WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.879 Well, today we are continuing our study in Paul's letter to the Romans. 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:07.240 And we're coming towards the end of this. 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:12.160 I think there have just been maybe two or three more sermons as we draw near the end 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:13.160 of the letter. 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:18.080 Alistair kindly read for us the second half of chapter 15, and we're going to focus on 00:00:18.080 --> 00:00:23.960 that particularly in the middle section, and we can read again at verse 14. 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:29.199 Paul writes, I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:36.399 goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:42.119 As I'm sure you've spotted from the bulletin, this morning I want us to ask a question, 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:47.879 and that is the question, what does a successful church look like? 00:00:47.879 --> 00:00:53.799 That's a very important thing for us to consider, because we want our congregations, both ourselves 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:55.600 and other congregations across the wider church. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.079 We want to do well. 00:00:57.079 --> 00:00:58.399 We don't want to fail. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:03.119 We don't want to be unsuccessful as a congregation, as a church. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:10.200 But of course, that raises the question, what does success look like in the church? 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:12.120 And I'm sure there's various things that spring to mind. 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:15.599 We can think, well, perhaps first of all, we think of size. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:18.000 A successful church is big. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:19.920 We can think of activities. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:23.159 A successful church has lots of different things going on. 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:24.159 We can think of resources. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:28.239 So a successful church is wealthy, and it's got enough staff. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:30.319 It's able to support various ministries. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:35.079 It's got a good building, good audio-visual equipment. 00:01:35.079 --> 00:01:37.799 It's got a good setup. 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:40.280 We can think in terms of organization. 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:45.479 A successful church is well-run and well-functioning. 00:01:45.479 --> 00:01:50.799 All of these things, of course, are very important, and we value them, and we want to ensure that 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:56.479 these are areas that we work towards. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:01.320 But are these the things that are really most important in a church? 00:02:01.320 --> 00:02:05.760 Are these the defining characteristics of success? 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:13.360 Well, the verse before you there in Romans 15, I think, is a very important verse in 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:21.080 this whole area, because here Paul tells us three things that he regards as the hallmarks 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:23.319 of a successful church. 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:25.240 He uses a very interesting phrase just at the very beginning. 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:30.080 He says that he's satisfied about this church in Rome. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:33.159 That word satisfied could also be translated persuaded. 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:36.480 It conveys the idea that Paul is convinced about this congregation. 00:02:36.480 --> 00:02:40.719 As he looks at them, his judgment is that they are doing well. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:42.200 He is satisfied. 00:02:42.200 --> 00:02:44.840 To him, they are a success. 00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:49.360 And then in the rest of the verse, he gives us three statements which reveal what that 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.439 success looks like. 00:02:52.439 --> 00:03:00.039 And as is so often the case, it's none of the things that first popped into your minds. 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:04.359 He is satisfied with them because, one, they are full of goodness. 00:03:04.359 --> 00:03:08.159 Two, they are filled with all knowledge. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:13.759 And three, they are able to instruct one another. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.599 And I do wonder if this is one of these verses where we come to it and we think, why did 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.879 you pick those things, Paul? 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:25.079 These aren't the things that tend to come to our minds. 00:03:25.079 --> 00:03:31.240 But Paul is telling us these are the things that are important. 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:34.280 And so I want us to just look together at them for a wee while today. 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:40.120 So number one, a successful church is full of goodness. 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:43.479 And that's a very interesting phrase because a phrase like full of goodness is the kind 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:47.039 of phrase that can almost just bounce off us. 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:51.439 Because there's a sense in which it's so obvious, it's not worth saying, but at the 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:58.280 same time, it's so optimistic, it's not really worth expecting. 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:04.840 So theoretically we will endorse a statement like that, but functionally we will probably 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:05.840 dismiss it. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:10.439 For example, supposing I went off to one of these big church conferences that happened 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:13.159 in America or somewhere like that. 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:17.839 If I went there and somebody came up to me and said, what do you want your church to 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:18.839 be? 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:19.839 What's your strategy, Thomas? 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.719 What's your vision for St. Columbus? 00:04:22.719 --> 00:04:29.399 If I replied and said, to be full of goodness, I think they would probably think that I 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:36.040 was at best naive or at worst a bit deluded. 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:44.240 And we can all read a phrase like full of goodness and really not take it that seriously. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:54.400 But of course that would be a mistake because there is nothing written in the Bible that 00:04:54.400 --> 00:04:57.480 we shouldn't be taking seriously. 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:02.200 So when Paul identifies being full of goodness as a strategic target for the church, he's 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:07.439 not being naive, he's not being optimistic, he is not being deluded, he's saying, that's 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.839 your objective. 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:18.439 So if we want to be a successful church, then we need to be aiming towards being full of 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:19.439 goodness. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:23.839 We'll just unpack that phrase a wee bit more because the language that Paul uses is very 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:25.240 interesting. 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:30.360 The word goodness conveys the idea of a kind of moral excellence, an uprightness of heart 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:34.319 where we're characterised by good and not by evil. 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:39.800 And that uprightness of heart, that inward moral excellence, shows itself outwardly, 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:45.400 shows itself in our attitudes, our words, our actions, and it can be expressed in kindness, 00:05:45.400 --> 00:05:50.639 generosity, sharing, in acting for the benefit of others. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:56.759 Goodness is that brilliant standard of attitude and behaviour. 00:05:56.759 --> 00:06:01.439 The word for full is a really interesting word because it's actually quite rare and 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.439 it actually means very full. 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:11.800 It means to fill a space beyond expectations and it can also mean to be constantly preoccupied 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:12.800 with something. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:21.360 So in other words, Paul is saying a successful church is obsessed with goodness. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:29.199 Our goal is to be bursting with goodness and that applies across every part of our church. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:33.520 So there's loads of different things going on in our congregation. 00:06:33.520 --> 00:06:38.319 We have a church session that's our elders who lead the church and have responsibility 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.759 for the spiritual wellbeing of the congregation. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:43.040 We have our Deacons Court. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:52.480 They are more responsible for looking after the material needs of people and of the congregation 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:57.360 of serving and of helping and of making sure that people are okay. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:01.879 We've got our pastoral teams, a small group based around each of the pastoral areas in 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:06.320 the city who have responsibility, both men and women, for looking after the people in 00:07:06.320 --> 00:07:09.120 our city groups and in the wider pastoral areas. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:10.120 We have our welcome team. 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:11.120 We have our music. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:13.199 We have our audiovisual team at the back. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:15.639 We have the people downstairs doing kids' church and Cresce. 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:22.280 We have all these different things and whatever you look in all of these places, you want 00:07:22.280 --> 00:07:25.879 to be finding goodness. 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:31.079 We want all these places to be full of goodness. 00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:35.560 That's the hallmark that Paul identifies of a successful church and it's a huge encouragement 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:42.000 to all of us because whatever your job is in the church, you can bring goodness to that 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:48.000 role because whatever our personalities are, whatever our gifts are, we can bring goodness 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.160 along with us as we serve and participate in the church. 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:56.240 You might be very quiet and very shy, but you can still be full of goodness. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.680 You might be very confident, bubbly and outgoing. 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:00.399 You can still be full of goodness. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:05.360 You might be super organized and efficient, but you can still be full of goodness. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:10.319 You might be much, much happier just to blend into the background, but you can still be 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:14.120 full of goodness. 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:19.280 It's a key characteristic of a healthy church. 00:08:19.280 --> 00:08:24.080 As with all of these things, there's clear theological basis for that. 00:08:24.080 --> 00:08:30.960 That phrase, full of goodness, is a brilliant reminder of a wonderful theological truth 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:38.159 that God's goal for life is that it would be full of goodness. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:42.240 When we say that we want church to be full of goodness, when Paul tells us to aim for 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:45.000 this, we don't actually just mean our Sunday services. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:51.519 We mean every part of our lives as the people of God, as his church. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:09:00.439 The reason for that is because God has wanted goodness for humanity from the very beginning. 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:07.960 It's been God's great goal, that life would be full of goodness. 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:14.440 One of the greatest tools that the devil has used to lure people away from God is to tell 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:22.120 them the lie that says, God doesn't really want what's good for you. 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:23.680 So many people have fallen for that. 00:09:23.680 --> 00:09:28.440 So many people think that following God is going to make my life worse, not better, that 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:33.040 God is going to be a spoiler of all that is good in my life. 00:09:33.040 --> 00:09:38.680 That is one of the biggest lies that the devil has told humanity, and it is one of the greatest 00:09:38.680 --> 00:09:44.920 blasphemies that the world has ever known. 00:09:44.920 --> 00:09:48.240 Because God himself is so, so good. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:54.800 And when God created human life, of which you are a part, he created it to be so, so 00:09:54.800 --> 00:09:57.440 good. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:02.440 And we know from the biblical narrative that that's been broken and ruined by sin. 00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:06.400 And that was a sin that resulted from what? 00:10:06.400 --> 00:10:13.480 From the devil's lie that God wasn't really being good to Eve. 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:15.360 That was how he did it. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:23.560 He deceived Eve into thinking that God didn't really have her best interests at heart. 00:10:23.559 --> 00:10:28.479 And so the old humanity, broken and sin, instead of enjoying the goodness that God intended 00:10:28.479 --> 00:10:33.759 for us, has now been infected with badness. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:38.159 And it's, as I think I've said many times, it's the easiest doctrine in the Bible to 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:43.399 prove because the evidence is everywhere. 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:48.759 But of course, the great message of the Gospel is that through Jesus Christ, a work of restoration 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:54.399 has begun, a new humanity, a restored humanity is being raised up. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:11:00.759 And God's great goal, his objective, is that life for us is going to be full of goodness 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:01.879 again. 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:06.679 And that's the ultimate destiny for the people of God, that when Christ returns and the new 00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:16.039 heavens and the new earth are brought in, their life will be so, so good again. 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:22.639 But now, now there is a place where we get a glimpse of the blessings of the world to 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:23.639 come. 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:31.199 Now there is a place where we should be able to see a foretaste of all the goodness that 00:11:31.199 --> 00:11:35.079 God has lined up for the new humanity. 00:11:35.079 --> 00:11:36.599 There's a place where you can see it. 00:11:36.599 --> 00:11:40.000 Where is that place? 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:42.799 It's in the church. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:53.120 And that's why a church that is successful is one that is full, very full of goodness. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:12:04.559 And of course, in contrast to that, this is why badness in a church is so wrong and so 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:05.559 damaging. 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:10.120 And you go through the New Testament again and again and again, you will see clear warnings 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:18.240 against bitterness, deceit, envy, strife, division, slander, malice, selfishness, gossip, criticism, 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:26.480 all these bad things that are like pollution in a church and that are like pollution for 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:28.799 the human race. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:31.600 And this is where we have to guard our own hearts because just as we can be a source 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:37.720 of goodness, we can also be a source of badness. 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:43.840 And I look at myself in all of that and I look at my speech and I think, how often am 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:48.680 I full of goodness in what I say? 00:12:48.680 --> 00:12:55.800 And then perhaps even worse, I think, how often am I full of goodness in what I think? 00:12:55.800 --> 00:13:00.000 And yet this is what we're being called to. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:07.519 And by God's grace, I now want to make it my goal to be full of goodness. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:13.639 And this also makes perfect sense in terms of our witness to the wider world as a church 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:19.919 because no one wants badness. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:24.799 So yes, people live their lives without much thought of God and people all around us live 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.799 their lives without any interest in church. 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:32.000 But these people are still made in the image of God and for that reason, they still know 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.799 that goodness is better than badness. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:39.639 Nobody wants bad neighbors, nobody wants bad friends, no one wants a bad husband, no one 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:45.719 wants bad colleagues, no one wants a bad boss, no one wants bad parents, no one wants badness, 00:13:45.719 --> 00:13:57.159 which is why a church that is full of goodness is exactly what the world of 2019 needs. 00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:02.759 And that's why it's no surprise that Paul says, that's your objective. 00:14:02.759 --> 00:14:04.439 Aim for that. 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:09.440 A successful church is full of goodness. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:16.520 Number two, a successful church is filled with all knowledge. 00:14:16.520 --> 00:14:21.040 Very often when we're preaching and very often when we're considering the aspects of the 00:14:21.040 --> 00:14:27.160 important aspects in our life as part of a church, our focus tends to be on the heart. 00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:34.639 So goodness, for example, while it's shown in our speech and in our actions, in so many 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:38.039 ways it's primarily an issue of the heart, isn't it? 00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:41.120 And the Christian message is a message to your heart. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:45.199 It's a message of love, a message of healing, of peace and of joy. 00:14:45.199 --> 00:14:51.279 The heart is so important in terms of our relationship with God, which is why a hard 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:56.360 heart is deadly. 00:14:56.360 --> 00:15:03.960 But the fact that the Bible is speaking to your heart does not for one second mean that 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:09.440 the Bible is not also speaking to your mind. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:15.560 And that's why Paul reminds us here that if we are aiming to be a successful church, 00:15:15.560 --> 00:15:21.600 then we must aim to be filled with all knowledge. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:26.000 We said a moment ago that one of the devil's great lies is that God doesn't really want 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:27.000 to be good to us. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:32.480 That's, I think, possibly one of the devil's biggest lies, perhaps. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:39.519 But one of his other big lies that he has spread about Christianity is that it is mindless. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:43.879 And that's what leads a lot of people to oppose Christianity. 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:47.519 People don't like it because they think that it's mindless. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:53.000 It's just a denial of reality, a denial of evidence, a denial of facts, and it's just 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:56.639 a mindless leap of faith. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:03.559 And it's probably been the case in the last two or three hundred years that even Christians 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:08.200 have behaved as though the mind is not that important. 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:14.279 And often you'll find that faith and reason are kept quite separate. 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:20.840 And instead of focusing on knowledge and understanding and reason, we've tended to focus more on 00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:25.759 feelings and on experience. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:34.600 And the key point I want to emphasize is that mindless Christianity is not biblical Christianity. 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:39.360 Again and again and again, the Bible seeks to engage with their minds. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:43.320 And again and again and again, we're being challenged to think. 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:47.639 You go back to the Old Testament, a huge chunk of the Old Testament is what we call wisdom 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:48.639 literature. 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:53.080 We go to Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job. 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:58.879 That huge chunk of material is classified by what we call wisdom literature. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:03.000 In other words, it's all about making you think. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:08.160 And it's all about making you understand the world in which you live. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:12.720 And then when you go through to the New Testament, again and again and again, we are being told 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:18.039 to think, to set our minds in a certain way, to understand. 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:22.000 As a couple of chapters earlier, Paul tells us that part of the transforming work of the 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:29.839 Gospel in our lives is that we are changed through the renewing of our minds. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:34.839 And so a key part of the Bible's aim is to give us knowledge. 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.960 That's why it's a book full of information. 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:40.720 It's full of detail. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:44.839 And a key part of being a disciple is learning. 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:49.879 That's really what the word disciple means, a disciple is a learner. 00:17:49.879 --> 00:17:51.319 God wants us to think. 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:54.759 God wants us to understand the world that we live in. 00:17:54.759 --> 00:18:00.240 That's why we need to be filled with all knowledge. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.480 But did you notice the we word there? 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:06.720 I often say this sometimes is the we words that are most important. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:12.639 We're to be filled with all knowledge. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:17.480 And I think that is there because Paul is saying that as Christians, we should not just 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:19.080 be full of Bible knowledge. 00:18:19.080 --> 00:18:21.880 Yes, we should be and we want to be. 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:28.080 But rather we are seeking to grow and to be knowledgeable in every area of life and of 00:18:28.080 --> 00:18:29.080 understanding. 00:18:29.080 --> 00:18:32.080 Now that doesn't mean that we're going to be experts in everything. 00:18:32.080 --> 00:18:33.360 That's impossible. 00:18:33.360 --> 00:18:40.160 But I think it does mean that our knowledge of every area of the universe, every single 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:47.080 area of the universe is to be utterly bound up with our knowledge of God. 00:18:47.080 --> 00:18:57.240 In other words, our worldview is to be shaped by all that the Bible teaches us. 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:00.840 One of the big names of Christianity, one of the kind of famous names that we often 00:19:00.840 --> 00:19:02.640 mention is John Calvin. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:09.680 John Calvin lived 500 years ago and his name appears again and again and again and again 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:12.080 throughout the centuries in which he lived. 00:19:12.080 --> 00:19:13.519 He wrote a very famous book. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:17.080 It's called Institutes of the Christian Religion. 00:19:17.080 --> 00:19:22.480 And it probably sounds scary and I certainly used to think I would never be able to read 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:25.360 a book like that. 00:19:25.360 --> 00:19:29.120 But I have to say to my pleasant surprise, it's not nearly as scary as you think and 00:19:29.120 --> 00:19:32.759 it's not actually too hard to read. 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:34.000 It's nicely divided. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:35.480 It's just in we sections. 00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:38.840 Although it's a huge book, the sections are small. 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:43.599 So don't ever be afraid to have a go at reading a wee bit of John Calvin. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:47.439 And the reason I mention him is because that great book, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 00:19:47.439 --> 00:19:50.279 begins with a vital point. 00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:57.639 As he sets out in order to explain Christianity as clearly as he possibly can, John Calvin 00:19:57.639 --> 00:20:04.199 starts by making it absolutely clear that the only way we are going to have knowledge 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:10.799 of ourselves is if, first of all, we have a knowledge of God. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:13.720 That's the quote that I've put on the sheet and it's there on the screen before you. 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:19.440 Man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:28.880 of God and come down from after such contemplation to look into himself. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:35.760 The great point that that's making is that if you want to really understand the world, 00:20:35.760 --> 00:20:40.280 you need, first of all, to learn about God. 00:20:40.280 --> 00:20:45.320 Our worldview needs to have the Bible at the very center of it. 00:20:45.320 --> 00:20:50.820 And our claim as Christians, and this is something that if anyone who's not a Christian, I would 00:20:50.820 --> 00:20:55.360 want you to be very clear on this point. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:01.079 Our claim as Christians, it's not simply that following Jesus is a wonderful blessing 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:02.359 in your life. 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:04.719 It's not simply that the Bible is important. 00:21:04.719 --> 00:21:06.879 Our claim as Christians is actually far bigger than that. 00:21:06.879 --> 00:21:17.279 Our claim is that the only worldview that ultimately makes sense is the biblical worldview. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:19.000 That's our claim. 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:27.000 And it's an absolutely enormous claim to make, but it's entirely logical because if God is 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:34.319 the creator of the universe, then even basic common sense tells us that we are never going 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:40.799 to understand that universe properly if we make no reference to him. 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:45.640 But if our knowledge is shaped by God's own word, by what is revealed to us through the 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:51.160 Bible, then it's going to enable us to properly understand the world around us. 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:54.880 It's easy to think that Christianity is just about helping you through life or doing something 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:57.680 nice on a Sunday or being a better person. 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:03.680 In many ways, that's what Christianity has kind of become to many people in Britain. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:09.920 But that is a tragic and gross diminishing of what the Bible is really claiming to be. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:12.800 The message of the Bible is way, way bigger than that. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:19.559 The Bible is saying that the message of Jesus Christ is the only place where you will be 00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:23.919 able to make sense of the universe. 00:22:23.919 --> 00:22:33.240 God wants you to have two reliable, logical knowledge. 00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:36.879 And I think we can test this. 00:22:36.879 --> 00:22:41.799 These are big claims, but I think we can test it. 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:49.519 Here are some statements that I think virtually everybody in Scotland would agree with. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:52.399 Family is special. 00:22:52.399 --> 00:22:54.960 Cancer is bad. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:58.079 Life is precious. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:00.440 Justice is wrong. 00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:03.399 Joy is good. 00:23:03.399 --> 00:23:06.759 Nature is beautiful. 00:23:06.759 --> 00:23:12.519 Love is most important of all. 00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:17.240 These are statements I think that only a fraction of people would disagree with. 00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:21.839 I think it's something that many, many people would hold to. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:25.079 The test is this. 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:33.879 How do you know any of that is true? 00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:43.440 How does the person on the street know that any of that is true? 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:49.920 And this may be a wee bit of an overgeneralisation, but I think that we can say that there are 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:57.080 three different responses to that question that people fall into. 00:23:57.080 --> 00:24:03.360 When we raise the question of how we actually know that these things are true, I think people 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:07.479 who have no reference to God in their lives fall into three categories. 00:24:07.479 --> 00:24:10.479 Category number one is distraction. 00:24:10.479 --> 00:24:13.079 And that's the category that most people fall into. 00:24:13.079 --> 00:24:14.079 It's the most popular choice. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:16.159 Just don't think about it. 00:24:16.159 --> 00:24:18.359 And fill your life with other stuff. 00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:19.599 Fill your life with entertainment. 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:20.799 Fill your life with activities. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:27.479 Fill your life with just a constant stream of distractions so that you never, ever, ever 00:24:27.479 --> 00:24:32.359 have to stop and ask yourself what is life all about? 00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:41.479 And we see this more and more and more, particularly in the world of social media, just a saturation 00:24:41.479 --> 00:24:47.279 of distraction so we never have to stop and think about ourselves. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.119 So option one is just distraction. 00:24:50.119 --> 00:24:53.319 Option two is denial. 00:24:53.319 --> 00:24:57.879 So even though people will embrace a worldview that actually pushes them away from these 00:24:57.880 --> 00:25:05.080 statements, people will then deny the conclusions of their own worldview. 00:25:05.080 --> 00:25:09.440 So a great example of that is atheistic naturalism, the view that the world is just this closed 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:15.720 box, God does not exist, and everything, absolutely everything is just contained within this closed 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:23.200 box and everything can be explained in terms of just connections and developments in a 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:29.120 sort of chain reaction within this closed circuit box. 00:25:29.120 --> 00:25:39.480 That's a worldview that says at best love and beauty and people are just accidents and 00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:43.640 ultimately they have no value. 00:25:43.640 --> 00:25:45.880 But people can't live with that. 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:50.960 And so they deny the conclusions of their own worldview and they just hold on to a value 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:52.720 in these areas instead. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:54.279 So option one is distraction. 00:25:54.279 --> 00:25:56.000 Option two is denial. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:59.440 Option three is despair. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.799 And that's the least popular option. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:09.079 But it is the most rational and most logical. 00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:13.600 And this is often where godless thinkers find themselves. 00:26:13.600 --> 00:26:21.880 So when I say a godless thinker, I am thinking about somebody who really thinks the great 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:28.160 philosophers and artists and musicians of the twentieth century, a good example, people 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:38.880 who really think but who have no god in their lives and the place they find themselves is 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:42.320 in despair. 00:26:42.320 --> 00:26:50.000 And if you look at that and if I ask yourself, if I ask you how do you know if that's true, 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:55.039 I want to ask you, are you in the category of distraction? 00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:58.119 Are you in the category of denial? 00:26:58.119 --> 00:27:03.480 Are you in the category of despair? 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:08.440 And all of this is showing us why knowledge is so important in a church because if you 00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:13.640 think about it, knowledge gives us answers. 00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:19.240 And all around us are people desperately looking for answers. 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:23.200 Life is so cruel, so perplexing, so frustrating. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:26.359 People everywhere are looking for answers. 00:27:26.359 --> 00:27:31.839 And the Bible gives us a knowledge that provides us with exactly that. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:37.279 The Bible explains beauty, it explains family, it explains suffering, it explains pain, it 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:38.519 explains love. 00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:42.160 If you're looking for answers, the Bible will give them to you. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:45.079 A biblical worldview gives us an answer to all of these things. 00:27:45.079 --> 00:27:49.960 It tells us that family is special because we've been made in the image of a God at the 00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:55.639 core of whose being is mutual love and relationship as Father, Son and Spirit. 00:27:55.639 --> 00:27:59.720 Bible tells us that cancer is bad along with every other disease. 00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:03.119 It's an infection into a world that should never be there. 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:06.960 It's part of a curse that God wants to put right. 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:12.460 The Bible tells us that life is precious because every single person is not some pointless 00:28:12.460 --> 00:28:19.559 accident or some collection of machinery parts just functioning together. 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:23.640 Every single person is someone who's been made in the image of God. 00:28:23.640 --> 00:28:28.960 Bible tells us that injustice is wrong because God is a God of righteousness and truth and 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:29.960 fairness. 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:35.920 Bible tells us that joy is good because there are so many things to enjoy from God. 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:39.279 He is a benevolent, merciful, providing God. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:42.399 Bible tells us that nature is beautiful because it's the work of God's hands. 00:28:42.399 --> 00:28:50.519 The Bible tells us that love is most important of all because that's God's core attribute. 00:28:50.519 --> 00:28:56.639 And He is the source of everything else that there is. 00:28:56.639 --> 00:29:01.619 The knowledge that the Bible will give you is brilliant. 00:29:01.619 --> 00:29:04.480 Knowledge gives us answers. 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:09.200 But knowledge also gives us assurance. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:14.039 If you think back over Romans that we've been studying, we think even a huge amount of information, 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:18.840 chapter 1 to chapter 11 is just filling us with knowledge. 00:29:18.840 --> 00:29:25.400 Paul has taught our minds a huge amount our knowledge has grown. 00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:32.600 And that knowledge should give you assurance, amazing assurance. 00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:39.480 Because sometimes our hearts can make us wobble. 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:44.439 Sometimes our feelings can leave us with a sense of insecurity. 00:29:44.439 --> 00:29:51.259 Sometimes our guts can make us think that God would not want to know us. 00:29:51.259 --> 00:29:59.379 But we must never forget that the stuff you know in your head should constantly reassure 00:29:59.379 --> 00:30:01.559 your heart. 00:30:01.559 --> 00:30:06.480 So you might feel conscious of your sin and think, can the law condemn me? 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:09.039 Am I going to be condemned by God? 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:12.639 If your faith is in Jesus, the answer to that is no. 00:30:12.639 --> 00:30:16.159 Because your justification, your head knowledge of that justification tells you that that's 00:30:16.159 --> 00:30:18.159 impossible. 00:30:18.159 --> 00:30:19.759 Can sin destroy you? 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:20.759 No it can't. 00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:23.879 Because you are united to Jesus Christ by faith. 00:30:23.879 --> 00:30:26.639 Can your weaknesses spoil your relationship with God? 00:30:26.639 --> 00:30:27.639 No. 00:30:27.639 --> 00:30:30.919 Because you are His adopted child if you are trusting in Jesus. 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:33.640 Can the pressures of life isolate you from God? 00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:34.640 No. 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:37.600 Because He's come to dwell right in your heart by His Holy Spirit. 00:30:37.600 --> 00:30:40.180 You can't go anywhere where He is not with you. 00:30:40.180 --> 00:30:42.400 Can the power of evil threaten you? 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:45.120 Can anything separate you from God? 00:30:45.120 --> 00:30:47.640 No way. 00:30:47.640 --> 00:30:53.080 Because nothing, not even death itself can separate you from the love of God in Jesus 00:30:53.080 --> 00:30:54.080 Christ. 00:30:54.079 --> 00:31:01.879 And knowledge that we have in our heads should pour reassurance into your heart. 00:31:01.879 --> 00:31:06.159 A successful church is filled with knowledge. 00:31:06.159 --> 00:31:10.039 And of course, if you look at those first two, to be full of goodness and to be filled 00:31:10.039 --> 00:31:13.480 with all knowledge, that's a brilliant combination, isn't it? 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:17.119 A place that's so good to be part of. 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:20.039 But it's not mindless. 00:31:20.039 --> 00:31:27.000 It's utterly rational and filled with reliable knowledge. 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:30.079 But there's one final hallmark I want us to look at briefly. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:34.639 A successful church is able to instruct one another. 00:31:34.639 --> 00:31:37.680 Again, the words that Paul uses are really interesting. 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:41.559 The word instruct could also be translated admonish. 00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:42.559 It could be translated advise. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:46.480 It could even be translated to warn someone. 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:50.279 And that's something that Paul himself has done for these Christians in Rome. 00:31:50.279 --> 00:31:52.559 Throughout this letter, he's instructing them. 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:55.920 And at times, he's had to be quite bold in verse 15. 00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:59.640 The next verse, he said that he's had to be bold at times. 00:31:59.640 --> 00:32:04.160 But all of that instruction and warning is in the context of God's grace and with the 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:09.960 goal of helping these Roman Christians grow into the people that God wants and needs them 00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:11.759 to be. 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:17.599 And so the key lesson for us is that if we want to be a successful church, a vital part 00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:23.640 of that is to be able to warn and instruct one another. 00:32:23.640 --> 00:32:26.319 And as always, it fits together perfectly. 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:28.640 It makes perfect sense. 00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:31.759 The whole concept of goodness implies right and wrong. 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:34.279 So some things are bad for us. 00:32:34.279 --> 00:32:37.720 Some things are good for us. 00:32:37.720 --> 00:32:41.599 The whole concept of knowledge implies being able to learn. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:46.599 And for it's obvious that we need to instruct one another. 00:32:46.599 --> 00:32:51.240 But for a lot of people, this might sound off-putting. 00:32:51.240 --> 00:32:53.759 It's easy to think, I don't want to be instructed. 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:58.319 I do not want to be told what to do. 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:03.799 And we tend to think in life in 2019 that we shouldn't really be subject to anybody 00:33:03.799 --> 00:33:07.159 else's instruction. 00:33:07.159 --> 00:33:08.839 That's a common mindset. 00:33:08.839 --> 00:33:13.039 I answer to myself, and I'm not going to be instructed by anyone else. 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:19.039 Well, I wonder if that really is true. 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:27.480 Because if you think about the really important stuff in life, in these situations, we all 00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:31.399 want to be told what to do. 00:33:31.399 --> 00:33:35.759 So imagine there's a security alert at the airport. 00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:40.799 You would most definitely want the staff to tell you what to do. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:48.279 If you were hoping to secure the purchase of a house, you would definitely need a solicitor 00:33:48.279 --> 00:33:52.839 to tell you exactly what steps you should be taking. 00:33:52.839 --> 00:34:01.879 And if you were in a room with a child who all of a sudden started having breathing difficulties, 00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:09.039 if you dialed 999, you would do everything that the person on that phone would instruct 00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:11.599 you to do. 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:18.559 When we are talking about the important things in life, being instructed is a brilliant thing. 00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:26.800 And for us as a church, the message of the Bible is by a mile the most important thing 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:28.320 in our lives. 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:35.360 And that's why instruction and even warning is an incredibly important thing in the church. 00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:42.680 And please don't make the mistake of thinking that the idea of warning implies harshness. 00:34:42.680 --> 00:34:46.960 It's easy to think that when we hear the concept of warning, it's like a kind of punishment 00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:49.840 giving you a warning because I'm not happy with you and I want to kind of give you a 00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:52.680 row, I'm going to give you a warning. 00:34:52.680 --> 00:34:57.840 That's a complete misunderstanding because biblical warning does not imply harshness. 00:34:57.840 --> 00:35:04.360 biblical warning implies the deepest level of love. 00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:12.800 If you like somebody, then you'll tell them the nice things that they want to hear. 00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:22.519 But if you love someone, you will tell them the hard things that they need to hear. 00:35:22.519 --> 00:35:25.440 And two important questions arise for us. 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:31.159 One, are we ready to instruct one another? 00:35:31.159 --> 00:35:35.400 In order to do that, it's so important that we learn what the Bible says. 00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:38.920 We need to have that knowledge necessary to instruct one another. 00:35:38.920 --> 00:35:41.440 That's why learning is so important. 00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:46.920 But we don't just need to know what the Bible says, we need to know each other as well. 00:35:46.920 --> 00:35:51.360 You can't instruct someone or warn someone if you don't know them or know what circumstances 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:55.720 they're facing, which is why it's so important to spend time together and to get to know 00:35:55.720 --> 00:35:56.720 one another. 00:35:56.720 --> 00:36:00.599 That's why it's brilliant to spend every Sunday, every Wednesday evening together, where 00:36:00.599 --> 00:36:04.840 we get to know our Bibles more and where we get to know each other more. 00:36:04.840 --> 00:36:09.000 We need to ask ourselves the question, are we ready to instruct? 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:14.000 But the second question is maybe even more important. 00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:19.559 Are we ready to be instructed? 00:36:19.559 --> 00:36:24.360 Because when Paul says that a successful church is able to instruct one another, it doesn't 00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:28.759 just mean that the people in the church are good at instructing, it also means that the 00:36:28.759 --> 00:36:32.279 people are good at listening. 00:36:32.279 --> 00:36:38.960 And for many of us, that is perhaps where the greatest challenge lies. 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:43.239 Sometimes our pride can make us reluctant to listen. 00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:48.360 Sometimes our pride can make us reluctant to ask for instructions. 00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:52.480 Maybe I have to reveal one of my greatest faults. 00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:58.960 If I'm in a supermarket and I can't find something, I never want to ask someone. 00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:01.280 Want to just find it myself. 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:04.840 And it's so silly because the person right there knows where it is and you don't think, 00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:07.559 no, I'll find it myself. 00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:11.840 And it's so easy to think, I'm not going to be instructed by anybody, I'll do it. 00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:17.519 And yet it's so silly, so foolish. 00:37:17.519 --> 00:37:20.840 In our church, we want to recognize that instruction is a wonderful thing. 00:37:20.840 --> 00:37:23.559 It's something that we all need. 00:37:23.559 --> 00:37:25.719 So how are you going to define success in a church? 00:37:25.719 --> 00:37:27.239 What does a successful church look like? 00:37:27.239 --> 00:37:29.800 A successful church is full of goodness. 00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:31.400 It's filled with all knowledge. 00:37:31.400 --> 00:37:33.639 It's able to instruct one another. 00:37:33.639 --> 00:37:36.000 These are the things that we want to aim for. 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:42.400 And of course, that means that numbers are pretty irrelevant. 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:48.240 And resources don't really matter, and the measure of our success doesn't really lie 00:37:48.240 --> 00:37:50.519 in the amount of activities we have. 00:37:50.519 --> 00:37:54.920 These things are good, but they should come second. 00:37:54.920 --> 00:37:59.599 And again, that makes sense because I'm fairly certain that a church that's full of goodness, 00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:04.119 filled with knowledge, and able to instruct one another is the kind of church that people 00:38:04.119 --> 00:38:08.079 will definitely want to be a part of. 00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:11.519 By God's grace, that's what we want to be. 00:38:11.519 --> 00:38:13.639 Let's go for it. 00:38:13.639 --> 00:38:15.639 Amen. 00:38:15.639 --> 00:38:20.880 God our Father, we thank you for the instruction of your word. 00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:26.639 And so often we find ourselves with our priorities being challenged by you. 00:38:26.639 --> 00:38:32.519 And the things that we think are important, we discover are actually not that or not as 00:38:32.519 --> 00:38:35.440 important as other areas. 00:38:35.440 --> 00:38:40.759 We pray that we really would be full of goodness, that we will be obsessed with goodness. 00:38:40.760 --> 00:38:47.720 Just towards one another, and goodness in all of our dealings in every part of a congregation. 00:38:47.720 --> 00:38:53.120 We pray that we will be filled with all knowledge, that we'd have very teachable minds, and that 00:38:53.120 --> 00:38:58.040 we'd have an ever greater appetite for the truth that your word tells us. 00:38:58.040 --> 00:39:02.160 And we pray that we will be able to instruct one another, that we would be ready to give 00:39:02.160 --> 00:39:08.920 and receive instruction, and that all of that would be the outworking of a deep love that 00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:14.119 we will have for each other as part of your church. 00:39:14.119 --> 00:39:18.880 And we pray, oh God, for any who are maybe yet to put their faith in you. 00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:25.960 We pray that you would draw them as well, and that they would also come to contribute 00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:29.880 to making us the kind of church that you want us to be. 00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:31.400 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:39:31.400 --> 00:39:32.400 Amen. 00:39:32.400 --> 00:39:39.400 Amen.