Introduction

(Read Text) This is week five in our study of Christian liberty from Romans 14:1–15:13. Two months ago, I had read this section many times, but I had never studied it in detail like I have the last few weeks.

One of my biggest takeaways has been that we almost always approach this passage and others about Christian liberty asking the wrong questions. We really want to know about our liberties. “Can I watch this, wear that, go here, and skip there?” And we really want to know the specifics of how to deal with differences. “When do I defer? When do I press through? When do I speak up, and when do I zip my lips?” We’d love it if Paul wrote, “Five Steps to a Clear Conscience” or “Four Steps to Conflict Resolution.”

But Paul gives very little of that kind of application because he understood that your heart is the real issue. Boundaries and steps aren’t very useful if you are selfish and immature. Therefore, you must change what you love. If you get your heart right, the Holy Spirit will help you figure out the details.

Today’s passage continues that focus. Paul urges you to turn your eyes from selfish interests and minor irritations toward something infinitely greater. In particular, God is glorifying himself by building his church. The climax of the text is v. 6.

Sure, sometimes life in the church feels mundane, and people are frustrating. But God is forming little images of himself, and he is binding them together into a glorious temple. It’s amazing! And you can participate in his glorious purpose with a little dose of love, humility, and deference.

So, fall in love with what God is doing. Then life in the church and every other disagreement will become far easier to manage. Today’s passage specifically challenges you, Serve your brother selflessly for God’s glory. It does so with 3 challenges.

I.  Please your neighbor, not yourself (vv. 1–2).

I want to emphasize again that everything in this passage is moving toward v. 6 and the beautiful image of the church singing in unison for God’s glory. It’s a romantic image that will climax someday around the throne of the Lamb.

But life at Life Point or in your home surrounded by sinners doesn’t always feel romantic. We have disagreements. Sometimes we irritate each other. It’s disappointing, even disheartening, when people are spiritually lazy and stale. So, how do we get from where we are to where God wants us to be? It begins with truly loving your neighbor. And the strong have an especially great responsibility.

Strength brings responsibility (v. 1). Remember that Paul is responding to a conflict at Rome over the ongoing significance of the Law. Johnny Jew had spent 30 years obeying the Law of Moses before he got saved. So, his conscience was still bound to that Law. But Joe Gentile said, “No way! Christ has freed us from the Law. I’m not doing any of that stuff. And don’t you dare judge me for it.”

What were these guys to do? Verse 1 addresses Joe Gentile (and Paul includes himself) as the “strong.” He doesn’t mean that Joe Gentile is physically stronger or even more spiritually mature. Rather, Joe Gentile has stronger faith that Christ has freed him from the Law. Therefore, he knows he is free to eat smoked pork to the glory of God.

But he doesn’t just eat it out of Christian duty. He also really enjoys it because BBQ is one of God’s best creations! But Paul wants Joe Gentile to love something more than smoked pork. He contrasts “pleasing ourselves” with “pleasing your neighbor.” Johnny Jew is worth far more than a sandwich. Therefore, rather than using his strength to please himself, Joe Gentile must use it “to bear the weaknesses” of Johnny Jew. With great strength comes great responsibility.

This principle is everywhere in Scripture. God didn’t make men strong and give them authority in the home so we can indulge our lusts and get our way. He made us strong so we can serve our families. God doesn’t give you talents so you can spread your fame but so that you can serve the church. And God didn’t give you a strong conscience so you could indulge the flesh. No, he wants you to “bear the weaknesses of those without strength.”

You may hear that and think, “Okay, I guess I’ll put up with this guy.” But that’s not what Paul means. You are responsible (that’s the idea behind “ought”) to “bear” their weakness. Notice how Paul uses the same verb in Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”

So, it’s as if Johnny Jew’s weak conscience is a 100 lb. backpack. Trying to keep up with all those OT laws is demanding. The same is true for your brother who is striving hard to please God, but for whatever reason, he struggles under the weight of a weak conscience.

Don’t focus on educating his conscience. Don’t merely tolerate him and certainly don’t alienate him. Instead, get under the backpack with him and help carry it. Help him obey his conscience.

For example, when he gets in your car, turn on the music he enjoys and choose to enjoy it with him. Or at Christmas, buy your girlfriend a dress that she will feel enjoy and get excited about it. Use your strength to serve others, not yourself. Why? It’s because…

Your responsibility is edification. Verses 1–2 contrast pleasing yourself with pleasing your neighbor. That’s basic sacrificial love. But it’s where you struggle—in your marriage, with your siblings, your coworkers, and fellow believers. We all love ourselves. You need grace to help you love sacrificially as Christ loved you. That’s because this sacrificial love is essential to life in the church. We don’t just need grace; we need each other. So, how will you conduct yourself? Will you chase childish preferences? Will you dig in your heals and fight over nonessentials? Or will you love people? Don’t let the pride of life and the lust of the flesh blind you to what truly matters.

Notice that when you bear the weakness of a brother, you don’t just please him. You promote “his good, to his edification.” This is a great opportunity. The best good anyone can know is to become like Jesus and enjoy sweet fellowship with him. So, best gift you can give is to help him on to Christ.

But 14:23 says that the weak cannot grow in Christlikeness if he disobeys his conscience. So, Joe Gentile must love Johnny Jew more than smoked pork, and he must encourage Johnny to obey his conscience. Only then can he truly worship God and give thanks. As he does Johnny Jew grows into the image of Christ, and he glorifies God. It is the best good. It is a good of eternal value.

I hope you love people and that you love the work of discipleship. When you teach someone the Scriptures, support a brother in his battle for holiness, or come alongside his sin struggle, you are doing the most important work on the earth. You are helping someone become like Jesus! It matters so much more than a video game, a movie, or a pork sandwich.

Sure, those desires tug hard at your heart. Yes, there is a time and place to enjoy your liberties to the glory of God. But don’t let a pork sandwich, your pride, your pain, or any other worldly care get in the way of ministry.

Love people more. Then be disciplined. Slow down. Think about what really matters. Don’t use the strength that God has given you to serve yourself. Use it to responsibly serve others in the most important work in all the world, the work of discipleship. Please your neighbor, not yourself. Serve your brother selflessly for God’s glory. The 2^nd major challenge is…

II.  Follow Christ’s example (vv. 3–4).

Christ’s Rights (v. 3a): Again, you can almost hear the excuses from the strong because you’ve used them before. “Johnny Jew is being ridiculous, and I have a right to enjoy my BBQ. I’m right. I work hard. I deserve it.”

But Paul drops the ultimate trump card. “Even Christ did not please Himself.” Remember that Christ is the Greek equivalent for Messiah. So, it’s as if Paul says, “You think you deserve to grasp for your rights, but even Messiah did not please Himself.”

Paul puts it so beautifully in Philippians 2:5–8, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

So, when you want to grasp for your right to enjoy a movie or a style of music, remember that Christ did not grasp the glories of heaven. When you begin to throw yourself a pity party over all that God demands, remember what Christ gave for you. He let go of infinite glory to become your slave to the point of dying your death on a cross.

Considering what Messiah gave for me, how could I, a lowly sinner, possibly grasp for my petty rights? How tragic would that be. I hope you see how small your sacrifices really are.

Christ’s Sacrifice: Then Paul gets specific about one of the ways Christ became a servant. He quotes Psalm 69:9 as saying, “The reproaches…” In Psalm 69, David laments how he is being reviled for God’s sake. He says, “For Your sake I have borne reproach; dishonor has covered my face.I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother’s sons” (Ps 69:7–8). He was struggling as we do under the weight of doing God’s will.

And the NT often compares David’s agony to Jesus’ suffering on the cross. And notice that the hostility Jesus endured was ultimately toward God the Father. They hated God’s will. They hated God’s humble purpose for Messiah. They were angry at God. Jesus bore the brunt of all that nastiness.

Can you imagine being in Jesus’ shoes during the Passion? He came to serve, and he was wholly innocent. So, imagine listening as people called for your death, reveled in your torture, and then cheered at your execution. It’s horrible to imagine. But Jesus humbly embraced it all to honor the Father and rescue sinners.

Specifically, he did it to rescue a sinner like you. You may not have mocked Jesus that day, but the Bible says we all are born hostile to God. Yet Messiah, the eternal Son of God came to serve you. He endured our hostility so that you can be rescued from the wrath of God. Jesus loved you and came to save you before you ever loved him. But you must receive his gift of salvation.

If you’ve never done that, please receive Christ today. Admit to God that you need a Savior. Confess that Jesus is the only Lord and Savior and receive him for yourself. Ask him today, and you can be saved.

And once you are saved, never forget the sacrifice he made for you. When you begin to think, “I’m done pleasing my neighbor. I deserve to be happy. I’ve given enough.” Remember that even Messiah became a humble servant, and he did it for you.

Jesus never asks more of you than he has already given. When he gave so much, how could we ever refuse to serve his child over a pork sandwich, a piece of music or any other silly convenience. Serve your brother selflessly.

Your Sacrifice and Your Hope (v. 4): Then v. 4 drives home the significance of both David and Christ’s example (read). This verse is sort of a parenthesis from Paul’s main argument, but it makes a couple important points.

First, the fact we are no longer under the Law does not mean the OT has no value for me. Rather, it is full of invaluable instruction. So, read your OT. Learn from its stories. Listen to its instruction.

Second and more specifically, the Christian life is hard. Christ calls us to make tremendous sacrifices for his glory and for the good of our brother in the church. But when it gets hard, you can go to the Bible and find encouragement to persevere.

Satan wants to isolate you in self-pity and hopelessness, but the Bible demonstrates that you are not alone. David suffered. Jesus suffered. So have many others. But God’s grace sustained them, and it will sustain you.

So, yes, life with believers can be overwhelming and disheartening. “Will these people ever grow up? Will they ever change? Or how will we ever resolve this conflict? I don’t think we can?” But the Bible gives hope. Just as God has worked in the past, he will work to change his people. And he will bring us together in unity for himself.

So, don’t despair over your sacrifices. Don’t quit on your brother. And don’t stop fighting for unity. Remember Christ’s example. Believe in the power of his grace. Then in the strength of his grace, preserve. Serve your brother selflessly. The 3^rd challenge of our text is…

III.  Pursue God-glorifying unity (vv. 5–6).

Once again, everything in today’s passage and really everything going back to 14:1 is moving toward these two verses. Sure, people matter, and we all benefit from peace in the church. But we are never the ultimate end of God’s gracious work. No, God’s glory is the end of all things, and don’t forget that God’s glory is also his best grace for us.

So, Paul ends our text with a prayer that God would glorify himself through the unity of the church. I’d like to emphasize 3 challenges from this prayer.

Rely on the Lord. As I’ve said many times, dealing with differences in the church is oftentimes really hard. You have strong convictions. You enjoy the blessings of God. And it’s hard not to judge each other. So, it’s hard to love sacrificially. It’s hard to trust the Lord and trust each other.

So, please do not view Romans 14–15 as merely good advice for peaceful relationships. No, the transforming grace of Romans 6–8 must empower our obedience to these chapters. You must walk in the grace of God if Life Point has any hope of living these chapters.

So, it is fitting that Paul prays for God’s help to achieve grace-empowered unity. And thankfully, he prays, and so can we, to a God who is able to help. We pray to “the God who gives perseverance and encouragement.”

Maybe you are discouraged about your relationship to a brother or sister in Christ. You’ve tried and tried to build a strong bond, but it remains a grind. You’re not sure it’s worth it or if you will ever get anywhere. Remember, that your God gives perseverance and encouragement. So, pray to him. Ask him to work. Ask him, first and foremost, to change your heart, to fill you with the love, power, and wisdom of Christ. Then wait on him to work. And never forget that Romans 14–15 is a work of grace. You are not sufficient.

Unite on the essentials. Notice that Paul’s request is that God would give the Romans “the same mind with one another.” That’s fascinating because he has said repeatedly that this church did not have uniform convictions. I’m sure they didn’t look uniform either. And Paul never pushes the church toward uniformity.

But they could be united without uniformity. Yes, Johnny Jew and Joe Gentile came from different ethnicities. They dressed differently. Their homes were different, and their dinner plates were different.

But more important than all of that is that these men are one body in Christ. Jesus has brought them together, and in Christ, they share the same passion for this work and for his glory. Philippians 1:27 says they can stand side by side “for the faith of the gospel.”

And you can do that too with the people of this church. Yes, we have our differences. We don’t all look the same or think the same. Sometimes we get on each other’s nerves. Sometimes strong convictions and strong personalities bang heads. But by God’s grace, we should all love the same gospel, and we should share the same passion for God’s glory. We want God to bind us together tightly through these passions.

So, consider the brother or sister with whom you struggle. Do you see them through a temporal gaze on worldly cares, or do you see them as lovers of Christ who are striving just like you to serve Christ? If you can’t do that, you either need to change your passion, or you need to trust the Spirit’s work in that brother’s life.

On a very practical level, some of you need to become members. Maybe you don’t like commitment. Maybe you don’t like authority. Maybe you don’t like certain things about the church. Maybe it just hasn’t been a priority. So, you’re hanging out on the edges, not committed to the body or fully committed to working together for the glory of Christ. God wants his church to be of the same mind working together for his mission. Take the plunge. Join us.

Ultimately, follow the example of “Christ Jesus.” Love the Father’s will, and love your brother, and let that love overwhelm every petty conflict. Unite on the essentials. The 3^rd challenge is…

Give glory to God (v. 6). Consider where God has all of church history moving. Revelation 5:9–10 is John’s vision of the glorified church. “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.’”

I can’t wait to sing in that choir to my Savior. I bet you can’t wait either. It’s going to be awesome! Do you ever wondere what is the closest thing to heaven on earth? The answer is when a local church, a family of believers who have committed to each other sings and serves the Lord in harmony to the glory of God. It’s the most heavenly sound and the most heavenly joy in all the world.

So, fall in love with the glorious image of v. 6, and let it outshine every petty difference. We’ve got bigger goals than personal agendas, selfish passions, and private interests. We are here for the glory of God. We want Apple Valley to see the glory of God through a mighty display of his grace in us. Let’s stay razor-focused on that passion. We want to glorify God and enjoy him together and forever. That’s why we are here.

Conclusion

The challenge today is simple but crucial. Serve your brother selflessly for God’s glory. He’s your brother in Christ, so love him well. And when you struggle to believe that he deserves it, do it for the glory of God. He is worthy. He is full of glory. Jesus is the Lamb who was slain for you. Serve your brother selflessly for God’s glory.