Romans 15:1-3 (Read 1-13)
1We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." 4For 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.
5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8For 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 9so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:
"Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing hymns to your name."
10Again, it says,
"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people."
11And again,
"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and sing praises to him, all you peoples."
12And again, Isaiah says,
"The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
the Gentiles will hope in him."
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We have seen at times as we have studied through the book of Romans a repetition of sorts, God feeling the need to tell us more than once what we should be doing. Kind of like telling a child time and time again clean your room, make your bed, pick up your cloths.
God like any other parent finds that the child doesn’t always do what they are told to do.
If God tells us once that we ought to do something, then you would think if He told us more than once that it must be important right.
Well we read from Gods word last week that it is important for us as Christians to get along with other Christians, to accept the little differences that we may have.
We talked about chapter 14 not being a chapter that says we should accept important doctrinal differences but that we should accept the little differences that we may have.
Romans 14 talked about the Jews bringing in to Christianity things like not eating certain foods and the holding of some days being more sacred over other days, it talked about the consumption of wine, they were bringing in traditions at times mixed with personal beliefs.
Paul told us that we should be understanding, that these types of things are things that those of weaker faith need to help them in their walk. And that we with stronger faith should not destroy Gods work by being negative to them because of these things, rather we should come along side of them and help them with their faith, to help them in their edification.
So as children we are told again in the start of Romans chapter 15:1-2 - We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
The words “his neighbor” in verse two, in the Greek the word that is used is play-see-on, this is a word that means that this neighbor would be very close to you, not someone you hardly new, it was a fellow Christian.
We edify others in our Christian family why? Because as it says in verse three, “For even Christ did not please himself”, because Christ who is our example, did not think of Himself first, but thought of us instead. So in return we out of our desire to glorify God do the same.
To edify or to build up is something we need to put a lot of emphasis on. Because what we are building up is not only that brother or sister, but what we are building up is Christ’s church.
This church that we are building is delicate, we need to be careful as we are laying each brick to insure that we are not in some way instilling in the process something that may weaken it, something that could cause it to come crashing down, that being the opposite of edification or building up, the tearing down of the church by means of turmoil and division.
Ephesians 2:19-22 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
So when we are talking about the building up of the church what are some other things we need to keep in mind?
To build something properly we need to know what we are building – You need a design or blueprint. Back in Romans 14:19 it said that this is “the work of God” and we need to keep in mind that this blueprint is not something we make up but it is Gods blueprint which He has laid out for us in the Bible.
We all have a part in this blue print that God has given us, In Ephesians 4:11-13 it says:
11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
We need the proper foundation – We need to have the right foundation if we are going to be successful, and that foundation is Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24-27) Jesus says this:
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
You need good supplies – In order to start building, once you have your foundation you need quality materials to build it with. Jesus said in Luke 14:28-30:
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ’This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
It is each of ours responsibility as Christians to know Gods Word, that is Christ, so that we will be able to be used as a tool in the building up of someone from pre-Christian to Christian. We ourselves are not capable in ourselves of this but it is God through Christ that does this. In 2 Timothy 3:14-17 it says:
14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
You need to construct the building bit by bit – No worthwhile building is constructed overnight, it takes time to insure everything is right so that it will stand the test of time. In Isaiah 28:9-10 it says:
9 "Who is it he is trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining his message?
To children weaned from their milk,
to those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is:
Do and do, do and do,
rule on rule, rule on rule;
a little here, a little there."
The sanctification of a person is a never ending life time journey, but the building of Christ’s church will one day come to completion. It has been 2000 years in the making, it could be another 2000 years to its completion or maybe two years, only God knows that.
The one thing that is for sure is this; we are all called to be a part of this process. Our part is to always seek to know God better and that is done through the study of his word in the Bible, we do this to not only to build up ourselves but also so that we may in return build up others to be more of the image Christ as we have.
God is working and He is still building His church today, and we are His workman, laborers together with His Son Jesus Christ, and we have a responsibility to do the work well.
Jesus did not set out to please Himself, He did not set out to please us, Jesus rather had only one person in mind to please and that was God, and so it should be the same with us, to please God in everything we do.
