Everyone has a theology or an understanding of God, but a Biblical one is the only one that is trustworthy and true. The goal of good theology is doxology. Doxology means "praise saying." Paul uses a praise saying or a doxology to bring his great epistle to a conclusion. The goal of sound doctrine is a heart that overflows with praise to God because that is the reality of things. Paul reminds us that the goal of the gospel is not only our happiness. Certainly, we should be forever happy that God has rescued us from judgment and showered on us every blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Yet, the ultimate goal of the gospel is God's eternal glory. The goal of the gospel is that we would glorify God through Jesus Christ as we live in obedient faith and proclaim Him to everyone we can. The Westminster Shorter Catechism states, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." To glorify God is to make God look as good as He truly is to the extent we are able. This is profoundly different thinking from the commonly held notion that the gospel is all about us. It even affects our view of suffering. If the gospel is all about us and our happiness, then how do you deal with suffering and death? But if the gospel is not ultimately about our happiness, but rather about God's glory, then you can even face martyrdom as Paul did, with the goal that "Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." As John Piper observes, our happiness and God's glory are not at odds, because "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."

Ever since the church of Jesus Christ was first established, she has been plagued by troublemakers. These are people who have desired to either see the church destroyed, or to see it shaped to their own will. This should come as no shock. After all, Jesus Himself predicted the rise of troublemakers in the church, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." After 2,000 years the troublemakers are still inside the church! That's right, there are still those within and without the church who work against the mission of God and seek to mold the church to their liking! Now, lest you become concerned, this message is designed as preventative maintenance. As far as I know, there are no troublemakers here. However, the best offense is a good defense! Therefore, it will be good to hear what the Bible says about how to handle troublemakers in the church. So that when trouble arises, we will be able to identify it and deal it a death blow before serious damage is done to the church of God! J. C. Ryle was a champion for the truth in the Church of England during the 19th century. In Warnings to the Churches, he wrote about how difficult yet necessary controversy in the church is. He explains, "But there is one thing which is even worse than controversy, and that is false doctrine tolerated, allowed, and permitted without protest or molestation." He wisely points out, "Three things there are which men never ought to trifle with—a little poison, a little false doctrine, and a little sin."

The apostle Paul was a caring man who loved people. He was not a mere academic nor a male chauvinist. His heart was on fire for the gospel, and he treasured his relationships. Relationships are a gift from God which should be treasured and nurtured. Paul's heart overflowed. If the long list of names and greetings in these verses teaches us anything, it is that Paul had a great love for people. The passage features 33 people, 24 of which were in Rome. What makes this list of those he knew in the church of Rome so amazing is the fact that he had never been there! Think of the energy and effort "keeping in touch" involved in such an ancient culture with no modern technology! There was no postal service for civilians, no cell phones, emails, texts or social media. Names were very important to Paul. Our own names are music to our ears. Certainly, Paul knew this. But it is also true that you learn the names of those for whom you really care. Some suggest that the reason Paul could so readily recite all these names in dictation was because of their frequent mention in his personal prayer list. Love people by learning their names and their stories. Put their names on your prayer list. Love your church. Be people persons. What a difference authentic Christian affection can make in a cold, indifferent world! "People don't care what you know until they know that you care." The church of Jesus Christ is meant to be one large and very caring family to help you onto heaven! And if you hurt your church, you hurt yourself.

The apostle Paul. His life is cause for amazement and reflection. On one side was Rome, the superpower of the world. On the other side was this little Jew, scarred and feeble and armed only with the "good news." Yet he changed the history of Rome, Western civilization, and indeed our own lives. Paul had a missionary's heart. You may think this message doesn't apply to you because you are not in ministry. But as a Christian, God has given you spiritual gifts that you are to use in ministering for Him. There are no useless or inactive parts in the body of Christ. Every believer is a priest with a ministry to fulfill. You may think that you're not "in the ministry" because you're not financially supported. You work in a secular job. But so did Paul—he made tents to support his ministry. The only way you can rightly say that this message doesn't apply to you is if you are not saved. Since all of us who have trusted in Christ will give an account to God for how well we served Him with the gifts that He gave us, we need to know some biblical principles for how to conduct our ministries. We are all in full-time ministry. It is common knowledge today that how we perceive ourselves greatly determines how we live our lives. Everything Paul did was to please God. All of his life was a liturgy. If only we could see our service as such, our lives would be transformed. Preach the gospel to the saved and the unsaved!

What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Ask ten people, get ten different answers. Most answers would probably fail to see life from God's perspective. There is more to life than meets the eye, more than the here and now. We are here "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." But how do I glorify God? When I was a young Christian, I didn't know what that meant. You can save a lot of grief in your life if you use a telescope rather than a microscope! Magnify and glorify are very similar in their meaning biblically. Paul says, "My aim is to magnify Jesus Christ." That's the same as glorify Jesus Christ. Does it mean magnify God like a microscope magnifies or like a telescope magnifies? A microscope makes tiny things look bigger than they are, and a telescope makes gigantic things that to the naked eye look little, look more like what they really are. Now, which way are you called upon to magnify God? The answer is like a telescope, not like a microscope. It is blasphemy to magnify God like a microscope! "You are on planet Earth to put a telescope to the eye of the world." That's why you exist. By your behavior, your parenting, the way you do your job, the way you worship, and the way you handle your things in life, everyone should read off of your life, "God is great." That's why you exist. To glorify God is to advertise him. He is life's most significant reality, radically worthy of receiving glory, honor and power. We glorify God when we make it our goal to please him in all things. The beautiful irony is that in glorifying God we actually find true happiness.

Sometimes we have to make sure that our American mindset doesn't cloud our Biblical worldview. Americans know their rights and insist upon them. They are weary of government intrusions on personal liberty. That is a normal part of our republic. But in the church, we should be happy to give up our rights for the sake of Christ. The strong should not flaunt their liberty in Christ to the detriment of weaker believers, who may be influenced to violate their consciences. The apostle Paul tells stronger believers that love for their brothers should trump their use of liberty. "For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died." (Romans 14:15) Individual Christians can disagree over customs and social habits and both be perfectly right with God. There are many areas that the Bible does not address or where it allows liberty of conscience. In the church, we are to accept and not judge one another when we differ on matters where the Bible does not give specific commandments or applicable principles. Our main focus should not be on our liberty or our rights, but on loving our brother. Love gladly yields its rights when it is necessary to keep a weaker brother from stumbling. Your sacrifice of some liberty is nothing compared to Christ's sacrifice of His very life! "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."

A few months ago, I was selecting a jury with a judge and opposing counsel. The time came for any person to say why they couldn't serve on the jury. Did they have an issue? Childcare? Job demands? Disability? One young man said he couldn't do it because "The Bible says, 'Judge not, lest ye be judged'"! If people would keep reading Matthew 7, they would see that in verse 6 Jesus tells us not to give what is holy to dogs and not to cast our pearls before swine. He isn't talking about animals, but about people. Obviously, we have to make some judgments to obey that command! And in verse 15 Jesus warns about false prophets, who come to us as wolves in sheep's clothing. Again, to spot a wolf in sheep's clothing, you have to make some careful judgments. So Jesus was not telling us that we should not make any judgments. Rather, we should judge ourselves by taking the log out of our own eye before we help our brother with his speck. But, having said that, there is still the danger that we wrongly judge one another, which can lead to all sorts of problems in the local church. A younger believer might come into the church and his appearance is very different than that of the older believers. If they judge him so that he feels unwelcome, he may never come back to the place where he should have felt loved and accepted, where he could grow in the things of God. In the church, we are to accept and not judge one another when we differ on matters where the Bible does not give specific commandments or applicable principles. "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."

Our age seeks authenticity but is so easily fooled by its own senses. Perhaps a poignant illustration is a photograph of a battered and bloody Jim Caviezel, dressed like Jesus, sitting with a crew member and smoking a cigarette on the set of The Passion of the Christ. Every visual representation of Jesus is inevitably false. The only wise God went to great lengths not to leave us with any physical description of the physical appearance of His Son lest we fall into the sin of image making. We create an image of Jesus that says more about the Jesus we want than the Jesus whom God sent. A movie or a play is not intended by God to represent Jesus to a lost and dying world. YOU ARE. True Christians demonstrate true Christian faith! "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34) Irresistible Christianity is marked by holy love! Putting on the armor of light or putting on Christ are not instructions to become a Christian all over again. Paul is calling us to be what we are in Christ. When you wallow in sin, you play the hypocrite. "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good." (Rom. 12:9) You are children of the light, children of the day. As John Piper says, "Dress like it, live like it, fight like it!" Amen!

This is our time. The torch has been passed to us in this relay race we call the Christian life. "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands." (Acts 17:26) Jesus Christ is the Lord of all of the Christian's life. Christ must be Lord of our political views. That may sound obvious, but it is anything but obvious in practice. The Scriptures teach that government is ordained of God and thus accountable to God. Some groups try to use the First Amendment to mean that religion cannot have any voice in government matters. But the intent of that amendment was not to keep religion out of the government, but to keep the government out of religion. Since part of the government's God-ordained function is to promote justice, and since, by necessity, that involves legislating morality, it is absurd to talk about a total separation of church and state. Freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion. Yet, the church must be careful to be known primarily for the gospel, not for a partisan political stance. Christians have influenced government positively throughout history. These changes have also facilitated the spread of the gospel. The media soaks the culture in the implicit assumption that we need the government to make life better and longer. The implicit assumption made by most Americans is that government can and must solve every human problem and is responsible to usher in some utopia. The Bible teaches otherwise. Near the consummation of all things, the government will try to crush the church and it is only King Jesus who can and will save His people!

Do you love me? How would I know? Actions speak louder than words. What is inside comes to the outside. If it does not come out, it is not within. If there is no fruit, there is no root. Do you love the people that make up your church? Do you want to get to know them better, and do you care about them? Do you have holy love? Long ago, Augustine pointed out that the desire of every human heart is to experience a love that is transcendent. Regrettably for us today, however, there is no word in the English language that's been more stripped of the depth of its meaning than the word love. We tend to view the love of God in the same way popular music, art, and literature views love. However, holy love comes from God Himself. This love is not natural to fallen humanity. It originates in God and is a divine gift to His people. When we are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are given a capacity for this supernatural love that has God as its source and foundation. The love of God is in a class by itself. It transcends our experience. Nevertheless, it is a love that He shares in part with us and expects us to manifest to each other. Holy love is genuine. It is loyal. It honors others. Holy love blesses those who persecute it. Holy love empathizes with others. Love in the Church and love in the world go together. They are the demands of commitment. We are totally devoted to God. If our minds have been renewed and our lives have been transformed, our hearts should be full of holy love. Holy love results in action. The Holy Spirit does this in us and through us if we are really His!