It will be my purpose this morning,
breaking from our regular consecutive ministry of expounding a given
section of the Word of God, to address myself to the very practical
question, Christmas, to celebrate or not to celebrate, that is
the issue. We have come again to that time
of the year called the Christmas or the Yuletide season. And whether
we like it or not, we're forced to reckon with that indisputable
reality. The crowded stores, the gaily
lighted and ornately decorated public places, the dozens of
cards stuffed into our mailboxes, the kids off from school botching
up our plans for how to get our work done at home, these are
all grim and hard-nosed facts that we cannot avoid the Christmas
season is upon us. Now, since a Christian is called
upon to glorify God in the real world in which he lives, and
since the Christmas season is a part of that world, the child
of God must wrestle with this matter and come to some definitive
position, both with respect to his attitudes and his actions
in the Christmas season. You just can't blink your eyes
and hope the thing will go away. I've tried that many times, and
it doesn't work. Now, to come to some definitive,
that is, clear, well-defined biblical convictions in this
area is most difficult because there is a threefold pressure
impinging both upon our minds and upon our spirits. There is
the pressure of tradition. There is innocent tradition,
which is hard to relinquish, which is hard objectively to
evaluate. There is bad tradition, towards
which it is easy to react negatively and overreact. And there's the
second line of pressure, and that's personal and sentimental
attachments or detachments from ways of celebrating or not celebrating
the holiday. And then, of course, there is
the third pressure coming from society itself, the pressure
Paul was conscious of as he sought to glorify God in his generation,
and therefore said, don't let the world squeeze you into its
mold. Romans 12 and verse 2. So whenever we're called upon
as Christians to think clearly and write thinking, undergirds
right action, We must try to come at the subject at hand,
clearing away the fog and the mist of tradition, sentiment,
and the pressure of society, and lay hold of undeniable, indisputable
facts, both of scriptural revelation and of what we might call natural
revelation, or the facts as they confront us in our own experience. And so what I propose to do this
morning is, first of all, to start with three indisputable
facts relative to the celebration of Christmas. Now, I say indisputable. Some of you may want to argue
with them. But I hope, if you have any argument, you will see
me personally, and I hope to demonstrate to any objective
mind the factuality of these assertions. Having done that,
we're then going to consider in the second place the simplistic
response to these facts. And there are two simplistic
responses to these facts. And then in the third place,
and this will form the bulk of our study, I want to lay before
you the biblical principles which must guide us in answering the
question, Christmas, to celebrate or not to celebrate, that's the
issue. All right, then the indisputable
facts relative to the celebration of Christmas. Fact number one.
There is no biblical warrant for the remembrance of the day
of Christ's birth as a day of special religious celebration. There is no biblical warrant
for the remembrance of the day of Christ's birth as a day of
special religious celebration. Now, listen to my words. I've
chosen them carefully and worked them and reworked them. I did
not say there is no biblical warrant for the remembrance of
Christ's birth. I hope you remember the wonder
of the Incarnation many, many times throughout the year, and
stand amazed that He who was the eternal Word became flesh
and dwelt amongst us. I hope you remember again and
again, as you come to such passages as Philippians 2, the wonder
of the Incarnation, the self-emptying of the Son of God, There's a
sense in which every time we come to the communion service
we remember His birth, for He says, this is my body, a body
assumed in the mystery of the Incarnation. So I'm not saying
there is no biblical warrant for the remembrance of Christ's
birth. I did say there is no biblical warrant for the remembrance
of the day of Christ's birth as a day of special religious
celebration. Now, as Christians, we are convinced
that all religious ceremonies must be expressly commanded or
laid upon us by just and necessary inference from the Word of God.
When it comes to religious ceremonies, we look for precept, that is,
command, or precedent, that is, example, from the Word of God.
And as Christians, we will not allow our consciences to be bound
by any word of man, any tradition of man, any tradition of the
Church for religious celebrations, for religious ceremony, for religious
activity. We say to the law and to the
testimony, if they speak not according to this word, do not
bind my conscience. And frankly, I've never met anyone
who claims that the celebration of Christmas was rooted in a
desire to obey some very clear precept or precedent set down
in the Scriptures. No, we are commanded to remember
His death. in the breaking of bread and
wine set apart as emblems of that death. We are commanded
to forsake not the assembling of ourselves together. We are
commanded to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. We are
commanded to make disciples and to baptize them. Therefore, these
religious ceremonies, gathering to His table, the baptism of
confessed disciples, the periodic gathering for the singing of
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and the exposition of the
Word. These are not traditions. These
are laid upon our consciences by the explicit command of God
and by the apostolic precedent. But there is no command in the
Word of God to remember the day of Christ's birth as a day of
special religious celebration. And since the Christian conscience
cannot be bound by traditions of men, this may explain to some
of you why in this place there is no special remembrance of
the day of Christ's birth as a congregation? Why don't the
elders call a Christmas Eve service? Why don't we call a Christmas
Day service? Why do we not sing the great
old carols here on the Lord's Day prior to or immediately following
Christmas? Well, for the simple reason that
we would be binding the consciences of Christians to engage in something
for which we had no biblical warrant. That's what we would
be doing. We would be binding your conscience
to remember Christmas. And we would be doing so without
warrant for the Word of God. Now, why have we chosen psalms
to sing this morning? Because God says we are to minister
one to another in psalms. Why have we chosen hymns and
spiritual songs? Because He says, speaking one
to another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. and therefore
we have no problem binding your conscience as a Christian this
morning to lift up your voice in praise to God in psalm and
hymn because we have clear warrant. But if we were to try to cause
all of you to give some special significance here in the stated
gathering of God's people to the day called Christmas, we
would do so without biblical warrant. Fact number one, There
is no biblical warrant for the remembrance of the day of Christ's
birth as a day of special religious celebration. Fact number two,
the setting apart of December 25th as a day of special commemoration
of Christ's birthday is rooted in a pseudo-Christian and pagan
tradition. The setting apart of December
25th as a day of special commemoration of Christ's birthday is rooted
in a pseudo, that is, false, partial, shallow, Christian and
pagan tradition. Now, all of the reading I've
been able to do on this, there seems to be pretty much unanimous
conviction by historians that a statement such as the one I
am about to read is, in all main points, its main points, accurate.
The December 25th date comes from a pagan observance of the
birthday of the unconquered sun. A fortnight, that is, two weeks
of festivities, was highlighted by feasts, parades, special music,
gift-giving, lighted candles, and green trees. Ambitious church
members and, in 336, Emperor Constantine declared, quote,
Christ's birthday an official Roman holiday. In other words,
if you can't fight him, join him. Some church members objected
to the observance. Tertullian, a sharp-tongued critic,
denounced it as pagan in its origin. Chrysostom rebuked weak
Christians for adopting such worldly customs. The protests
were overruled, and for centuries since, Western nations have revered
December 25th as the anniversary of the birth of the Lord. In
other sections of the Visible Church, the celebration goes
on in January, and I think there's another wing in which it is carried
on later on in the spring. So then all who have any acquaintance
with the history of the Church and pagan Roman history and the
history of the Roman Catholic Church as we now know its present
form, going back to Constantine's so-called Christianizing of the
Roman Empire, agree that the origin of setting apart December
25th is of pseudo-Christian and of pagan origination. Therefore, the conscience of
a Christian sensitive to holding on to traditions that may not
be explicitly taught in the Word, but are the fruit of the most
blessed periods of the Church's history, need never feel at all
disturbed if he looks with great suspicion upon this tradition.
In other words, there are certain traditions, such as the tradition
of gathering for special instruction prior to worship services. As
we talked in the adult class a few weeks ago, there's no command,
thou shalt have an hour of instruction called Sunday school, but there
is a general mandate to teach and to instruct the people of
God. And there is, in that sense, an evangelical tradition that
is a good tradition. It does not violate any precept
or precedent, and a Christian has a sense of obligation to
listen to his brethren who've gone before him, have lived previous
to him. But with reference to this tradition,
one need never fear that if he looks upon it with suspicion,
he is being, as it were, proudly arrogant and indifferent to a
better tradition within the framework of true believers. No, the setting
apart of December 25th as a day of special commemoration of Christ's
birthday is rooted in a pseudo-Christian and pagan tradition. And the
third indisputable fact is this. The current celebration of Christmas
is essentially – don't you leave out my essentially – essentially
pagan, humanistic, and ungodly in all its ramifications. The
current celebration of Christmas is essentially pagan, humanistic,
and ungodly in all its ramifications. Now, at the highest level, it's
humanistic. That is, when people talk about
goodwill, peace, harmony, the better life, when they think
of Christmas in its most elevated ways, it's purely humanistic.
That is, it begins with man and ends with man. For instance,
the annual Christmas prayer written by someone who either works for
or under New York Life Insurance Company, and this appears as
a full-page ad in Time magazine every year, a prayer of this
nature. Listen to this God-centered prayer. Let us pray that strength,
it's called a Christmas prayer, let us pray that strength and
courage abundant be given to all who work for a world of reason
and understanding. That the good that lies in every
man's heart may day by day be magnified. That men will come
to see more clearly not that which divides them, but that
which unites them. That each hour may bring us closer
to a final victory, not of nation over nation, but of man over
his own evils and weaknesses. He's praying, you see, that man
will be his own savior. That's exactly what it's saying.
That the true spirit of this Christmas season, Dash, its joy,
its beauty, its hope, and above all, its abiding faith, may live
among us. That the blessings of peace be
ours, the peace to build and grow, to live in harmony and
sympathy with others, and to plan for the future with confidence. You see, God doesn't enter into
this whole thing. Man's betterment is the beginning, middle, and
end, and it'll come by man's own steam. Now that's the kind
of humanism that pervades Christmas at the highest level. Then you
descend to the office parties, the pinching of secretaries,
kissing under mistletoe, half-drunk, and then you see the orgiastic
nature of this type of celebration. And then when you descend to
the programmed spirit of covetousness, by that little red gimme man
called Santa Claus. What do you want? I want Santa
to give me this and that and the other. I don't think any
thinking person, Christian or non-Christian, would dispute
this third statement of fact. The current celebration of Christmas
is essentially pagan humanistic and ungodly in all its ramifications. This being so, a Christian knows
that he is faithfully and forcefully to resist everything that is
humanistic, pagan and ungodly. A Christian is not indifferent
to humanism. That's why some of us can't stomach the public
school system. We cannot accept the fact that humanism and theism
will exist as viable options side by side. We say this is
God's world. And that child of mine is God's
creature. And he must know himself and
his world through the eyes of God's Word. We cannot stomach
humanism. Not a viable option. Another
alternative. The Christian stands against
humanism. He is called upon not to absorb
the counsel of the ungodly. According to Ephesians 5 is to
reprove the unfruitful works of darkness. Well then, in the
light of those three facts, that we've given you. What shall a
Christian do? Well, let me give the simplistic
answers. Two classes of Christians. You
know what some of you are doing right now? You're saying, I hope
he's on my side. I know exactly what some of you are thinking
because sitting here this morning are some of you who have a simplistic
answer and you're just hoping I'll be your David to slay those
Goliaths. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint
you. Now listen, because right up till now, some even say, give
it to him, give it to him, give it to him, and now how can he
say those things and not come down on my side? Now a simplistic
answer, you see, is the answer of one who has that uncanny ability
to make complex issues overly simple in their resolution. I've
often wished for the mind of a woman when wrestling with profound
theological problems. Now don't anyone say I'm a chauvinist.
No, this is one of the reasons why God has not decreed that
women should take a place of leadership in teaching. God has
constituted her mind much more profound in the fulfillment of
her role as a mother. And I'm amazed at the wisdom
my wife has in areas where I'm as stupid as can be. And I give
due deference to the woman's uncanny ability psychologically
and mentally to fulfill the role for which God made her. And that's
all that was behind my statement. But I've been amazed at how women
can, with one simple statement, resolve the theological problems
that have just stretched the minds of the most profound Christian
thinkers for centuries. And my wife has done that so
many times, to my amazement. That's what a simplistic answer
is, you see. It's oversimplifying an issue
by failing to take into account all of its complex concomitants
and ingredients. Now, here are two simplistic
responses to those three facts. On the one hand, there is this
response. All Christians, and I've chosen
my words carefully, should, in attitude and action and example,
have nothing to do with the day and see to it that no one else
does. No gifts, no cards, no trees, no carols, no nothing.
And if you get anywhere near them, they're going to give you
tracts on why Christmas is pagan and nobody ought to have anything
to do with it. But now, descending from the
humor, listen carefully, in their hearts they cannot help but condemn
and judge all who have anything to do with it. We're told in
1644 the English Puritans forbade the observance and made December
25th a regular market day, and even if you made certain types
of plum pudding or other things, it was illegal because they were
considered pagan foods, made in celebration of that pagan
day. Now that's a very self-consistent position, but may I say it is
a simplistic answer. On the other hand, you have the
other simplistic answer that says all Christians should seek
to capture Christmas for Christ. Make every gift speak of God's
great gift. Make the tree remind you of that
tree upon which the Son of God hung. And even tell the children
this. As that tree is the place from which the gifts are distributed,
so God's gifts are given on the basis of the death of Christ.
And, listen carefully now, they look upon anyone who will not,
quote, capture Christmas for Christ as being guilty of sinful
retreat. And they say, you're giving up
the day to the devil. What kind of testimony is that? Now, I'm
going to suggest that both of these positions are wrong simply
because they are simplistic. They fail to take into account
the whole picture, and they absolutize for others, and that's the worst
part of the error. They make what is a personal
conviction a universal duty. And there are some of you sitting
here this morning that are sinning against God and against your brethren
in that very area. Well, you say, Pastor Martin,
do you have another position? No, I don't. I have no position
to give you this morning. What I have to give you, and
this is the third area of our study, is some fundamental biblical
principles by which you must wrestle to your own position.
and allow your brother and sister the same liberty to wrestle with
the same principles and come to His position and not end up
the same way you do. And if God will help us to come
to that, then the study together will have been profitable. Now
turn, please, to Romans 14. That's why we had Pastor Blaise
read the passage, because Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 are the passages with which we
must wrestle when treating any subject of this nature. You remember in the reading,
the apostle was dealing with the eating or the non-eating
of meat. He's dealing with the observance
of certain religious days that were a carryover from the Jewish
calendar. And he talked about days in verse
6. He talked about meats in 1 Corinthians
8, the parallel passage. He talks about the partaking
of meat that has been offered to an idol. You talk about something
that had a pagan origin. What was more pagan than meat
that had been offered up in the worship of an idol? And yet Paul
says there are certain Christians, regardless of the origin of that
meat, can eat to the glory of God. So when you come with this
whole origin bit, and that's why I've never had much sympathy
with these tracks, that say, if you only knew what the origin
of Christmas was, you'd have not... My friend, may I ask you
a simple question this morning? Do you know the origin of buttons
on a men's coat? How many of you men who wear
buttons on your... All you men, look down, you got
buttons on your jacket, right there. Now, how many of you know
the origin of that? All right, suppose I were to
tell you that that goes back to a day when people thought that
demons could come in under your coats unless you buttoned them
down. Now, I'm not saying that is the
origin, but suppose. See, you don't know. There are
many things that you presently indulge in, the origin of which
you know nothing about. So you see, this whole business,
if we know the origin, that's flatly contradicted. Paul says
the origin of that meat is temple worship of an idol. And yet he
goes on to say that a man can eat that meat to the glory of
God. So then, let's reckon with the principles. What are they?
Four principles. I hope, well, we're just going
to have to cover them. I may have to cover them a bit more
briefly than I had anticipated. Let's look at them. We must recognize
that nothing of this nature is intrinsically evil. Verse 14,
I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean
of itself, save to him who accounteth anything to be unclean. To him
it is unclean. Verse 20, overthrow not for meat's
sake the work of God. All things indeed are clean. Now, you see, in the context,
what Paul is saying is this. Here were Christians divided.
Shall I be a vegetarian? Shall I not be a vegetarian?
In the 1 Corinthians 8 passage, the question was, shall I eat
meat that has been offered to an idol, or shall I not eat meat
that's been offered to an idol? Now, the problem with that mentality
is that people were thinking in terms of the evil being in
the meat itself. And Paul says, no, I am persuaded
in the Lord Jesus, that is, under the full canopy of His authority
dictating the conclusions of my mind, that nothing is intrinsically
unclean. That is, no material object is
unclean. It is the creation of God. And
therefore, when we come to this whole question, shall I or shall
I not celebrate Christmas? We're not talking now what the
church does in setting aside a religious celebration. We've
cleared the decks of that business. But we're talking now, what shall
you do in your home? Shall you or shall you not have
a Christmas tree? Shall you or shall you not give
Christmas cards? Shall you or shall you not have
a Christmas dinner? Well, remember this. A tree is
a creature of God. There is nothing intrinsically
evil in a tree, be it oak tree, maple tree, fir tree, balsam
tree, blue spruce, white spruce, and anything in between. Can
anyone show me from the Scriptures where God says a tree is intrinsically
evil? Now, my friend, I ask you a simple
question. Can you show me anything from the Bible that says a tree
is intrinsically evil? It's an evil object. Well, of
course you can. All right? Anything intrinsically evil with
having one of God's gifts in my home? Oh, you say you're trying
to justify Christmas? No. Seventeen years of married
life, there's only been two years when a Christmas tree has been
in our home. I'm not justifying my own position. I'm trying to
get you to see a biblical principle. Is there anything intrinsically
evil with a colored light? Only pure white lights are virtuous? If so, we're sinning. We've got
a yellow tint on the glass there. You see what I'm driving at?
Is there anything intrinsically evil with a parent giving a gift
to a child? Be it socks, toys, roller skates,
ice skates. A new item of clothing? Of course
not. The Bible says that desire to give good gifts to children
is a little reflection of the benevolent heart of God who delights
to give good gifts to His children. If you, being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall the Heavenly
Father give good gifts to those who ask Him? Is there anything
intrinsically evil? With a turkey or a ham being
set apart for a special meal on a special day? Of course not.
The Scripture says all of the foods are gifts of God and are
sanctified by the Word of God in prayer. Any mentality, therefore,
and this is the large fundamental conclusion we draw from the first
principle, any mentality which looks upon the thing itself as
evil is an anti-biblical mentality. And the origin of a thing has
nothing to do with its being evil or not evil. in terms of
its pagan or non-pagan origin. Is the thing itself a gift of
God? Is friendship, the desire to
share with one another, the desire to enjoy food and fellowship
about a table, are those things intrinsically evil? Yes or no? Or are they gifts of God? Oh,
they are gifts of God, obviously. Yes, but – well, hang in there.
Just get them one by one. Principle number one, we must
recognize that nothing of this nature is intrinsically evil. Verse 14, verse 20. Principle
number two, we must come to individual convictions under the Lordship
of Christ. Look at verses 4 to 9. Who art
thou that judgest the servant of another? To his own Lord he
standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand,
for the Lord hath power to make him stand. One man esteemeth
one day above another. Here's a man who still finds
great meaning in remembering some of the old Jewish festive
days. Here's another man who says,
look, I got the real thing, man. I don't need types and shadows.
Every day is a Sabbath. Every day is a Passover. Every
day is a Jubilee day. Every day is a feast. The man
says, well, blessings on you, Henry, but I still like to remember
the special days. One man esteems one day above
another. and other esteems every day alike.
Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. He that regardeth
the day, regardeth it to the Lord. Here that new Christian
at Rome gets up and says, I think of all the years when I went
through the show in the form of special feast days and I didn't
know from nothing about what it was all about. Thank you,
Lord, I can come to this special day. Now I see the real meaning
of it in Jesus Christ. And he remembers that day especially
as to the Lord. What about the other fellow?
No, he doesn't. He that eateth, eateth to the
Lord, and he giveth God thanks. And he that eateth not, unto
the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth
to himself, and none dieth to himself. Whether we live, we
live unto the Lord. Whether we die, we die to the
Lord. Whether we live or die, we're the Lord's. To this end,
Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of
the dead and of the living. Verse 22, the faith which thou
hast have to thyself before God, happy is he that judges not himself
in that which he approveth. Now what's the distilled essence
of these words? It's this. You and I must come
to personal convictions under the Lordship of Christ. First
of all, notice the emphasis upon the individuality of the convictions,
and then secondly, the sphere of those convictions. The individuality
is underscored in these words, the end of verse 5, Let each
man be fully assured in his own mind Let each man, assured in
his own mind, in other words, you cannot rest on the convictions
of another, nor blindly follow the example of another." I often
have people say, Pastor, what do you do about Christmas? I
say, that's none of your business. I don't say it that way. But time is pressing, and I don't
have time to be diplomatic now, and I have to... In essence,
I tell a person, what difference does that make to you, what I
do? What I do is the fruit of my own persuasion under the Lordship
of Christ. You want to enter into the fruit
of my labors? No, no. Let each man be fully persuaded
in his own mind. Now, if that's so, then Paul
is assuming that there will not be perfect uniformity amongst
the people of God in matters of things indifferent. Now, you
don't have to say to a man, let every man be fully persuaded
in his own mind whether or not he ought to steal or fornicate.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Where the law of God speaks with clarity, there is unanimity of
mind amongst the people of God. But in these areas, the emphasis
of Scripture is individuality of conviction. But now the second
strand of emphasis is conviction framed not in a vacuum, or in
the context of carnal desire, or the pressure of tradition
or society, but conviction formed in the context of the Lordship
of Christ. Look at the emphasis. Verse 6,
He that regardeth the day regardeth it not unto his relatives, but
unto the Lord. You see, For to the Lord he gives
thanks, and he that eateth not, to the Lord he gives thanks.
None lives to himself, none dies to himself. Whether we live,
we die, we're the Lord's. To this end, Christ died and
lived that he might be Lord. And then he goes on to say, and
we'll give account to him. You see, to wrestle these things
through in the context of individuality, detached from the Lordship of
Christ, is to set yourself up as a God. but we are to wrestle
them through in the context of conscious acknowledgment, Jesus
is Lord, He is my God, He is my gracious Sovereign and Savior,
I want to please Him, and one day I shall be judged by Him,
verses 10 through 12. Therefore, it is not my personal
convictions arrived at on the basis of the inclinations of
flesh, tradition, or the dictates of the world. Let me get it down
to the nitty-gritty. Is every day in the calendar
year God's day? All right, December 25th is His
day. He is Lord of Christmas Day. And whatever I do must be
with conscious recognition, Jesus Christ is Lord of December 26th
and the 24th and November 6th and any other day in the calendar.
I don't suspend the Lordship of Christ simply because the
world and the decadent church said December 25th is Christmas
Day. I hope you don't do that. He's
Lord. The money in my pocketbook that
is to be spent or not to be spent for gifts, whose money is it? The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. The world and all they that dwell
therein. I'm going to give account of
the stewardship of my money, not just January through November. What I do in December, I shall
give an account of the deeds done in the body, verse 12. Every
one of us shall give account of himself to God, and part of
that accountability is the stewardship of my money. My body is his,
a temple of the Holy Ghost. It's not to be abused with gluttony
or drunkenness January through November. Neither is it to be
abused with gluttony and drunkenness during the month of December.
I must frame convictions about feasting, the measure of it,
under the Lordship of Christ, drinking under the Lordship of
Christ. If I feast, It must be as under
his eye. Lord Jesus, thank you for the
bounty you've provided. And as long as we have the record
of our Lord attending special feasts, no one can say that feasting
in itself is a sin. He was holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. But when a man got saved and
the only way he could show his joy was to have a feast and call
in his friends, Jesus went and he didn't sit there as a party
pooper. The scribes and Pharisees saw him taking into that meat
so well and coughing down his wine, they said, a wine-bibber
and a glutton. He was no party pooper. He didn't
sit there with a hyper-spiritual face, feasting and shit. What a distorted view of our
Lord. He wasn't a party pooper at Canaan
and Galilee either. He really got the party going.
Things were winding down. No more wine. The Lord turned
it, that water into wine, and they said, boy, most people float
the bad stuff at the end, but you've kept the best till now.
Isn't that what the scripture says? The devil didn't write
that, God did. Oh, but if I feast, I must feast
under his lordship. Lord Jesus, I receive the good
gifts you've given. If there is to be the sharing
of gifts, it is under his lordship. If there is to be any other kind
of celebration of the day as a national institution, as a
family institution, we're not talking now about intruding into
the Church of God and giving religious significance. No, we're
talking about what we do as families, as individuals. I must come to
personal convictions under the Lordship of Christ. Principle
number three, we must not stand in judgment over those whose
persuasion and activity differ from ours. The same Paul who said, let every
man be fully assured in his own mind, says with recurring emphasis,
don't judge your brother whose full persuasion differs from
yours. Look at the emphasis, verse 3.
Let not him that eateth, set it not him that eateth not. Let
not him that eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath
received him. Who are you to judge the servant
of another? To his own Lord he standeth or
falleth. Verse 13, Let us not therefore
judge one another any more. You see, Paul was an astute observer
of human nature. When a man wrestles through a
matter individually under the Lordship of Christ, the issue
becomes so clear to him that he reasons, if it is so clear
in my mind, after my spiritual discipline of wrestling It should
be equally clear to every other person if he's wrestled as hard
as I have with the problem. You see the stinking pride involved
in that? You're saying, I have greater
spiritual sensitivity. I have greater spiritual comprehension. I have greater breadth of mind
and sensitivity of spirit. Therefore, my conclusion must
be the best. And therefore, I'm right to say
to you, brother, you're wrong. You haven't really thought the
thing through. You can have that abominable tree in your house.
You're just not with it. You see? On the other hand, his
tendency is to look at me. If I'm a non-indulger and to
say, look, how in the world can you claim to be Christian? There's
so many areas where you've got to say no to your kids because
the law of God demands it. You're going to make them unnecessarily
bitter. You're going to turn them against you. How can you
have any real love in your heart as a father and not give them
some gifts? Let them have a tree. You see what happens? The man
who indulges judges him who does not. The man who does not indulge
judges him who does. And God nowhere says you shall
or shall not remember Christmas as a personal, family, national
institution. But he does say at any point
where you judge anyone, you're guilty of sin. That's clear. The other's not clear. This is
clear. Who art thou to judge another
man's servant? You're both guilty of wickedness. You've set yourself up as a judge
and you've usurped the place of Jesus Christ. I direct your attention again
to verse 6. He that regardeth the day, regardeth
it unto the Lord. I've been in Christian families
where I've seen Christ honoring Christmas days, where a father
would gather his family together in just the sheer joy of being
able to express parental love, not with trinkets and junk, but
with necessary items for the child's well-being, and that
includes some things to play with. And they've stored up those
things instead of spreading them out over the year. They give
them a year's worth on that special day. And they've gathered families
about tables and thanked God for his goodness through another
year and the happiness and the beauty of their family relationships.
They thank God for the one who's made it all possible. And they've
regarded that day as unto the Lord. And I resent, I think,
with biblical resentment anyone saying that that cannot be done.
I may not be able to do it. But do I believe my brother's
walking in his integrity before God? Do I believe he's my brother? Then let me allow him the liberty
of his integrity. Yes, my brother, you may. I cannot. But I believe you regard that
day as unto the Lord. Now, I know this has been a mystery
to a lot of people. And for years, in our own situation, when we
had no tree because there was no good reason to have one, I
know it was a mystery to some of you because you've indicated
to me how in the world I could go year after year and never
preach against Christmas trees. It's not my business. We had
to be fully persuaded in our own mind. But convinced that
you were being fully persuaded in your mind, there's perfect
latitude and liberty before God. You see, there's the principle.
Here's the man who gives thanks. Now, there's some of the rest
of you. You get up on a Christmas morning. You know how you give thanks
to God? You say, Lord, thank you. Where once my life depended
on these periodic shots in the arm to make life meaningful,
you've brought me to the knowledge of your incarnate, crucified,
glorified Son. I thank you, Lord. We don't need
gifts and trees and trinkets anymore. And you have a hallelujah
day without one semblance of Christmas in your house. You
abstain from the day as unto the Lord. Two houses away, there's
the equally godly brother, sister, regarding the day as unto the
Lord. Now, that's biblical, brothers, sisters. One regards the day
as to the Lord, another bypasses the day, but to God he gives
thanks. We must be careful not to judge
one another. Fourth principle is, we must
be careful not to unnecessarily cause others to violate their
conscience. That's the whole teaching of
verses 13 to 23. And you notice I'm just giving
you not a detailed exegesis, but the general principles. Verses
13 to 23, the emphasis is, though you must come to personal convictions
under the Lordship of Christ, not stand in judgment upon your
brother, you not only have the responsibility to judge him not,
you have a second responsibility do not cause him unnecessarily
to stumble. Verse 13, let us not therefore
judge one another anymore, but judge ye this rather that no
man put a stumbling block in his brother's way or an occasion
of falling. And then he enlarges on that
whole concept and carries it on into chapter 15, verses 1
through, oh, through verse 6. that we have this responsibility
to one another. Now this matter of causing offense,
and I hope to go into it in greater detail, I want to bring a more
detailed series on the whole doctrine of Christian liberty
in the coming months, but suffice it to say this, this causing
offense does not mean that I do something that causes another
man to judge me. That's the way it's generally
interpreted. In other words, you bend to my standard or you
grieve me. No, no, no. If you're judging
me, my brother, I'm going to stand my ground until you learn
your lesson. You're not to judge me. Now then,
when you've learned that lesson and you don't judge me, then
if your conscience is being emboldened to partake in activities that
to you are sin because of my example, then for your sake I
will forego the exercise of my liberty. lest I encourage you
in a course of sin. For if you indulge in anything
that you cannot do with good conscience as under the Lordship
of Christ, Paul says you don't do it in faith. That is sin.
And he goes on to say it's not good to eat wine, drink meat,
do drink wine, eat meat, do anything whereby thy brother is caused
to stumble. And therefore, we must seek to
be sensitive to one another. For instance, It would not be
right if you knew that someone in the congregation felt very
deeply about Christmas observance. To them, to them, a Christmas
tree, gifts, a special meal with sin, it would be the height of
callousness for you, if you knew that, to invite them over to
your home to try to persuade them. Paul says, no, the opening
words, verse 1, him that is weak in faith, receive ye, yet not
for what? disputations about his scruples.
Don't invite him over to try to convince him. If you know
that your celebration of Christmas as a family day and a family
institution would be an offense to him, don't you invite him
over, lest you cause him to participate in activities which to him are
sin. But now, my friend, listen, if
you are such a weak brother or sister and someone innocently
invites you, Then have enough Christian grace to say, look,
I appreciate the expression of your love, but I'm fully persuaded
in my own mind that Christmas and everything connected is out
of bounds for me. I don't judge you. The Lord bless
you and give you a good day. But I really feel that I ought
to decline your invitation. You see, it works both ways.
So that instead of these differences being the occasion of friction
and mutual judging, what do they become? they become the occasion
of manifesting the selfless love of Christ. Look at chapter 15.
We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and
not to please ourselves. Let each one of us please his
neighbor for that which is good unto edifying. For Christ also
pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of
them that reproach thee fell on me. Is it possible that here
in this congregation There can be as many different ways of
non-participation or participation in Christmas as there are people,
and we can come through it without judging one another, without
offending one another, without causing one another to stumble.
Well, if we're acting biblically, we can. Now, you see, some of
you are disappointed, aren't you? Pastor, you haven't given
us any... Yeah, I know, you're a good Roman
Catholic. and you want everything all thrashed out, thou shalt...
The Bible doesn't do it, my friend. And if you're too lazy to wrestle
through the principles in the presence of God under the Lordship
of Christ, then it serves you right for being disappointed.
You must do this. You as parents, you as heads
of family, you as single men and women. And then I feel I
must say just a word. In closing exhortation, first
of all, to some of the unconverted amongst us. Some of you may be
sitting here saying, what a killjoy, what a modern Scrooge. I mean,
the world's a mess. Everything in the Middle East
about to blow up, fuel shortage, energy crisis. And here we've
got a few days to forget everything and have a good old rip snorting
time. And you tell us that God nowhere
lays it upon us. My friend, listen, the reason
you don't understand that is because we've tasted realities
that you know nothing of. We don't need to nibble on the
sawdust of office parties and spiked eggnog and a fat turkey
to find a little meaning in life. We found him of whom Moses and
the prophets did speak. The star of David has risen in
our hearts. He's risen there, you see? Now,
you can't understand that. You see, we don't need those
things to give life meaning. Because the one who was born,
whenever he was born, and it wasn't December 25th. Whenever
he was born, he's been born in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.
And he has brought to us what he said he would bring. I am
come that you might have life and have it more abundant. And
that's why many of us find it really fiddling while Rome burns
to even get too uptight about celebrating Christmas, because
we have the substance and the reality of the One who came at
whatever date He came, and He has come to us in saving mercy.
And my friend, maybe that's why you've been offended, even at
the thought that you shouldn't have a, quote, real Christmas. Could it be that you know nothing
of the reality of the Christ who came, came to save His people
from their sins, came to be a king, to sit upon the throne of David,
dispensing the sure mercies of David to every believing sinner? Oh, I plead with you, dear unsaved
friend, and I plead with you, dear children, you won't live
much longer before you'll discover how empty is all the anticipation
of Christmas morning. that thing that you wondered,
oh, what have mommy and daddy got for you, opened it, and it
just went sour in a day or two. That'll happen with every single
thing that's born of earth. It's only when you come to know
Him who was born from heaven that you lay hold of that gift,
which instead of tarnishing with age, becomes more and more precious
with each passing day. cry to him for mercy. And, dear Christian, I plead
with you in my closing exhortation, and I plead with you along several
very practical lines. Number one, don't let the world
squeeze you into its mold. You and I are in the midst of
a very dangerous, essentially pagan season. Don't let this
pagan world dictate what you will do. It's beneath your dignity. You're a servant of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You're no servant, no lackey
of men. You're a servant of the Lord
of glory. Be sure that everything you do
is done unto Him. And be sure whatever you cannot
do is unto Him is not done. That may mean a tremendous radical
overhauling of some of your Christmas festivities, so be it. I plead
with you, as a child of God, not to suspend conscious recognition
of the Lordship of Christ simply because it's the Christmas season.
And then my second exhortation is, don't judge one another. But you say, Pastor, I don't
see. Yes, you don't. That's right. You're fully persuaded
in your own mind and you have every right to be. Will you allow
your brother to be fully persuaded in his mind? Yes, but if no,
no, no, no, no, no. But I guess I know all about
that. So did so did the Apostle Paul. That's why he said it again
and again. That's why he said it. When you say, Pastor, you're
not being kind, you're being stubborn. No, I'm being biblical.
Don't you judge anyone else. So if you come into somebody's
home this Christmas season and you see no cards, no green, no
tree, don't you immediately say, one of those killjoys. Doesn't
love his kids. No, no. You say, I'm in the house
of my brother, whose household is ordered under the Lordship
of Christ. That's what you say. If you're
one of those, who has no such things in your home, and you
come into someone's home who does, don't you immediately assume,
uh-oh, one of these people squeezed into the mold of paganism. No,
no, my friend, to his own Lord he standeth or falleth. Those
are the great principles. May God help us to wrestle them
through, and I have no fear if we do, that in answer to the
great issue, Christmas, to celebrate or not to celebrate, the answer
we thrash out will be one for which we can give a good account
in that day when we stand before Him. It's a wonderful thing to
come through any special season, whether of trial or festivity,
with a clean conscience. And whatever else you've got
at the end of it, if you don't have that, it wasn't worth it.
May the Lord thus bring us through to His glory. Let us pray. O Lord, we are amazed again at
how complete is the revelation You have given to us. You have
left us in this blessed book all that is necessary for life
and godliness. We praise You for this. We do
not seek nor desire additional revelation. All we ask is light
to understand the revelation given and grace to follow the
light it sheds upon our path. We thank you for this time this
morning. Lord, you know how delicate an issue this is with so many.
And we pray, oh, we would be bold to pray, that grace may
be given, that none shall resist the clear teaching of the scriptures,
but that together we may be enabled by your grace to absorb and to
implement the principles that we've studied together. We do
pray that you'll help us in the midst of the wild paganism of
our day. O Lord, may there not be one
shred of compromise. May we have no fellowship with
the unfruitful works of darkness, but may we rather reprove them.
Help us as a church that we shall manifest by our very conduct,
that we will not be bound to worship you in any other way
than that dictated by the Word itself. and then in the liberty
of our own homes and individual lives, help us to be fully cognizant
of the Lordship of Christ in every area, and give us grace
not to judge one another, not to cause one another to stumble. We've asked much of you, our
Father, but we thank you, you're a great God, and that you've
stored up great grace in your beloved Son, Hear us and answer
us out of the infinite fullness that is in Him. Seal the Word
to our hearts. Help us as we work out its application. And be with us the remainder
of this day, that we may bring praise to You through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.