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Romans 9-16

Give Up To Build Up

Isaiah Combs · Sunday, 23 November 2025 · Romans 14:1-15:13 · 40:16 · 5,867 words

Romans S31 · 14:1-15:13

Listen to this message

Unity in the church is the focus of this message, which examines Romans 14 and 15. The speaker explains that believers often divide over personal convictions and preferences rather than biblical standards. He calls strong believers to bear with weaker ones and urges everyone to give up personal freedoms for the sake of building others up. Listeners are challenged to examine their motives, stop judging each other, and prioritize glorifying God together.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

conviction 29 shrimp 7 preference 10 believe 51 weak 13 bacon 6 weaker 7 eat 18 strong 12 glorify 13 church 40 personal 10

Topics

Faith 10 Conscience 5 Sin 2 Judgment 2 Prayer 1 Freedom 1 The Body of Christ 1 The Weaker Brother 1 The Law 1 Atonement & Sacrifice 1

Scripture referenced 32

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 14 0:53 Romans 14 0:58 Romans 14 3:23 Romans 14 3:27 Romans 14:1 3:27 Romans 14:2 5:18 Matthew 15 5:28 Romans 14:3 5:54 Romans 14:4 9:00 1 Corinthians 4 9:43 Romans 14:5 10:21 Romans 14:23 11:50 Romans 14:6 12:00 1 Corinthians 10:31 12:52 1 Corinthians 10:7 13:04 Romans 14:9 14:25 Romans 14:10 16:32 Romans 14:13 18:12 Romans 14:14 19:50 Romans 14:15 20:57 Romans 13 22:04 1 Corinthians 13 22:42 1 Corinthians 13:15 23:03 Philippians 2 24:31 Philippians 2 24:39 Philippians 2:1 24:39 Romans 15 32:57 Romans 15 33:02 Romans 15:2 33:56 Romans 15:3 34:19 Romans 15:4 34:41 Romans 15:6 35:48

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

I was ready to go before the video was done, so it was awkward for a couple seconds there.

You see that?

I don't know what to do with myself.

Hi, my name is Isaiah, and I am thankful to be with you this morning.

It's getting cold out there, isn't it?

Starting to turn.

I'm kind of thankful.

Anybody else love the cold?

I love it.

I love it.

I have a little extra energy this morning.

We had something incredible happen last night.

First time in, I feel like, forever.

We had the baby sleep through the whole night last night.

Yeah, it was incredible.

I woke up this morning, and it was one of those moments where you guys are going to be like,

really?

My wife goes, is she alive?

We went and checked her, and she's like, she's sleeping.

She's still sleeping.

It was incredible.

I have a lot of extra energy, so I'm going to go extra long this morning.

I'm happy to be with you this morning.

If you have your Bibles with you or an app, we're going to be in Romans chapter 14.

Romans chapter 14 as we continue in this series.

The church is an amazing place.

I don't know about you, but the church is so different from the world around us.

The world seems to be dividing more and more every single day.

Yeah, yeah.

It seems like the more we look at the news, and we see things, and people on the side of the road, it's dividing.

But the church is this place of unity.

It looks so different than the world.

And what I love about it is that there's old and there's young.

And there's tall and there's short.

My wife is not even five foot, so I'm looking at you, babe, for short.

There's all different races that are here.

Black, white, brown.

There's new believers and old believers.

There's mature and weak believers.

You say, man, that sounds kind of pointed there with weak believers.

I didn't say it.

Paul said it.

We're going to get into it.

But the church has been this entity that God created.

From the beginning, it was, he said, we're...

There's this thing called the church.

It's going to be the bride of Christ.

And he's going to rule over the church.

And it's going to be unified.

And there's going to be all these different people.

And there's going to be Isaiah who can move from Minnesota and come to a church.

And this church is glorifying God just like a church in Minnesota or a church in California or a church across the world.

There's people gathering together to glorify the Lord in unity.

It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

But this is what the church...

This is what the church in Rome that Paul is writing to look like.

It was a diverse church where there was Jews and Greeks and slaves and free that gathered together.

But just like in every church, there was divisions that started to creep in.

There was things that came in that they were dividing over.

And you say, what were they?

Were they biblical things?

No, no, no, no.

They weren't biblical standards.

They were personal preferences and convictions.

They were dividing over.

What they thought was the best thing to do.

And that's what Paul is going to address here in Romans chapter 14.

So if you have your Bibles, again, Romans 14 starting in verse 1 says this.

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him or her but not to quarrel over opinions.

Paul, he's getting right to it.

He says weak in faith.

And what does that mean?

It means unable to let go of religious ceremonies and rituals of their past.

That's the definition there.

See, there was Jewish believers and they grew up under the law.

And some of them had trouble letting go of the law.

Like, I can't eat that and I have to do this and I have to wear that.

Then there was the Gentiles who had came in and they were part of pagan worship.

And man, anytime anything involving pagan worship that looked like pagan worship, they were like, no, no, no.

Get me away from that.

I want nothing to do with that anymore.

They had sensitive conscience.

They had a sensitive conscience.

Conscience, man, I've got to learn how to say that.

I probably should have wrote that better.

But if there's weak believers, then there's strong believers.

Everybody agree with that?

And what the strong believers believed that they had freedom in Christ.

For freedom, Christ has set me free from the law.

Set me free from all this stuff.

Set me free from those ritualistic things.

So we had weak and strong believers.

And what does Paul say to the strong believer who he's addressing here?

Welcome the weak.

But instead, in the Roman church, what was happening is the weak and strong were battling over personal convictions and preferences.

That's what was happening.

So in verse 2, he says this.

One person believes he may eat anything while the weak person eats only vegetables.

See, the strong believer believed what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 15.

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.

So they're like, listen, I like bacon wrapped shrimp.

And I'm going to eat it.

That's what they're saying.

And no, this is not a knock on those who are vegetarians.

I don't understand your lifestyle and I'll never be a vegetarian, but good luck.

But that's not a knock on it.

That's not what he's saying.

In verse 3.

Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains.

And let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats.

For God has welcomed him.

Don't despise.

Don't be annoyed.

Don't fight and quarrel with those who have a differing opinion.

Than you.

What he's saying is you're on the same team.

If you have been saved by an amazing grace.

If you have confessed Jesus as Lord.

Believed in your heart that Jesus died and rose again.

You are part of this capital C church.

Those that are meeting across the world today.

You're on the same team.

But too many times we put things in place of our own convictions and our own personal preferences.

And then what do we do about them?

We battle about it, don't we?

Yeah, so many times.

So many churches across the world.

They do the same thing.

Well, I like this type of music.

And I don't.

Well, I listen to K-Love in the car.

And you don't.

So let's fight about it.

I listen to country music, okay?

I'm just admitting to you right now.

I enjoy it.

Gets me going while I'm at work.

Some people believe in homeschooling their kids.

Some don't.

Some people.

This one might be a little harsh.

And you're going to be like, oh, we're getting into it this morning.

Some people believe that you can drink alcohol.

And some people don't.

Some wear dresses and some don't.

Some believe that you've got to wear a suit.

I do not believe you've got to wear a suit.

Thank goodness.

That's right.

Thank you.

When I was a kid, I went to a school.

And they made a sign, a little note that said, I will not go to the movies.

Did I go to the movies?

Oh, yeah.

Went and saw Ninja Turtles.

It was fantastic.

But, yeah, these are beliefs and your convictions.

These aren't biblical standards.

These are what you believe, your preference of what you should follow.

Certain haircuts.

Here's one that the church is really beginning to quarrel over.

And I think people are starting to come awake to it.

Should we do trunk or treat or should we not?

Here's one that's been divided for the last couple hundred years.

I only believe that we should read from the KJV Bible.

Because I like the these and thuses.

And I like to sound like I have a lisp the whole time.

Man, I had to do a wedding.

And the girl was like, my parents only believe in KJV.

Can you read from that?

It was, I had to practice.

Because every word was awful.

Or maybe you believe only in ESV or NASB or whatever you believe in.

But the churches are dividing over these things that are just preferences.

Verse 4 says this.

And I love that Paul says this.

And I believe it's a little harsh statement.

He's like, who are you?

Who do you think you are?

To pass judgment on the servant of another.

It is before his own master that he stands or falls.

And he will be upheld.

For the Lord is able to make him stand.

You are on the same team with one master.

And it's the Lord.

And both you and I will one day bow before the master.

Paul said this in 1 Corinthians.

You don't have to go there.

But I'm going to read it to you.

He says this.

But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.

In fact, I don't even judge myself.

For I am not aware of anything.

Against myself.

But I am not thereby acquitted.

It is the Lord who judges me.

Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time.

Before the Lord comes.

Who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness.

And will disclose the purposes of the heart.

Then each one will receive his condemnation from God.

One person esteems one day as better than another.

While another esteems all days alike.

Each one should be fully convinced.

In his own mind.

I love that term.

Fully convinced.

Do it because it's your conviction.

Do it because you believe you should do it.

Not because someone else told you to do it.

There were some funny pastors back in the day.

And I enjoy watching the YouTube videos.

Again, I'm just going to say it.

Because I don't have to be here next week.

So there's this movement called Independent Fundamental Baptist.

Anybody ever heard of them before?

Man, they were primed on this stuff.

My conviction and I'm going to put it on you.

And there was this one guy.

That was really against colored underwear.

I'm not joking.

He would get up and he'd be like.

You over there wearing your pink underwear.

I'm not joking.

And you're like.

That's what you're going to preach about?

Not the Bible or anything.

But a conviction over a color of underwear?

Man, how far have you gone.

That you believe that you're the standard.

You're the Holy Spirit for somebody.

Do it because it's your conviction.

That God has given you.

God has given you a conscience.

And you know what?

May differ from your conscience.

You're going to learn in verse 23 as we're going down.

That if you don't hold to those convictions that the Lord has given you.

That it's a sin.

Here's verse 6.

The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord.

The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord.

Since he gives thanks to God.

While the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord.

And give thanks to God.

Both have convictions that they believe are important.

And in this room, I'm sure.

There's differing of opinions and convictions.

All across every aisle.

I don't know about you.

But I live with a woman.

We have differing thoughts on things.

A lot of things.

Specifically directions and stop signs.

You know?

But what is the purpose of the conviction?

To honor and give thanks to the Lord.

To praise him.

To glorify the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10.31

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do.

Do what?

Do all to the glory of who?

For none of us lives to himself.

And none of us dies to himself.

For if we live, we live to the Lord.

And if we die, we die to the Lord.

So then whether we live or whether we die.

We are the Lord's.

We're not people pleasers.

And if your intentions is to please other people.

Then you're not pleasing God.

My wife likes to say this.

If you can't say amen, say ouch.

It's so true.

So many times in my life.

I'm trying to please other people.

But if I'm trying to please other people.

I'm not pleasing God.

What's the goal?

I do my convictions.

My personal preferences.

I do that to honor and glorify God.

Not other people.

You know who was obsessed with what other people thought?

It was the Pharisees.

And if you've ever read any of the New Testament.

They kind of had opposition to Jesus.

Okay.

We have an audience of one.

So do or do not the convictions that you have.

Almost sounded like Yoda there.

I was close.

For to this end Christ.

Christ died and lived again.

That he might be Lord of both of the dead and of the living.

Christ died for the church.

And the church that he died for.

His bride.

His body.

Is fighting over things that don't matter.

And Paul's going to bring us back to the thing that he always brings us back to.

It's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That we were all dead in our trespasses.

That we were born in sin.

And we choose to sin.

And sin is anything that you do that disobeys.

That disobeys God.

I always think of the Ten Commandments.

If thou shall not steal.

Thou shall not kill.

Everybody heard of those before?

If you break one part of the law.

You're guilty of all the law.

And so guess what?

I've broken one of the Ten Commandments.

And therefore I am guilty in the eyes of God.

Not just guilty.

I'm an enemy of God.

And God being rich in love.

Sent his only begotten son to this earth.

To die on the cross willingly.

For my sin.

As the only payment.

And he died on the cross.

And rose again on the third day.

And if I confess with my mouth.

And believe in my heart.

That Jesus died and rose again.

I am saved.

I am free from my sin.

I am brought into the church.

This is the purpose.

He freed us from sin.

To be no longer slaves to the law.

Slaves to these people rules.

But slaves to him.

His ambassadors of redemption.

Here on this earth.

That's the purpose.

Too many times we take what the church is called to do.

And we make it other things.

Verse 10 says this.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother?

Or you.

Why do you despise your brother?

For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

For it is written.

As I live says the Lord.

Every knee shall bow to me.

Every tongue shall confess to God.

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Paul being an expert.

Of the Old Testament law.

He's quoting the prophet Isaiah.

Not me.

The other one.

You will not have to give an account.

For your neighbor.

Your friend.

Your pastor.

Your wife.

Your kids.

You know who you're going to have to give account for?

Yourself.

You're going to have to stand before God.

And give account for your life.

Weak or strong.

You have to answer for your obedience.

Or your disobedience to the Lord.

Did I stand on my convictions?

Here's a better question.

Did I live my life?

Did I live my life unto the Lord and not men?

If you believe this or not.

What I'm saying.

Whether you heard the gospel.

And you're like.

I don't really believe that.

Every knee will bow before the Lord.

And confess him as Lord.

Even if you've denied him your whole life.

Here on the earth.

One day you will stand before him in judgment.

I'm sorry.

I said stand.

You will bow before him in judgment.

Because of this.

Let us not pass judgment on one another any longer.

But rather decide.

Never to put a stumbling block.

Or a hindrance in the way of a brother.

Make the choice for unity.

To not put a hindrance.

Or to trip up someone who may have a conviction.

Remember we used this example of drinking earlier.

And I saw some of you shy back.

You're just like.

We don't talk about that.

We don't want to.

But we are.

We're going to talk about it.

So let's say this.

You believe that it's alright to have a beer with dinner.

I'm not fighting you on that.

Let's say there's a new believer in church.

And he struggles with alcohol.

And you're out having a beer with him.

And then he stumbles.

And he gets drunk.

And he's back into it again.

Do you realize that.

What this verse is saying.

That it's your fault.

It's yours.

It's your fault.

You put a stumbling block in the way of your brother.

Instead of saying.

You know what.

I'm just not going to do that.

Because I know he struggles.

Or I know that he has a problem.

I'm just not going to do that.

You are sinning against God.

If you cause someone to stumble.

And they are sinning.

If they don't stand on the convictions that God gave them.

I know.

And am persuaded in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That nothing is unclean in itself.

But it is unclean for anyone who thinks it's unclean.

Remember we talked about bacon wrapped shrimp earlier.

Anybody else love bacon wrapped shrimp?

If you don't love it.

I don't know if we can be friends.

But there's some.

Just think about in this church in Rome.

The Jews who were under the law.

A lot of them didn't believe that they could have pork.

And didn't believe that they could have shrimp.

And they really had to stick to those dietary laws.

So they'd go to a Gentile's party.

And there was some bacon wrapped shrimp.

Which is the best at parties by the way.

That's when it's specific.

Hors d'oeuvre food.

You know.

But if the weaker brother is convicted about that.

You can't have that at the party.

For if your brother is grieved.

Meaning pain or distressed by what you eat.

You are no longer walking in love.

No longer walking in love.

What you're saying is here.

What Paul is saying here.

And I read this.

If I have bacon wrapped shrimp.

And the person across from me doesn't want to eat that.

And thinks that it's bad.

Then I'm sinning against them.

And I'm not loving them well.

That's what Paul is saying.

How many times when we're preaching through books of the Bible.

I think we separate things.

Right.

Anybody ever gone through a long series of like Romans.

Or first Corinthians or anything like that.

And we break things up.

Yeah.

I do it all the time.

I'm like.

Well now we're on 14.

Let's forget 13.

No.

No.

You can't.

It all goes together.

That was a letter that Paul was writing to the church.

So it would have been.

Someone would have stood up.

In front of the church.

And just read it straight out.

So if we go back to Romans 13.

Which we learned about last week.

It talked about fulfilling the law through what?

How do you do that?

By loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And loving your neighbor as your what?

Yourself.

Really love your neighbor.

You're going to.

Or your fellow believer.

You're going to give up things that you love for them.

Love is what?

First Corinthians 13.

You've all been to a wedding before.

Patient and kind.

Does not envy or boast.

I don't like that love has to be patient.

Because I really like my food.

Verse 15 continues.

But what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.

So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.

The weaker brother is offended.

Don't eat it.

Don't wear it.

Don't watch it.

Why?

Because you're going to destroy them.

Which is an intense word that Paul is using.

You're going to tear down their faith.

You're going to rip them down.

You're going to cause them to question.

You're going to question their salvation.

That's what Paul is saying.

Well, I know what you're thinking.

I got it.

Isaiah, I thought you said we're not supposed to be people pleasers.

Anybody remember when I said that?

I thought we're not supposed to be people pleasers.

Well, yes, I agree with you.

We're supposed to be God pleasers.

So if we're God pleasers, by loving others, serving others, striving for unity with one another,

is what we're called to do if we love God.

Right?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And love your neighbor as your...

You guys are getting me.

You're getting good.

You're getting good.

I even pointed and you knew what you were doing.

We follow the example or the greatest example that was ever said.

We follow the example of Jesus.

If you have your Bibles, please flip them to Philippians chapter number 2.

I told you I had a lot of energy this morning and we still have a long way to go.

So I got to speed this up a little bit.

Philippians 2, starting in verse 1, it says this.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in spirit,

any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind.

Having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Have this mind among yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

Whom though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself.

By taking the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself.

By taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form,

he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is the perfect example.

He came to this earth to serve.

He came to this earth to serve.

He came to this earth to serve.

Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

The goal is to serve and honor the Lord.

And you know what the bonus is?

Being approved by other believers.

Being unified with other believers.

There's a word acceptable there.

It says whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

So that word approved, you know what it gets translated to?

It's like when a guy who's really good with diamonds,

he pulls out his little microscope thing and he's looking at the diamond.

That's how people look at the diamond.

That's how people look at us, by the way.

Every single thing that you do, when you say that you're a follower of Christ,

you know what they're looking at?

Every detail of your life, whether you think they are or not.

They want to see what you're doing.

They want to see how you are with your kids and your wife.

They want to see how you, are you going to cheat the system?

They're looking at every detail, like that guy looking at a diamond.

And the Bible tells us, let them see our good works so that they glorify the Lord.

And that's other people in the church.

They're watching you.

So when you're serving Christ,

when you're serving Christ, it's acceptable to God and approved by verse 19.

So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual abiliting.

Pursue it to follow it with an intent to catch it.

Put an effort for unity.

Get after it.

For as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Pursuing peace in the church edifies you and other people.

Here's another strong statement by Paul.

He says this,

Do not, and there's a comma there, so I'm going to have a little break.

Do not, pause, pause, pause, pause, pause, pause, pause.

For the sake of food or personal preference, destroy the work of God.

Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.

Why are we, and I say a capital we here.

It's not just this church.

It's churches across America splitting the church over stuff that doesn't matter for eternity.

Why are we?

Why are we doing that?

What we do is we say, well, my opinion and preference and personal conviction, it better

be at the forefront.

If not, I'm leaving.

And you know what?

See ya.

You're like, well, you can't say that.

You don't want to be a part of the church.

You want your club.

You want what you want to be number one.

Tell me in the Bible where it says that that's okay.

And I'll say this.

If it's a biblical standard, it's worth dying over.

Do you hear me?

I'm not talking about biblical standards because biblical standards are worth standing and

Do you understand?

Understand that personal preferences, nothing in a church.

Verse 22, actually verse 21, I'm getting ahead of myself.

It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

The faith that you have keep between yourself and God.

Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats because the eating is not from faith.

For whoever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Again.

Personal convictions are good.

Everybody got that?

I'm not arguing about it.

Personal convictions are good.

I have my own personal convictions.

And I believe my wife and I are going to stand on those things.

I believe that my kids should be homeschooled.

We have eight of them.

I'm not sure what my wife is thinking.

That was a joke, right?

You can laugh.

That's all right.

I've been a little hard, so I'm trying to lighten it up a little bit.

I believe that we believe that they should be homeschooled.

I'm not going to put that conviction on you.

You want to send them to private school or public school?

That's on you.

We believe we're going to homeschool.

But it proceeds from faith, meaning it's from God, those convictions that you have.

Hold you and your household to them.

You hear me?

Hold you and your household to them.

This is the one that God gave me this last night, and I was thinking through it,

and I was like, oh, that's going to be hard.

Could you imagine this?

So my wife and I, we have eight kids, and hopefully one day they go off and get married

and have a bunch of kids, and we'd love to have them all over the house for Thanksgiving, right?

We talk about this.

It would be fantastic.

We like loud houses.

And we're loud, so I've talked for about 30 minutes.

You know I'm loud already.

What happens if my kid grows up and has a different conviction than me?

What am I going to do?

What the Bible says.

Not hold them to that conviction.

Me and my house, we're going to stand on it.

And I'm going to raise them that way, but if the Lord doesn't give them that conviction, it's okay.

It's okay.

Don't follow that conviction from faith.

You're sinning against God.

Next part in chapter 15.

I promise we're not going to do all of chapter 15.

I just felt like it was important.

The first six verses.

The first six verses really talks to strong believers, and we're going to be quick through this.

It says this.

We, I love that he says we there, meaning Paul and you.

I mean, he's putting you in the same boat.

I don't know about you, but being put in the same boat as Paul is pretty cool.

Yeah, that's awesome, man.

We, that's right, me and you, buddy.

Well, we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

We are obligated to bear, meaning carry the weight for a distance.

You must bear with those who are weaker in their faith.

Carry the weight.

Why?

Because the Lord bears with us.

We do that to please the Lord.

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up.

Love your neighbor as yourself for their edification.

Ready for this?

I'm going to make it real easy, and I should have just said this from the beginning.

You've got to give up to build up.

You've got to give up your freedom to build them up.

Why?

To glorify the Lord.

Give up to build up.

But as it is written, the reproach of those who reproach you fell on me.

He died for those who were his enemies.

Yet while you were still sinners, Christ died for us.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus.

Unity is going to take both sides, submitting to one another.

Give up your wants and your needs, not for other people, but for the Lord.

Surrender your freedoms.

Again, give up to build up.

I always find in these situations, the number one thing that you can do for that other person is pray for that person.

That's the number one thing that you can do.

Hey, I really want to eat bacon-wrapped shrimp when they come to my house and they won't let me, so I'm going to pray for them.

Not that God would change them.

Maybe that God would change my heart towards them.

And the goal in verse 6, and I'm going to end here.

Here's the goal.

That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the goal?

The unity of the church.

I don't know about you, but when you walk into a unified church, you can feel it.

There's weak and strong and old and young.

All the different races coming together unified under one common goal.

To glorify the name of Jesus.

Is that not our goal, church?

That's our goal.

And maybe you're in here, and when I talk about the weak believer, you're picturing yourself.

I can tell you I picture myself a lot for the weaker believer.

I do.

Don't be satisfied to be a weaker believer.

Stand on those convictions because the Lord gave you those convictions.

But don't hold other people to those.

Maybe you're in here and you see yourself as a strong believer.

And when Paul said we, you're like, yeah, that's us.

We can do this together.

That's incredible.

You have been given.

You have been given a higher responsibility by the Lord.

You have.

Give up to build up to glorify the Lord.

And remember, the weaker believers need to be discipled.

And whose job is it to disciple them?

It's ours.

I know I'm not allowed to point, so I'm trying to do full, but it's ours.

I have a bunch of kids, and Millie didn't sleep through the night.

She's our youngest.

I couldn't force her to sleep through the night, right?

But what happened?

As she grows, she learned that she also likes sleep like her dad.

Give up to build up.

Is it worth giving up?

Giving up your freedoms in Christ to glorify Christ.

Is it worth it?

I know that I'm a fallible man.

I know I am.

And I know I've said some things, and you're like, what is he talking about?

There's a great sermon out here that talks about this.

And I love pointing you to this.

It's by R.C. Sproul.

Anybody ever heard of him before?

R.C. Sproul, incredible teacher of God's word.

And he has a sermon called The Tyranny of the Weaker Brother.

It's a great sermon.

And I recommend this week, if you want to dig farther into this,

I recommend reading this chapter and going to that.

That sermon and listening to it.

It's very good.

Give up, build up, glorify the Lord.

Let's pray.

We love you.

That only you are holy forever.

May we be a church that longs to glorify your name.

May we be a unified church that gathers together as the perfect example set,

giving up our preferences to serve one another.

You've been so good to us.

And you have more from us than we could ever imagine.

Please give us the strength to bear with one another,

to strive after.

To love others as you have loved us.

Love you for your word.

Pray that it would pierce our hearts.

From here, different doers of the word.

We say these things in Jesus' name.

If you could stand with us, if you are able, as we continue our praise to him.

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