Well, please turn with me to Romans chapter 15. We're going to read verses 1 to 13.
So Romans chapter 15 and verses 1 to 13.
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written,
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us
so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves
as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth,
to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy.
As it is written,
Again, it says in Deuteronomy, in Moses' song,
And again, Psalm 117,
And again, Isaiah says,
Amen.
Let's pray for a moment.
Heavenly Father, these words of scripture were, we remember, words in a letter to your people in Rome.
And for them, they were truth and nourishment and correction.
They were, from the apostle, what they needed to hear.
And no less so tonight, Lord, may these words be your words to us.
For we need truth, your truth.
We need to be nourished by your word.
We need to be corrected.
And taught and shaped.
So by your spirit, our prayer is that you would speak.
For Jesus' name's sake. Amen.
Well, before I get into the text, I want to speak firstly of two introductory thoughts
as we turn to the letter to the Romans.
My guess is that after a summer break, you maybe can't remember what the rest of Romans is about.
And so I want to just make two introductory remarks before we look at the text in a bit more detail.
And the first is this.
Romans, the letter to the Romans,
for all its theological substance,
and for all its rich and deep truth,
and for all the intricacy and precision of its argument,
and the way in which the apostle builds his case for the gospel as he writes to the church in Rome.
For all of that, the letter to the Romans is,
and we must remember this every time we believe it,
it is every time we read it,
it is for ordinary believers in Jesus Christ.
Romans can become labeled in our minds,
even if not by our mouths,
as a letter of the New Testament to be avoided
because it's theologically complicated,
or because it is full of truth
and not so full as some of the other letters
in terms of practical advice for living.
But Romans was not written for theologians or for academics,
it was written for believers,
just like you and me.
It was written for people who loved Christ
and who formed a church fellowship in the city of Rome
way back in the earliest days of the New Testament church.
I love to remember,
when I turned to the letter to the Romans,
a true instance that took place some 30 years ago,
where a pastor here in the city of Edinburgh
was preaching through the letter to the Romans
to a large Sunday evening congregation week by week.
And after one of the services in his series on Romans,
an academic student came to the pastor,
having never been in the church before,
and said to him,
now I really think you ought to avoid preaching
as in-depth and as deeply as that sermon was.
If you want ordinary people to understand what you're saying,
I really think you should concentrate on more simple things.
Can you imagine the embarrassment of it?
This 19 or 20-year-old student
telling the experienced pastor this.
And the pastor, because he was kind,
listened for a while.
And after some minutes of listening to this,
he said, well, I think you're quite, quite wrong.
Romans may have stretched you
beyond what you can understand,
but see that man sitting over there?
He's a plumber,
and he loves listening to sermons in Romans.
And that lady over there,
she's a single mum,
and she's been drinking it in Sunday night by Sunday night.
And you've never been here before,
and you have the nerve to comment,
I suggest you come for another 10 weeks and listen,
and then we'll chat again.
That was his advice,
because Romans is for ordinary believers.
And the experience of the church
down through the centuries is that
when the letter to the Romans
is preached and taught
as God's word for ordinary folks,
normal believers are captured
and grasped by this divine word in this letter.
And their lives are mastered
by the gospel that Romans contains.
This letter is for you.
It is for your church here,
a local fellowship of God's people.
It is not primarily for anything else.
That's my first introductory thought.
My second introductory thought is this,
and here we turn to the section of Romans
that we find ourselves in tonight.
The section begins at the beginning of chapter 14,
and you may remember,
if you've looked at this in earlier weeks,
that Paul is speaking about the weak and the strong.
The particular issue in his day
was whether or not believers should eat meat
which had already been sacrificed to pagan idols.
And some, the strong, as Paul called them,
said, yes, it's fine, it's just meat.
It doesn't matter a hoot what it's been sacrificed to.
It's meat, it's food provided by God.
And idols are just dead bits of stone and metal and wood anyway,
and if the meat has been sacrificed to them,
well, it's only been sacrificed to nothing,
and so I'm quite happy to eat it and to enjoy it.
The strong.
But the weak found themselves thinking,
no, no, no, I just couldn't.
I couldn't eat that meat.
Once it has been sacrificed to a pagan idol
and used in that way
and been involved in the lives
of those who are worshipping false gods,
it wouldn't be right for me
as a follower of the Lord Jesus
to eat that food,
to associate myself with it.
I couldn't possibly,
I couldn't bring myself to eat it.
They, to use Paul's language,
were the weak.
Slightly more full of tender conscience,
perhaps, we might think.
Slightly more afraid
to take steps into the unknown.
Slightly more fearful
that they would be doing something
that might upset God.
They were weak,
weak in their faith,
unable to see as yet
that all good things are given by God
for us to enjoy.
It's fine.
Eat the meat,
as their brothers and sisters,
their strong brothers and sisters,
were saying.
And so there was,
at that time,
a very obvious difference of opinion
over this particular issue.
And Paul is writing
to this local community of believers
in Rome
to help them sort this difficulty out.
And the danger
in becoming either the weak
or the strong,
one of the dangers in our churches
is that perversely and paradoxically,
the weak are often,
in reality,
as strong as an ox.
Now let me explain
what I mean by that.
The issue in their day was
whether to eat meat sacrificed to an idol.
I shouldn't think
that many of us
have been faced
with that particular difficulty
in recent months or years.
But we will have been faced
with innumerable,
comparable issues.
Whether or not
we should dress
in a particular way
to come to church
and meet with our brothers and sisters
on a Sunday.
Whether or not
believers should
drink alcohol.
Whether or not
believers should
pop into Sainsbury's
on the way back from church
or not.
Whether or not
you should
feel free
to go to the
baptismal service
of someone
where the
practice of baptism
is different
from what you hold
in your particular church.
Or
much more painful
and much more
difficult
and real
in people's lives
if I have
a non-Christian
family member,
my brother
or sister
or son
or cousin
and they
are
getting married
to somebody
who
is
a Muslim,
should I go
to the wedding?
The strong
will say,
well yes,
he's your cousin.
Go to the wedding.
Show him that you love him.
He knows
you're not a Muslim
and that you're not
wanting him
to follow this
religious route
but he's your
cousin.
Go to the wedding.
Whereas the weak
would say,
no, no,
I couldn't.
I just couldn't
take part in it.
There is no right
or wrong
but
there is a very
obvious difference
of opinion,
isn't there?
And therefore
a great potential
for believers
even within
one fellowship
to find themselves
on different
pages
and pulling
in different
directions
over such
an issue
as this.
Now,
in a church
fellowship,
the weak,
the person
who has a
tender conscience,
the person
who says,
no, no, no,
we mustn't
be selling
books
on a Sunday.
That is
some kind
of business
matter
that shouldn't
take place
on a Sunday.
Whereas the
strong believer
will say,
nonsense,
we want to
sell all
the Christian
books that
we can
possibly sell
and get
the good
news of
the gospel
and good
teaching from
the Bible
out into
the lives
and the minds
and the hearts
of all who
are in our
church.
But the weak
says,
no, no,
I'll be offended,
I'll be hurt
if you do that.
I couldn't
possibly,
I might have
to leave
the church.
And so,
the weak
can become
as strong
as an ox
because sometimes
it only takes
two or three
of the weak
to effectively
hold a whole
fellowship
to ransom
and to actually
be strong
enough to
force their
opinion
on everybody
and to be
very strong
indeed.
So,
that's a
great danger
when we're
speaking about
the weak
and the
strong.
And that's
my other
introductory
thought
this evening.
So,
that's the
kind of
issue
that is
being dealt
with here.
That,
by way of
introduction,
and so
now to
the text.
And in
chapter 15
verses 1
to 13,
Paul is
really wrapping
up his
thinking about
this area.
Most of
his teaching
on this
topic is
done in
chapter 14.
And in
chapter 15,
he is
wrapping
things up.
And having
had two
introductory
thoughts as
my first
point,
what I want
as my second
point this
evening is
to draw
your attention
to three
enduring
and central
fundamentals
of the
gospel.
just look
at how
Paul
concludes
this part
of his
letter.
He takes
the believers
right back
to basic
fundamentals.
The word
fundamental,
by the way,
is a very,
very good
and positive
word.
And what
Paul does
in verses
1 to 6
is he
reminds them
of the
cross,
the
scriptures,
and the
Holy Spirit.
Three
absolutely
core
Christian
beliefs
around which
both the
weak and
the strong
can and
must unite
in any
local church.
A
fundamental
is
a
necessary
base
foundation
is
the word
fundamental
or
fundamentalist
we understand
in our
culture
is now
seen
almost
entirely
negatively.
But you
do not
have a
negative
opinion,
for example,
of the
fundamental
importance
of the
foundation
that sits
underneath
your house.
It is
absolutely
fundamentally
important
that that
foundation
on which
your
house
or
flat
or
wherever
you
live
sits
is
strong
and
well
built.
And it
is the
necessary
base
of the
cross
of Christ
in the
thinking
of the
believer
that Paul
takes these
people to
in verses
1 to
3.
And this
is very
costly
for us
to hear
properly.
we who
are
strong
ought
to
bear
with
the
failings
of
the
weak
and
not
to
please
ourselves.
That is
with the
failings
of the
genuinely
weak,
not the
weak who
are actually
just being
like strong
bulldozers
in the
church.
We who
are strong
ought to
bear
with the
failings
of the
weak.
Each
of us,
whatever
our view,
should
please his
neighbor
for his
good.
That is,
you and
how you
are doing
in your
faith and
in your
life,
that is
much more
important to
me than
how I am
doing.
Each of
us should
please his
neighbor for
his good,
to build
him up,
because,
and here's
the cross,
even Christ
did not
please himself,
but as
it is
written,
the insults
of those
who insult
you have
fallen on
me.
Remember
Jesus hanging
on the
cross and
how the
passers-by,
as if it
wasn't bad
enough that
he was
hanging there,
the only
innocent human
being to
have ever
walked the
face of
the earth,
being punished
unjustly,
with no
mercy,
as if that
wasn't bad
enough.
He then
had the
insults of
the passers-by
pouring out of
their mouths
into his
ears.
some leader
you.
If you
were up
to
anything,
if you
are even
half of
what you're
cracked up
to be,
then come
down off
the cross
and rescue
yourself,
and then we
might believe
in you.
Talk about
kicking a man
when he is
down,
and talk
about the
slicing and
stabbing effect
of wicked
words.
And Paul
says,
well,
if that
was how
the Lord
bore these
insults for
us,
then in our
fellowships
together,
are we not
willing for
the sake of
our neighbor
to look out
for what
is good
and up-building
for him,
regardless of
what people say
about me
and my
position,
whether it's
one of
weakness or
strength in
the two
categories,
what people
say about
me doesn't
matter.
But what I
do for my
neighbor matters.
It matters
for him.
And that is
the cross
engrafted
into the
attitudes and
the lives
of Christian
believers in
a church
family like
this one.
That's the
first fundamental,
and it's a
very costly
thing to hear,
isn't it?
Because it's
telling us
to bear
the scorn,
to bear
the comment,
to bear
the insult,
following in
the steps
of our
Savior,
the Lord
Jesus.
The second
fundamental is
in verse 4,
and it is the
core truth
of the
scriptures.
pillars.
And here,
if you like,
another
illustration to
remind us that
fundamentals are
very good
things.
A fundamental
thing is like
a central
core around
which everything
else is
built.
Think, if you
like, of a
spiral staircase.
Now, the
staircase, the
thing that you
step on to
get down the
stairs, are
the wooden
steps themselves.
But the
vital,
fundamental
feature of
that staircase
is the
metal core
that goes up
the middle to
which all the
steps are
attached,
isn't it?
Now, that is
what the
place of the
scriptures is
like in the
life of the
church.
Look at
verse 4,
as Paul
takes them to
this topic.
4,
everything that
was written in
the past, in
the Old
Testament
scriptures, was
written to
teach us.
So that
through endurance
and the
encouragement of
the scriptures,
we might have
hope.
What a wonderful
thing for him
to say when
he has just
taught them
about the
Christian
prospect of
bearing the
pain of
others'
comments and
abuse and
cutting words
and all the
costliness of
that.
What a
wonderful thing
for him to
say that the
fundamental
Christian help
for you,
bearing such
pain and
cost, is
the teaching
of the
scriptures.
Everything that
was written in
the past was
written not
only for the
people then,
but to teach
us.
Now, he is
saying to the
Romans.
And it's
written to
teach us
so that
through
endurance and
the encouragement
of the
scriptures, you
might have
hope to
go on
where there
are fights
and factions
and differences
of opinion in
the fellowship.
Have hope and
encouragement.
Keep going as
brothers and
sisters because
week by week
by week and
day by day,
the scriptures
will give you
that hope.
hope.
They will,
when you are
enduring the
pain of
standing for
the Lord
Jesus, they
will encourage
you and point
you to the
future.
That's the
second fundamental
then, the
cross and the
scriptures, and
thirdly, the
spirit, verses
five and six.
may the
God who
gives endurance
and encouragement
from the
scriptures, as
he's just
said, also
give you a
spirit of
unity among
yourselves as
you follow
Christ Jesus
so that with
one heart
and mouth
you may
glorify the
God and
Father of
our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Now, bear
with me here.
We're going to
look at a few
verses throughout
the New Testament.
Now, when a
preacher does
this, I can
have an allergic
reaction to
looking at five
or six different
cross-references in
the Bible, but
tonight I want
to risk you
having that
allergic reaction
to really
persuade you
that this
plea for
united thinking
born by the
Holy Spirit
is found
everywhere in
the New
Testament
scriptures.
So look
first of all
with me at
Romans chapter
12, verse
16.
You can
manage that
one.
It's just
back one
page.
Romans 12,
verse 16.
Live in
harmony with
one another.
In other
words, as he
explains, do
not be
proud, but
be willing
to associate
with people
of low
position.
Do not
be conceited.
Live in
harmony with
one another
and appeal
for unity
with a very
practical
implication
against
conceit
and pride.
Now, you
can manage
the next
cross-reference
too because
it's just
one page
in the other
direction.
1 Corinthians
chapter 1,
verse 10.
1 Corinthians
chapter 1,
verse 10.
These are
very strong
commandments.
I appeal
to you,
brothers,
in the name
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ,
that all
of you
agree with
one another
so that there
may be no
divisions among
you and that
you may be
perfectly united
in mind and
thought.
that's a
very high
and lofty
appeal,
isn't it,
to Christian
people?
But it's
very strong
and it was
very necessary
for the
Corinthian
church.
Keep going
forward to
2 Corinthians
chapter 13,
the famous
love chapter
and to
verse 11.
These
Corinthians
who were
so puffed
up and
immature and
full of
themselves and
their gifts.
2 Corinthians
chapter 13
verse 11.
When I
was a
child,
I talked
like a
child,
I thought
like a
child,
I reasoned
like a
child.
When I
became a
man,
I put
childish
ways
behind me.
We went
for a walk
this afternoon
with two
lovely little
girls aged
about five
and three
and they
were dressed
in their
matching
pretty
dresses like
something out
of a
postcard
from the
southern
states of
the United
States of
America
and they
looked
angelic
as they
wandered
along the
path and
the dappled
light of
the trees
and they
were arguing
the whole
time.
And when
we got
home,
they were
arguing about
whose was
the dolphin
and whose
was the
frog and
they never
stopped.
They argued
as little
children
can,
morning,
noon and
night.
And what
that verse
in 1
Corinthians
13 is
saying to
Christians is
grow up,
grow up
and stop
bickering
and arguing.
It's a very
strong appeal.
Look at
Ephesians
chapter 4
verse 3.
He's still
awake.
I'll keep
going with
another one
or two
until I
see someone
convulsing.
Ephesians
chapter 4
verse 3.
Make
every effort.
It's all
very strong
language,
full of
superlatives.
Make
every effort
to keep
the unity
of the
spirit
through the
bond of
peace.
Now if
you flick
back to
Romans
chapter 15,
our text
tonight,
and look
at the
verse there,
Paul says,
may God
give you
a spirit
of unity.
Now that,
what can
that mean
other than
a spirit
of unity
born by
the Holy
Spirit?
He's not
saying may
God give
you a
kind of
transcendental
feeling of
peace
washing over
you as
you sit
and have
your coffee
together.
It's not
that kind
of thing.
This is
a work
of God
in the
hearts
and minds
of believers
where some
are weak
and some
are strong
and never
the twain
shall meet.
May God
by his
spirit,
and here
it is in
Ephesians
chapter 4
verse 3,
make every
effort to
keep the
unity of
the Spirit,
capital S,
through the
bond of
peace.
Philippians
chapter 2
verse 2,
make my
joy complete
by being
like-minded,
having the
same love,
being one
in spirit
and purpose.
Colossians
chapter 3
verse 14,
this one
and one
other to
make my
point.
Colossians
chapter 3
verse 14,
and over
all these
virtues,
put on
love which
binds them
all together
in perfect
unity.
And finally,
not just
Paul, but
1 Peter
chapter 3,
1 Peter
chapter 3
verse 8,
finally,
all of
you,
live in
harmony
with one
another,
be sympathetic,
love as
brothers,
be compassionate
and humble,
live in
harmony
with one
another.
So,
this is a
very widespread
New Testament
command,
isn't it?
I'm sure
you're glad
I didn't,
but I could
have done
as many
references
again.
The Spirit,
the Holy
Spirit of
God,
is the
one who
works
amongst
and within
his people
to bring
about a
God-given
unity,
even where
there are
very different
opinions about
certain issues.
Paul is not
papering over
the cracks
here.
Why?
He's devoted
a chapter and
a half of
his letter
to dealing
with how
to cope
with the
strong
differences
of opinion
in the
fellowship.
But the
Holy Spirit
is the
one who
brings about
a harmony
and a
unity
within the
church
that will,
verse 6,
lead to
us glorifying
God with
one heart
and one
mouth.
We may
have all
sorts of
different opinions
flowing out of
our mouths
when it comes
to shopping
and dressing
and sport
and goodness
knows what
else,
Sabbaths and
baptisms and
special days
and feasts
and new
moons and
all the rest
of it.
But with
one mouth
together we
praise the
God and
Father of
our Lord
Jesus Christ
who by
his Spirit
unites
believers
around the
gospel.
If I can
return to
the world
of the
Christian
Union and
the
university,
that is
what to
pray for
Christian
unions.
They come
to the
Christian
Union from
all manner
of different
evangelical
churches
and together
these Christian
students must
learn to
form a
united,
clear witness
to the
gospel of
Jesus Christ.
That is why
UCCF, the
Christian
Unions, or
IVF as some
of you will
have known
it in
decades gone
by, has
consistently
taken people
to the
cross, to
the scriptures
and to the
work of the
Holy Spirit
bringing new
life to
the believer
and uniting
believers
together in
Christ.
These things
Paul is
saying here,
these things,
if primary
and remembered,
will bring
your fellowship
to honor the
Lord Jesus
Christ, whatever
differences of
strength and
weakness are
found among
you.
And there
will be many
among you,
even a
number like
this.
Why, we can
tell by looking
at each
other that
that would be
the case.
So a
necessary base,
the gospel of
the cross,
a central
core, and a
spiral staircase,
the scriptures,
and a
primary rule.
Make every
effort to be
united amongst
yourselves as
you follow
Christ Jesus.
Three enduring
and central
fundamentals.
What a
wonderful way
to wrap up
his conversation
about the
strong and
the weak.
Point one was
two introductory
words.
Point two was
three enduring
fundamentals.
Point three is
one world
summoned to
praise.
Here is
Paul's
final
writing on
this topic.
Verses
seven and
eight and
the first
half of
verse nine
make the
point that
one world
is summoned
to praise.
He says in
verse seven,
accept one
another then,
just as
Christ accepted
you.
Now, why did
Christ accept
you?
He accepted
you in
order to
bring praise
to God
because I
tell you that
Christ has
become a
servant of
the Jews,
the people of
God whom he
came to,
on behalf of
God's truth,
in order to
confirm the
promises made
to the
patriarchs so
that the
Gentiles may
glorify God.
See what
Paul is saying?
Christ came
to the
people of
God,
the Old
Testament
people of
God as
their Messiah
to confirm
the promises
made to the
patriarchs and
he came to
them so
that the
Gentile world
with them
would honour
and praise
the living
God and
glorify him
for his
mercy.
All of this
unity, all of
this working
out how to
cope with the
weak and the
strong in
our fellowship
is because
God wants
there to be
one voice
of praise
from all
the nations
throughout the
world to
the praise
of his
son Jesus.
That's his
point in
verses 7
and 8.
Accept one
another
because one
world is
summoned to
praise.
And then
he effectively
makes the
same point
in verses
9 to
12 all
over again
by very
beautifully
drawing from
the Old
Testament
scriptures
this theme
of one
world being
summoned to
praise.
Look at
Psalm 18
he says to
them.
Here is Paul
preaching from
the Old
Testament
scriptures.
And here
is Paul
giving several
cross-references
which gives
me hope.
So here he's
saying from
Psalm 18
the song
of the
king
therefore I
will praise
you among
the Gentiles
who would
ever have
thought it.
The Old
Testament people
were used to
praising God
among their
own people
but here he's
saying I will
praise you
among the
Gentiles.
And then he
goes to
Jishoraname
to Moses
song rejoice
O Gentiles
with his
people.
It was
always God's
purpose to
have one
world summoned
to praise.
That was
his purpose
in calling
out his
covenant
people.
Then his
third reference
praise the
Lord all
you Gentiles
again in the
Psalms 117
this time.
Praise the
Lord all
you Gentiles
and sing
praises to
him all
you peoples.
and finally
in Isaiah
David's
heir
King
David
the great
king of
God's
people
King
David
his heir
will rule
the world
the root
of Jesse
will spring
up
one who
will arise
to rule
over
the nations
the Gentiles
will hope
in him.
This is not
a New Testament
idea that
suddenly came
up in the
mind of
Paul
now that
he was
engaged in
missionary
endeavor in
the nations.
This was
fundamental to
God's purposes
from the word
go.
The global
purpose of
the gospel
and the
global purpose
of God's
call to his
people embedded
in the very
Psalms that
they sang
was that
the Gentiles
too
would praise
the living
God.
So in
effect
as he
ends like
that
he's saying
you know
when you
have your
issues
of strong
and weak
I could
never do
that
I could
do that
what's
the problem
with that
when you
have these
issues
God says
here in
Romans 15
get over
it
get over
it and
remember the
global
purpose of
the gospel
there is a
bigger purpose
a much
bigger purpose
than how you
relate in
your fellowship
over some
cultural
difference that
has spilled
through history
and landed
on your
plate in
its current
form
get over
it and
remember the
global purpose
of the gospel
and the
global purpose
of the
Old Testament
scriptures
that's how
Paul wraps
up his
description of
the strong
and the weak
and you know
verse 22
of chapter 14
which we
didn't read
tonight
is a very
good place
to end
chapter 14
verse 22
so
whatever you
believe about
these things
the meat
the sabbath
the shopping
the sport
whatever it is
whatever you
believe about
these things
keep between
yourself
and God
because the
cross
the scriptures
the spirit
and God's
call to the
world
should
over
arch all
your squabbles
and differences
about these
petty trivia
and there
is a time
often
when these
things are
about to
burst into
flames and
cause destruction
in a church
family
to say
nothing
and unite
around the
Lord Jesus
himself
well let's
pray
dear heavenly
father
sometimes
often
perhaps
we feel
it better
to speak
our mind
to others
and to
keep matters
between
us
and you
Lord you
know our
hearts
you know
when we
rile each
other
you know
in a way
that I
certainly
don't
all the
potential
problems
of this
fellowship
but we
pray this
evening
heavenly
father
that
at one
with the
savior
who died
on the
cross
listening
to your
word
in the
scriptures
and united
by your
spirit
we might
with one
voice
bring glory
to Jesus
even
this coming
week
for his
name's
sake
amen