Welcome to Waymaker Church! We are so excited to have you join us today! We exist to Encounter, Live for, and Advance the Kingdom of God!

This morning, we are wrapping up our series “The Church Defined”. Over the past several weeks we have worked our way through the book of Romans to look at the most systematic presentation of Christian doctrine in the scripture. To bring the series to a close I want to give a brief recap of the general concepts that we have looked at.

We began by learning that when we say yes to Christ, we are to become bondservants/slaves to Christ. When we say yes to Him, we are saying yes to His lordship over our lives. He is in control, and we serve at His request and desire. To serve Jesus effectively we must live by faith.

To understand the wrath of God revealed on ungodliness I shared with you the importance of knowing the nature of God first. That God is good (it is an outflow of His nature. He is good, so He does good.) God is love (It is His disposition to be self-giving). God is merciful (showing compassionate forgiveness towards His people). God is gracious (giving unmerited divine favor). God is Holy (He exists completely separate from his creation, and his utterly pure and incorruptible). God is righteous (His righteousness serves as the standard for how his people are to act). God is truth (His identity is the source of all truth). God is wisdom (He is perfect in divine judgement and insight). God is just (the perfection of His nature through His infinite righteousness is exercised in his moral government rendering to each one with fairness and impartiality).
Wrath will be revealed against ungodliness and unrighteousness of men because they suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

We learned that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that righteousness comes through faith in Christ alone. There are no works of man that can justify him before God. It is Christ in our place that brings justification before God.

Through justification we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. I shared with you about the difference between sloppy grace and kingdom grace. Sloppy grace leaves you under the mastery and control of Satan, while kingdom grace brings you under the dominion of Christ empowering you to walk free from sin.

We learned that we have sonship through the Spirit, and although we will have times of suffering the Holy Spirit will help us in our weaknesses. When we are uncertain in prayer, the Spirit makes intercession for us.

Paul also shared that Israel needs the Gospel, and that God has a plan for them! The Church does not replace Israel but has been grafted into the promise of God. Because of this great promise we are to become living sacrifices to God which is our reasonable service. We do this by dying to ourselves and being transformed by the word of God.

Remember, we are to assimilate into kingdom by taking on the language, attitudes, habits, and culture of the kingdom. Most simply Paul explained that we are to behave like Christians.

We are to submit to governing authorities. All authority is from God. They are intended to govern righteously and execute wrath on those who practice evil. Remember that submission to authority does not equate to unequivocal blind following of agendas. It is about honor for the offices that God has established and ordained.

We are also called to love our neighbor. Remember, love looks like something. It can be seen and felt. The nature of the kingdom minded person is to love and serve others. To do this we will have to put on Christ by awaking out of sleep and engaging.

We are to live with an earnest expectancy of Jesus return. This expectancy should drive us to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light through righteous living. As we walk out the liberty we have in Christ, Paul, Paul instructs us to act for the good of others an to walk in love. Walking in love is about caring for one another and living selfless. When we do so we find true fulfillment in life.

Let’s highlight a few things from this passage:

1. Those who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, leading to edification. What does this mean?

The strong here is a person characterized by moral strength, courage, will, or other cognitive feature while weak is the opposite speaking of a person characterized by lacking moral strength, courage, will, or other cognitive feature.

What does it mean here to be strong? It is a person who has spiritual maturity. They are not a babe in Christ. They have by reason of use exercised and trained themselves in the ways of righteousness and faith.

Paul is instructing those who are strong not to look to please themselves, but for the good of their neighbor they are to help bear the scruples of the weak for the purpose of edification.

To bear the scruples of the weak is to endure on behalf of someone else a flaw or weak point in their life even if it is unpleasant or difficult for the purpose of building them up spiritually.

How do we do this? It comes primarily through the proper lens of life. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” The word burden means a weight of personal and eternal significance. We bear burdens through our knowledge of eternity.

Everything changes when we look beyond this life to eternity. The idea of endurance takes on new meaning when I think of the individual in the context of eternal destination.

When we truly understand that the salvation of their soul is on the line, we can endure just about anything. Sure, maybe its uncomfortable right now, but the reality of hell in their life is far worse.

2. This passage also gives us the keys to be successful in bearing others burdens. The first is patience. This is the same steadfast endurance that James spoke about. It is a power to withstand hardship or stress, especially the inward fortitude necessary.

We must be patient with people. 2 Timothy 2:24–26 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

People have been taken captive by the devil, and they need to come to the knowledge of the truth which will set them free. John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” We must persevere on behalf of people who are bound.

The power to withstand and persevere comes when we understand who our true adversary is in life. Ephesians 6:10–12 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Our adversary are the demonic forces that are moving against people’s lives, not the person who is captive. We need to ask the Lord to reach us how to fight for them, and not with them.

The second key to success in bearing others burdens is the comfort of the scripture. The word of God gives us hope. It reminds us that no matter what we see in those who are weak, there is an answer in Christ. No matter how far gone they seem, God is able to do all things.

The word reminds us of the promises of God, it gives us strategy on how to pray, and will draw us near to the heart of God for the people that are in our life. The word will strengthen and encourage us in the hard times, and it will also refresh our souls when we are overwhelmed.

Jesus is our reference point for how to live before God. Romans 15:3 gives our example. “For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”” He knows exactly what we need to fight successfully for others. We simply need to lean into the word and allow it to direct our hearts and decisions.

Paul concludes this portion with a declaration Romans 15:5–6 “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.”

I want to remind you today that we are to live for the glory of God. Our willingness to serve others, and fight for them is for their edification, but more importantly it is for the glory of God.

The emphasis of the Christian life is that we have been redeemed by His grace for the purpose of destroying works of darkness. I want to encourage you not to back down from the challenging people in your life, but instead lean into the Lord to see how He would have you to serve and love them. Eternity hangs in the balance.