Sermon Tone Analysis
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*RELATING TO FELLOW BELIEVERS*
*ROMANS 15: 1-13*
*(0755)*
* *
* *
*Introduction*
* *
Several metaphors are used to describe the Christian church.
It is the body of Christ; it is the bride of Christ; it is a fellowship of believers; it is the family of God.
And, the Bible has much to say about how the members of God’s church are to relate to one another.
The Apostle John wrote in his first letter, *“Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love one another does not know God, because God is love” *(1 John 4: 7-8).
Perhaps the strongest command given in Scripture about how Christians are to relate to one another is that we are to love one another.
But there is more to it than that.
The Bible also tells us that we are to
depend upon one another
be devoted to one another
honor one another
rejoice with one another
weep with one another
not judge one another
accept one another
build up one another
admonish one another
live in unity with one another
care for one another
serve one another
be kind to one another
forgive one another
bear with one another
be humble toward one another
not grumble against one anther
confess our faults to one another
pray for one another
fellowship with one another, and
bear one another’s burdens.
That’s just some of the “one another” statements that we will find in the Bible.
What becomes clear as we list these things is that God is concerned about how we treat our fellow believers.
The Bible holds up a high standard for how we are to relate to one another.
Unfortunately, Christians often fall short of God’s standards, and instead of living up to these high ideals, we sometimes fall way short of them.
We become judgmental, angry, unloving, and unforgiving.
We get upset about the smallest issues of inconvenience.
We don’t like the way the ushers take the offering, or how the kids mess up the gym.
We cringe when a soloist misses a high note, or when a baby’s cry disturbs worship.
We nit-pick the budget of the church line by line, and instead of coming to worship the living God, we come and critique the choir and the pastor.
We complain about the song selection, the style of music, the thermostat setting, or the level of the sound.
Our focus is on pleasing ourselves at the expense of others.
While it’s never wrong to respectfully share your personal opinions and preferences, it is wrong to be angry and demanding.
When we care only about our own desires and needs, we show gross selfishness and immaturity.
For believers, the main issue should always be, “What’s best for God’s kingdom and the widest range of people?”
But those who are carnal and spiritually immature ask instead, “How can I have everything exactly like I want it?”
In Romans 15, as the Apostle Paul begins to wrap up his letter to the Roman believers, he addresses the all important issue of how believers are to relate to one another.
Now, at this point in Paul’s life, he had never been to the Roman church, but he had planted enough churches to know how human nature works.
He knew, like we know, that you can’t live closely with others without experiencing some friction from time to time.
In the first thirteen verses he will share with us four truths about how Christians should relate to one another.
Please take out your Bible and find Romans 15, and let’s begin by looking at verse one.
(*read*)
*1.
/Bear/ /with/ one another.
(v.
1)*
The first truth that Paul teaches us in chapter 15 is that we are to */bear with one another/*, specifically bear with the failings of the weak.
Back in March and April of this year, we worked our way through the fourteenth chapter of Romans where the Apostle Paul talks about the proper relationship between weak believers and strong believers.
In those verses, he makes the point that the strong believers are not to look down on the weak believers and the weak believers are not to despise the strong believers.
Rather than passing judgment on each other, we, instead, need to focus on judging ourselves.
If we’re doing something that might cause our brother to stumble, we should refrain from it.
We should limit our liberty so that we won’t *“…destroy our brother for whom Christ died.”*
In chapter 14, verse 19, Paul writes, *“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification.”*
The opening verses of chapter 15 tie up Paul’s thoughts from chapter 14.
In issues that involve /disputable matters/—those things that the Bible neither commands nor forbids—we are to bear with one another and not please ourselves.
Instead of getting upset with weak believers, or frustrated with them, we are to bear with them—bear with their weaknesses.
The idea is that of showing genuine love and practical concern for our fellow believers.
Now, that may mean that we who are strong will have to relinquish some of our personal liberties from time to time.
But that’s all right.
We who are strong must be willing to do this for the sake of the fellowship.
Why?
Because, apart from outright sin, nothing will shatter the unity, the spiritual growth, and the witness of a church so much as disharmony among its members.
Our spiritual adversary uses disharmony in the church to distract, discourage, and deter God’s people from being all they can be in Christ.
When the saints of God are fussing with one another, then God’s church is kept from fulfilling God’s purposes.
As a Christian, we have tremendous liberties.
As a matter of fact, as long as it isn’t sinful, Christians are pretty much free to do as we please.
However, we aren’t to use our freedom just to selfishly please ourselves.
Why?
Paul addressed this in chapter 14 teaching us that the careless exercise of a liberty by one member can do great harm to the conscience and spiritual well-being of another, weaker believer.
Therefore we won’t do everything we have a right to do if it causes another believer to stumble.
We who are strong will *“bear with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves.”*
We will bear with one another.
*2.
/Build/ /up/ one another.
(vv.
2-4) *
* *
Not only will we bear with one another, we’ll go one step further.
We will */build up one another/*.
Look with me at verses 2. (*read*)
Instead of pleasing ourselves, mature believers will work at pleasing others—we will please our neighbor for his or her own good, to build them up.*
*That’s the purpose of pleasing our neighbor.
Now, let’s understand something at this point.
/“Neighbor pleasing”,/ which Scripture commands, isn’t the same thing as /“men-pleasing”,/ which Scripture condemns.
A /“man pleaser”/ is one who flatters others in order to gain their favor, or to win their approval by some unprincipled compromise.
When Paul says that we are to please our neighbor, it is for the purpose of doing good to them and building them up.
Let’s understand that Paul’s appeal for us to please our neighbor in not a request to comply with every wish or whim of our neighbor, but rather to find a way to promote his or her spiritual welfare.
If we gave way to every wish or whim of our neighbor, then our church would eventually end up living at the level of its most immature member.
So, we are to please our neighbor, but we are to do it for his or her own good.
We do it in a way that builds them up.
The goal is to help them grow in the Lord.
Wouldn’t our church be a better place if we all sought to please one another in order to build each other up?
Still some might ask, “Why should I, as a mature believer, have to limit my liberty and my self-pleasure in order to help a weaker brother or sister?’
The answer is, “So that you can be like Jesus Christ.”
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