Romans 15:1-3

Let's go ahead and pray before we start here.

Jesus, we just are here to do exactly what the song just said.

! We're here to worship you. We're here to praise you.

We're here to make much of you. We're here to understand more of your word

and thereby be able to glorify you more in our life.

We just ask for help to do that.

And we ask for your word to go forth in truth, Lord.

And you said that you're going to have worshipers that worship you in spirit and in truth.

Lord, I pray that the songs we sing would just aliven our spirits

and just get us, Lord, in tune with just the Holy Spirit today

and just listening and attentive and just able to focus.

And I pray that, Lord, these words would enable us to worship in truth.

And, God, we would leave this place truly honoring and glorifying you

more and more this upcoming week in our life

and more ready to do that

and to just take on whatever might be ahead of each of us.

We love you so very much.

And I'm so very grateful for this opportunity.

And I pray this would be done in your name. Amen.

So, I've always kind of been a fan of the abnormal.

Abnormal people, for sure.

And so, a couple years ago, I actually watched this movie called Rain Man.

Probably some of you guys have seen it.

It's about this idiot savant who has this amazing ability to basically count.

And just for mathematics, and he just remembers numbers.

So, his brother in the movie, Tom Cruise, actually uses him to go count cards in Vegas.

And that's the non-godly aspect of the movie.

But it kind of got me interested.

And so, I actually went and looked up who this movie was based on.

And there's this guy, a real guy named Kim Peek, who literally is an idiot savant

and remembers 98% of everything he's ever read or seen.

So, he could quote to you any verse of the Bible on point.

He can tell you every single county and every single state, every single area code.

He memorized the Encyclopedia Britannica at the age of three.

He, he's just, it's an amazing, amazing mind that this guy has.

It's fascinating to me.

There's another idiot savant that I actually looked up.

And this guy, he has, his skill is kind of in numbers as well, but also in languages.

And so, for, and he has, he has more of like the ability to communicate.

Like the, the, the Kim Peek guy can't really, he can't communicate hardly at all.

But this other guy, he has more of the, more of an ability to communicate.

So, he actually, in order to raise awareness for autism and for this idiot savant syndrome,

he memorized the mathematical constant pi, right, 3.14 or whatever.

He memorized that to the 25,000th place and quoted it back in five and one half hours perfectly.

I mean, it's just amazing, right?

I mean, just incredible how the, how the, that kind of a brain works.

So, how is that relevant, right?

I'm going to, I'm not going to twist that into the sermon.

I mean, the Apostle Paul wasn't an idiot savant, but he was abnormally intelligent.

Okay?

He was abnormally intelligent as a thinker.

And his mind worked on a lot of different levels.

Levels that you and I probably can't really grasp or get to.

He himself, in fact, in his defense of his apostleship to the Corinthians,

said, even if I'm unskilled in speech, he's like, I'm not a great orator.

I can't really speak well.

Even if I'm unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge.

He was brilliant, right?

And God used that brilliance of Paul to write 13 of the deepest, most inexhaustible books of the Bible.

13 letters, really.

And Peter, in fact, no doubt, having recently read through the Paul's letter to the Romans,

which is what we're in today,

in 2 Peter 3, he says this,

regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation.

It's the patience of God that leads us to salvation, he says.

Just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you.

As also in all his letters, speaking in them these things.

And then he says, in which are some things difficult to understand.

Right?

So Peter himself is like, I mean, Paul's pretty deep.

He's like, I've had trouble myself understanding.

I've had to reread him myself, you know?

So there's an element of Paul in his writing that we're not supposed to necessarily grasp at first glance.

And he's doing things with his intelligence in his writing that's meant to really kind of strike us at different levels.

So why is it important for us to understand why Paul is smart?

Okay?

Because smart people who are good teachers, and Paul was a great teacher,

they tend to possess this one similar trait that I think I found.

They drive home their points, not by stating and then restating the same thing over and over and over and over and over.

It just gets repetitious.

What really intelligent speakers and teachers do is they drive home their point by using synonyms.

By using different ways of saying the same thing.

Right?

That's what they do.

And so, for instance, let me just give you an example.

So, John Piper listened to this sermon.

Actually, it was a radio broadcast a couple years ago.

And he was kind of answering this secular radio personality's questions about Katrina.

And she came to the interview with John Piper basically just wanting to ask one question.

And she asked the same question repetitively throughout the entire time that they're talking.

It was like 45 minutes.

And she basically just says, how can bad things happen to good people?

Right?

And so, John Piper, the thing that was so cool about it, is that when he responds, he essentially says the same thing every single time, which is, nobody's good but God.

He essentially says that same basic principle over and over and over, but he says it in like nine different ways.

And so, at the end of the interview, like the radio personality is like, this was the best interview of all the people that we've talked to from different religions and different sects, whatever it might be.

Like, you have really kind of communicated the most clearly.

And again, it was just because he was saying the same thing, very simple truth, just through one or two or three or four or five, in his case, like nine different ways.

It was brilliant.

And so, Paul does this all the time.

He kind of, in a sense, what Piper did, so, was he takes the listener and he kind of convinces you that you're receiving something fresh.

You're receiving something new.

But really, it's the same truth, just redressed.

And that's what Paul is doing in our text today.

He's taking the same thing he's been saying, that he always says, and as I begin to kind of cross-reference the passage today,

it's amazing how often you see him communicating the same exact truth.

But he's just redressing it in a new way, in a fresh way.

So, that's what we're going to look at this morning.

And really, this is kind of what I wanted to say.

Well, let's read our passage first, I guess.

So, go to Romans 15 for me.

This is, I was supposed to do one through six, but Nathan does not yet know I'm only doing one through three.

So, we're not going to make it that far today.

So, Romans 15, this is verse one through three.

It says this,

So, when I first started reading this passage, I really had a difficult time understanding what I was supposed to say,

or how I was supposed to basically draw to this text something that's really not there, just at face value.

Because it seems pretty simple to me.

Just, obviously, submit yourself to other people's consciences, other people's, you know, give preference to them, that kind of thing.

But really, the main theme that he's trying to basically drive home, through not just this section of Scripture,

but through the last three chapters, is this idea of unification, of unity in the body of Christ.

And it is a pervasive theme in Scripture.

It's all over the Scripture.

This unity idea.

And it's literally, and I just want to say this at the beginning,

I think it's the greatest weapon that we have,

as a body of Christ,

trying to bring the kingdom of God to bear on this earth.

Our unity, our oneness, our togetherness,

on the things that we do,

is so strengthening.

Think about a family, right?

We have some great families in here that are good examples of this.

If you have a strong family, right?

You have a husband and a wife that are together.

You have children that respect and love their parents.

You have parents that love and respect and honor and serve their children.

Then you have this unit that really is, I mean, it's almost unbreakable.

It's so, it's impenetrable in so many ways.

And so that's exactly kind of the idea that I think Paul,

and of course God, and through Christ,

and through the words that God's inspiring Paul to write here,

is trying to communicate, is we have got to be unified.

We've got to be unified.

Okay?

God is greatly concerned with the unity of His people.

One author said it this way.

By salvation, He has effected a real spiritual oneness.

He has created a commonness based on sharing the same eternal life, right?

It's common to all of us.

This reality of conversion should impact the life of the church

by being the impetus for practical unity.

It's interesting because I didn't know what the word impetus meant either.

So I was like, I went and looked it up.

And the definition of impetus literally in the dictionary says,

the force or energy with which a body moves.

That's what it means, right?

So the conversion, our like-minded conversion, our oneness, right?

And the idea that we're joined together in Christ

is really meant to kind of drive us on

and to energize us in our spiritual life together as a body.

And I think that's, again, what He's really trying to kind of,

He's using all these different ways of saying

and getting to the point of we've got to be unified

through the last three chapters.

We're going to try to kind of cover some of that

and make sense of it here.

We are together.

The body of Christ,

we are propelled forward in life and in our mission

by a common force.

That is, by our union with Christ.

And it's our union with Christ

that gives us union with one another.

That's what we have in common.

It's Christ.

That's the common denominator.

And just like, kind of like two siblings, right?

Who are different in every single way

and yet they love one another

because they have the same blood,

they have the same name,

they come from the same home, right?

There's just a certain union and bond

that comes from being family.

That's the same exact thing here.

We've been ushered into the same bloodline as Christ.

And so therefore we have to begin acting out

our faith in that same way, together,

instead of separate.

This is really, and let me just say this as well,

this is really an idea

that a lot of American Christians especially

don't really identify with

because there's so much emphasis put

in our place in our society on individualism,

on being your own person,

your own man, your own woman,

having your own relationship,

whatever it might be.

There's not a lot of,

like in this time,

like this day and age,

in the first century,

there was a ton of emphasis put on family

because if you didn't have,

if you weren't working together as a unit,

as a family,

you really were,

I mean, you know,

probably very poor,

probably, you know,

again, not really making ends meet,

whatever it might be.

So there was so much emphasis

put on that familial tie.

And that's where he, I think,

is really communicating well

to these early Christians

and we need to be mindful of that as well.

So really, I think,

the underlying theme throughout Scripture

as a whole is unity.

Okay?

This is the,

like I know that we're conditioned

to think it's redemption

and it is redemption,

but I think unity kind of is a synonym

in this case.

Think about it, right?

Our first and foremost,

our unity with God

through Christ or redemption.

And then secondly,

our unity with others,

which is the second, right,

and the greatest commandment.

Loving God with all our heart,

soul, mind, and strength

and loving our neighbor as ourself.

So those are kind of the two unifying themes

of the entire Scripture.

It's gigantic.

So I'm just going to read you guys

some Scriptures here.

Take notes if you want.

I'm just going to read them off.

These are just some verses

that kind of identify this for us.

This is when I began cross-referencing

and finding all these different places

that say it.

So in Jeremiah 32,

Jeremiah 32:38

verses 38 and 39,

God says this,

They shall be my people

and I will be their God

and I will give them one heart

and one way

that they may fear me always

for their own good

and for the good of their children

after them.

In Zephaniah 3, 9,

God says of both Jews

and Gentiles alike,

I will give to the people's

purified lips

that all of them may call

on the name of the Lord

to serve Him

shoulder to shoulder.

Shoulder to shoulder, right?

Like side by side,

like brothers or like soldiers.

So there's this idea of unity.

I'm going to give them

this new heart,

this new idea of who I am,

this new vision for Christ

and then by that,

I'm going to unify them together

with one heart,

one mind,

one soul

and they're going to become

this powerful army,

this powerful brotherhood,

this powerful family

that's going to overcome

the wicked one,

that's going to overcome

the power of the devil,

that's going to escape

the perversion of this generation.

But it's together.

It's all of our forces in one.

Christ says it differently

in the New Testament.

He says in John 10, 16,

I have other sheep,

he's speaking of Gentiles,

which are not of this fold.

I must bring them also

and they shall hear my voice

and they shall become

one flock

with one shepherd, right?

One flock

with one shepherd,

united together.

In other words,

one author said

the God's eternal plan

is that all who believe

in Him

will become outwardly

what they are inwardly,

unified in Him

through faith in His Son.

Another one,

Jesus,

before His arrest,

actually,

He was speaking to the disciples.

This is in John 17.

It's the high priestly prayer.

It's such a powerful text.

So this is right before,

I mean,

the last thing Jesus

is basically saying

to the disciples

before He goes to the cross.

He gets up

and He basically prays this

in verse 11 of chapter 17

in the book of John.

He says,

I am no more in the world

and yet they themselves

are in the world

and I come to you.

He's speaking to His Father.

Holy Father,

keep them in Your name,

the name which You have given Me,

that they may be one

as we are one.

Right?

So what does He pray?

He prays,

God,

make them one,

make them unified

as we are unified.

He's praying for that.

That's what His purpose is.

That's what He wants them to hear.

And the last thing that He says,

I want you guys

to be together on this.

I want you guys

to focus on the mission,

that great commission

that I'm calling you to,

together.

It's powerful.

And then of course,

we got Paul's examples

and this is all over the place.

I started reading

the cross references

for Paul himself.

To the Ephesians,

he says in chapter 4,

1-5,

he says,

I therefore,

the prisoner of the Lord,

entreat you to walk

in a manner worthy

of the calling

with which you have been called.

With all humility,

with gentleness,

with patience,

showing forbearance

to one another in love,

being diligent

to preserve

the unity of the Spirit

in the bond of peace.

Right?

So what is he saying?

I want you guys

to be humble.

I want you to be gentle

towards one another.

I want you to be patient.

I want you to show forbearance.

I want you to be strong

for the sake,

right,

all for the purpose

of being diligent

to preserve

the unity of the Spirit

in the bond of peace.

this theme

is everywhere.

He says of the Galatians,

for you are all sons of God

through faith in Christ Jesus.

All of you guys

are sons now.

For you all who are,

for all of you,

wait,

all of you who were

baptized into Christ

have clothed yourselves

with Christ.

There is neither Jew

nor Greek.

There is neither slave

nor free man.

There is neither male

nor female.

You are all one

in Christ Jesus.

Jesus.

It is pervasive.

The last thing I will say

to again drive home

this point,

Philippians 1.27,

only conduct yourselves

in a manner worthy

of the gospel of Christ

so that whether I come

to see you

or remain absent from you,

I may hear

that you are standing firm

in one spirit

with one mind,

striving together

for the faith

of one gospel.

Right?

It is amazing.

It is all over the place.

So why is it so vital

for us to be unified?

That was my next question.

Why is it so important

for us to be together

on this stuff?

What does it mean for us?

Why does God care?

There is three,

I think,

simple reasons.

The first reason

is because the devil

is a wolf.

Okay?

He is a wolf

who strategically feeds

on the sheep

who stray

from the fold.

That is the way

the Bible paints

a picture of him.

He is like a wolf,

right?

He is deceptive.

So,

I lived with Clay Naylor

for about a year,

okay?

During which time,

I watched

more nature shows

than I have ever watched

in my entire life.

And I promise you,

this is kind of

how it always goes,

okay?

Like when the one,

you know,

you or the one,

you know,

lamb,

whatever it might be,

the one straggler

kind of gets separated

from the flock,

that's when the wolf

or whatever,

whatever the predator is,

pounces.

It happens every time.

Right?

Every single time.

And so that's the same idea.

Like there's strength

in numbers, right?

Even dumb animals

understand instinctually

that I'm going to pray

on the guy

that's by himself.

Satan is like this,

right?

He prays on the people

that are by themselves.

So the first reason

why we have to be unified

together is because

of your safety.

As believers,

we need to be protected

by one another,

which is one of the reasons

why I think,

you know,

missionaries that are

doing mission elsewhere

overseas in dangerous places

where fellowship like this

is scarce,

they come together

in very unique ways.

I mean,

like when you're under

persecution,

like the church

of the scriptures was,

right?

Like when that initial

first century church,

they came together,

they were so strong

because they had to be unified

because they knew

they couldn't survive

the elements themselves.

They had to be together.

Okay?

The more the devil

can separate us,

the greater his chances

are of devouring us.

Number two,

second reason why

it's vital for the church

to be unified.

Apart from outright sin,

okay,

adultery,

murder,

whatever it might be,

apart from outright sin,

nothing shatters

the fellowship,

stunts the growth,

and ruins the witness

of the congregation

of Christ

so much

as disunity

or disharmony

among its members.

Nothing

has greater potential

to really ruin

our witness

as a church body

than disharmony

and disunity.

I hate it when I hear

churches have divided.

You know?

I mean,

I've heard that churches

have divided over

the color of the carpet.

I mean,

it's insane what happens

in some of these churches

these days.

Satan has got them

so twisted

to think that these things

are so important.

I mean,

like maybe,

of course it's not

the color of the carpet

for us,

but I mean,

there's things

within certain congregations

very nearby

that have tons

of disunity

as a result

of peripheral doctrine.

Right?

They're so hard-lined

on certain things

that they're not willing

to even have fellowship with

and enjoy a pleasant

conversation with

and encouraging Christ

somebody that is

of a different

belief system

on perhaps,

I don't know,

baptism or eschatology,

whatever it might be.

And that just shouldn't

be the case.

It just shouldn't be

the case.

You know?

So, I mean,

Satan is very clever

in how he does this

and so getting us disunified

is another vital reason

why we have to be unified

because Satan will

definitely take advantage

of that.

Satan doesn't care

about you and me.

He doesn't care

at all about you and me.

He cares about

shaming Christ

through you

and through me.

Okay?

So he doesn't care

what it takes

but he lays the temptations

at our feet, right?

He tempts us,

he tries to ensnare us

in pride or greed

or lust or envy

so that he might strike

a blow against Christ.

Okay?

Think about it this way.

The greatest way

to enrage a man,

the greatest way

to really enrage a man

is to go after his family,

right?

So he's not going to

necessarily attack

just Christ.

He wants to attack you,

the people that Christ loves.

He wants to attack his family

because that's going to

strike the greatest blow

against him.

Third reason why

we have got to be unified

as a body

is because nothing

strengthens the fellowship,

stimulates growth,

and purifies the witness

of the congregation

so much as unity

among its members.

Okay?

Just turn it on its side.

It's the same exact thing

as the last thing,

it's just the opposite.

The thing that the early church

had going for them

was a unique level

of unity

and all togetherness,

right,

that rose kind of above

this persecution

of the day.

Nero was, I mean,

coming down on these Christians

as hard as he possibly could.

He was lighting up

his garden parties

with, you know,

burning bodies

of Christians

being crucified.

It was an extreme time.

Extreme time.

Right?

And so,

in the midst of all of that,

the church,

in that they kept,

not only, you know,

kept alive,

I mean,

they were alive for sure,

but they were actually vibrant.

They were actually growing.

They were powerful.

They were becoming a force

to be reckoned with.

And even torture

and that kind of stuff,

extreme measures,

couldn't even dissuade them

from following Jesus.

And that's because

they had this unique union.

I mean,

you can read about that.

In fact,

let's go ahead and do that.

Let's go to Acts 2.

Let me just show you guys

exactly what I'm talking about here.

Because,

let's just,

you know,

like,

I mean,

they were obviously

a great example

of what it meant

to be unified,

so what characterized them?

What characterized

these first century Christians

that we need to emulate

if we can?

This is Acts 2,

beginning in verse 42.

And it says this,

And they were continually

devoting themselves

to the apostles' teaching

and to fellowship,

to the breaking of bread,

and to prayer.

So they were always together.

And everyone kept feeling

a sense of awe.

Many wonders and signs

were taking place

through the apostles.

And all those who had believed

were together.

And they had all things

in common, right?

And it just keeps on going

and describing more and more

of that.

Go over to chapter 4.

Let me show you something else.

I want to read verse 32

and 33.

It says,

And the congregation

of those who believed

were of one heart and soul,

and not one of them

claimed that anything

belonging to Him

was His own.

But all things were

common property to them,

and with great power

the apostles were giving

witness to the resurrection

of the Lord Jesus,

and abundant grace

was upon them all.

Right?

So there was this sense

in which they just,

they didn't consider

their possessions

to be that,

you know,

like they weren't,

it's not like

I have this one thing

that there's nobody

in the world that can touch.

I mean,

like if somebody needs

this more than I do,

money or my time,

or, you know,

if they need my service,

if they need me to,

you know,

wash them or bathe,

whatever it might be,

like they were willing

to go out of their way

in that early century

because there was

such an example of this

in the apostles, right?

I mean,

they had great leadership.

They saw the apostles

laying down their life,

being beaten in the synagogues,

you know,

or being in the courts.

So they were seeing,

you know,

them dedicate their time,

their energy

to praying for the people.

They were so focused

on just setting that example

for, you know,

the way in which

we follow Christ.

And so everybody

was following in like manner.

It was beautiful.

You know,

so we've got to begin

to set the example

for our families,

but also the example

for our younger brothers

and sisters in Christ,

and also the example

just for, you know,

people that are coming up

in the ranks.

I mean,

just, you know,

young people that are being saved,

youth that, you know,

we want to set a good example

for how we should follow Christ

and how we should really consider

our possessions

to not be that valuable

as long as we can give glory

to Christ

if He requires us

to give them

or our time,

whatever it might be.

We don't all have money.

Some of us have just,

you know,

a listening ear,

whatever it might be

that you have to offer

to the Lord.

So this is what made them

inseparable.

It was just this unity

with Christ.

It was beautiful.

So anyway,

that's just kind of an intro

into the verses.

I think that's kind of

the foundation here, right?

I'm not going to take up

too much more time,

but, you know,

so that's essentially

what Paul has been up to,

okay?

In the first three chapters,

or in the last three chapters,

I should say,

12, 13, and 14,

he has been basically

getting at this idea of,

hey,

let's just read the first part.

Go to Romans 12

for just a second.

Let's just,

I just want you to see

where I saw this.

So he says,

in verse 1 of 12,

I urge you therefore,

brethren,

by the mercies of God.

So he's like,

hey,

in light of your salvation,

present your bodies

as a living

and a holy sacrifice

acceptable to God,

which is your spiritual

service of worship.

Do not be conformed

to this world,

but be transformed

by the renewing

of your mind

that you may prove

what God's will is,

that which is good,

that which is acceptable,

that which is perfect.

Keep on going.

For through the grace

given to me,

I say to every man

among you,

not to think more highly

of himself

than he ought to think,

but to think so as

to have sound judgment,

as God has allotted

each measure of faith.

Then he says this,

For just as we have

many members

in one body,

and all the members

do not have the same function,

so we who are many

are one body in Christ

and individually members of it.

Okay?

So he goes immediately

from this idea of,

Hey,

you have been saved

by grace.

You have been washed

by the blood of Christ.

You have been transformed

by that.

You have been set apart

by that.

You have now inherited

your joint heir

with Christ.

You get heaven.

You get forgiveness

for sins.

You get separation

from hell

and separation from God

is no longer

a reality for you,

right?

In light of these

amazing truths,

I want you to set apart

your body

as unto the Lord.

Whatever it requires,

whatever cost that means

for you,

I want you to give yourself

wholeheartedly to Christ.

Then he says,

Hey, I want to remind you

though,

you've got this body.

And the way to really

do this effectively

is to be together

and like-minded

and to be one

and to really enjoy

each and everybody

else's gifts,

right?

Because that's going

to strengthen you

in your sacrifice

of your own self

to Jesus.

It's going to help

educate you as to

how to do it better

because you can see

other people in your

community doing

the same thing,

right?

He begins to paint

this picture

so he goes into

eventually,

he goes immediately

into this idea

of like,

you know,

some people have

these gifts

and you know,

they need to be

serving in these ways.

Then he goes into

some more general stuff

and he says,

you know,

hey,

all of you guys

should be devoted

to one another

in brotherly love.

You should give

preference to one another

in honor.

You should,

you know,

be always diligent

to do so.

What else does he say?

He says in 16

of chapter 12,

be of the same mind

toward one another.

Do not be haughty

in mind

but associate

with the lowly.

Accommodate the lowly.

Do not be wise

in your own estimation

but in the estimation

of Christ,

right?

So he just,

I mean,

he's literally,

he's saying the same thing.

You can see that

intelligence of him,

right?

He's communicating

the same truths

but he's just doing

it different ways

so that we see it

from different angles.

And he's helping

to drive home

the same point,

be together,

be unified,

be with Christ

and the people of Christ.

So he just goes

on and on and on

and then eventually

he brings us to 15.

So here we are again

at 15.

Let's just reread it

and we'll dive into

the particulars

of this passage.

Now we who were strong

ought to bear the weakness

of those without strength

and not just please ourselves.

Let each,

let each of us

please his neighbor

for his good

to his edification.

For even Christ

did not please himself

but as it is written,

the reproaches of those

who approached you

fell upon me.

Okay?

So in verses 1-3

Paul calls believers,

calls all of us

to please one another.

Okay?

To be about

pleasing one another.

To give preference

to one another.

To accommodate

one another.

Right?

To give you

the number one spot

and not myself.

By following

the example of Christ.

That's all he's

trying to communicate.

Please one another

by following

Christ's example.

So let's read

verse 1 yet again.

Now we who were strong

ought to bear the weakness

of those who are

without strength

and not just please ourselves.

Those who are strong

are those who are

more mature

in their faith.

Okay?

That's exactly

what that phrase

essentially means.

It's who because

of the practice

and experience

in their life

with Christ

have had their senses

trained to discern

good and evil.

That's what

characterizes the strong.

They know right from wrong.

They know the important

things from the

unimportant things.

Right?

They've been able to

they've been learned

how to detect that.

They understand

that they have

liberty in Christ.

Okay?

The strong do.

They have liberty in Christ.

You have freedom in Christ.

Freedom from the old covenant.

You know,

freedom from the dietary

system in their case.

Freedom from the strict

commandments of the

Old Testament

that were specific

to sacrifices

and days and festivals

and all these kind of things.

But what they don't have

and what you who are in here

who are mature Christians

do not have

okay?

What none of us have

that are mature

is the right to express

those freedoms

without regard

for those without strength.

Okay?

Without regard

for the weak.

Okay?

In Christ

you have a lot of freedom.

I mean I've heard

John MacArthur

painted as simple as

literally

abide in Christ

and do whatever you want to do.

That's as simple

as following the will of God is.

Like abide in Christ

do whatever you want.

You have so much freedom.

You can choose

what you want to do

how you want to do it.

But of course

within limits

it's not sin

but all righteous things.

But the reality is

there may be some things

that we have liberty to

that not everybody

in Christ

feels a liberty for.

Right?

They don't understand

that liberty yet.

And so we

what he's saying is

those that are strong

do not have a right

to express

those liberties

without any regard

for the weaker brother.

right?

There's certain things

that are unacceptable

because so and so

is in the room

or because so and so

looks up to you

or because you have

such and such a position

in the church

or whatever it might be.

Right?

Like I know

for instance

I know that Nathan

has zero problem

with alcohol.

Right?

I mean

it's not a sin to drink.

Okay?

But he has said

you know what

because I know

that that tends to have

a bad you know

I don't know

what's the word?

Stigma.

Yes.

Whatever.

A bad stigma

with people.

Therefore

right?

I'm not going to do that.

And he has submitted himself

he's submitted that liberty

in a sense

to us

in saying

I want to lead by example.

I want to submit that

to you guys

and say

I don't want to do this

for the sake of my brothers

in Christ.

I don't want to lead

anybody to stumble.

Because that may be

a serious no-no

for a lot of us

that have had problems

with drinking.

Right?

Whatever it might be.

So we've got to be

very sensitive here.

Those who are strong

then he says

ought

to bear the weaknesses

of those

without strength.

The word ought

there is really

interesting.

It's

literally in the Greek

it has the basic meaning

of owing a debt.

Okay?

So when he's saying

you ought to

he's saying

you owe the debt

to your brothers

in Christ

to do it this way.

Another

it kind of

communicates

owing a debt

or having a strong obligation.

Listen to where

the same word is used.

The same word

is used

in Hebrews 5.3

to describe

the high priest's

responsibility

to offer sacrifices

for the sins

of the people.

That's how serious

an obligation

this is.

Right?

You guys

not giving offense

to a brother.

You guys

giving preference

to a brother

or a sister

in Christ.

It's got the same

weight to it

that the obligation

on a high priest

had

to actually

offering sacrifices

daily

for the sins

of the people.

That is serious.

That's very serious.

Okay?

So the question

again that we really

have to come with here

is how do we bear

one another's weaknesses?

How do we bear

one another's burdens?

And there's just

really three things

I'm going to say

quickly here.

The first way

that we actually

bear one another's burdens

!

Is by not pleasing

ourselves.

Okay?

Not just pleasing

ourselves.

Look at the end

of verse 1.

He says

and not just

please

let me read

the whole thing.

So now we

who are strong

ought to bear

the weaknesses

of those

without strength

and not just

please

ourselves.

Listen to this

quote.

We have learned

to deny ourselves.

This was our

first lesson.

None of us

lives to himself.

This is a thing

in which all the

people of God

are one.

They're unified

in this idea

he says.

However they differ

in other ideas

and other things

though some are weak

and others are strong

yet both agree

in this

not to live

to themselves.

Not one

that has given up

his name to Christ

is allowedly

a self-seeker.

It is contrary

to the very

foundation

of true Christianity.

We neither

live to ourselves

nor die to ourselves.

We are not

our own masters

nor our own proprietors.

We are not

at our own disposal.

Matthew Henry.

Okay?

Powerful statement.

Right?

When you become

a Christian

I hope the first

thing that you did

was say

I'm done

with me.

I'm no longer

living for myself.

Right?

The first thing

that we learn

first thing

that Jesus says

to do

Matthew or Mark

8

deny yourself.

Right?

Deny yourself.

What does that mean?

What does that mean?

It essentially means

to give preference

no longer

to your own

desires and ambitions

but rather

to Christ's

desires

and ambitions.

We give preference

now to Christ's

desires

and Christ's

ambitions

and Christ's

likes and dislikes.

Right?

So what is

Christ's desire?

Christ desires

oneness

like he has

with the Trinity.

Right?

He has this oneness.

Right?

So he wants to

save people

and bring them

into himself

for the sake

of making them

one.

Entering them

into a oneness

relationship

with them.

That's what he

desires more

than anything.

That's why he

came to die

was to bring us

together.

To reconcile us

back to God

into fellowship

yet again.

Right?

It's that oneness

that God cares

about.

That unity

that God cares

about.

And what Christ

is ambitious

for

is more.

Right?

More unity

enjoyed by more

people from

more nations

and more tribes

and more tongues

and more peoples.

He's really

about one thing.

Relationship.

Unity.

Togetherness

with God.

Right?

He prays that.

Go read

John 17.

And he's ambitious

for more.

Until he takes

us away.

Right?

He said,

I want you to

keep doing this.

I want you to

go and as you

go wherever you

are, I want you

to make disciples.

I want more

fellowship.

That's what he's

about.

Secondly,

we bear one

another's burdens

not only by

not pleasing

ourselves

or not living

for ourselves,

I could better

say that,

but by pleasing

our neighbor

for his good

to his edification.

That's what

verse 2 says,

right?

Let each of us

please his neighbor

for his good

to his edification.

Very straightforward

there.

So many new

believers,

a lot of new

believers,

have very,

very sensitive

consciences,

very sensitive

consciences.

And this is by

God's grace,

right?

They're new to it

all, right?

So they're uncertain

of how to act

and how to think,

of how to carry

themselves.

And the last

thing that you

want to do,

the very last

thing you want

to do,

okay,

as an older

believer,

as a more

mature believer,

the most ruinous

thing that you

could possibly

do to a new

convert is to

teach them

to ignore

their conscience.

okay,

it's a defense

mechanism that

God has given

to each and

every person

in here,

okay,

for the sake

of helping

you to be

protected from

things that

would for you

be ruinous,

okay?

And here's the

beautiful thing

about the

conscience.

The conscience

is what gives

each and every

Christian in here

variety.

The conscience

is really unique

because what it

does is it

basically adds

variety to

Christianity.

So for instance,

what may be

permissible for me,

what may be

right for me,

may not be for

you.

What may be

right for you,

may not be for

me.

Right?

There's certain

things that may

be just fine in

the kingdom of

God for you,

but not so for

me.

And so what

Satan loves to

do is he

loves to say,

this is the

one way that

you must go.

And there's no

sense of variety

in that,

no sense of

being led by

the Holy Spirit

in that,

it's just a

sense of

following,

it's going

back to that

old way of

just basically

following the

leader and

getting caught

up in a lot

of righteous

doing and not

a lot of

righteous living.

Okay?

So we need to

stop judging

each other

based on this

idea of the

conscience.

It's a very

freeing thing to

be able to

listen to the

Holy Spirit as

a new Christian

or even as a

mature Christian

and say,

the Lord would

have me not

do this today.

You know?

I feel like I

need to really,

I need to,

for me,

like this past,

this morning,

I'll be honest,

like,

I was like,

I need to wake

up early.

I need to pray,

I need to be with

the Lord,

I need to read

the word,

I need to prepare

this, you know,

sermon further.

Right?

Now,

it's a

conscience thing.

It wasn't like

I have,

the Bible doesn't

say,

wake up early

when you preach

sermons,

but for me,

it was,

I needed to

listen to my

conscience,

right?

Other people,

it's,

you know,

different things.

So the worst

thing we can

possibly do early

on is teach a

young believer

to not hear the

Lord,

to not listen to

Christ,

to not listen to

God.

That is so

ruining,

so ruining.

Okay?

Let me just

kind of paint a

little illustration

of how Satan

works.

He loves to

disharmonize the

church,

and by doing

that,

what I mean is

he likes to

weaken the

conscience of

the church as

a whole.

His best work

isn't really done

in forcing us

to make a

sharp left

or right turn,

but gradually

veering us off

our course

until we just

crash ourselves.

He isn't doing

this.

He's not putting

things in your

way so that

you're going this

way,

then of course

you have to

turn that way.

It's more like

he just kind of

gets you off a

little bit,

and eventually

you find yourself

in a place that

you never thought

was possible.

You find yourself

not reading the

word for a

month.

You find yourself

not praying at

all because

you're too busy.

You find yourself

never witnessing

again.

You know,

it's like,

how did I,

I mean,

you look back a

year and you're

like,

how did I get

here?

What happened?

How did I,

you know,

it's just,

and that's

that gradual

just ignoring

the conscience

and getting

veered off

course.

It's exactly

what the devil

does.

Okay?

He tries to be

very silent in

the way that he

tempts,

not overt.

so the question

just to kind of

put it back on

us,

right?

How many of

us are

backslidden?

How many of

us are ignoring

our conscience?

Know the right

thing to do

and don't do

it,

right?

I mean,

look at what

the very end

of chapter 14

says here,

22 and 23.

The faith which

you have,

have as your

own conviction

before,

have as,

I love this,

have as your

own conviction

before God.

Happy is he

who does not

condemn himself

in what he

approves,

but he who

doubts is

condemned if

he eats because

his eating is

not from faith.

Whatever is not

from faith is

sin.

It's not about

just doing

something,

it's about

actually believing

and listening to

Christ and doing

what he calls

us to do.

That's the idea.

One other verse

I wanted to

quickly read you

guys,

and I promise

you we're

almost finished

here.

Well,

just take the

note down.

for 1 Corinthians

9,

19-22.

It's the one

that says,

you know,

he says basically

for the sake of

Jews I became

like a Jew,

for the sake of

those that are

under the law

I became like

those that are

under the law.

He just kind of

goes back and

forth and says

that I do

whatever it

takes to

basically submit

myself to

the consciences

and the

weaknesses of

my brothers in

Christ and

sisters in

Christ for the

sake of winning

them.

He has this

end goal in

mind which is

to win them

over to

Christ,

to convince

them,

to persuade

them by

his behavior,

by his life,

by his words,

that Christ is

beautiful and

worth their

time.

And he's

willing to

sacrifice anything.

And he even

says at one

point that if

meat causes a

brother of mine

to sin,

I'm never

going to eat

meat again.

Like, I mean,

I don't care what

it takes.

Like, I'm just

going to be

about the work

of my Lord.

God, I'm just

going to be

prepared.

Then thirdly,

this is the

last thing I'll

say briefly.

We bear one

another's weaknesses

and burdens by

considering Christ.