Let's take our Bibles this morning and once again turn to Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 15. And I am going to read to you verses 1 through 7 of Romans, chapter 15. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Hear God's word. We then, who are strong, ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus. That you may be with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another just as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Thus far God's word. Let's pray. Heavenly Father we are indeed thankful for again for an opportunity to come together corporately to to worship you, but also to hear from you. I pray that you would use your word this morning to speak to us, that we might understand it, make application of it to our lives. Indeed, we ask that, as David prayed, that you would open our eyes, that we might behold wondrous things out of your law. And I pray it in Jesus' name, Amen. In the Apostle Paul's letter to the Colossians, he had a kind of summary statement in chapter 3 regarding the way that we as brothers and sisters are to interact with one another. He said there in verse 12 of that chapter 3 in Colossians, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But of all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection." In those sentences, that exhortation is a kind of general instruction for the church. as to how brothers and sisters are to interact with one another, primarily summed up with love. And that helps in our bearing with one another, putting up with one another, forgiving one another. But there is also a bearing with that is more specific that Paul's dealing with here in this chapter, particularly in verse one. We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak. I think much of it is the idea of what Paul is saying there has been captured by John Bunyan in his book Pilgrim's Progress. There was a time when that book came out in the 1600s when next to the Bible the Pilgrim's Progress was probably the most read book by Christians. I certainly would encourage all of you to read it at some point in time in your Christian walk. But in this book, which is an analogy, as it were, Bunyan presents the nature of the Christian life, the actual experience of what it is to be a pilgrim on one's way to that life to come, the new heavens and the new earth. And of course, Bunyan has a number of characters in the book which are meant to illustrate certain scriptural proofs, texts, and to show the experience of what it is to follow those texts or to disobey those texts. And one of the characters that he presents to us is a character called Mr. Feeblemind. And we read about Mr. Feeblemind that he was taken out of a doubting castle that was overseen by the giant of despair. It would be Great Heart and some of the other characters who would do this, but it would be Feeblemind who would say these very poignant things. And this is part of the second part of Pilgrim's Progress. The first part, of course, dealing with the individual Christian, graceless, who became Christian. The second part of the Pilgrim's Progress deals with the church. And here's one member of this church, this one called Feeblemind, and we read these things as they were going out of the door when they were fellowshipping. He said that he wanted to linger. The witch, when Mr. Greatheart spied, he said, come Mr. Feeblemind, pray do you go along with us? I'll be your conductor and you shall fare as the rest. Mr. Feeblemind says, alas, I want a suitable companion. You're all lusty and strong, but I, as you see, am weak. I choose, therefore, rather to come behind. Thus, by reason of my infirmities, I should be both a burden to myself and to you. I am, as I said, a man of a weak and a feeble mind, and shall be offended and made weak at that which others can bear. I shall like no laughing. I shall like no gay attire. I shall like no unprofitable questions. Nay, I am so weak a man as to be offended with that which others have a liberty to do. I do not know all the truth. I am a very ignorant Christian man. Sometimes, if I hear some rejoice in the Lord, it troubles me, because I cannot do so. It is with me as it is with a weak man among the strong, or as with a sick man among the healthy, or as a lamp despised. He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised, and the thought of him that is at ease, so that I know not what to do. So he's ready to stay behind as the church moves on, but it'd be great heart of all of the members of the church who would say this, but brother, said Mr. Great Heart, I have it in commission to comfort the feeble-minded and to support the weak. You must needs go along with us. We'll wait for you. We'll lend you our help. We will deny ourselves of some things for your sake. But we will not enter into doubtful disputations. That's familiar wording from chapter 14, isn't it? We will not enter into doubtful disputations before you. We will be made all things to you rather than you should be left behind. In that passage, in using those interesting characters, Bunyan's really captured what Paul's been talking about. And when he uses the expression Mr. Feeblemind, which Bunyan, by the way, indicates to us that he was related to another character called Mr. Fearing, it doesn't mean that he was stupid. It just means he was fainthearted. He was ignorant of many of the things of the Lord, and as such he was weak, whereas Great Heart, another member of the church, had a very strong faith. He was mature in his faith. He was confident in his faith. There was no doubts and fears. He was wholly convinced of what God has presented in his word. But he didn't despise Mr. Feebleminded. He didn't say, fine, you stay behind. He would not leave Mr. Feebleminded behind. It's a beautiful picture of church life, where there are those who are strong and weak. And this is what Paul is doing in this chapter. He provides a summary, as it were, in these opening verses of the chapter. He talks about those who strong in the faith, strong in their understandings, who have progressed in a remarkable way as regards their sanctification in the maturity. And he uses the expression there to bear with the scruples of the weak. And in this particular case, he's not talking about we'll put up with them kind of a thing, but to bear with them, carry in them as it were. And the way that he's presenting it here, and the way Bunyan presented it as a kind of an explanation of these scriptural truths, is he presents the strong and the weak as it were like travelers. Travelers who are moving along, and thus the title, Pilgrim's Progress, helping one another, assisting one another. And those who are weaker, it is the responsibility of the stronger to essentially help carry the load. That's what he means by bear with them, bear them up. And to carry the load in a way such that it's selfless, as if the issues and the problems that the weaker one has were taken on by themselves. On occasion, it means to abstain from what the stronger Christian is free to do, the liberty that we have in Jesus Christ. His main concern, because they are fellow travelers, is to not present an obstacle to the weaker brother or sister. not to do anything that would corrupt their conscience. Anything that, even though they have certain scruples, or prejudice, or errors in their understanding about the word, they are still fellow travelers. And this, of course, all relates to doubtful things. That's the prerequisite that Paul brings out in verse 1 of chapter 14. Don't be bothered by those kinds of things where God has not provided a particular teaching. But recognize there are some who have certain scruples about these things. Bear with them, help them carry that load. Don't put an obstacle in their place. But as Paul often does in enforcing this in this kind of summary statements that he's been dealing with there in chapter 14, now on into 15, as he points us to Christ. But he doesn't do it directly, in a sense. Christ's the example, and of course he is the ultimate example. But let's first look at what he does not do, Paul, in pointing us to Christ. And that I think will help us understand a little more fully what he does point to as regards Christ. He doesn't go to passages like 2 Corinthians in chapter 8 verse 9, something that he wrote or maybe was in anticipation of writing at some time. He wrote the Corinthians there. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. Paul might have pointed to a passage or something that he was about to write, something like that, pointing to something that Christ at all has accomplished. He might have pointed to Something that he would later write when he was in jail, a letter to the Philippians, writing about Jesus. He said there in chapter 2 at verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, I mean God himself, and yet didn't consider robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. indicating incredible condescension and humbling of himself, the very Son of God taking on a human nature and coming and living amongst the creatures, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. These are the things that Jesus has accomplished, and both demonstrate that sacrificing love that God has for all of his people, whether they be weak or strong. These are the things that were prophesied. These are the things that have now been realized. He doesn't go directly to those kinds of things. Certainly Jesus did identify with us sinners. He was not looking to himself, but he was chiefly interested in those that he came to save. That was the whole reason his name was called Jesus, because he was to come and save his people from their sins. And certainly we know Jesus as a great teacher. We know Jesus as a miracle worker. And yet when we see these passages, like in 2 Corinthians or Philippians, are things that Paul could have talked about that he would later write. He could have pointed out the very thing that surpasses and is the greatest and the highest kinds of things that Jesus demonstrated in order to teach the principle that he was trying to teach, that we are to emulate Christ, to see him as an example. that ultimately Christ came to relieve, to bear with and bear up with sinners who have a burden that needs to be carried that we can't carry. It's the greatest burden that any one of us have. And that burden is the burden of guilt. Everybody, even unbelievers, have to deal with guilt. They deal with it in a variety of ways. They ignore it, they rationalize it, they try to make up for it by being what they think to be a good person, but ultimately they have to deal with it. And the true Christian understands that guilt is not just something that doing wrong, making a mistake, but it's actually offending God. That's what sin is all about. And it's coming to the place where seeing one's self as helpless and weighed down with this terrible burden. Paul could have talked about all of those things here in this passage. But he doesn't do that. Instead he goes to the Old Testament of all things. He quotes there from Psalm 69. He quotes the latter half of that psalm. And it says this, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. Well, first of all, by doing that, going to the Old Testament, instead of talking about what has now been accomplished, that which was anticipated, that which was prophesied and realized, why not just go right to what Christ has done to demonstrate the principle that he's trying to put forth? Certainly what he's done in doing this is to show the significance of the Old Testament. To show things that have been fulfilled and the usefulness of it in helping us to understand what is presented to us in the New Testament. Certainly Jesus himself made use of the Old Testament. Sure, by now you're all familiar with the passage of the two disciples walking on the road to the town of Emmaus. The Lord has been resurrected and they are confused about all of the events that have been taking place. And they had all the pieces. They had all the facts. They just didn't know how to connect them. And suddenly Jesus appears to them. What's going on? What's happening? And they, it's almost comical. You've been in Jerusalem and you don't know what's happening. Of course, he was the very center of what was happening in Jerusalem. But this is what Jesus said to them, finally, in Luke 24, verse 25. He said, O foolish ones, you who are wrestling with all this taking place now, you who are slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. And he goes on to even say this, Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? It's all there in the Old Testament is what he was saying to them. All that you need to know in his regards what God has said about who he is, about who we are, about our condition before him, about what was necessary in order that we might be reconciled to God. It was all there. Christ had not yet come. during those days of the Old Testament. But all the truth was there. It would be enough to bring one under conviction, to bring one to faith, to bring one to not only trust God for their salvation, which was by grace, but that their lives should be different as well. There should be repentance. It's all there. And ought not the Christ to have suffered. It wasn't an afterthought. He was saying this is the design all along that Christ would come. And he would come for the very purpose of living a life of righteousness. He would suffer. He would die on the cross to pay for the sins of his people. And he would rise again from the dead. It's all there. You should have known this is what he was saying. Jesus himself using the Old Testament. commented on earlier today. Many Christians view the Old Testament as a part of their Bible, as just a part of the Bible that doesn't need to be used. You can almost spot that. Look at someone's Bible. Look at your own. What are the pages that are mostly used? I see it often when I look at people's Bibles. Did you know that the New Testament only makes up less than 25% of what's in the Bible? The Old Testament is rich and helps to give depth and understanding to who Christ is and what he came to do. The suitability of the Old Testament for doctrine, and it shows continuity as well. God didn't suddenly change his mind when Christ came and said, well that's all done. No, what he said is that's all been fulfilled. All that was prophesied, all that was put forth, and now he's here. Christ has come. It was meant as a means of preparation. Well, not only does Paul give credibility to the Old Testament as putting forth these truths, but it's interesting what he quotes there. He says, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. Now, how does that fit in with his main theme in here, which is the strong are to bear with or to bear up with the weak as if they're fellow travelers and to carry them along where they can on those matters that are doubtful. He's not talking about the fundamental truths that are about the gospel, but he's talking about those things where there is no clear teaching from God that people disagree about. Should I eat this meat? Not eat this meat? Celebrate this particular day? And there's other matters that come along that Christians can quibble about. He's saying stop that. So how does this quotation fit in? Basically what he's saying is not so much what Christ accomplished, but the result of his obedience, the result of his bearing up with the weak. He's saying that the result of Christ dealing with the weak and the strong, ultimately dealing with us as sinners and the burden that we're carrying was such that it resulted in reproach falling on him. That's what he's saying. It was, what happened was hatred against Christ. They hated him. He, all of his claims about who he was, it didn't arouse even curiosity, it simply aroused hatred against him. And there was ridicule. There were people who stood at the foot of the cross. If you really are who you say you are, why don't you come down from that cross? And they falsely accused him, accused him of being a drunkard. being a glutton, all of these things, all that accompanied this carrying and bearing up with us, sinners, that he came to save. That was the result of it. That's what the consequences of it. Psalm 22, a very clear messianic psalm, which is almost a very apt description of what happened to Christ when he was on the cross. The very thoughts that went through his mind, you can read it there in Psalm 22 at verse 13. They gape at me with their mouths. like a raging and a roaring lion. This is his thoughts that were prophesied as to what would be going through his mind and what would be happening to his body as they stood at the foot of the cross and ridiculed him and mocked him. And he says, I'm poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It's melted within me. My strength is dried up like potsherd. And my tongue clings to my jaws. You've brought me to the dust of death, for dogs have surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierce my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look and they stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. In these verses we're given just a glimpse into what the thoughts that were going through Christ that would happen many years later. We get a glimpse as to the physical suffering that he was enduring at this point in time, but not only that, just the reproach and the shame that Paul draws out here. That was the result. That's what happened when Christ took up the case of the weak, the weak sinners. This is what happened when Christ bore the sins, took the load that we carried, that he endured this. Let's look a little closer. When we say that he took the load, took the burden, and carried it for us. That burden of guilt. How much did he take it all? My days of traveling, I remember many times when I would fly into a city and I would meet someone and one of the first things that the person would say who would meet me, can I carry that briefcase for you? Can I take one of your bags and I might let them do that? Or if I'm meeting someone at an airport, let me grab that for you. What did Christ do? He took it all. He didn't say hang on to some of those sins, I can't bear them all. You're going to have to deal with some of them on your own. We had that burden of guilt that Bunyan portrays, Christian, that just weighed him down. And he took it all. He took every sin. And he brought complete relief for the sinners. It's interesting the introduction that I, the letter to the Hebrews that I read at the time of the call to worship. And the writer there says about Christ in verse three of the opening chapter, who being the brightness of his glory, Speaking of the Son of God in the flesh, and the express image of his person, meaning this, here's God. This is God with a, in union with a human nature. That's who the Son of God is. Upholding all things by the word of his power, ere he is as creator, when he had it by himself, purged our sins. Then he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty of High. It doesn't say when he himself dealt with most of our sins. He purged our sins. That's the significance of that word is to purge is to completely remove. To purge is to completely cleanse. That's what, here's Paul's point, here's what Christ went through. And he wants the reader at this point to think in that light, in the light of what Christ not only did, but what he experienced as a result of doing that, that reproach and that shame. Can you really get worked up, you, me? Can we not over what to eat? Someone's eating meat, someone's not. This particular day, what to drink, not today over these doubtful things. Paul spends a lot of time on this topic. Dealt with the whole chapter 14. He's getting into it in chapter 15. He deals with it in his letter to the Corinthians. That kind of repetition is necessary because we're inclined to do these kind of things. What I mean by that is that we, in an unloving way, oftentimes those who are strong, those who have a strong faith, those who have more knowledge, they have a certain level of maturity, etc. There's this inclination, this temptation to press these kind of things, this kind of understanding on those who are weaker. with no consideration for how they are going to react with that. It's that despising that Paul talked about earlier in chapter 14 when you look down on someone who's not there, who's not come to that level of understanding and maturity. You've got to grab hold of this, I understand it, you need to understand it too. All that person is really doing when they're doing that is putting themselves on display. Look at me. That's what the person is doing at that point. It's interesting in our present culture where there are some who are trying to divide America, describing there's oppressors and then there are those who are oppressed. There's oppressors everywhere. They're under your bed. They're in your closet. They're hiding in bushes around your house. They're everywhere. And everyone else were victims. But you know, there is the reality of oppressors and oppression. those who are oppressed, there's that grain of truth there. And when the strong impose themselves upon the weak, because they're less of an understanding, they're acting as oppressors. We can fall into that same category as Christians. But now, finally, let's get around to really the point of this scripture with that kind of background and that light. Let's look at the real key here to the nature of this law of love, this Christ-like law of love, which is selfless. And we go to the scriptures, as Paul did. But what do we do with the Scriptures? He brings it out in the latter part of verse 4. Whatever things were written before were written for our learning. He doesn't stop there. We don't just fill our head with a lot of facts, a lot of intellectual understandings, and stop there. That was a danger of the church at Ephesus that we read about in the Revelation. They had all their doctrine right, all their beliefs. They could tell you everything about the Bible. But they had lost their love. They had become arrogant and proud, and they despised those who weren't at that same level. That's one of the dangers of the Reformed faith, quite frankly. There are times when those who have those understandings look down on everyone else who doesn't have those same level of understandings. They forget that if they have those mature understandings, it's only because of the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. But Paul doesn't stop there. It's not just to fill our heads so that we can show off our understanding and our knowledge. He says, these things were written that we, the latter part of the verse, that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. And that's the key to understanding how a Christian can follow what Paul's wanting to teach here. God's intents, His purpose in the revelation of Himself in Scripture is to, yes, glorify Himself, but to give sinners like you and I hope. Now, what do we mean by hope? The world has hope. The world has a kind of, I hope it works out, a hope-so kind of a thing. But the way it's spoken up here in Scripture, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, that faith is the substance or the realization of things hoped for, the evidence and confidence of things not seen. And we read further in that book of Hebrews, speaking of the Old Testament saints, in verse 13, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things clearly declare plainly that they have a homeland. They saw themselves as pilgrims passing through. They had a living hope. They had a real hope which guided the way that they treated their fellow Christians. They're all on the same journey. Peter in his letter, his first letter in chapter one of verse three, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Christian views that as if it were now. And everything falls into that context. And now, speaking of context, let's look a little more closely at the verse that Paul quotes there from Psalm 69. If you read the first part of that verse, it says, because zeal for your house has eaten me up. That's a reference to Christ. And the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. Zeal for your house is eating me up. Jesus, that's a direct reference to ultimately to Christ. It points to Christ. He would be the one that zeal, it would eat him up. That was his hope as it were. And his hope was zeal for your house. What does he mean by that? He doesn't mean a building, that's not what he's talking about. The tabernacle, the temple, and those who still hold some kind of a view that God's going to build the temple again someday. Why in the world would you want to build a little structure somewhere? That's not the house for which Jesus has this zeal that's eating him up, this hope that it's his. That house is people, sinners, those who are redeemed, those who are living stones. That's what Paul talks about. Or Peter, I should say, in his letter. When Jesus was with the woman at the well, when the disciples finally returned and they asked him, aren't you hungry? He said, no, I'm not hungry. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. That was the zeal that he could have said, my food or my will is eating me up. You're talking about eating physically. Let me tell you what's eating me up. What's eating me up is I came very specifically to build this house, and that's my hope, and that's what I'm working on. These people who are redeemed. And that involved laying down his life. It was hope that he had, but it was an exercised hope. It was a hope that was put into action. It was a hope such that it was a life that was lived. It was it was the pursuit of the building of this house. And we are to follow in his footsteps. We are workmen in that house. We are fellow pilgrims. And now I see my weak strong with we're helping one another along. That's what it's all about. And we're driven by that hope. And we're exercising that hope when we do that. We're called to do the same. that Christ is called to do here. Psalm 69, zeal for your house eats me up, therefore I suffer this reproach and shame along the way. Do you believe that? Do you really have that hope of what is to come? As such, does it affect your living? Does it affect the way you look at your fellow brothers and sisters? We're all in the same boat here, so to speak. We're all on that same journey. We're all pilgrims. And to have that kind of attitude towards a weaker brother, that great heart had towards Mr. Feeblemind. No, we're not going to leave you behind. We understand some of those weaknesses, but you're one with us. And we're going to help you carry that load that you're carrying. We read this in Hebrews 11, 13, again that same chapter. These all, these Old Testament saints, they died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were assured of them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Well there's parts of that we identify, there's other parts. We're in the same category. What they look forward to, the coming of Christ, that's happened. We live in the time when Christ has come, he has done all that's necessary for redemption, and yet there's still that which is still to come. And we live in that light, and that guides the way we think along the way. And that just puts everything into perspective. What are the little things? What are those temporary things? What about the reproach and the shame that comes along with following in the footsteps of Christ? That's the nature of the journey. Again that's brought out in that chapter, speaking of those many who preceded us in faith, in speaking about Moses, chapter 11 verse 25, that he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. He was happy to identify with God's people. And there were all categories of people that were part of what made up Israel at that time, but they were all on that same journey. That's what we're called to do. Let me give you something. a kind of a checklist, so to speak, where you can gauge whether you are one who not only has hope, but you're exercising that hope. If it's changing the way that you're living, if it's changing the way that you interact with your brothers and sisters. John in his first letter in chapter 3 verse 3, in speaking about when we go to be with the Lord and we'll see him as he is, he says this, everyone who has this hope in him, purifies himself. He lives in anticipation of that. That is an exercised hope. It's not just a passive intellectual understanding, but it actually impacts the way you live. If you have this hope, you set about participating in your sanctification. You cooperate with the Holy Spirit, as it were, and not grieve him. Because you do this because he is pure. And if you really want to see him and be like him, then this hope changes the way we live now. We read this in Acts 24 verse 15, another way you may examine yourself. Paul defending his preaching, standing before the governor. He says, I have hope in God that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. Do you believe that? Do you really think there will be a resurrection one day when all the bodies will rise up from wherever they are and that there will be a final coming again of the Lord and appearing before the great white throne? Paul wrote this to the Corinthians in a second letter in chapter 3 verse 12. Therefore, since we have such hope, the hope of the life to come, we use great boldness of speech. Do you have boldness of speech when you talk about Christ? I wonder many Christians who don't witness, who are afraid of what people might think. Well, that's pride. That's an excuse. But I wonder if it isn't a little deeper. It could be you're not really convinced of these truths. If you're not convinced of these truths, and not convinced of the hope that has been purchased for you by Christ, you might not be so bold with your speech. Of course, Paul says this to the Thessalonians in the first letter, chapter four. They were confused because of false teachers as regards the coming again of the Lord. But he says this, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep or have died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. How do you deal with the death of your brothers and sisters? Does it turn you to despair? Or do you really believe that they've gone home and there will come a time when there will be a reunion? and it will make that much more alive for you than the nature of this life that is passing and that we're all going to eventually exit. Those would be the kind of things that you could use to examine yourselves and say, am I really, I have a hope, but am I exercising that hope? Am I living it out? Is it such that, as Paul points out with Christ, who lived that hope, the hope of the building of that house, which he came to do, The result of it were the reproaches. He was willing to receive all of that, because he had that hope. And we're called to have that same hope. We too are called to have that zeal which eats us up for the building of that house. And there will be those results, there will be suffering, there will be reproach. And there's a measure of your faith really. Understand, am I really living this life like a pilgrim, passing through, or am I, as George Whitfield would put it, making the things of this world my featherbed, looking out for my comforts, making sure everything's okay in this life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father as we See Paul here contrasting the way we often act, weak, strong brothers in the church. And we see what Christ went through, what he did. Not only what he did, what he experienced, that reproach and shame and the hatred, all of those things that he endured because of that hope that was set before him. His hope was not a passive, it was an active hope. It was an exercise hope. And we're called to do the same. And we have all that we need to do it. We have your word, your promises. We have the Holy Spirit who convinces us of these truths. Help us as we examine ourselves, Father, as we think about that hope. Is it diminished in our view as we get caught up in the things of the world, and the comforts of the world, and the opinion of men? Or are we really pilgrims passing through? Can we be like Great Heart who when we see a weaker brother or sister doesn't say, become offended or despise them or ignore them, but say we're waiting for you. No, you're one of us. And if you need help carrying that load, we'll help you carry it. Christ carried the greatest load that we ever had to carry, our guilt, the load of our guilt. Can we do in the light of that, what are those small things, those irritants, Father, forgive us for those There's kind of deviations from what should characterize the Christian law. We pray that you would help us, and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.