All right, Romans 15, the verses we're gonna look at today is verses one through four. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, Pray this morning that you will work on our hearts on this message, that we unify in the spirit and in truth, and that we are a sanctified church, building upon your holy word and nothing else, not conforming to the pattern of this world, but conforming to the image of your son. All things to your glory, in the name of Jesus, amen. The sermon today is called The Uncompromising Call to Unity Amidst Disunity. Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, we begin again to Romans 15. close to the last chapter 16 of Romans, and it has been a blessing to go through this entire book with you and for my studies and pray for God's will for guidance and where will we be going next in the next book. But as we are still on Romans and Romans chapter 15, we're on the subject of unity now. In a world tearing itself apart, where division reigns supreme, the human heart cries out for unity. Of course, we want unity. We long for a sense of belonging, for harmony, for the peaceful coexistence of different individuals under a common banner. And rightfully so, the Church, the Bride of Christ, is meant to be a beacon of this unity, a testament to the reconciling power of the gospel. Yet as we approach the sacred text of Romans that we'll be looking at, verses 1 through 4 in chapter 15, we must understand the unity God commands is not a shallow sentimental accord at all cost. is not a call to blur essential distinctions or to embrace all comers regardless of their confession. No, the unity Paul here speaks of here is a particular kind of unity, a robust type of unity, a unity, costly unity among true believers, a fellowship forged in the crucible of Christ's crucifixion. marked by mutual edification and an unshakable grounded in the unadulterated truth of God's holy word. And these passages nestled within Paul's letter to the Romans addresses the practical, we're still on the practical, outworking of the gospel in community. Specifically, it speaks to the tension between the strong and the weakened faith, those mature in their understanding of Christian liberty and those whose consciences are still about non-essential matters. But its principle extends far beyond dietary laws. They reveal the very heart of Christ-like fellowship. So this morning, with boldness and uncompromising clarity, we will unpack this divine, purpose for unity, ensuring we distinguish between biblical unity and dangerous compromise. We begin in the first part of verse one, the command. It says this, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. Our text begins with a clear and direct command. We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. It's really a message directed only to the strong. The weak are not the strong. So those who are mature in the faith and those who are grounded and rooted and know the truth, you have a weight of responsibility of selfishness to bear the infirmities of the weak. This is not a suggestion, as you can see. It is a direct command. It is a gospel obligation laid upon those who possess spiritual maturity and a more mature faith. We are the strong in the immediate context of Romans 14 and 15. The strong are believers who understand Christian liberty and matters of things that are indifferent, like whether to eat meat offered to idols, or to observe Pacific holy days, or the Sabbaths. These people, the strong, they rightly grasp that such practices do not fundamentally impact salvation or true righteousness. For Christ has freed them from such legalistic burdens. There's a weight to live under these burdens. They have a deeper theological understanding and a conscience unburdened by these principles. So who then then are the weak? These are the genuine believers whose faith may be less mature. whose consciences are still sensitive or about these smaller matters that they have a hard time rightly dividing over. Perhaps they lack full understanding of their liberty or they carry over old habits or convictions, while not explicitly sinful, which can lead to sinful, restrict their freedom in ways the strong understand to be unnecessary. Their infirmities are not necessarily moral failings, but weaknesses of consciences or understandings that lead to problems, false doctrine, and a false sense of belief. They can even lead to judgmentalism concerning non-essentials. And what does it mean to bear, then, their infirmities? But you are called to bear it, to endure it. It is far more than mere toleration, though. The Greek word pastazo means to carry, to endure, to support, to take up as a burden. It applies a selfless, patient, a humble and compassionate attitude towards the weaker. Believer, it means stepping into the shoes of our weaker brother and sister, understanding their struggles and willingly adjusting our own conduct in non-essential matters. So as not to cause them to stumble or to offend their tender conscience. This is a burden bearing love, right? It is really selfless. Oh Lord, help me, help all of us here to be selfless. Sometimes we wanna immediately bash every last thing, and it is a common thing to do. But through the word of God, there is a thing that must be esteemed. There is something that must be esteemed right up there with God's holiness, is love for the brethren, weak or strong, and unity. Unity is right up there with holiness. Right up there over false beliefs and non-essentials versus true beliefs. Unity still is right up there. And our selfless attitude must, must be esteeming others better than ourselves, even the weaker brother in this case, and loving them. And continuing with them, how many people get offended at something that a minister or somebody else said, and they just don't like it? They feel like, I don't want to go to church because I feel judged or whatnot. They run away to another gathering to kind of fit in until that gathering there does the same thing. And they go to and fro and talk to and fro. They're really weak in the faith. They have a conscience that's unscriptural. They're jumping to and fro. They can't handle that much. Listen, I know what it's like being part of a church, that I can be in a disagreement to non-essential things with the minister. But I've learned to continue. I've learned to be part of that body, to be edified one to another, that we can grow. And our goal as a, anyone who's a teacher or preacher here, and my job as a pastor here, is to equip you guys to know the truth of God's word, and to be patient with each and every one of you. It's a challenge. to be patient when you just want to be like a bulldozer, as Larry says for me, you know? Some of us all can be like that, right? And especially to those who first come to saving faith in Christ. You know, when I was first zealous, when I first came to faith in Jesus Christ, I was very zealous. I would learn something new and then I would make sure everybody else knows that too. And even if they're wrong, here I come, you know? And so, you know, there's a way that I should have went about it that I didn't go about it. Even though I was right, I lacked wisdom, in that approach, for sure. I would have many meetings in the pastor's office and, you know, hey, Sean, you know, this person came to me and said they were offended because you said this, this, and this. And I would be like, well, you're the one that taught me it, you know? It's like, well, there's a way to go about it, even though you're right. I was like, yeah, don't you be concerned with them? How about you go talk to them? You know, the Bible says for us to reprove and rebuke. Yeah, we've got to do those things, but there's wisdom to do it in season and not a season when to speak and when not to speak. And, you know, I didn't discern non-essential matters as everything was essential. You know what I mean? So here I come, you know? So, you know, the Lord really is humbling, isn't he? And he matures us and grows us to learn to be wise and to win to share. It's like, you know, I've learned, like, not to share my thoughts on everything, right? You ever see me quiet sometimes in Wednesdays or whatever? I don't want to put my two cents all the time in just to hear you guys out and let you guys think for yourself and things like that. That's what I want. I don't want to throw my thoughts out all the time, though you see me doing that here and there when I'm passionate about something. If I feel like a point isn't being addressed or something isn't being properly put, that's when I'm going to start sharing something. But praise the Lord. Even if I say they're sometimes wrong, the Lord is showing me to be patient with it and address it in a different way, and to be compassionate and loving. And so may the Lord work in all of us to be loving towards one another, even sometimes if we have differences over things. First of all, there's something we all know, like last week. If someone's preaching a false gospel, don't stand, don't do nothing. That's a call for you to be proactive in your faith, is to contend earnestly over it, to put on the punching bags and be ready to fight the good fight in this area. Not to win an argument or any of these things, but to share the gospel of them, knowing that they're in a very grievous and eternal consequence and kind of error. And so it's sad. You don't want anybody to have a false view of Christ and what salvation is. And so there's a time to do that. the time to contend over, and the time to fight over, and there's things that are non-essential that God doesn't want you to just be very contentious over. And so, may the Lord give us wisdom in our dealings in all these matters, especially those who are the weaker of the faith, and those who are strong as well. And so we need to be careful to not be so critical towards one another. The church today is overly critical towards one another. Some sense could be true. I mean, we have great problems with those who are Armenians, who really promote a false view of the gospel, of the salvation of Christ, or some of these Christians that deny lordship salvation, or these charismatics that are more, that almost blaspheme the Spirit in some sense of denying the work of the Spirit properly, and all kinds of other problems. And, you know, we want to be patient. I mean, Paul was patient with the early church of Corinth, you know, and look at the problems over there. He had to teach them headship. They had headship problems. They had preaching problems, doctrinal problems, all different types of problems that we would look at the contemporary church to be almost very similar. And so our problems with the contemporary church, even though they have problems, they're still part of the church of Christ and we must love them and be patient towards them and also correct them and guide them. You know, there's churches out there that don't use what we believe is the King James Bible to be an infallible word, that God is able to preserve his word, but there's those who don't use it. And so do they, that make them like we're a cult and they're not saved? No, absolutely not. You can't learn from them. You know, that makes it a bad pastor or something? Absolutely not. But there are those churches like the Fundamental Baptist that do believe that they are bad churches or whatnot. And so there's lacking of wisdom in it. And so we have to be wise in these days and not out every person that calls themselves a Christian But the things we fight over is the gospel. Well, what do you believe? How does salvation come by? Well, if you get that wrong, that's something that should bother you. But if they don't get that wrong, we need to be patient towards them and love them, and try to do our best to be the mature one and help them along as Christians. So this is an encouragement to you guys. When you make disciples, be patient, but correct. guide them along, show them the truth, little bit by little bit, and hoping that their minds will see where they're wrong. It's hard for people to realize they're wrong, or to admit they're wrong, and to say, listen, I realized I was wrong in this, forgive me. It is a completely rare, very rare thing to hear. But may the Lord humble each and every one of us to admit our own affirmaties and weaknesses, and where we've gone wrong, And may we all be led by the Spirit of truth and His infallible Word. May we all be following the Father's will and nothing else. Because this world's will desires you to be away from God's will. So let's be steadfast on the Word of God. So God is calling us to have a compassionate attitude towards one another, especially the weaker brother in this context. We need to put the we need to be careful about the non-essential matters that so many Christians make the non-essential matters as if it's the same as equal as an essential matter and they put a burden on other people without rightly dividing this issue so we are needing to be selfless as stronger believers, right, Larry? We need to be stronger believers that bear the burden of the weaker believers that don't know the truth. And it is a burden bearing love on us, a true mark of Christ-like humility. It is a sacrificing our own liberty. That's what it really is. We're sacrificing our own liberty for the sake of their spiritual well-being. But then we see the counter command. at the end of verse one. It says, not pleasing ourselves, not pleasing ourselves in verse one. The command to bear with the weak is immediately followed by a vital counter command, and not to please ourselves. This simple phrase cuts right to the heart of much disunity and strife within the body of Christ. The essence of sin is self-pleasing, prioritizing our own desires, our own comforts, our own preferences, our own perceived rights for the strong. The temptation is often to flaunt their liberty, to assert their knowledge, or to assist on their personal preferences without due regard for the spiritual fragility of others. I have liberty in Christ. Why should I restrict myself because of someone else's weaknesses? That's their attitude. This is a voice of self-pleasing that Paul is warning about. And it stands in direct opposition to the spirit of Christ. And if we live to please ourselves, we will invitably clash with others, especially those who are different from us, whether in spiritual maturity, conviction on minor points, or even cultural background. The carnal mind seeks its own. The spiritual mind seeks the good of others, particularly the spiritual good. The command forces us to evaluate our motives then. Are we exercising our liberty in Christ merrily to satisfy our own cravings or to demonstrate our superior knowledge? Or are we truly seeking to glorify God and build up our brethren? Self-pleasing corrodes genuine fellowship and undermines the very unity that Christ prayed for and died to establish. It reveals a heart that is not yet fully conformed to the image of Christ who perfectly exemplified the opposite. This leads us directly to Paul's supreme example. Look at verse two. Lest we think this bearing and not pleasing ourself is merrily about maintaining superficial peace or just being nice. Paul clarifies the ultimate goal. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. The object is not mere social harmony or external conformity. The goal is profound spiritual good and growth. What? Edification. Literally means to build them up. We are to build one another up in faith, in knowledge, and Christlikeness. This is about spiritual construction. You are a construction worker on a spiritual sense. making a fellow believer stronger, more stable, and more mature in their walk before God. So how does this pleasing our neighbor achieve this? Well, by removing stumbling blocks. If my exercise of liberty causes my weaker brother to violate his conscience or to stumble into sin, if I have not edified him, I've torn him down. How are you building him up? Because he can't take the full building right away. How do you build him up? By restraining your liberty. It is a call of selflessness, a call of self-denial. For who? For the sake of the weaker brother, in this context. To build him up. You love him and you care for him, so much so that you're willing to sacrifice your own liberty for another. Another example, how do we achieve this, is by demonstrating Christ-like love. When we prioritize another conscience over our own preference, we are demonstrating genuine, sacrificial love. This love is a powerful catalyst for spiritual growth, and it displays the very character of Christ. Another way is by fostering an atmosphere of grace, an environment where believers are patient and compassionate with one another's weaknesses. It is fertile ground for spiritual development. It creates a space for growth, questions, and even mistakes. I want to feel comfortable to approach you about these matters. For I can grow, right? I want you to be improved. Come to me. You want to know the truth? I will guide you. I will lead you. You don't want to go to the ministers leading you and be condescending. You want to come off with, you're wrong, I'm right. the one who's trying to train you up and raise you up, be careful with your own attitude towards the minister, who's trying to do everything he can to love you and raise you up. Those are our teachers. We need to esteem them as well, right? We need to value them and appreciate them and love them. Be careful with them. Be careful with your concerns as well. So we need to be loving towards one, towards another. We need to be approachable without any fear of judgment, harsh judgment really, or dismissal. May I never come off as I'm trying to dismiss you. The good we seek for our neighbor is not worldly success or fleeting happiness. but their deep spiritual well-being and maturity in Christ. This edification is essential for the health and the strength of the local church and the wider body of Christ. It reflects a profound concern for the soul of our brother or sister rooted in the love of God. But here we see the ultimate example in verse three. Paul now presents the ultimate irrefutable example for our conduct. It says, "'For even Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me.'" This is the very heart of the passage's argument. If Christ, the Holy Son of God, the Lord of glory, did not live to please himself, how dare we? His redeemed servants live for our own comfort or preferences. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the supreme model of self-sacrificial love and bearing the burdens of others. Oh, may He be our example. Christ's self-denial is an amazing example for us. He left the glories of heaven, took on the form of a servant, endured a life of humility, suffering, and ultimately a horrific death on the cross. And he did not come to be served, but to serve, in Mark 10, 45. He did not seek his own, but the will of the Father, in John 5, 30. He never pleased himself, but always sought the glory of God and the salvation of his chosen people. But notice he was bearing reproach. He bared the reproaches. Paul quotes from Psalms 69.9, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me. This psalm is a messianic psalm, a foretelling of the sufferings of Christ. The insults, the blasphemies, the hatred directed towards God were absorbed by Christ on the cross. He became the object of divine wrath for our sins. He became sin who knew no sin, and he willingly bore the burden of God's holy displeasure and the taunts of the ungodly all for our sake. So if Christ bore such an unmeasurable burden, the burden of our sin and God's righteous judgment for us, how then trivial are our small sacrifices in bearing the infirmities of the brethren? If he pleased not himself for our eternal salvation, how much more shall we, should we not please ourselves for our brother's spiritual edification? This example shadows all excuses for self-centeredness within the body of Christ. It calls us to radically and costly Christ-like love that prioritizes others above self. Then we see the foundation of hope in verse four, the scriptures. Having given the command, the counter command, the purpose, and the supreme example, Paul now provides the solid ground upon which all of this stands. It says this in verse four. For whosoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Praise the Lord. May the scriptures be our comfort, it says, basically. The verse reveals the centrality and the sufficiency of God's Word. For every aspect of the Christian life, the Word of God is sufficient. including our pursuit of unity and our willingness to sacrifice for one another. The Old Testament Scriptures, and by extension, all of the divine revelation, are not merely historical accounts or disconnected stories. They are God-breathed and inspired and profitable for our instruction, according to the Word of God. And it says this, it is written for, what does it say? the passage. It says what? Written for what? Our learning. The Scriptures teach us theology, history. The Scriptures teach us prophecy, practical wisdom. They reveal God's character. It reveals His holiness, His justice, and His unfathomable grace. They instruct us how to live, and how to love, and how to suffer. in most of all here, in this context, how to serve. That we through patience and comfort of the scriptures, what? Might have hope. And that is the ultimate goal. Patience or endurance, and it's another word, James uses it as well. The scriptures teach us endurance by showing us God's faithfulness through trials, the perseverance of the saints, and the long-suffering character of God himself. When we see how God worked through seemingly impossible situations, for his people, we learn to wait on him. We find comfort, it says. We find encouragement. The scriptures provide profound comfort. They assure us of God's presence, His promises, His forgiveness, and His ultimate victory. They remind us that our struggles are not in vain, and that Christ is with us through every tribulation. We can also see it, hope. The fruit of patience and comfort from Scripture is unwavering hope. This isn't mere wishful thinking of Paul here. but a confident expectation, an uncertainty of God's future fulfillment of His promise, culminating in our glorified and eternal life with Him. The scriptures are our unifying force. They provide the common truth. They shared a shared foundation, we see the divine pattern in it, we see the eternal hope that binds believers together, and without the clear, unadulterated word of God. Our attempts at unity then would be hollow, rooted in sentimentality, subjectiveness, human preferences, rather than an absolute divine truth. The truth of God's word is objective, not subjective. And this brings us to a critical distinction. The uncompromising truth limits to unity in danger, though, of ecumenical hyper-liberalism in the church. While Romans 15, one through four, is a profound call to unity, we must grasp its precise context. It speaks to unity. within the body of Christ concerning what matter, non-essential matters. It does not sanction unity where the very truth of the gospel is compromised or denied. There is a sacred, God-ordained place for division. When the core doctrines of the Christian faith are at stake, To compromise the gospel for the sake of false peace or unity is a betrayal of Christ and the deception of souls. I want you to consider, as we considered last week, the mandate for division from false doctrine. Galatians 1, 8-9 says, But though we are an angel for heaven, preach any other gospel unto you that we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, saying, I say now again, if any man preach another gospel unto you that you have received, let him be accursed. Paul's language here is exceptionally strong. There's no unity with a false gospel, only an anathema. 2 Corinthians 6, 14 through 17. Here's this call for no unity but division. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what conquered hath Christ with Baal? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Wherefore come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. And this clearly forbids spiritual partnerships with those outside true saving faith. Romans 16, 17, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and, what, avoid them. Division is sometimes commanded by who? God. Division from those who have corrupt doctrine. on essential matters. So this brings us to the serious dangers of ecumenical hyper-liberalism, the movement that seeks unity at the expense of fundamental biblical truth. A classic illustration is the approach sometimes taken by well-meaning evangelicals and past such as Billy Graham, crusades for as many years as young, but became ecumenical, very ecumenical, in his mid to late. What did he do? He would tell all the old people to return to their churches. You know how many Rome Catholics went to that? And they would all go back to Rome. He would have fellowship with Rome, yoke with Rome, yoke with priest. I mean, this is the type of unity that God warns about. While we approach and we appreciate, in our own life, evangelism and the evangelism of others, the approach of such men typically blurs the essentials. Gospel-defining distinctions, justification by faith alone, solidified, a core truth to the true believers of the church, often obscured by Catholic teachings on sacraments, merit, and penance. The nature of sacraments with different views on them, they have on the Eucharist and baptism. Look at the authority of scripture. We live by sola scriptura, alone. The Bible alone versus scripture, plus tradition is what they adhere to. They scripture, but tradition of the church. They seem to more lean upon the tradition more than the scriptures. How about Mariology? and the papacy. These are doctrines that don't align with the gospel. To claim unity with systems that fundamentally deny or distort the clear gospel of Jesus Christ is not biblical unity. It is compromise. It is the unity that Satan wants. It is a betrayal of the truth of God's word for a superficial peace. God does not call us to unity where his glory is diminished or his truth is diluted. There is a profound God-ordained place for division when the very means of salvation is at stake. We cannot be united with those who preach another gospel, for there is no gospel at all. In conclusion, to true unity and bold, Truth really is that, what does Romans 15, one through four, teach us? It calls us to deep and costly Christ-like unity among true believers. It commands us to humbly bear the infirmities of the weaker brethren within the church, preferring their spiritual good over our own preferences in non-essential matters, sacrificing our own liberty. It sacrificially seeks to please our neighbors for his edification, building them up in Christ. Another point, follow the supreme example of Christ, who pleased not himself, but bore the reproaches for our salvation. Notice all this was grounded for our patient comfort and hope in the Holy Scriptures. recognizing them as the source of all truth and the foundation for our unity is in the Word of God. But this unity is never at the expense of biblical truth. We are called to be uncompromisingly bold in proclaiming and defending the unalterated gospel of Jesus Christ, and we must never confuse outward cooperation with genuine spiritual unity when fundamental doctrines are denied. The true gospel saves, a false gospel damns. Therefore, we are called to ask ourselves, in closing, Are we truly bearing with our weaker brothers in Christ, showing sacrificial love in matters of conscience, or are we demanding our own way, merrily pleasing ourselves? Are we so grounded in the Scriptures that they provide us with unshakable patience and comfort and hope, equipping us for genuine fellowship with others? And finally, are we courageous enough to uncompromisingly uphold the clear gospel of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, being ready to divide from those who preach another gospel while lovingly seeking true biblical unity with those who genuinely confess Christ as Lord and Savior according to the Holy Scriptures? So may God grant us grace to live out this uncompromising call to pursue truth. Christ centered unity within fellowship of believers, and to stand unshakably for the unadulterated truth of the glorious gospel, never compromising for the sake of a false peace. Amen. Let me go to the Lord in prayer. Terribly, Father, we come before you. Lord, help us to be in denial of ourselves. Help us to look to your example, how selfless you were, that you didn't come to be served, but to serve. Help us to be better servants for one another and to love one another, to sacrifice our own preferences, to build up others for their edification, done to your glory. So Lord, I ask you, help us to surrender all for your glory alone. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen and amen.