can come. Especially in this democratic nation, people speak their minds, that’s America and that is where they gather, in the church.
1. Inside the church
1) One with strong faith (Rom. 15:1)
(1) Those with weak faith
If you have strong faith, it means you can overcome that; it means, you will not stumble over the words of people, you have the faith to overcome them. You accept it and you overcome it because you have the answer. That is someone who is strong, they have strong faith. For example, a parent must be mature in order to raise their child. If the parents are not mature, then they cannot raise their child. If a parent tells their three-year old child, “Okay, do whatever you want,” that is not a mature parent. If a parent is mature, they will devote themselves to the child; they feed the child, take care of them, change their diapers. Same thing in the church. In Romans 15:1, it says, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves.” It says, “strong,” but it says, “strong in faith,” what does that mean?
2 Tim. 2:1 says to be strong in the faith that is in Christ Jesus by His grace. Exodus 6:10 says to be strengthened in faith, so, being strong means you are strong in faith. When the world talks about strength, it’s talking about a physical strength that the people have, but when the church or the Bible says “strength,” it’s talking about our faith in Christ. You cannot gain strength or faith by knowing the Bible, you need to believe in Christ correctly to have strength. That means, you must believe that Christ has finished everything on the cross, He has finished your past, present, and future problems. He has finished them, but you still have them? It means that you look at that problem, knowing the fact that it is already finished. The fact that it is finished means that Christ finished it, not me, so now, I look at that problem inside of Christ. It is a problem, but inside of the Christ, I’m looking to see how Christ does it. If you don’t have this set, then your faith cannot become strong. If this is weak inside of you, then you will shake in the face of problems, you will stumble because of people’s words. Then Gal. 2:20 says, “I have died on the cross with Christ. The “me” that used to live on my own has died on the cross with Christ, now, the life I live is the life lived in faith in Christ Who lives within me. But we keep on trying to resurrect our own past, making our own problems. The reason you are stressed out is because your past self is coming back to life. If you hold onto your saved self, then you will look at the problem with curiosity, about how the Lord will take care of it. That is somebody who is strong in faith in Christ.
Christ says, “All of you who are weary and heavy burdened,” the reason we bear our own burdens is because we are centered on ourselves, disconnected from God, dragged on by Satan, and that is the heavy burden. Then, Jesus says, “Come to Me, you who are weary and heavy burdened,” that means that when we have Christ as our Lord, we just follow Him and see what He does. The one who is strong in that faith. Then, you will not alienate or cast aside those who are weaker in faith.
(2) Bear with weakness
It says you will “bear weakness.” What does it mean to “bear something”? There is a 38 year old cripped beggar in front of the Temple Gate, and in order for him to get to the Temple Gate, someone must carry him there every day, so to carry that person who cannot walk is what it means to bear them. On the other hand, there are people who are perfectly fine, healthy, and strong, and they look at the beggar and say, “Why can’t you climb up by yourself ? It’s because you don’t have faith, isn’t it?” That’s not right. There is no parent who tells their child, who can’t even walk yet, “Do it by yourself.” Of course, the parent must bear the weakness of the child and do it with them. That is what it’s like inside of the church.
(3) Do not please yourselves
“Not to please ourselves,” this means if you think, “I’m receiving grace, I’m fine on my own,” that’s only pleasing yourself, then that is an immature person. That person has not escaped from themselves yet.
2) Each person
(1) Please our neighbors
(2) For their good
(3) Build them up
Each of us should not please ourselves but instead, please our neighbors. It means, we must raise up and bear their weaknesses and failings so that they can be pleased.
That is for their good and to build them up. So, we ourselves are the church, but am I someone who has strong faith or weak faith? When your faith is weak, you try to get help from everyone else. That’s the characteristic of a believer with weak faith, even if they’ve gone to church for decades. I’m not saying you should never get help but I’m saying, when your faith becomes strong, even if you have no money, the way you act and speak becomes different. We don’t look at things scientifically, we go out in faith.
3) Christ
(1) Did not please Himself (Rom. 15:3)
(2) Those who insult God
(3) Insulted Jesus
God’s time and our time is different, the moment God gives His Word, it is already fulfilled. But for us, we need the time to see it being fulfilled. When God said to Joshua, “I have given you the land of Canaan,” it was already given to us by God. That is why for God, it is always “right now,” but for us, it takes time, we have to live through time. But “faith” means we believe that it has already been fulfilled, so we go. Then as we live through time, we see God’s work being fulfilled. That is the characteristic of someone who believes in the gospel correctly and has strong faith. If you don’t have faith and you only have knowledge, then you analyze what you see; that’s not faith. “Faith” means that God has already fulfilled the Word He has given to you, and in that faith, you go forward—that is strong faith. But other people have weaker faith, so you bear their weaknesses and you raise them up and build them because that’s what Christ did.
2. Recorded in the Bible
1) Our instruction (Rom. 15:4)
(1) Endurance (Rom. 15:4)
(2) Encouragement (Rom. 15:4)
(3) May have hope (Rom. 15:4)
That, in order to bear our weaknesses as sinners, Jesus Christ died on the cross. People were criticizing Him saying, “He’s not the Messiah,” they were criticizing God but they were actually criticizing Jesus, He received them all himself. So, everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the scriptures, we have encouragement and hope. A farmer wakes up in the early morning and works to their bones in the heat, because they are looking forward to the harvest that will come. People who are marathon runners say that the midway point is the hardest time for them, but they are able to keep going because they are hoping for the finish line. For parents, when they are raising their children for over 20 years, they have hope for them. Do you have hope? If you don’t have hope, that’s why people end their lives, but if somebody has hope, no matter how hard someone tries to trample on them, they will never be squashed. For nonbelievers, even though their hope is incorrect, if they have hope, they will not be overcome with circumstances. But for us, we have faith in Jesus Christ; we are hoping for world evangelization, to raise up the church for our next generation, then we are different. Then, we will not think lightly of the churches. If you think lightly of the church, it means you think lightly of Christ. Do you think that you could ever succeed in this world by thinking lightly of God? In other words, do you think you can lie according to God’s will and plan? It might seem like the church is nothing special, but inside of that lackluster church is everything God has created. In Eph. it says the church fills this world. It means that through the church, the world comes to life.
But what’s the perspective with which you look at the church? And, what is the difference between how you look at the church vs. how you look at your job and all the money in the world? The normal person would use all of their talents and skills to raise up the church. What is the church? We ourselves are the church, and “faith” is raising up and building those who are weaker in faith. When Andre was in the hospital, all of the members of the church were in pain with him, praying for him, but if there’s anyone who thought, “Well I’m not in pain, so I’m fine, I don’t care,” that is abnormal. When we heard that he got better, I repeatedly said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” I actually said “Thank you” more than Stephanie said thank you. That is a normal pastor because his pain is my pain. If something happened to him, more so than his family, something would happen to me. This is a normal believer. But an abnormal believer will say, “Oh, you can take care of yourself, it will happen according to your faith.” Of course, we devote ourselves to one another’s weaknesses or vulnerabilities. There were some people who brought soup and other things. So, just like that, there are other people in the church who are not able to raise up their faith, so I will go personally to help raise up their faith.
2) God Who gives endurance and encouragement (Rom. 15:5)
(1) Same attitude toward each other as Jesus
(2) One heart, one voice
(3) Glorify
In Romans 15:6-7, it says, “So we may have one mind and one voice.” In one mind and one voice, the church has one mind. How can we have one heart? We must have one heart within the cross of Christ, that is what connects us. For the members of the Early Church, when they saw the fish, they knew that they were connected. But what happens if we’re not connected in the words of Christ, and we cannot connect on the fact that our past, present, and future problems are finished? I died on the cross and now Christ lives within me by faith, that is what must connect us all. God has given us this mission for world evangelization that He will fulfill; that faith is what connects us. If you can relate to someone in something else, that’s a big problem. If you guys have similar business mentalities or you guys are good partners, then that’s a big problem, then you guys can never become one. You must become one with God’s Word, then the devil cannot break you. But if you guys relate to one another, saying, “You’re an alumnus from the same school,” or, “You grew up in the same place I did,” or, “You’re from the same nation!” then that is destruction. Or, if you say, “This person and I are going to financially invest in this and we’re going to succeed together,” then one day you will be devoured by Satan. I’m not saying to not do those things, but Satan can use that as a foothold; you cannot become one with those things, you must become one with God’s Word, then the Holy Spirit of God begins to work. That’s what the Early Church did. “With one heart.”
3) Inside the church
(1) Christ has welcomed us (Rom. 15:7)
(2) For the glory of God (Rom. 15:7)
(3) Welcome one another (Rom. 15:7)
During the Mizpah movement, they were told to cast out all of their idols and to gather their hearts, committed to God. When the church becomes one within faith and God’s Word, then they will conquer the world. “All to glorify God,” Romans 15:6.
3. To all nations
1) Christ (Rom. 15:8)
(1) Servant to the Jews (circumcised)
(2) To confirm the promises made to the patriarchs
(3) Abraham’s promise (Gen. 12:1-3)
So that’s inside of the church, but God’s Word also tells us about the Gentiles outside the church. God already gave the promise to Abraham, “Go to the land I have promised you, and I will bless all nations through you.” And through that seed, Jesus Christ was born. All of the nations will praise the Lord, that means they will receive the gospel. In order to fulfill that Word, in order to save all the peoples of the world, Jesus Christ died on the cross. Who are all of those people? All the people who were destined from long ages past to receive salvation by God. First, He came to me; then, there are people who will receive salvation around me, and these people are scattered to all nations. So, for our next generation, how much should you study, how much should you work? We are in the age of AI, your abilities cannot compete with robots; we need people who can utilize AI well. There is something that AI cannot do and God already knows that. So, you must be able to pray, and you must be able to receive power through prayer. That person will be fine no matter where they go. But if someone does not pray and they try to exist by their own strength and ability, they will fall behind. We’re already in the age of AI. In the past, there were guns, and people fought with swords. You need to quickly let go of your sword and hold onto the gun. In the movie, Last Samurai, they tried to hold onto their old samurai ways, and they were shot to death. You must decipher the age well, you must be able to discern this age and know how to react, but if you don’t, then you’ll fall behind. Our children are already living in that age. “Oh, you graduated from such and such school?” That doesn’t matter anymore. In the past, before AI, people used human intelligence they learned from school to get their jobs, but not anymore. AI actually learns from other AI models and gains knowledge itself, but in the past, and in the future, God is the One Who created and moves all of creation, so He has all of the answers. So, only the one who is able to pray to God and have that communication with God can run forward. You need to decipher this age quickly.
2) Gentiles (Rom. 15:9)
(1) For His mercy (Rom. 15:9)
(2) Glorify God (Rom. 15:9)
(3) Hope in Christ (Rom. 15:12)
Joseph is evidence of that. Joseph went to Egypt all alone, either people thought he was alone but that’s not true because he was with God. He had nothing to rely on but the almighty, all powerful God was within, and he was inside of the covenant that God desired for him. As long as Joseph held onto the covenant of Egypt evangelization and world evangelization, God was with him, and everything that happened between this and the covenant being fulfilled was just part of the process. God answered him through prayers, so your situation might be difficult, but it doesn’t matter if you can pray. Many people talk about the economy being so difficult right now, but if you have faith in prayer, then it doesn’t matter at all because God has promises of the economy throughout the Bible. God keeps His Word, God works according to His Word, the Word of God heals me and raises me up. The Word is God, God created the world with His Word. Not the words of people, the words of God. The ones who hold onto His Word are holding onto God. We don’t see Jesus anymore, but when you hold onto the words of Jesus, you are holding onto his clothes and his robe. When the people who were sick held onto the robe of Jesus, they were healed. When you hold onto the words of Jesus and you pray while you work or study, then you will receive knowledge and wisdom that surpasses your abilities, that, even if you graduated from the greatest university in Egypt at that time, and you studied economics, you could not predict the seven years of harvest and the seven years of famine. So, yes, you do have to study, but you cannot overcome the world with that.
You must receive God’s wisdom, you must receive God’s power. These are the ones who will lead the age and the future. But how are you looking at the church? The way that the parents view the church is how the children will follow. Children do not change based on the words of the parents, they change based on how their parents act when their backs are turned. When your back is turned, that’s your real self. When you’re facing your child, you can say whatever you want, but when your back is turned and you are walking away, that’s your true self that they see. Does anybody talk about the gospel with their mouth, but when they turn around, it’s all about money? Then, for the children, they will see, “Oh, when my parents turn around, all they care about is money,” it doesn’t matter what else you say when you’re facing them, because whatever you say a lot does not go into your kids, your true nature goes into your kids. That means that if a parent truly changes, the kids are bound to change. That is the nature of the way God works. When Hannah received grace, she gave birth to Samuel. And when Jochebed held onto faith in God’s covenant, that’s when someone like Moses was born, because there is such a thing as a spiritual stream. Things don’t just happen randomly. Yes, there might be someone like Abraham, but inside of the church, the spiritual state of the parents gets directly relayed to the children. There’s no other way. It is simply standing in faith before God’s covenant, that’s the only thing that can change your child. Faith gets relayed; your disbelief also gets relayed. They do not change with your words; they change by faith. If you’re inside of God’s grace today, then even if you don’t say a single word to your kid, they will change. The people I’m most jealous of are people who have parents with faith, because I came to the faith on my own, with parents who were nonbelievers. My parents never prayed for me, they never taught me about “faith.” So the people I’m most jealous of are people who have parents of faith, and they gave family worship. I hope you will enjoy that blessing very well. Whatever life you’ve lived will leave its footprints.
Your business, your studies, must be used to save all nations. So, only put your faith in Christ. For the children, do not stumble on your parents’ words. Respect your parents but you must overcome them, because they are not God. Same thing inside of the church, there are all sorts of people here. You must be able to accept them but overcome them. People who are already bad at studying will say, “I can’t focus at school because everyone is so loud,” that’s not true. “Oh, I can’t study at school because they have a bad environment,” that’s an excuse for someone who’s already bad at studying. For someone who’s good at studying, they will never say something like that, it’s not about what their environment is like. Same thing with your faith. If you receive grace from God through worship, then you will not stumble on people’s words, and even if you go out into the field, you will overcome these circumstances. That’s the characteristic of those who are strong in faith, then now, we can live for those who have weaker faith.
3) Power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13)
(1) Fill you with joy and peace in believing (Rom. 15:13)
(2) Disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:19-20)
(3) May abound in hope (Rom. 15:13)
Finally, it says in Rom. 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.” If you believe in God, you gain hope, and when somebody gains hope, they become different. For people who end their lives, it’s because they’ve lost all hope, and when kids give up on everything, it’s because they’ve lost hope, but if you receive God’s grace, then you receive God’s hope, and that child will never fall down, and those believers will never crumble. Even if someone attacks others with swords and guns, you can never destroy someone’s hope. Rome tried to conquer Greece with advanced technology and weapons, but the ideology of Greece actually influenced Rome. In other words, no one can trample over our hope, and we have that faith in God. Why do I live? Because I have hope. Why do I devote myself to the church? Why do I do all these things? Because I have hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him. Overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is the peace and the hope inside of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
1. Power given within the Holy Spirit
2. Raising up the church within the Holy Spirit
3. Saving all nations within the Holy Spirit
When you receive the peace of the Holy Spirit, your depression goes away. That’s the answer. This world has no peace in Christ, but this is true joy. We don’t gain joy by meeting with people; we gain it from God. So that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. “Inside of the Holy Spirit,” in other words, in prayer. If you are not in prayer, then you will stumble over people’s words, but if you do all of this in prayer, then you will save this person because God will speak through you. So if you listen while you pray, you can hear God’s voice. So I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ that you may have the power of the Holy Spirit to establish the church and save all nations.
Message Prayer
Let us pray holding onto the Word we’ve received. There is a Word God wants to give to you specifically. It doesn’t matter what you feel. We hold onto the Word God wants to give us, we believe in it and we obey it, and we meditate on that Word for the rest of the week, and only that Word of God is fulfilled.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We have returned Your materials as offering in faith. Everywhere it is used, may the works of faith take place and may You raise and save the church and save the world. You have given us the promise to save this world, so we pray that You will use our studies, our job, and our money for that purpose. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. Online zoom early morning prayer (Tue-Fri, 5:30am, Sat, 6am). Raise the bartizan of prayer.
2. Remnant Bible 30-Verse Memorization Contest
3. Venmo account address for church offering: @Antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants who desire to save the church and save the entire world, be with them now until forevermore and always, amen.