Series: Romans
Title: Christ Pleased Not
Himself
Text: Romans 15: 1-4
Date: January 19, 2019
Place: SGBC, NJ
Romans 15: 1: We then that are strong
ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2: Let
every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
3: For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches
of them that reproached thee fell on me.
The apostle Paul exhorts believers to bear
the infirmities of our weak brethren. Rather
than pleasing ourselves, he exhorts us to please our neighbor for his good
to edification, If a weak brother
looks upon us with a critical eye due to the fact that we are exercising our
liberty and he speaks harsh words, then if we are strong we ought to one, bear his
infirmity, his weakness, his errors.
Two, we should not please ourselves by exercising our liberty
before him because that will only offend him more. Let us not please ourselves by reviling back and
judging unrighteous judgment by imputing sinful motives when we have no idea what
is in his heart. Three, let us please
our weak brother for his good to edification—do what we can to pursue
peace.
The only way sinners can do anything our Master commands is by Christ’s
power resting upon us. When
overcome by our flesh we can do nothing but sin. But when Christ restrains our flesh and
strengthens our inner man by making us remember he is our Righteousness,
Holiness and Acceptance with God then we obey him constrained by his love for
us. Therefore, Paul sets Christ
before us—For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The
reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Let’s
turn to Psalm 69 from where Paul is quoting. Psalm 69 is quoted 7 or 8 times in the
New Testament. The
whole Psalm is Christ speaking. When our Substitute was in the garden of
Gethsemane, tempted of the devil, did he please himself by taking matters into
his own hands? When he was at Gabatha
bearing reproach from wicked men, did he please himself by reviling back again. When he was at Golgotha bearing the fury of
God’s wrath, did he please himself by easing himself of the suffering? What did he do? He prayed to the Father, saying,
Psalm 69: 1: Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my
soul.
Title: Christ Pleased Not Himself
Proposition: Christ pleased not himself but did all
for the good of his elect to our edification.
Our blessed Savior subjected himself to every
inconvenience, even the shameful, torturous death of the cross for the
everlasting salvation of his elect. He did
it looking only to the Father. Therefore,
it is reasonable that we should please not ourselves but bear one another’s weaknesses
as we look to Christ alone.
Divisions: Christ pleased not himself: 1) But restored
what he took not away 2) But made intercession to God for his people 3) But
bore reproach for us
RESTORED THAT HE TOOK NOT AWAY
Psalm 69: 1: « To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A
Psalm of David. » Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my
soul. 2: I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into
deep waters, where the floods overflow me. 3: I am weary of my crying: my
throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. 4: They that hate me
without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy
me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that
which I took not away.
Our Lord Jesus pleased not himself but
bore the pain of the cross in order to restore to his people that which he took
not away. He did so faithfully looking
to his Father, crying out in his heart, “Save me, O God; for the waters are
come in unto my soul.” Rather than please
himself, Christ bore the suffering and torment that his people would have had
to bear. It was as waters come in unto
his soul. What did our Savior say as he
went to Gethsemane?
John 12: 27:
Now is MY SOUL troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this
hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Mark 14:33: And
he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and
to be very heavy;
Have you seen in movies a sand storm slowly
coming across the dessert? A huge cloud
moves across the dessert. The sky becomes dark.
The thick cloud envelopes everything in its path so that whole buildings
disappear. In Gethsemane, I picture our
Substitute beholding all the sin of all his elect from every age coming upon
him. I picture him beholding the fury of
divine justice coming upon him like one of those sand clouds—and he began to
be sore amazed! And to be very heavy.
Mark 14: 34: And
saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and
watch. 35: And he went forward a little,
and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might
pass from him. 36: And he said, Abba,
Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:
nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
Luke 22:44: And
being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great
drops of blood falling down to the ground.
He continues in our text, praying, “I
sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters,
where the floods overflow me.” In
that part of the world there is a quicksand-like mud. When a
person begins to sink down in it, the more he tries to free himself, the more it
sucks him under. If someone does not
pull him out, he will go under and die in the mire. Christ our Forerunner went before
us into the deepest mire, the deepest waters as he suffered the eternal
condemnation his people deserved due to our sin against God.
He suffered in soul and body. He said, “the waters are come into my soul”,
“I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for
my God”, “Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness”. He suffered the hate of enemies—"They
that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that
would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty.”
Yet, bearing the immeasurable weight of
his people’s burden, Christ restored to us that which he had no part in taking
from us—"Then I restored that which I took not away.” Christ
restored the glory of God of which He had not robbed Him. He satisfied divine justice which Christ had
never injured. Our Substitute fulfilled the
law he had never broken. He restored righteousness
he had never taken away. Christ made
satisfaction for sins he had never committed.
He did it all personally for you, child of God!
Therefore, brethren, in our text Paul calls for us to
bear the pain of our weak brethren’s burden that we might restore them to
Christ. “Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, RESTORE such an one
in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. BEAR
YE ONE ANOTHER’S BURDEN, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Ga 6:1-2). It is
very trying to bear with the sin and error of a fellow believer. But considering how Christ bore all the pain
of our sin and our curse in order to restore us in righteousness, can we not
stand far less pain in order to restore a weak brother to Christ? When we suffer painful trial, our comfort
and confidence is that Christ our Forerunner has already suffered our eternal
condemnation in our place—“there is therefore now no condemnation.” Knowing this we can be assured, God will surely
save us from our light affliction. If
Christ pleased not himself but suffered to save me, can I not deny myself that
I might bear the infirmities of my weak brother for his good?
INTERCEDED FOR US
Psalm 69: 5: O God, thou knowest my
foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. 6: Let not them that wait on
thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee
be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. 7: Because for thy sake I have
borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. 8: I am become a stranger unto my
brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.
While Christ suffered rather than pleased himself by only
praying to God for himself, he interceded for his people.
Christ is the spotless Lamb of God who knew no
sin. But when God laid our sins on him, before
God the Father and to our Redeemer, they became his. As our Representative, he perfected confession
to God on our behalf, praying, “O God, thou
knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.” There is nothing
we can do in righteousness. We cannot even
own our sins before God in righteousness. There is enough sin in our confession of sin
to send us to hell! But Christ did so for
us!
As Christ bore our sins, he prayed for his
people, that his sin-bearing state, his visage being marred more than any man, would
not make his people confounded. He
prayed that his death and burial would not make us ashamed of him—"Let
not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let
not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because
for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a
stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.” How will his elect hear Christ owning our sin
to be his own and not be confounded? How
shall we believe God’s word that “he hath made him sin for us, who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” and not be confounded
(2 Cor 5:21)? It is only by
Christ’s intercession for us. How
shall we behold Christ on the cross, bearing reproach for the sake of God with shame
covering his face and Christ not become a stranger to us? Only by Christ’s intercession for us.
Brethren, if it please God that we should
bear reproach for our brethren and shame cover our face, let us not please
ourselves by defending and exalting ourselves.
May God give us grace to intercede for our brethren, asking God to not let
my state confound my brethren. Let us ask
God to not let my brethren think me a stranger.
Only God can work that. So let us
intercede for one another even as Christ interceded for us.
BORE REPROACH FOR US
Psalm 69: 9: For the zeal of thine house
hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen
upon me. 10: When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was
to my reproach. 11: I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to
them. 12: They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song
of the drunkards. 13: But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in
an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth
of thy salvation. 14: Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me
be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 15: Let not
the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the
pit shut her mouth upon me. 16: Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is
good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 17: And
hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. 18: Draw
nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. 19:
Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are
all before thee. 20: Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness:
and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for
comforters, but I found none. 21: They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my
thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Christ pleased not himself but willingly
bore reproach for the sake of saving his people. This is the verse Paul quotes in our text—"For
the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that
reproached thee are fallen upon me.” In
his zeal for God’s house, our Lord cast the money changers out of the temple in
righteous anger. But it only brought upon
him the reproaches of men who hated God his Father
When he wept for our sins, what happened?—"When
I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.” Everything
Christ did or said, sinners twisted it, slandered him and threw it back in his
teeth. When he wept over man’s sins
sinners reproached him. He wept at the
grave of Lazarus and over the city of Jerusalem, on account of their willful
rejection and the ruin coming upon them; he wept in the garden and on the cross
with strong crying and tears, yet it only brought reproach upon him from
sinners who hated him as much as they hated his Father.
He went without food ministering to helpless sinners, preaching
the gospel to them, healing the sick. He
even went 40 days and nights fasting as he resisted the temptation of the devil. On one occasion, our Savior went without
sleep the night before in order to minister to sinners then as he preached the
next day there were so many around him that he could not eat bread. His own nearest family reproached him. They “went out to lay hold on him: for
they said, “He is beside himself” (Mk 3:21). In order to fulfill the law, he
must have fasted the day he was crucified because the law required the children
of Israel to afflict their souls on the day of atonement. Yet, after all that, sinners reproached him,
saying things like, “by the prince of devils casteth he out devils” (Mk 3:22).
When he bore the sin and shame of his
people, men reproached him—"I made sackcloth also my garment; and I
became a proverb to them.” As he bore our sins on the cross, men passed by reproaching
him
Matthew 27: 40:
And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three
days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41: Likewise
also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42:
He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him
now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43: He trusted in God;
let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
44: The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his
teeth.
Even after his death they called him “that deceiver”
(Mt 27:63). And
it was all men—"They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was
the song of the drunkards.” From
judges and religious leaders to the musicians who wrote the song of the drunkards,
all kinds of men reproached him.
Luke 7: 31: And
the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to
what are they like? 32: They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace,
and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not
danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 33: For John the Baptist
came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. 34: The
Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man,
and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 35: But wisdom is
justified of all her children.
When reproached for the good he was doing,
did our Substitute please himself by reviling back? No, he said, “But as for me, my prayer is
unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy
hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.” He only wanted the Father to deliver him when
it was acceptable, that is, when justice had been fully satisfied. But he never reviled back. He kept casting his care on the Father,
praying, “Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be
delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the
waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit
shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn
unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face
from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto my
soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. Thou hast known my
reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for
some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They
gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” In 1 Peter 3 we see what the Righteous One was doing as
he prayed this to the Father.
1 Peter 3:19: For
this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering
wrongfully. 20: For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your
faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for
it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21: For even hereunto
were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps: 22: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in
his mouth: 23: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered,
he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, [everything he
bore was for us, he suffered what we deserved] that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25: For ye
were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop
of your souls.
So, brethren, when we do well and are
reproached, even if a weak brother unrighteously judges your motives, remember
the reproaches Christ bore for us. It
may require us to bear slanderous reproaches in order to bear a weak brother’s infirmities
but let us do so following Christ our example who did the same for us. Remember how he bore it patiently without
reviling again. God help us not to
revile and threaten. Remember how Christ
committed his cause to God that judges righteously and God give us grace to do
the same.
Romans 15: 3: For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is
written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 4: For whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures
might have hope.
God teach us and make us learn Christ that we might believe on him
for all salvation and follow him in our walk.
Our patience and comfort are knowing that Christ fully accomplished our
warfare making us accepted of God. Therefore,
knowing he shall hear us and deliver us out of our light affliction—"For the LORD
heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners” (Ps 69:33)—our hope is a good hope, Christ alone!
Amen!