The Kingdom of God: Righteousness, Peace and Joy (Romans Sermon 106)

As we continue in our study in Romans 14 an incredibly important chapter. I think we come to the point where we are seeing one of the challenges of the church, the evangelical church in the west, the two great commands that we have really mediated to us by the apostle Paul, and that is to come out and be separate, that we would not be polluted by the surrounding world, that we would not be defiled by this world. While at the same time that we would become all things to all people, so that by all possible means we may save some. The same one wrote both of those things. And he was serving the same Lord who said, “Father, I do not pray that you take them out of the world, but rather that you protect them from the evil one.”

So how do we come out from the world and be separate? 2 Corinthian 6. And at the same time be all things to all men, so that by all possible means we may save some? 1 Corinthians 9. As I looked at Jesus, I looked to him as our ultimate example in this. How can we be evangelistically fruitful and at the same time, pure and holy in this world? That’s the question. And Jesus taught us how. Now my favorite depiction of the life of Jesus in movie is Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth. It’s still on TV. It was a TV mini series 6 hours and 16 minutes, first premiered in 1977, and I just love it. Others like the Jesus film better and it’s been more widely used. But I just love the acting, I love the way the whole thing is pictured. And there’s a very poignant scene right at the beginning of the call of the apostles, when Jesus works with the newly converted Peter, this big, burly fisherman who is filled with all kinds of whim and vigor and energy, and he doesn’t understand why his brother Andrew, is running after all these holy men like John the Baptist.

And now here comes another one. He says, “What, another holy man, another one who tells us to wait for the future time and all that?” he said, “Show me a holy man that can put some fish in the sea, and then I’ll listen to him.” And then Jesus looks him right in the eye and says, “Go back out again.” And he goes out and he catches that miraculous catch of fish and then Peter is incredibly humbled. Problem is, Peter has a, what he calls a “blood-sucking enemy.” His blood-sucking enemy is Matthew the tax collector. And Matthew comes to his house where Jesus is there, and there’s a huge group of people there, and Matthew enters Peter’s house and says, Peter, I heard you had a large catch of fish. We’ll talk about it later, shall we. He wants his back-taxes, and so Peter is irate that Matthew would come into his house. And Matthew says, “What about this new teacher, a rabbi whatever he is, Jesus?”

And Jesus looks up at him and says, I think that we’ll have to meet at some place where we’re both more welcome. And he says, “Is your house far from here?” And Matthew looks suspicious and surprised, said, “Why do you ask?” he said, “Because I should like to have dinner with you tonight.” Well, Peter and John and James, and Andrew spend the rest of the day trying to persuade Jesus not to go to the house of a defiled tax collector. If you just go there, those people will pollute you, it will be a scandal, you’ll be defiled. And Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” It’s not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. And so they go right… All of his apostles, disciples, they go right to the threshold of Matthew’s defiled house, and they will not enter in, but Jesus walks right in.

Well, there’s a party going on, it’s that low-flickering lights, the oil lanterns, not immoral things going on, but a little bit seedy. You can tell that the first concern of those tax collectors and the women that are there and all that is not holiness, and Jesus comes right into that situation and they’re all shocked, they never expected that he would really come. They thought it was just idle words, but he came and he said, “Peace be on this house. And then Matthew said, Thank you for honoring my house. Jesus has already done a number of miracles, and they know that he’s an extraordinary person. They never expected him to come. Well Matthew doesn’t know what to do and there’s a woman reclining there, and he says, “Get out of the way.” he’s speaking very sharply to her and Jesus speaks gently, says, “No, no, I’ll sit over here.”

Well, someone offers some drink, he can have a drink and somebody offers a toast, “I drink to you in the name of all here” it’s a real party atmosphere. And Jesus said, “I’d like to tell a story.” And all of a sudden the place becomes quiet and he tells the story of the prodigal son, and it becomes clear as the story unfolds, that the prodigal sons and daughters are those tax collectors that are there celebrating and eating and drinking. And they’re drawn into the story, because they’ve never seen anyone like Jesus with that kind of love and that kind of compassion, and that kind of power. He would come to their house and yet their hearts are being laid bare as the prodigal son waste all of his father’s resources on riotous living. Meanwhile Jesus’ apostles are standing right at the threshold of the door. Not a toe on the threshold, but they’re right there listening also to the parable of the prodigal son.

And you know how it ends, Jesus stands up and he’s really into telling the story, he’s very powerful in his telling of the story. And you can just see the passion as the father sees the prodigal son from far off, and he runs, and he embraces him and he hugs the prodigal son, welcomes him back in and says, “Quick, bring a robe for my son, put a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet, kill the fatted calf and let’s celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost, and is now found.” But he doesn’t stop there, he then goes on to the second part. Now the older brother at that time, heard the celebration, wondered what it was and called one of the servants and he was told. Meanwhile Jesus’ disciples are listening very carefully to this right on the edge of the threshold.

And that older son is angry, that the father would throw a party for this wayfaring wicked son, who wasted all of his father’s living on… Money on riotous living. And the father goes out and talks to him, says, “Please son, listen to me. You are always with me and all I have is yours.” And at this moment in the movie, Jesus turns and looks right at Peter, “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But it was right for us to celebrate, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And at that moment, Peter crosses the threshold comes into Matthew’s house and Jesus takes him and puts his arm around his shoulder, welcomes him, but then turns him toward Matthew and the two of them embrace. From then on in the movie they were friends. Now, my question to you is, how does the church do that?

How do we go into the party, and immediately become the center and focus? Tell a story that cuts to the quick of the sinners that are there, makes them feel their need for God, not defiled in any way by the evil things that are going on and then producing, effecting a transformed life as a result. How do we do that? Churches are struggling with this all across this country. They’re trying to be seeker sensitive, they’re trying to set up programs or other things that will be relevant and connect with people. They’re trying to have a Starbucks right on the campus or maybe a squash court or something like that, anything to attract the people. They want to find some way to cross the gap between church people and non-church people. And they’re doing it in the name of leading people to Christ, but there’s a danger of defilement and I think Romans 14, especially verses 17 and 18 gives us the answer.

How do we advance the kingdom?

I. What Is the Kingdom of God?

First of all, what is the kingdom? What is the nature of life, in the kingdom and how can we serve God in the kingdom. And so it says in verses 17 and 18, “The Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way, is pleasing to God, and approved by man.” Now, that’s it. How can we be both pleasing to God, approved by man and serve the kingdom and advance it, that’s the question. And that’s what we’re looking at today in verses 17 and 18. Now we come to the question of the issue of the kingdom of God.

Now, Christ began his preaching ministry with the central call in Mark 1:15. The time has come, he said, “The Kingdom of God is near, repent, and believe the good news.” He began preaching the Kingdom that’s what he did. Christ taught all of his parables around this central theme. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that was planted in the garden or the kingdom of heaven is like a farmer who goes out to scatter his seed. Or the kingdom of heaven is like a large catch of fish or the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. The kingdom of heaven, the organizing theme of his parables. He also organized his healing ministry, as a display of the powerful Kingdom of God, the power of God over demons, and over sickness, even over death. So it says in Matthew 4:23, “Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” So Jesus’ healing ministry, a display of the kingdom’s power.

Now, as we come to Romans 14:17, we have the first mention of the kingdom in the book of Romans. That’s really quite remarkable when you think about it, it’s the centerpiece of Jesus’ teaching and miraculous ministry. Paul mentions the kingdom in many other places, but this is the first time that he’s mentioned the kingdom in the book of Romans. And in doing so, he’s giving us somewhat of a definition of what the kingdom is. Now, in order to step back just from 14:17, What is the kingdom of God, what are we talking about when we talk about the kingdom of God? Well, first of all, God is a king. God rules on the throne. In Revelation chapter 4, The voice comes and John who wrote the apocalypse is invited, come up here. And when he comes up to heaven, there is a throne at the center. God sits on a throne. And so it says in 1 Timothy 1:17, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to the only God be honor and glory forever and ever, amen.”

We serve a king, an exalted glorious king. And he rules over heaven and earth. Secondly, God’s kingly rule extends everywhere, even over his enemies. He rules actively and sovereignly and powerfully, even over to people who don’t acknowledge him, who don’t love him and worship him. His rule is everywhere, yet thirdly, there is such a thing as an advancing kingdom of God here on earth that will grow, and grow, and grow, and be fulfilled in heaven, and you can enter the Kingdom of God by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. You can enter the kingdom now. And so what is that kingdom? Well I think it’s the place, if you can use that language, spiritually where God the king, is honored and obeyed gladly, by people whose sins have been forgiven by faith in the blood of Christ and who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, for that glad obedience. That’s the kingdom.

It’s a matter of glad submission to the king by the power of the Spirit and of the blood of Christ. And so Paul is bringing us here in Romans 14 to this question, What is the kingdom of God like? What is life in the kingdom like? Is life a matter of legalism, a bunch of dos and don’ts, about eating and drinking, and Sabbath regulations. And the answer is decidedly no. Well, on the other hand, is it a life of total freedom from the law? You can do anything you want, any time you want, you’re under grace. Is it that? The answer is decidedly no. But what then is life like in the kingdom? That’s what Paul is answering.

II. Negatively: The Kingdom of God Is Not…

And he starts negatively. Verse 17, look at it, he says, “The kingdom of God is not…” So he starts negatively. The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, here, he’s dealing with this topic of legalism, the very thing he’s been addressing throughout Romans 14.

Can we eat all foods? Are all foods really clean or are we still under the Mosaic dietary regulations and restrictions? Can we eat meat sacrificed to idols? Can eat anything we want? Can we drink anything we want? Rules and regulations. Well, he says, “The kingdom of God is not about that. It’s not about rules, and regulations, about eating and drinking.” This then is the mind of the legalist, this is what the legalist is thinking like. I want to be told what I must do and what I must not do. I want a list. I want a bunch of rules and regulations that makes life simple, even if we can’t keep it. And so, rules and regulations, the mind of the legalist, every single area of life covered by a rule. Told what you can wear and what you can’t wear, told what you can eat and what you can’t eat, told where you can go and where you can’t go. Do you want to live like that? That’s the life of a legalist.

Jesus was dealing with this all the time with the scribes and Pharisees. Remember the picture in Matthew 23. “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You give a 10th of your spices, mint, dill and cumin, but you’ve neglected the weightier matters of the law. Justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. You blind guides you strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” It’s just amazing. You can picture them there, sitting at their table with a magnifying glass, nine leaves of mint for me and one for God, nine more for me and one for God. It’s the mind of the legalist.

What’s the problem? Well, they’re living harsh, judgmental lives, they’re considering themselves pure and in no need of grace, they call other people sinners, they’re ready to condemn a Sabbath breaker, even if Jesus has just healed him, for carrying his mat on the Sabbath. They shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces with their rules, their list, their dos and don’ts, but they think they’re on the inside. The big problem is they focus on details and they miss the transcendent truths, like justice, mercy and faithfulness. Now first I want to say to you the kingdom of God is all-encompassing. I don’t think Paul’s saying it doesn’t matter about eating and drinking in the Kingdom of God, I don’t think he’s saying that. If that were the case, then he wouldn’t be telling us anything about eating and drinking in Romans 14. Wouldn’t even bare mention. And Jesus himself said, you should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. So go ahead and give a 10th of your spices, but that’s not the center of it all. The kingdom is bigger than that, that’s what he’s getting at. I think what we eat and how we eat it does matter to God. If these things weren’t important then Paul wouldn’t have said in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So then, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” Everything is under the kingdom. There is nothing in all creation over which the Lord does not claim total sovereignty. Abraham Kuyper put it this way, he says, “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, mine.” Everything is Christ’s, including eating and drinking.

But I think what Paul is saying here, is that the kingdom of God is not essentially about eating and drinking, it’s not merely about eating and drinking, that’s what he’s saying here. It’s bigger than that, bigger than that, involves far weightier issues than that. Some time ago, I came across an illustration I think is helpful. I think what happens is when you take little things and make them the center of everything. Everything flies out of control, just like the solar system. The sun is at the center of the solar system, because it alone has the mass and the gravitational pull to hold all those nine planets, and all the asteroids and the moons and all that revolving around it. The sun weighs 333,000 times more than the Earth. If you take the earth and put it at the center, everything flies out except maybe the moon. Faithful moon will stick with us, everything else will fly out. We just don’t have the mass to handle it all. And so when you take legalistic rules about eating and drinking and put them at the center they just can’t hold the thing together, it flies apart. What is weighty enough, it’s got to be God himself, the glory of God, the word for glory, “cabod” is mass, weight. The weight of the glory of God holds everything together. The Kingdom of God then is not about legalistic rules and regulations, about eating and drinking. That’s negative. Well positively, what is it then?

III. Positively: The Kingdom of God Is…

He gives us a positive definition. It’s not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Now I believe that Paul is giving a strong description of life in the Kingdom in this world. I think that what he’s talking about, I think, if you look at the context of Romans 14, he’s talking about church life, getting along with each other, dealing with debatable issues, what it’s like in the church, what it’s like in this world. So I think Paul is giving a very practical description here of what life in the kingdom is like. And I think there’s a very strong order to what he says here. He gives three words that capture life in the Kingdom. First, righteousness, then peace, then joy, and all of it in the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s what the kingdom is. That’s how we live together and serve in the kingdom. Now let’s look at these.

First of all righteousness, there’s a great debate about this word in Romans 14:17. Some people say, is this the same way that Paul has used the word righteousness through much of the Bible? Is this that gift of righteousness, Christ’s righteousness imputed or credited to our account by faith. Is it that righteousness or is it the practical every day out working of righteousness, living a righteous life? Which is it? Is it that spiritual imputed righteousness, or is it every day righteousness. I think a case can be made for both. But I believe that we’re talking about everyday Christianity here. I believe we’re talking about practical Christianity, righteousness lived out in the workplace, righteousness lived out in the home life, righteousness out in the roads and the highways, righteousness in the supermarkets, everyday righteousness. I believe imputed righteousness is the basis of it. It comes first. Why do I say that? Because righteousness has both an eternal aspect and an everyday one. Peace has both an eternal aspect and an everyday one. But joy really only has an everyday experiential aspect. There’s no kind of eternal joy waiting for us, ascribed to us that we don’t feel right now.

You’re not feeling joy then. So joy is something you experience right here, right now, isn’t it? Or you don’t. And therefore I think all three of them are talking about our lives here in this world. So let’s look first at this one, righteousness. Now I believe imputed righteousness is given to us as a gift, and it’s the foundation of all of our righteousness. It’s a gift from God. Think right from the beginning on Romans 1:16 and 17. Paul says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes,” Verse 17, Romans 1:17. “For in the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is from faith to faith. Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.” That is the gift of righteousness. He says the same thing in Romans 3:21-24, which I think is the glowing center of the gospel. You want to know what the gospel is? Romans 3:21-24. It’s powerful. And there it says, “But now, a righteousness from God apart from law has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” God presented him as a propitiation for our sins through faith in his blood.”

That’s the center of the gospel. It’s a gift of righteousness credited to your account by simple faith. And may I say to you, that is the only hope we sinners have on Judgment Day. Do you know it? It’s the only hope. Our practical day-to-day righteousness will never be good enough for judgment day, even on your best day. Maybe today’s your best day. If today were your best day, would it be good enough for Judgment Day? I think you know it isn’t. So therefore, there’s a gift of righteousness simply by faith. Or again, it says in Romans 4:3, what then does the scripture say, “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” This is the imputed or credited righteousness of Christ given to us freely as a gift apart from works, not by law keeping. It’s not by legalism. It’s just a gift.

It’s a center of the gospel. Now this glorious truth is essential that everything else, to everything else it follows in the Christian life, and it’d be impossible for you to understand properly any human righteousness unless you first understand that. But I believe there’s another kind of righteousness and that which happens in your life after you become a Christian. The changes in your life, the way you’re different, the way you become more like Jesus, the way you live out righteousness in your everyday life, that’s the righteousness I think Paul’s talking about in Romans 6, what we call sanctification righteousness. It says there in Roman 6:13, “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and offer the parts of your body, offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” So you’re going to use your hands and your mouth and your feet and your whole body as servants of righteousness. That’s everyday righteousness, isn’t it? It’s a righteousness lived out in this world. I think that’s what Paul’s talking about in Romans 14:17.

Donald Grey Barnhouse talked about it this way. He gave a great illustration of a butcher, a man who worked cutting meat for people, and a butcher asked what was the difference that it made to him when Christ entered his life. And he said, “Well the difference was I stopped weighing my thumb.” You see what happened was the butcher, when he was cutting meat, lunch meat or any kind of meat for somebody, he’d have his thumb secretly on the scale pushing down a little bit, you see? And so he was charging people for his thumb. He was cheating them really is what he was doing. When Christ came into his life, he stopped putting his thumb on the scale, stepped back, let the scale tell the truth about how much weight had been put on there, and he charged people fairly and if anybody came along that he knew he had cheated in the past, he put extra meet on to compensate for what he had done in the past.

Just like Zacchaeus wanted to make it right, restitution. That is the kind of righteousness I think we’re talking about here. It’s a righteous life lived out in this world, a life in which Christ has made a difference in how you treat people. Christ has made a difference in what you do with your money. Christ makes a difference in what you do with sexual temptation. Christ makes a difference in how you live your life. That’s the kingdom of God. That’s what he’s talking about here. Righteousness. As it says in Psalm 15, “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who might live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellow man, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.” That’s a righteous life.

I think there’s another aspect of righteousness and that’s, I think, true of all of us Christians, and that is a hungering and thirsting for righteousness, a yearning for it, a yearning to see righteousness in our own lives that we don’t see the way we’d like, a yearning to see righteousness in the surrounding society that we don’t see the way we’d like, a yearning like it says in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied, filled.” So the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness in the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, he mentions peace, second statement is peace. Paul says that peace is of the essence of the kingdom of God. Now, as with righteousness, there’s both a heavenly or objective or spiritual peace, and then there’s one we feel, one that we can sense, etcetera. There’s the state of being at peace with God. And then there’s the feeling of harmony or peace we have within us. They’re two different things but closely related. I believe it’s talking about the second one, a feeling of harmony or peace where people are getting along with each other, specifically in the church. They’re not bickering or arguing over debatable issues, but there’s harmony. There’s peace between the brothers and sisters. I think that’s what he’s talking about.

Now the first peace is a wonderful thing. It’s a beautiful thing. Think about it. Romans 5:1, “Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Isn’t that wonderful? Think about the objective relationship between nations. During World War II, we were at war with Germany and Japan and Italy. We were in a state of war with those countries. There was no diplomatic exchanges going on. There was just warfare. Now we are at peace with Germany and Japan and Italy. We exchange diplomats. We exchange gifts. Our leaders visit their countries and vice versa. There’s open and free commerce. We can travel there without fear, etcetera. Our countries are at peace with each other. And so it is with God. At one point, we were at war with God and God was at war with us. When we were apart from Christ, when we were in our sin, we were God’s enemies, it says in Romans 5:10.

In Colossians, we were enemies because of our evil behavior and our evil way of thinking. We were at war with God, and more specifically, God was at war with us apart from Christ. But now in Christ Jesus, in the gospel, you have been brought into peace. You have been reconciled through the blood of Christ. Oh how precious is that? Brother, sister, whether you feel it or not, God is at peace with you and he always will be. We might go into another state of war with Germany or Japan or Italy. We hope not. But God will never be at war with us again now that we have been adopted into his family. Isn’t that wonderful? That’s the objective reality of peace with God, Romans 5:1. But I don’t think that’s what this is talking about. No, I think there’s a different kind of peace.

There’s peace with God but then there’s also that peace of God, a feeling of peace in your heart. We see it in Philippians Chapter Four. You know you’ve read that before. “Be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God.” And what will happen? “The peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Oh, have you ever had that experience? A burden in you? A concern? And you go to the Lord in prayer, and not just a minute or two prayer, not a quickie prayer, but you go there until you have effectively given him the burden of your heart, and you get up and you’re at peace. You have a feeling of peace. God’s going to do it. He’s going to take care of you. Peace in the Holy Spirit, I think that’s what we’re talking about here. Now here I believe is protection from legalistic strife and controversy. The peace of God that transcends all understanding unites us together in a bond of harmony in the Holy Spirit. So, we’re not bickering. And then when you bring your non-Christian co-worker to the place, you’re not embarrassed.

You could even bring them to one of our church conferences. Isn’t that a delightful thing? There’s peace and unity at a Baptist church conference. It can actually happen. Yes, it can. We are united by the power of the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to be bickering Baptists. We can love one another, peace in the Holy Spirit. And how powerful is that for the advancement of the kingdom of God? Not arguing over Sabbath rules and regulations, not arguing over worship styles and Christian contemporary music, not arguing about Christian liberties and what you’re allowed to do or not allowed to do. Instead, righteousness and peace in the Holy Spirit.

The third that he mentions is the issue of joy. The kingdom of God is also about joy in the Holy Spirit. Unlike the first two, you don’t have that spiritual one and then the earthly version. I’m not saying there’s not going to be joy in heaven. Oh, there will be. But it’s still us experiencing it, right? There is no joy that you don’t experience. You’re just not being joyful.

But you could be. You see, this joy is based on the rock solid foundation of the first two. Righteousness, the righteousness imputed to your account and the righteousness you see in your life, the things that God’s done. Peace, the objective peace we have with God forever and ever and the peace we have in our hearts now that we’re walking well with God by the power of the Spirit. And that results in what? It results in joy, the joy of the promises of the gospel, knowing that your best days are all yet to come. All the good stuff’s in the future. There is treasure stored up in heaven for you and no one can take it from you. It’s guarded for you in heaven, kept in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. This is the joy of the Holy Spirit.

I believe that joy may be one of the greatest barometers of Christian health that there is. Now I was looking at my message this morning and I said, “Wait a minute, barometer of health? That doesn’t work.” Barometer of Christian weather, sunny weather or a diagnostic of Christian health, I don’t know. Can you just accept barometer of Christian health? You know what I’m talking about, okay? I couldn’t think of a better expression. All I’m saying is if you want to know how you’re doing, check your joy. Check your joy. You know why? Because joy cannot co-exist with sin. If you’re violating your conscience, you will kiss your joy goodbye until you rectify that through confession or repentance and bringing forth fruit and capable of repentance.

Joy cannot co-exist with legalism and unbelief. Paul talked about this very directly in Galatians 4:15. The Galatians had imbibed or drunk in a bad gospel, a legalistic gospel. They thought they had to do a bunch of rules and regulations. They drunk it in. Paul is very put out with them, and at one point very tellingly, he says, in Galatians 4:15, “What has happened to all your joy?” A very interesting question. Do you remember how it used to be? Do you remember the sweetness of knowing that your sins were forgiven? Do you remember the sweetness of the beginning of your Christian life? What happened to that? Where is your joy? Joy is a beautiful barometer Christian health. Look and see if your joy is there, or if it’s not.

Now I believe joy transcends all circumstances. Barnhouse used the analogy of a submarine. He said, “When all is chaos on the surface, deep down there can be joy. There’s never been a storm in the Atlantic, even though its waves were so great that they combed over the bridge of a battleship whose roots were anymore than on the surface. A submarine always finds the water down below as calm as a pond on a clear June day.” And I talked to a submarine commander. He said it’s true. You have to go down to 400 feet. But I’ve confirmed this. I try to confirm the illustrations. I don’t want to say anything that’s not true. But he said even in a hurricane, if you go down 400 feet, it’s placid and quiet and peaceful. So you can be going through some terrible trials, terrible trials, but still there can be that joy rooted on the promises of the gospel. How sweet is that?

The final thing he mentions is the Holy Spirit, it’s righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And I hope you notice I haven’t been able to mention the others except for mentioning the Holy Spirit, it’s righteousness in the Holy Spirit, it’s peace in the Holy Spirit, it’s joy in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives all of these things that we’ve been talking about. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And therefore, we’re at a higher level. We’re at a different realm of experience. We are not under the law. The law doesn’t produce those things. We are in the Spirit and the Spirit does. The Spirit produces righteousness, peace, and joy. That’s what he’s come to give so spirits work in us, and this is the nature of life in the kingdom of God.

IV. Serving Christ in This Way

Now Paul asks or brings up an important issue. He’s saying, “You want to advance the Kingdom of God? Do it like this. This is how you should serve Christ in the kingdom.” Look at verse 18. “Because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.”

This is how we serve the kingdom of God. The problem with legalism, your focus is other people, the rule keepers, the rule holders. You want to please them. You want to please the Pharisees. They’re watching you all the time. And it takes the focus off of God where it should be, we’re all going to stand before the judgement seat of God and give him an account, takes the focus off of God and puts it on other people and what they think. That’s a great danger of legalism. The remedy is the spirit-filled life. Spirit-filled life frees you up from being a people pleaser. Your conscience is clear, your lifestyle is pure, you have no secrets to hide, no fear of disclosure because the true audience is with you always by the power of the Holy Spirit, you’re consistently filled with the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit characterizes you.

You’re free to eat or drink or not to eat or drink because you know that your life doesn’t consist of these things. And so, like Paul and Silas, you could be singing in the middle of the night in jail because you have joy in the Holy Spirit. And this is how we serve Christ in this way. Now we can serve Christ legalistically, a bunch of rules and regulations. We can try to advance the gospel that way and some people will be convinced. They’ll want some structure to their lives, some discipline. Like going to boot camp, they’ll come, but they won’t be embracing the gospel. Or we can go the other way. We can be as worldly as we can possibly be and try to win Christ that way. I was reading a book recently about the Emerging Church. The Emerging Church is a kind of new wave in the West, America and Europe, Australia, different places, where they’re trying to reach what they call post-modern, post-Christian culture, by becoming as much like them as possible so that they can win some to Christ. That’s their desire. Their desire is evangelism and they want to win lost people to Christ, which is admirable. The problem is the methodology. The problem is the methodology. They were talking about how one church bought a bar and refurbished it and turned it into a church.

And they spoke disapprovingly of this. They said, “That’s not what we’re talking about,” because now the people who used to come to the bar can’t go anymore. Now it’s a church. You’ve taken it over and made it a sacred space. No, what you better do, what’s even better, is run it as a bar. Run it as a bar and witness to the ones that come. And they cited an example in Bradford, England, where some radical Christians bought a pub called the Cock and Bottle and continued to run it as a pub selling hard liquor to whomever came, seeking to lead them to Christ. Malcolm Willis, who’s the manager, said this, “Jesus said to go into all the world and this includes pubs. He didn’t say sit in your church and wait for the people to come to you.” The book says the Willis’s and their staff, all Christians, have set about creating a loving, welcoming environment where locals are cared for, listened to, and ministered to.

On the issue of selling hard liquor, Willis justified it this way. “Yes, we’re selling booze to people who could do without it. But if we don’t, they’ll just go somewhere else to get it.” Did you hear that? We’ll come back to that in a minute. “At least if we’re here, we can get alongside them. So, I have to ask, ‘What would Jesus have done?’ I think the Lord would have been here in the pubs.” Well, he would have been there, but would he have been serving the hard liquor? That’s a different question. In the margin of the book as I was reading, I wrote, “Why not a Christian crack house in the same theory?

Why not? I mean they’re going to go somewhere anyway, right? Why don’t we serve them the crack and then while they’re… I guess before or after, we can witness to it. Say, “Now you really don’t need this stuff that I’m giving you. Let me tell you about Jesus.” It doesn’t make any sense. Now, we believe that the end and the means must line up, and that’s what these two verses are about. Anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. In what way? You want to build the kingdom, I mean the real kingdom, the one that really is and is advancing? You do it by righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, by seeing God work in this church, those things. So we hold in balance those three things we talked about last time: Gospel freedom, gospel purity and gospel unity in love. Those three things create a church that is powerful in the area of evangelism. Now as I close by way of application, let me ask you a question. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Do you know him? Have you trusted in him? Do you have righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit? Do you have the Holy Spirit?

Have you received the gift of righteousness by faith in the blood of Jesus? Is your conscience testifying to you that you are a child of God and that God is at peace with you? And if the answer to that is no, your conscience is not telling you that, you have never come to Christ, then today, repent and believe in Jesus. It’s the greatest thing could ever happen to you. Your heart will be filled with a joy I can barely describe to you, the joy of knowing that you’re going to heaven when you die. Come to Christ. But if you’re a Christian, let me ask you, are you walking in this way? Are you serving Christ in this way, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit? Do you have a passion for outreach? Are you seeking to reach the lost or are you inviting people to church? Are you inviting people even more importantly to Christ? Are you talking to people about the gospel? And then does your life line up with it, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit? Are you serving Christ in this way? This I believe alone advances the kingdom, and this alone establishes that which can glorify God for eternity. Close with me in prayer.

All around the world, the church is struggling with a complex problem: how do we maintain purity from the defilements of the world while at the same time engaging the non-Christians in the world with the gospel?

How do we “Come out from the world and be separate” while at the same time become all things to all people so that by all possible means we may save some?

How can we be pure and friend of sinners at the same time?

Jesus seemed to be able to eat with tax collectors and sinners without being dragged down to their level

1977: Franco Zeffirelli’s TV Miniseries Jesus of Nazareth premiered… six hour, sixteen minute presentation of the life of Christ remains the best loved and best critically acclaimed film depiction of Christ

For me, especially powerful is the scene when the newly converted Peter, a burly fisherman who hates Matthew, his blood-sucking tax collector enemy, tries to persuade Jesus not to enter the home of a tax collector. Jesus had arranged to have dinner at Matthew’s house that evening, and Peter and the other disciples spend the whole day trying to convince Jesus that He’ll be polluted if he enters Matthew’s house… never mind the fact that He’ll never live down the scandal it will cause to His reputation. Jesus didn’t listen, but went anyway

Jesus is accompanied right to the door of Matthew’s house by Peter, John, and Andrew and others, but they refuse to cross the threshold into Matthew’s defiled house. But Jesus never hesitated, and entered right in.

When He entered Matthew’s house, there was a party already in progress… the flickering lights of the oil lamps cast an orange and seedy glow, and there were women and men reclining at table comfortably together. Though nothing immoral was going on, it was clearly a place of pleasure and laughter in which holiness was not the first thought

Matthew is stunned that Jesus actually fulfilled His promise and came. He was used to being shunned by all religious people. Matthew introduces Jesus to his lounging friend, and one happy partier lifts his cup and says “I drink a toast to you in the name of all here!”

Matthew doesn’t quite know what to do with Jesus, so he barks at a loose-looking woman to move so Jesus can sit down. Jesus says, “No… I’ll sit over here.” Some suggest music, some suggest more wine or some food for Jesus. Jesus smiles pleasantly and says, “No, I’d like to tell a story.” With Jesus’ shocked disciples listening at the threshold of the door, with the partiers equally quiet, He captivates everyone’s imagination with the compelling story of the Prodigal Son. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the Prodigal Son represents these tax collectors and sinners who are wandering far from God. But they see in Jesus a love unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. They listen to the powerful parable right to the climax, as the Father runs to the sinful son, embraces him and welcomes him back. Jesus doesn’t merely tell the story… he stands and paces around, gesturing and involving Himself totally in it. The party is totally captured by the parable of Jesus.

“Quick, bring a robe for my son! Put a ring on his finger and shoes for his feet. Kill the fattened calf and let’s have a feast… let’s celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’

But then the second part of the parable occurs…. Jesus describes the older brother, who is angry that the father has welcomed this sinful, straying son back so lovingly.

“I slaved all my life for you, all these years… and you never once gave me a goat to celebrate with my friends.”

At this moment, speaking as the Father, Jesus looked right at self-righteous, hateful Peter… who refused to defile himself in Matthew’s home

“Please, my son, listen to me. You are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

As Jesus was speaking these words, Jesus’ eyes searched into Peter’s heart and Peter was drawn irresistibly like a magnet across the threshold into Matthew’s defiled house. Jesus led Peter to embrace Matthew, and from then on they were best friends.

Now… how can the church do the same thing?

How can we step into a sinful mess, where Prodigal Sons and Daughters are squandering their lives on riotous living… how can we transform the situation and speak the words of the gospel, without being ourselves defiled

Is it possible for us to Advance the Kingdom of Christ as He did… with total purity from sin and total immersion in the lives of sinners?

Is it possible for us to maintain balance in the three themes we have seen here in Romans 14:

■      Gospel freedom from legalism

■      Gospel purity from sin

■      Gospel unity among different believers

The question before us: How can we advance the Kingdom in a way that is both pleasing to God and acceptable to people?

I.   What Is the Kingdom of God?

Romans 14:17-18 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

A.  Kingdom of God: Central to Christ’s Ministry

1.  Christ began His preaching ministry with this central call

Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

2.  Christ taught His parables around this central theme

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed….” “The Kingdom of heaven is like a man sowing seed…”

“The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field…”

3.  Christ organized His healing ministry to display this central reality

Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

B.  A Rare Mention by Paul

1.  Amazing: the first mention of the Kingdom of God in the Book of Romans

2.  Paul does, however, develop the theme in other places in his writings

C.  Defining the Kingdom of God

1.  First, God is a King (whether we serve Him or not)

1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

2.  God’s Kingly Rule Extends Everywhere… Even Over Enemies

3.  Yet, There is a “Kingdom of God” Which Sinners Can Enter

4.  What Is the Kingdom of God?

It is the place where repentant sinners are cleansed from their sin by the blood of Christ and prove their repentance by gladly obeying the rule of God the King

5.  What Is Life Like in the Kingdom of God?

That is the question Paul is seeking to answer… is it a life of legalism in which our every action is fenced in by some rule or regulation? NO!

Well then, is it a life of total freedom, in which I can live however I want without concern for the law of God or other people? NO!

What is life in the Kingdom like? That’s what Paul is answering

II.   Negatively: The Kingdom of God Is Not…

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking

A.  The Mind of the Legalist: Missing the Grand, Glorious Picture

1.  Every area of life covered by some regulation, some rule

2.  Christ battled it in the teachers of the law and the Pharisees

Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You give a tenth of your spices– mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law– justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

You can picture them in your mind’s eye… counting out nine mint leaves for themselves, one for God… nine dill for them, one for God… nine cumin for them, one for God

All the while they were neglecting the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness

They were living harsh, judgmental lives, considering themselves pure and in no need of grace, and calling other people sinners… ready to condemn even to death a Sabbath breaker when they found him

3.  What’s the problem? Focusing on details and missing the transcendent truths

B.  The Kingdom is All-Encompassing… But First Things First

1.  Paul would say the Kingdom of God IS a matter of eating and drinking

Jesus did say this about tithing mint, dill, and cumin:

You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

It isn’t wrong to give a tenth of your spices to God… but it is wrong to do that while seeking to kill God’s only begotten Son

So also in Romans 14 in the matter of eating and drinking:

a.  What we eat and how we eat it matters to God

b.  If these things weren’t important, Paul wouldn’t be discussing them at all

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

c.  There is nothing in all creation over which the Lord does not claim total sovereignty

Abraham Kuyper, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry ‘Mine!’”

2.  BUT what Paul is saying: “NOT MERELY” a matter of food and drink

3.  Paul is saying the Kingdom of God involves far weightier issues than food and drink

C.  Eating and Drinking Rules Not Sufficiently Weighty

1.  Think of the Solar System, with nine planets revolving around the massive center which is the sun

2.  The sun is massive enough to hold the whole system together… for the sun contains 98.5% of all the mass in the solar system; the sun is 333,000 times more massive than the earth

3.  The sun can hold tiny, distant Pluto orbiting around itself… along with 8 other planets and twenty of their moons, and dozens of large asteroids, and hundreds of smaller chunks of rock that orbit the sun

4.  If we were to take small, lightweight earth and put it in the center of the solar system, most everything else would fly away from it… it’s not weighty enough to hold it all together

5.  WHAT IS? The Glory of God… at the center of everything

a.  The Hebrew word for glory is “cabod” which means “weight”

b.  To glorify God means to regard Him as weighty, massive… to see that He outweighs all other considerations

c.  Rules about eating and drinking and debatable issues are lightweight and ought not to occupy center stage

So… the Kingdom of God is not ULTIMATELY a matter of eating and drinking Paul has defined it negatively…

III.   Positively: The Kingdom of God Is…

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

Paul gives a strong statement on what the Kingdom of God is like IN THIS WORLD

He gives three words that capture life in the Kingdom of God, and the order is vital, as is the source

First righteousness, then peace, then joy… and all of them “in the Holy Spirit” These words solve all the problems related to “debatable issues”

■      Righteousness protects us from license

■      Peace protects us from legalistic quarrels

■      Joy describes the end result of a life free from both license and legalism

■      The Holy Spirit is the only power and source of all three

A.  Righteousness

1.  Great debate

a.  Is this the “righteousness from God by faith” that Paul has been describing everywhere else in Romans… the IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST

b.  Or is this the practical righteousness of a Spirit-filled Christian life… a righteousness lived out in daily holiness, in love for God and His commandments, in love for others and their needs?

c.  A case can be made for both, and I will speak about the importance of imputed righteousness first

d.  BUT I think Paul is speaking about daily life in this world… the life and experience of the Christian… righteousness a Christian lives, peace a Christian experiences, joy a Christian feels in this world

2.  Imputed righteousness

a.  This is the righteousness Paul has already spoken so much about

Romans 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 3:21-24 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

This is the glowing center of the gospel… the basic concept that wicked sinners like you and me can be righteous in God’s sight

The idea is that God can impute Christ’s righteousness to us by faith… he can “reckon” or “count” us righteous simply because of our faith in Christ

b.  This glorious truth essential to everything else that follows in the Christian life, and it would be impossible to understand any human righteousness that God accepts apart from this gift

3.  BUT there is another kind of righteousness in the gospel: our practical daily righteousness in Christ

a.  This second kind of righteousness is mentioned in Romans 6:13-23

Romans 6:13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

Romans 6:19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

b.  These are sanctification verses… verses describing a pattern of godly living hemmed in by the commands of God which is called “righteousness”

Donald Grey Barnhouse: “A butcher was once asked what difference it made to him when Christ entered his life. He replied, ‘I stopped weighing my thumb.’ He then told how, before becoming a Christian, he put meat on the scale in such a way that his thumb trailed down, approximately the weight of an ounce. He included that thumb in the weight of beef, pork, lard, and every other item of merchandise. But after Christ came into his heart, he stood away from the scales and gave a full sixteen ounces of meat. And when he served customers whom he had formerly cheated, he added an ounce to make up for his past [cheating].”

That is a practical righteousness that is essential to Kingdom life; The Kingdom of God is about righteousness… about doing what’s right

Psalm 15:1-5 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? 2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, 4 who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, 5 who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

4.  THIRDLY: Yearning for righteousness

a.  Finally, the Kingdom of God is a matter not just of being positionally righteous through faith in Christ

b.  Nor is it only also seeking daily to live a righteous life by the power of the Holy Spirit

c.  BUT it is also a deep yearning for a finish in our own righteousness… a yearning to be done with sin forever

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Only in heaven, when our salvation is done, will we be totally satisfied with our righteousness… when sin shall be gone forever

5.  Righteousness essential to protect us from LICENSE

a.  A true child of God will not be flaunting his freedoms and violating his conscience and roaming free as though the law of God had nothing to do with him

b.  Thus is the firm barrier erected against using grace as a license to sin

THEREFORE: The Kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking but about righteousness

B.  Peace

1.  The second statement is peace

a.  Paul says that peace is of the essence of the Kingdom of God

b.  As with righteousness, there is an objective peace and a subjective peace

c.  There is the STATUS of being at peace with God, and there is the EXPERIENCE of peace that fills the heart with quietness, and that makes harmony between brothers and sisters possible

d.  As with righteousness, I believe this is talking about the EXPERIENCE of peace in the daily life of the Christian, although that is also based on the objective reality of being at peace with God through faith in Christ

2.  The STATE of Peace

a.  Clearly the result of Christ’s blood shed on the cross

b.  This is “peace with God” so prominently mentioned in Romans 5

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

c.  Previously we were enemies of God in our minds and by our sinfulness

d.  But now we are reconciled with God, and God is at peace with us

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

e.  Like our relationship with Germany, Japan and Italy after WWII… once we were at war, now we are at peace; it is the STATUS of relationship

f.  BUT unlike politics, this objective reality of peace with God is UNCHANGEABLE… God was at war with us, now in Christ He is eternally satisfied, eternally at peace with us

3.  The EXPERIENCE of peace

a.  There is a second level of peace in the Christian life… the experience of peace that flows by faith from us knowing God is at peace with us

b.  This life of peace is a sweet experience… it relates to a life free from a troubled conscience… a heart not troubled about judgment day

c.  It also relates to a life free from anxiety about life’s problems

d.  AND it extends from a heart at peace with God and the world to a heart at peace with others… not a heart of strife or conflict

4.  Here is the protection from legalistic strife and controversy

a.  God is constantly against factions, divisions, strife, and quarrelling over issues

b.  This is the very thing Paul is trying to head off in Romans 14

c.  People arguing about food, drink, debatable issues

■      Arguing about Sabbath observance, what you are allowed to do or not to do

■      Arguing about worship styles and Christian contemporary music

■      Arguing about Christian liberties… what we have the right to do

d.  Paul says the essence of the Kingdom of God is PEACE in the Holy Spirit

e.  This peace flows from BOTH imputed righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith, AND the daily righteousness we see being worked out in our daily lives by the Holy Spirit

f.  This peace pours immediate buckets of water on strife and conflict Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. A Spirit-filled Christian is a peace-loving Christian… he doesn’t argue or bicker

2 Timothy 2:23-26 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

C.  Joy

1.  The Kingdom of God is also about Joy in the Holy Spirit

2.  Joy may be the greatest barometer of Christian health there is

a.  Joy is the human reaction of happy emotion based on the unchanging realities of the gospel

b.  Joy flows from faith in the gospel promises

c.  Joy is rooted in eternity… in the treasures of the gospel kept safely in heaven for you

d.  Joy is killed by sin; it is impossible to feel genuine joy when we are willingly in sin; therefore joy cannot exist with license in sin

e.  Joy is killed by unbelief; it is impossible to feel deep joy when we are disbelieving the promises of God

f.  Joy is also killed by legalism; Paul used the absence of joy to prove to the Galatians that their embracing of the legalistic “gospel” of the circumcision group was PROOF that they had gone astray

Galatians 4:15 What has happened to all your joy?

3.  Joy transcends all circumstances

Barnhouse: “When all is chaos on the surface, deep down there is joy. There has never been a storm on the Atlantic, even though its waves were so great that they combed over the bridge of a battleship, whose roots were any more than on the surface. A submarine always finds the water fifty feet down as calm as a pond on a clear June day.”

Thus joy is an abiding element in every healthy Christian life

Since Christ has risen and holds your salvation in heaven’s fortress where moth and rust cannot destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal, any lapse of Christian joy is caused not be bad circumstances but by bad choices

Habakkuk 3:17-18 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

4.  Joy is the unique gift of Christ… Christ brought joy wherever He went, wherever He taught

John 15:10-12 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

There is the protection from legalism and license…

5.  There is nothing joyful about a bunch of Christians arguing over non- essentials… dividing over legalism or license

6.  The Kingdom of God is a matter of joy in the Holy Spirit… not of rules and regulations you keep or don’t keep

D.  In the Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

1.  I haven’t been able to stay away from mentioning the Holy Spirit in each of these categories

2.  Righteousness is produced by the Spirit-filled life… it is the Spirit who guides us moment-by-moment through the twists and turns of life… it is the Spirit- filled life that the Christian lives in place of the life of legalism

3.  Peace is a fruit of the Spirit… as the Spirit works in an individual Christian and in a church, the fruit of His work is peace and harmony

4.  Joy is a fruit of the Spirit… the Spirit-filled life is a life of holiness, of unity and of joy

5.  The Spirit produces both the personal holiness needed to protect us from sin, and the love and unity to protect us from legalistic strife and conflict

6.  This is the Kingdom of God

IV.   Serving Christ in This Way

vs. 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

A.  People Pleasing the Great Danger of Legalism

1.  The great problem of legalism is that it inevitably leads to fear of man… people-pleasing

2.  Our whole lives become geared to living for the praise of other people

3.  Since legalistic laws are man-made, then all who seek to live by them will seek to please man

4.  The great danger: forgetting to please God, to live to God, to love God

Jesus said to the great Jewish legalists of His day:

John 5:44 How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

5.  This is a wretched way to serve Christ

B.  Remedy: The Spirit-Filled Life

1.  The Spirit-filled life frees you up from being a people-pleaser

2.  Your conscience is clean, your lifestyle pure

3.  You have no secrets to hide, no fear of disclosure because the true audience is with you always… the indwelling Holy Spirit

4.  You are consistently filled with the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit characterizes you

5.  You are free to eat or drink or NOT to eat or drink, since your life doesn’t consist in these things anyway

C.  Serving Christ “In This Way”

1.  We can serve Christ legalistically… a life of strict rules and regulations

2.  We can serve Christ sinfully… thinking we’re

I’ve read of some young people in the “emerging church” movement, a movement dedicated totally to reaching lost people for Christ by reaching them where there at, in a way that most closely connects with their present lifestyle

They will go to bars, even to strip clubs, to reach sinners for Christ because they think Christ would go where the sinners were

I read one emerging church which rejected the idea of turning a bar into a church… they advocated buying a bar and running it themselves so they could witness to the lost

It occurred in Bradford, England, where some radical Christians bought a pub called the Cock and Bottle, and continued to run it as a pub, selling hard liquor to whomever came and seeking to lead them to Christ

Malcolm Willis, manager: “Jesus said to go into all the world. And this includes pubs. He didn’t say sit in your church and wait for the people to come to you.”

The book says: “The Willises and their staff, all Christians, have set about creating a loving, welcoming environment where locals are cared for, listened to and ministered to.”

On the issue of selling hard liquor, Willis justified it this way: “Yes, we’re selling booze to people who could do without it, but if we don’t they’ll just go somewhere else to get it. At least if we’re here we can get alongside them… So I have to ask, ‘What would Jesus have done? I think the Lord would have been here in the pubs.”

In the margin of the book I was reading, I wrote, “Why not a Christian crack house, on the same theory?”

Some emergent Christians feel they are free to drink hard liquor, to smoke, even to watch the immoral dancing shows because they are not under law but under grace

AND they put the top priority on reaching the lost… not on purity from sin

BUT this is not serving Christ at all… they have no real message of freedom from sin to give They are not “Serving Christ in this way”… in “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”

3.  By contrast: the Spirit-filled life approves of both the ends and the means

a.  The Spirit-filled Christian is continently characterized by “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”

b.  That is a powerful setting for the gospel to be preached to unbelievers

c.  That is a powerful glue for holding together the Body of Christ while it works through difficult, debatable issues

D.  Result: The Pleasure of God and Approval of Others

1.  People who serve Christ in the way Paul is commanding are the most attractive people in the world

2.  They are living upright lives, but are not smug or self-righteous about it

3.  They have a lasting peace about them, a serenity that it not tied to circumstances

4.  Like Paul and Silas, they can sing at midnight in a dark prison cell after being publicly flogged

5.  They are confident of God’s pleasure and of their final reward, so they are lastingly joyful while struggling through the attacks of the world

6.  They are PLEASING both to God and to man

7.  They are “approved” (literally, they are tested and have stood the test)

8.  They are the kind of people who will change the world

V.   Application

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Have you received His gifts of righteousness, peace and joy?

Are you walking the proper way between legalism and license? Do you realize that the Kingdom of God is bigger than any debatable issue like food, drink, clothing, lifestyle choices? Yet at the same time, are you constantly aware of the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is leading you in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake?

Do you know the peace and joy of a clean conscience?

Are you serving Christ this way? Have you found a way to stay involved in evangelism… to allow your life to become enmeshed with the lives of unbelievers without becoming dragged down into their sins?