We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of
the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for
his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but
as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on
Me." For whatever things were written before were written for our
learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have
hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded
toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and
one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:1-6)
Romans 15 begins as a continuation of what my study Bible
calls the Òlaw of loveÓ passage beginning in Chapter 14:14. As we noticed last
week these are again rules to live by, but not necessarily actual laws or
requirements. But how many times are these Òdo not stumble the weaker brother
passagesÓ preached with a zeal not emphasized in teaching the Ten Commandments.
After all, the ten commandments were for Israel under the dispensation of law,
we are under grace, so it is OK under that logic to substitute some New
Testament rule and give it the power of legal law, for how else can people no
longer be carnal Christians. How else can they be made to feel guilty and
answer the summons to come forward and get right with God. But if that is the
case, all we have done is substitute one legal system for another and the true
grace offered by Jesus Christ on the cross looses it true importance. If we are
going to make applications to not stumble those with weaknesses for food or
drink, why do we just stop there. Why not apply it to a whole host of other
legalism that separate the righteous saints from the redeemed sinners. No smoking, no drinking of alcoholic
beverages, no dancing, no going to movies, no gluttony, no legalistic doctrines
that cause others to doubt the redemption found only in Christ Jesus. Man,
where do you draw the line! Of course we draw it where I think it should be
drawn, or where my pastor thinks the line exists.
The problem is when you draw the line, you make a
separation, at least in your own heart
or way of thinking, limiting the grace of God. With that distinction, someone
risks passing from the invisible church into just the visible church and since
we are the rule maker, we can wonder if those brethren are really saved. But if
we throw away the chapter fifteen heading, we see that Paul is talking here
about a much broader doctrine than just material substance. How could he ever
say something so much of an antithesis of modern culture, Òbear with the
scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.Ó And following: ÒLet each of
us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.Ó That is sure not
a way to make a positive contribution to society, and surely no way to run a
ministry, church, business, or to gain the blessings of wealth.
Now it is in another galaxy where you think of the moralistic
reproaches of not causing your brother to stumble and the universal truth of
Christ offering "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on
Me." This brings us to: Òthat we through the patience and comfort of the
Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you
to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may
with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.Ó
This passage shows us the way to become like-minded
toward one another, that being through Jesus Christ. Put another way, to the
extent we are in Christ, in His redeeming body, to that extent GodÕs love
allows us to not be a pain in the tush to all those within the church you come
in contact with. That being in Christ is not something we hear enough of in
this age, to the extent that the church runs on our agenda, to that extent the
corollary statement of self righteousness becomes true and division takes
place. As long as I am looking for a present reward, the growth toward the
eternal likeness of Christ does not advance. Preaching for that temporal reward
again gets you what you seek.
Now I was reading about a man recently who was an
ordained minister in his denomination. In the due course of time, he was made
aware that much of this organization was apostate. Not really the invisible
church at all, but just a visible church. Now his choice was to go out and form
a new fellowship, utilizing all of GodÕs word as a basis for this new work. But
how do you gain a following, how do you attract followers to your cause, how do
you save the church from itself. In this particular case, he adapted some new
doctrines that contrasted with the existing teaching of his denomination and we
see these effects until this day.
Now the question is from GodÕs perspective are these
doctrines better than those replaced, or are they just a mechanism to contrast
weaknesses in the current orthodox doctrine? Could the tension created truly be
the gift of this manÕs contribution and not the enlightenment of these new
dogmas?
Few leaders have the inner strength to say, I walked out
on this limb, just so that I could strengthen the tree. But that may have been
the case. Jesus saved His most strong anger and criticism for the religious
leaders of His day. If He were to return this moment, would those raptured into
his presence find a similar condemnation for their fruitless selfish works?
If we are to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ with one mind and one mouth, something in the present church as got to
change. That of course is that to the extent we have become part of the mind of
Christ, to that extent do we speak with one mind and one mouth. We have it not
because we do not desire it, we do not pursue it with zeal. The Declaration of
Independence, which AmericanÕs celebrated its 225th anniversary this month,
speaks of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But happiness is just a
vain pursuit without a purpose. That purpose that takes care of both life and
liberty is in the person of Jesus Christ as revealed in scripture and from
scripture comes the edification of the heart by the Holy Spirit. Word and
Spirit are one and cannot be separated.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you
the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4) That is obtained by faith. But we make
the things of this world the desires of our heart and consequently we end up
with nothing but material rubbish. If that were not bad enough, we then
chastise the devil for keeping us from obtaining more, or holding up our
promised material blessing. But you can not truly delight in the Lord and not
seek His word first, and that word must be in the context of GodÕs redemptive
plan revealed in the full context of scripture. I am not free to pick and
choose passages that feed my sinful carnal desires, or add my own revelation to
build my own following. If I do that, this is where I will end up, out there on
a limb surrounded by a lot of eternally useless ÒblessingÓ and not one with
Christ and His universal, historic, orthodox body being with, one mind and one mouth glorify(ing) the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.Ó
As God told Elijah in his wilderness experience, God
always has a remnant in Israel, an invisible church within His visible church
(1 Kings 19:18). To the extent we by faith search to become part of that
catholic, or universal church, to that extent, God grants us the desires of our
heart. To be conformed into the likeness of the Son of God, Jesus Christ and
therefore, begin to get a glimpse of the wonderful mysteries, that the apostle
Paul so often speaks about. May
that be our prayer for ourselves, and also for others of GodÕs children alive
at this wonderful hour.
Have you ever had a job that you planned would only take
three days and now entering its ninth you finally see the finish. Not that the
job itself takes more than the three days you planned, it is just circumstances
are such, that delays and other unforeseen occurrences just drag it out, and
out, and out. ÒGod donÕt you know I plan to do these great and wonderful things
for you, once I get this done.Ó They say that God is never late and His timing
is perfect, I suppose I should rejoice in this opportunity to wait on the Lord,
but where is the material blessing I am looking for. How easy it is to get into
your own head and mess it up and want to go your own way. That is what makes
being part of that great company of the children of God such a blessing. While
my circumstances are unique it is not all that much different than suffered by
saints through out the ages, and when you see what the saints are going through
in other countries at this time, you truly begin to recognize what a blessing
it is to live and serve God in a small way in this great country. But that is
the reason we need to work more with missions, to give us that contrast. To
make us more aware of the gifts we have been given and to utilize them more to
bless others and not squander them on our own selfish desires.. Please continue
to intercede for our move to the Little Dalles and the financial, human, and
other provisions to make that vision more real in the lives of people in this
country, and also around the world.