What we hope for controls our behavior? likeness to Christ

Wherefore, receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, unto thy name. And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.

And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people. Again Isaiah saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.

You'll remember from 1 Corinthians chapter 13 that the Apostle links together there what he links together in many places, threefold Christian constants. What I mean by that, Now abideth faith, hope, love. And Paul says under these circumstances and what I am dealing with, the greatest of these is love.

So that in every circumstance the Apostle views these things as unchanging. Whatever the case may be, the Christian has a basis of his faith. Whatever the circumstances may be, the Christian's behavior is governed by love.

And whatever the circumstances may be, the Christian's outlook is hope. There is hope in every present circumstance. There is hope always as to the future of the child of God.

And we have been looking together in this weekend at the great truth of the Christian hope. Thank God whatever the circumstances are in this world, there is one word that belongs to the Christian, hope. And we understand that that's not the wished for, wistful idea of hope.

It is the settled assurance, hope, whatever the circumstances may be. What I want to draw from this passage and then draw from your memory from other passages is a very simple principle. And when I have finished, all I have intended to do is take biblical principle and find some of its application in the New Testament.

And the principle is this, that what we hope for controls what we are and do now. What we hope for controls—I didn't say Romans chapter 15—has been writing from chapter 14 through the beginning of chapter 16 on the subject of Christian relationships. And he has been pointing out that while there is a difference of understanding at the present time between Jew and Gentile believers, particularly those who grasp that faith is a principle of life, and those who have not yet grasped that faith is the principle of life, that the just shall live by faith, while there is that difference, and while he has written to eliminate that difference, and taught the believers that faith is indeed the principle of Christian living, that until they come to a united understanding on that, it is their responsibility to act properly one to another.

That Jew and Gentile with different backgrounds will understand that while they may disagree in their understanding of truth at the moment, there is behavior that will govern so that Jew and Gentile will live together in Christian harmony, consistent with the truth of the Word of God. So having brought that all together, he enjoins on them what we have read in verse 7. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. In the assembly there at Rome, and it may be in the assemblies there at Rome, those who are in assembly fellowship are those to whom, of course, the letter is being written.

There should be a mutual reception, a social appreciation one of another, as Christ also received us, Jew or Gentile, to the glory of God. And then he begins to quote from the Old Testament, and he quotes from the law and from the prophets, and he quotes truths that have, just a minute, nothing to do particularly with the assemblies at Rome or with the hope of the child of God today, of the coming of the Lord Jesus to rapture away the church. He quotes truths that are pointing onward to what we were reminded of already this afternoon, when the Lord Jesus comes back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And the prophets have been looking onward to those days, and they have viewed away from ancient times and prophetic writing. They have viewed that Jews and Gentiles are going to be brought together in a happy spirit of unity and praise. What will bring Jew and Gentile together in a day that is coming? It will be the coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And when he has his rightful place, and men from every corner of the globe shall unite to exalt him and to speak his praise and to honor him, there won't be a discordant The Jews won't have any trouble getting along with the Gentiles or the Gentiles with the Jews. Why? Because in a coming day, all are going to be united in bringing praise to one glorious man. He is Lord, and where his Lordship is acknowledged, there will be produced harmony and unity among the people of God.

Glory together in the prospect, Jews and Gentiles. Now, he says, grace together in the present. Do you understand how this appeals to me? If you're looking forward to a day when Jews and Gentiles are going to unite in praise around the Lord Jesus, and whatever distinctions there have been between them are all going to be forgotten.

If that's your hope, and included in our hope is not only the truth that the Lord Jesus is coming to the air, but that he is coming back to this world, and as we have been reminded through the weekend, he is coming to reign. If that is your hope, now says the Apostle, that must control you now. Let me apply it just in a slightly different way then, because you'll remember what's often been quoted.

To dwell above with saints we love, oh, that will be glory. Won't it? Glory all together around the Lord Jesus. Mine was lovely singing outside today.

I wish I could sing more. Wish my voice didn't crack sometimes. Wonderful to think of all the saints gathering around the Lord Jesus.

Oh, what a day it will be. We'll all be united around him. Now what was that now again? To dwell above with saints we love, oh, that will be glory.

To dwell below with saints we know. Well, that's another story. That's where the problem comes in.

We all are looking forward to heaven. The fact is this. If we're going to be able to unite in that day without a ripple in appreciation of Christ, then let that hope control us now.

How do I get along with a brother that has as many faults as I do almost? Why did you laugh at that? I'll have to do for him what I hope he will do for me. I'll have to overlook some of his shortcomings, and I will have to appreciate what there is of the grace of God in him. And over it all, he and I together will have to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ.

Chapter 14 tells me this. I'm not his Lord to decide whether what he's doing is right or not. Now, brethren, there are matters of principle.

There are matters that must be judged from the word of God. But when it comes to personal matters and a lack of understanding of divine things, there are things that I have no responsibility to touch. I am not his Lord.

Let me acknowledge the Lord. Let him acknowledge the Lord. And together we are drawn together as one to enjoy unity in the present.

Not only hope and our unity, I want to speak just for a moment from 1 John chapter 3 of hope and our purity. It says, John, in writing to believers, he that hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. Now, in the epistle that John is writing, John recognizes that there are tremendous enemies, that there are enemies that are satanic.

That is, behind the whole world system that John is viewing, there is the satanic enemy that is at work. And his puppet before him, the whole stage of this world, is all in opposition to the child of God. No making any mistake about it, we are not living in a friendly world.

We are not living in a society that will or can contribute to spiritual progress and growth. Love not the world. That is a thing that we are done with.

Continue as you have been. Reject it all. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

If any man love the world, oh no, he is not saved at all. Oh no, we are finished with that world. What an enemy.

But I want to tell you, now I do dread the infernal enemy and I do dread the external enemy. But I have another enemy that I am more afraid of than either of them, maybe both combined. There is another enemy that lives with me every moment that I breathe.

He is the traitor within. Enemies. And the apostle reminds us of this, if any man say, we have no sin, there is no enemy here, we have no problem with sin, that sinful principle, nature within, no, no, no, says the apostle, that is not the case and there is not one person here today.

Not one of us, but we are dreadfully conscious of the enemy within. But oh, thank God, the apostle is bringing before us that we have resources with which to deal with that enemy. Am I very conscious at the most holy moments that there is such a thing? Am I not conscious at those moments that there is the admixture of something from within that spoils it all in the presence of God, if any man sin? We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

Thank God we are not left to stew and to fret and be discouraged and defeated. Thank God there is instant access into the very presence of God and by confession, whatever the sin may be, whatever the consciousness of the intrusion of pride or self or immorality or whatever it may be. Confessed, Lord, I agree with thee, it's just old David, it's just sin.

He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Don't speak to me about I did it again. It's all taken care of, fitted once more for moving in the sanctuary, cleansed from all unrighteousness.

Confession, these things have I written unto you that ye sin not, and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, so that there is one who by virtue of his sacrifice and now his being there in the presence of the Father has covered the whole question of my sin. There is complete resource for the child of God with his enemy within. So says the apostle now, in light of all of that, there is before us the ultimate.

We are very conscious of failure and limitation, but there is the ultimate before us and it is this. It does not yet appear what we shall be. So I'm not there yet.

Oh, I'm so far from it. I would like to have more of it just now, but it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know, oh, what a glorious moment that when he shall appear, when he shall be manifested, we shall be like him.

Because when he's manifested, we are going to have seen him as he is. And if we are then like him, if we are longing for that moment, if we have our hopes set on this, he is going to be manifested, and when he is manifested, I am going to be like him. He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Listen, what do the attractions of this world matter, and what do the appeals of sin within matter? One of these glad days, one of these glad days, I am going to be like him. I am going to see him as he is. He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

1 Thessalonians chapter 4. There are believers who are grieving. They have lost their loved ones. They have learned of the great truth of the King.

Paul has taught them that when he was in Thessalonica about one Jesus, a king, and their hearts are looking onward to that kingdom. As far as I am concerned, maybe one of the greatest sources of their grief was, our loved ones have been saved. They have died.

We were all waiting for the kingdom. Maybe they had the idea of Martha and Mary and so many others at the last day, away at the end, there is going to be a resurrection, and our loved ones would have missed the kingdom. And they were grieving.

Overcome with the grief, Paul writes to them what tremendous truth it is. Oh yes, the kingdom is coming. But what I want you to know is this, that the same Lord who died and rose again, you have been made one with him.

There is a something of divine truth that is in the mind of the apostle, and based upon our faith in Christ, you have died and been raised again. Now the apostle says, listen, when he is coming back for that kingdom, if you are linked with him, if you have learned that truth in death and resurrection, I have been made one with Christ, if that is true, then when he comes back, you are going to have to be coming with him. And all those who have died are going to have to be coming with him too.

Even so, shall those also who have been put to sleep through Jesus, shall God bring with him the prospect of the kingdom, the prospect of glory. And the apostle says, now if that is your hope, let it have a present effect. I have written to you, says the apostle, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

Can't wipe away all tears from all eyes today. But I thought of this. There are some loved ones of mine that I'd like to have back some days to enjoy some things together.

Those that have not passed through a great deal of sorrow or particular bereavement, I guess this will sound all that strange to you, but there are others that know. There are some times when I have sat down to break bread with two children beside me. I thought of loved ones who have gone.

I wish they could enjoy that with me. Well, I'm thankful for this. They have gone before, they're not missing out on anything.

The hope. All the glory, all the blessing, all that thrills our souls. Yes, we miss them.

Yes, we would not wish them back. And the great hope is this. We and they together are going to share in glory.

And we sorrow not, as those that have no hope. Hebrews chapter 13, the writer there is writing about the future as well. He is writing about what I think he's been writing about in the whole epistle.

And he's been pointing the believers onward to the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy. Psalm 110 has taught that the one who was rejected by men has ascended up to sit on the right hand. His enemies have rejected him here, but he has gone up to sit on the right hand of the Lord until his enemies be made the footstool of his feet.

And when his enemies have been made the footstool of his feet, then that one to whom it has been said, thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek, is going to come back to this world. Priest and king together. He is coming back to reign.

And we have joyously been reminded of that today. And the writer to the Hebrews is saying, yes, all those promises are invested in the Son of God. Yes, all those promises require a man who will fulfill them.

But we see not yet all things put under to him. But we see a man. He is Jesus.

And by the time you get to chapter 4 of Hebrews, we learn this great truth. Or at least we have brought together these two great truths. He is Jesus, the Son of God.

All the promises of the Old Testament rest in him for their fulfillment. He must be the rejected, crucified Jesus of Nazareth, who has gone back up yonder until one of these days he comes in power and great glory, a priest and a king, to sit upon his throne. And when he comes back, then the promises of rest that Joshua could not bring the people into, the promises of a priesthood that will be millennial in its extent, the promises of a new covenant and a sacrifice that will bring in all the blessings of that new covenant will all be fulfilled.

We are brought to Mount Zion and the kingdom and the hosts and the blessings. Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. Why? For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

Now, just a minute. My brother will straighten all this out later. But far as I'm concerned, he is looking on now to the kingdom.

He is looking on to the promises to Abraham being fulfilled. No, no, these are believers that are going at the rapture. But they have the heritage of promises for the coming kingdom.

And he says, in light of that coming kingdom, in light of that day when a priest and a king shall reign for God, in light of the great truth, the house of God is going to be manifested in a coming kingdom. And in that coming kingdom there will be one who is central and one alone. Let that control your present.

If he is worthy to have the central place there, and no other name shall be a rival to his name, Jesus, the son of God, in all his glory and splendor, and an unshakable kingdom, then let that control the present moment. Let us go forth therefore unto him. If there's no other name to rival his, make it so now.

His name and the people of God brought together around him. If every principle of evil is going to be judged and discarded in that day, then live by the principles of that separation now unto him without the camp. And in that coming day when there is going to be glory and thank God we're going to be linked with him.

What does it matter now if it's a small thing? What does it matter now if it's not accredited by man? Let us go forth therefore unto him in light of the glory that is coming, in light of his central place, in light of principles that shall regulate a coming age. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach, for here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. We're not interested in the things of this world and in getting through and being accepted with all that is important in this world.

Everything is linked with what is coming, and in faithfulness to what is coming, let us bear the reproached name now. The name of the Lord Jesus. Sacrifices then that will be all surrounding him, brought together to him.

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. Brethren, praying in the firm meaning, giving the Lord a little something from your soul, from your spirit rather, from your heart at the breaking of bread. He is going to have it all then.

May some people rush in for the glory days. Why not just a little more of a rush? Reverence, but just a little more of a holy haste to give him something now. The future controlling the now.

Better just go to Philippians chapter 3 for one other thought. The apostle there is looking onward to the future. He takes a little glance back to the past, and the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, my, he's going back to a day.

Would he ever forget the day when there on the Damascus road, breathing out threatenings and slaughters against the name of Jesus? There is one who interrupts his pathway, and there is a splendor above the brightness of the noonday sun, and it bursts across his path, and his whole life is changed. I didn't have that kind of an experience just exactly, but I want to tell you, oh I want to tell you, I came to know the same glorious Savior. God grant I'll never forget the day.

I hope I don't get old and forgetful and you visit me at Bethany and ask me some questions about when I was saved and I can't tell you. I hope it doesn't happen that way. Oh, have we forgotten the day when we first saw him? Have we forgotten the wonder that we were saved? Paul has been so enraptured by that glory, and he says, that's the past, but I want to tell you, my heart is set on that very same one, because one of these days, one of these days, I am going to be brought into likeness to him.

Moral likeness to Christ. Now says the apostle, I've got that, you see my heart is so one from the past and so occupied for the future. I know he has laid hold of me for this.

He has laid hold of me to make me like to Christ. I'll just bring in Romans chapter 8 for a moment. Whom he did foreknow, then he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.

That's what God has for me, to be like Christ. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those that are before.

He's a man. Listen, Paul, why do you live the way you live? You have nothing and you're you're in prison and your work is all in shambles or people trying to do their best to do that anyway. Man, why do you live the way you live? Our brother McCullough reminded us, to me, says Paul, to live as Christ.

How did he put that into shoe leather? He had the future in his hand. He had that moment when he would be living like Christ. And he says, I am so enraptured with Christ.

The only reason for living is Christ. And that transforms every step of my way from here to there. Oh, may God catch us with that in our soul before we leave the conference.

Oh, may God stir us that the future and what we shall be may so occupy us now that we may leave different men and women, that we may be exerting every effort, directing every aim, bending every ambition to one moment. We're going to be like her. That's moral likeness.

And by the end of the chapter, the apostle says, and I'll tell you what else. One of these days there is going to be physical likeness. Our citizenship up along here.

See, some of the folks in Canada would hold it against me that I was born in Canada and I'm a citizen of the U.S. Don't be upset. Our citizenship is in heaven. That's our country.

One of these days we're going to a country we've never seen and we'll be at home. From whence also we look for the Savior, our Lord Jesus. Oh, thank God we are going to be morally like him.

But he shall change these bodies of our humiliation that they may be made like unto his body of glory. Glory from the inside out. What else is worth living for?