All right, brethren, we'll get
started. We're gonna be in Romans chapter
14. Romans chapter 14, and we're
gonna pick up in verse 10 and work our way down through verse
23, the end of the chapter. So last week, We opened with
the word that was regarding the things which cause division.
And these were things that Paul labeled as doubtful disputations. And the examples that he gave
us was foods, meats that men eat, and holy days, in regards
to holy days, the observance of special days. And he showed
that believers, whether they are strong in their Christian
liberty or what we would call weak in their understanding,
that believers, whatever it is that they do, they do it unto
the Lord. They're the Lord's people and
they're doing it unto him for his glory. Their understanding
is, I'm doing this to the praise and glory of my God who saved
me. And that's what Paul's bringing
out here. When you're laboring with brethren, when you're living
among brethren and speaking and talking and living together,
fellowshipping with one another, and issues come up, discussions
or questions arise, and suddenly you realize, whoa, this is a
matter of contention. And you're saying things, and
they're saying things, and you realize, whoa, I've This isn't
what I was expecting, but here I am. It's hard to, in that moment,
step back and just take in the fact that, wait a minute, we're
all brethren in Christ. And it's real easy, as blows
are being struck, to get upset and hurt. and start responding
in kind, if you will. And so it's hard to have a right
perspective when we're in the middle of it. But Paul reminds
us of the bigger picture here regarding our brethren. And he
says in verse three that God hath received him. Remember that
God's received your brother, just as he's received you. And
so his blood sacrifice was made for him just as his blood was
shed for you. And we're all sinners in need
of his righteousness and his atonement. Let's remember that
very fact. And because of what Christ did,
God is now our justifier. He's the one who justifies us,
all right? And so we wrapped up with verse
nine, and that says, for to this end, Christ both died and rose
and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living,
all right? While we amongst ourselves may
get into it and have disagreements or misunderstandings or feel
hurt at times, the reality is we are one in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're his people, we're his body. And so even if it's hard to see,
remember that, as he said there in verse four at the end, God
is able to make him stand. God is able to make him stand.
If he's shown you and taught you something, he's able to show
and teach them something as well. The same thing, all right? In
his time as it pleases him. I've titled today's message,
Focusing on What's Important. Focusing on what's important,
all right? And so the first thing we do
well to remember is seeing our brethren in Christ. See your
brethren in Christ. Remember that they are Christ's,
even as you are Christ's. And so, because of what our Lord
has done for us, how ought we to walk and act toward our brethren? In light of what he's done for
us, how should we walk toward our brethren? And the scriptures
show us that we're to walk in love. We are to walk in love
and be patient and kind and understanding with our brethren. And so verse
10 here in our text, it shows us that there definitely were
contentions over things Paul says are doubtful disputations,
doubtful about how important these things are and things that
we don't really have a lot of clarity on. Paul says in verse
10, but why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set
at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ. And so the weak one, right, they're
looking at their brother eating meats that they think, how do
you know where that came from? What if that was sacrificed to
an idol this morning and now you're eating it, right? Or maybe
they're eating a slice of pork and they're saying, well, I don't
think that was acceptable under the law of Moses. You shouldn't
be doing that, right? They're looking at their brother
and they're doubtful about the salvation of their brother who's
doing those things, who's strong in their liberty and not fearful. They're confident that Christ
has delivered them from that kind of legal bondage. And so as they're being approached
by this weaker brother, they're looking at them and saying they're
despising them, they're setting them at an all, and they're just
getting upset, they're probably annoyed with them, and they may
even feel like they're Judaizing them, right? Trying to bring
them under the law from which they're delivered, and so maybe
they have a harsh word for them in response to them, right? And Perhaps some were even poking
the bear, like really needling them with the fact that they
have liberty, as though that's going to somehow help them and
deliver them from the constraint that they feel on their conscience.
And so Paul is saying that whether we're the judgmental one or the
one who's despising our brethren, not being careful for our brethren,
the Lord says to us, stop it. Don't do it. You don't do it. You with understanding don't
do those things. Don't harm them. Walk in love
toward your brethren. And the reality is, as Paul,
quote from what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 10, it's very
similar to Romans 14, 10, he says, for we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. Now, just so we're clear, the
understanding that I have on this is that when we die, the
soul immediately goes to either eternal bliss in the bosom of
our Lord or to eternal woe. So there's that particular immediacy
of judgment in that regard. And then there will be, according
to the scriptures, a general judgment in which the Lord will
explicitly judge men, right, either in Christ. Now, there's
not going to be any turning of what's already been determined.
The Lord has already, you know, when you die, you're immediately
with the Lord, and that's never going to change. And verse 11
says, for it's written, right back in our text, as I live,
saith the Lord. And when the Lord says, as I
live, he's he who could swear by no greater is saying as I,
who am God. live, meaning it shall surely
come to pass, because I've spoken and every knee shall bow to me
and every tongue shall confess to God. Some willingly and some
unwillingly, but all will know that Christ is sovereign God
over all things. And he is right and just and
holy and perfect in everything he does. So then, verse 12, every
one of us shall give account of himself the God. And what Paul is saying there,
the point being that we're not to supplant the Lord. We're not the judge. We're not
to take it upon ourselves to teach our brethren a lesson or
to, you know, bring judgment upon them. We get into a lot
of trouble when we do that, don't we? And we all have painful experiences
when we've taken that upon ourselves to teach another person what
we think they have need of learning. And so he's saying, you don't
need to do that. The Lord is Lord. He's able.
This is he's able to make them stand. He will deal with them
and he'll teach them and correct them because ultimately we're
all standing before the Lord and for the Lord, he has us,
he's got us. He's got it all under control. And so as he said there in verse
four, Romans 14, four, who art thou that judgest another man's
servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he
shall be holding up for God is able to make him stand. All right,
now I'm going to just read a couple verses, because in Ephesians
chapter 4, Ephesians 4 at the end, because I just want to answer
the question, well, what are we supposed to do? What are we
supposed to do when we see others? I'm not saying living in outright
blatant sin. They're just a thief. They go
into stores, and they just take whatever they want. No, that's
not to be born with. That's obvious sin, right? But if your brother or sister
flips on the TV on Sundays, what does that to you or me? If they
have that liberty and that's what they want to do, let them
do it. So how are we to walk toward
our brethren? Ephesians 4, 31, 32. First of all, he says, let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice. One of the things that
that we can do that can be very tricky sometimes, you know, if
we want to talk about someone is, you know, should I be upset
about this? And then you go, you know, you
talk to another person. Should this bother me? Should I let
this bother me? Now, you're not talking to the person who is
bothering you or doing something. You're talking to someone else,
and you're just looking for an excuse to be able to sort of
whisper, you know, get that out there that, hey, they're doing
this. They're bothering me in what
they're doing, right? We can do those things. And that's
a sneaky way of justifying our own, you know, gossip or putting
them into bad light, you know, kind of gaining another person
onto our side in regards to these things. All right. So we don't
want to do that. And certainly we don't want to
do those things where we bring up to one another, you know,
past sins or past things that they've done, you know, or let
those things really eat at us. and keep bringing that up to
our brethren, especially those that are nearest to you, your
spouses or your good friends. We can do those things, and we
shouldn't do those either. But instead, he says, be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. So if you are being
mistreated or sinned against, If you feel that you're hurt,
you're hurt, you feel it. You can't change the fact that
you feel what you feel. And if it really does bother
you, then go and speak to them directly, privately, in a spirit
of love and kindness. But you don't have to talk about
it to others, because then when you finally do, come to them,
if it's already gotten back to them, they're already on guard,
really, and it's not gonna go too well. So the best thing you
can do is either bear with it or speak to them directly if
it's really bothering you and whatnot. I'm not saying you don't
have to bring it up, but speak to them about it in gentleness
and in love. And he says in 5 verse 1, be
ye therefore followers of God as dear children. And this is
what I mean by seeing your brethren in Christ because God our Father,
He's kind and gentle and tender toward us because of who we are
in Christ, what we are in Christ. That's why He deals with us so
mercifully, so graciously, so tenderly with such kindness is
because we stand in Christ. We're righteous in Christ. And
if God the Father receives us in Christ and he sees us in Christ
and is dealing with us in Christ, that's how we should see one
another and deal with one another. Remember that. Remember to see
them in Christ before you go charging at your brother or sister. And then he says, walk in love
as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor."
So that's really the right frame of mind for us to have with one
another. It's good for us to be there
and to fellowship with one another in that spirit. Now Romans 14,
13, let us not therefore judge one another anymore, but judge
this rather that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall
in his brother's way. So focus on loving your brethren
and doing those things that you know edify the brethren, doing
those things that you know are comfort and a joy and a pleasure
for your brethren. those things and rather than
focus on those points of contention. And some brethren who are close
that make fun of each other sometimes and joke with each other a lot,
sometimes you might cross a line and hurt them. Just be aware
that, be careful how you are towards one another because we
don't want to provoke one another. Let me show you a better perspective,
which Paul really is the one, he brings us here to see this
in a new perspective. In verse 14, he's conceding to
the brother, right, a truth, the one who's strong in Christian
liberty. He says, I know and am persuaded
by the Lord Jesus. that there is nothing unclean
of itself. And again, he's not talking about
those sins that we know are sinful, that are not loving your neighbor,
but that are an affront against your neighbor, right? Stealing
from them, lying from them, doing anything that would harm your
brethren. We know that. We don't sit, you
know, we don't yoke ourselves with the law because the spirit
of God teaches us to love one another, not to do those things
that are hurting them and harming them and provoking them. But
he says, to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him
it is unclean. Whether we agree with it being
unclean to them or not, it doesn't change the fact that to them,
it is unclean. And they don't think it should
be done. And that's just how it is. It's just what it is. A lot of times we can begin to
cool off towards brethren or cut them off because we think,
you're just a Judaizer, you're looking to the law too much,
and then we get harsh towards them. And Paul's saying, don't
do that, don't be so quick to just cut everyone off. What's
that saying that says, Everyone is lost except for you
and me, and I ain't so sure about you. You whittle down your friendship
and your closeness with brethren to such a degree that you're
just cutting everybody off who doesn't agree with you, and there's
no one that agrees 100%. So at some point, you're going
to find disagreement even with your closest ally. There's going to be differences
in our understanding of things. The truth is, if a person feels
something, if they feel a certain way towards something, it's just
how they feel. And no amount of badgering them or sticking
it in their face is going to change it. That's not going to
help anything. So it's just how they feel. If
the Lord taught you liberty, right, you can speak of liberty
and you can declare the truth of it, how Christ has saved us
and delivered us from the yoke of the law, but it's the Lord
who's got to put it in their heart. And it's the Lord that
will teach them in certain things, right? I have things, I think
I have a lot of liberty, a lot of Christian liberty, but I know
that there's things that bother me or trouble me or that I'm
not so sure about. It's just how it is, right? And
so, you know, but I trust the Lord, that in all things, I'm
his, and that's how I see it with my brethren. And you're
the Lord's, and I love you, and I believe that he loves you,
and I pray that you're gracious and kind toward me as well, all
right? We're trusting the Lord, all
right? So until the Lord gives that to a brother or sister,
He says, verse 15, if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now
walkest thou not charitably or according to charity or according
to love. And he says, destroy not him
with thy meat for whom Christ died. And he's not saying that
a redeemed soul can ever perish. We're not going to shipwreck
the faith of one for whom Christ's blood avails and has delivered
them. But he's speaking of their joy
and their rejoicing. We're not to destroy or to harm
that joy and rejoicing that our brother or sister has in Christ.
We don't want to be the upsetter of those things, basically. We
don't want to destroy, torpedo the peace that they have. And
he says, verse 16, Well, first, because our joy in Christ is
of such greater importance than just being right or just doing
things to put in their face. their joy in Christ is much more
important. So he says, let not then your good be evil spoken
of. Now, in a general sense, we know
that's the gospel, the hope of the gospel that we have. We're
not looking to detract from the beauty of the gospel, but we
want our actions to adorn the gospel of grace. We don't want
others to speak ill of our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, but
a more particular way, based on the context, when he says,
don't let your good be evil spoken of, the good understanding taught
to us by the gospel, by the spirit of grace, this liberty that we
have in Christ. We don't want to do things that
provoke our brethren in such a way that Christian liberty, therefore,
is an evil spoken of. So that's why, I mean, that's
not the only reason why, but another reason why we're careful
when we're out or anywhere, really, whether an eye is upon us or
not. But we don't want to partake of things we know are sinful.
I'm saying things that we know are not the behaviors of brethren. drunkenness and just partying
and smashing things or, you know, just doing, you know, taking
things or doing things that we know are wrong and whatnot. We don't partake of those things
because we don't want to see the gospel spoken ill of. And plus, we're the Lord's. He's
going to teach us. He's going to hold us accountable,
meaning that he'll talk to us. I mean, he'll speak to us. He'll
chasten us as we have need of chastening. And so he delivers
us from foolishness. And so it is with our brethren
as well, but that carelessness could give rise to someone being
offended, all right? So now the reality is verse 17,
for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And really what he's saying
there, and it's such a, a good way to put it in perspective,
that Christ didn't save us, right? If you're so worried about, I
have freedom to eat whatever I want, or I have freedom to
drink a glass of wine if I want. Yeah, you do, right? And what he's saying is, but
if you're with a brother or sister who doesn't approve of such things,
or doesn't have that liberty of such things, then don't do
those things that you know are going to offend them or hurt
them, because the reality is When Christ died and was resurrected,
it wasn't so that we had freedom. The chief end of our salvation
is not the freedom to eat and drink whatever we want. But it's
joy and peace. It's the righteousness of our
God. When you see it in that perspective that, wait, I've
been saved not to just have liberty to eat and drink. or have fun
on a certain day, or be sober on a certain day. That's not
the important thing. That's not why I was saved. I
was saved because Christ has made me righteous, and I'm thankful
and joyful for that, and I want my brethren to be thankful and
joyful for that as well, right? You see how there's a difference
there, just holding that in perspective of of why we were delivered from
bondage. And you can use that for a lot
of things. You know, like today, I've noticed
that a lot of young people use words that we, in older generations,
find crass and not good. We don't usually speak curse
words, what we call curse words, you know, in public. We don't
do that very often. at all and because we were taught
that's just rude and people get offended and so younger generations
they're a lot more loose with those words in public and in
the congregation certainly you shouldn't use that language because
you don't know who's visiting that day and whether it offends
them. You might take a liberty with
it you know, at home or something, but among the brethren, there's
just certain things that just are not, you know, needed. And you could actually hurt somebody
who, yeah, maybe you say, well, they're under the law and they
shouldn't get upset about that, but really, like, wouldn't the
best place for them to be is here, here in the gospel, and
for them to divide, to destroy that fellowship and separate
from you just because you think it's okay to speak that way,
that's not good. And that's exactly, that would
be a modern day example of what Paul is speaking of here. That,
no, don't, you know, just because your friends do it doesn't mean
you should do it here in the church. And really you shouldn't
do it, you know, out where it could be spoken ill of in that
sense. I'm not really trying to defend
cussing, but I'm just trying to give you an example of a modern
example of it and have you think, you know, Christ didn't save
us so that we can just let words fly out of our mouth, whatever.
He saved us that we should bear testimony of his light and grace
and joy and peace. And so that's what I mean, right?
One shouldn't get, one shouldn't count one because their, their
words are more crass and offensive. We shouldn't say they're not
a brother. And the same thing, they shouldn't use those words
where brethren could be offended. That's really where I'm going,
because ultimately that's not why Christ saved us. He saved
us by his blood and righteousness, that we might know him and have
fellowship with him. And so that's our main objective
here in life, why we're here still, okay? All right, now verse
18, he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and
approved of men." He's saying that our God receives us in Christ. The reality is we're received
in Christ and really even those that are not Christ's, those
that have no part in him, we're not by us not doing anything
to offend them, they're likely going to receive you, be more
willing to at least bear with you and receive you. Now, they
may hate you for Christ, and they may shun you or mistreat
you for Christ's sake, but at least you're not doing anything,
naturally speaking, that should offend them or upset them. All
right? So now just a few final remarks
here in these final verses. So the light of our chief end,
right, the purpose of our and being here is to glorify our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so we want to make it an
environment where we're hearing him. and coming is done in peace
and in joy where there's not distractions to the gospel, right?
We just want it to be in such a way that our brethren can hear
Christ. And so Paul says in verse 19,
let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace
and things wherewith one may edify another, right? And he says, for me, verse 20,
destroy not the work of God And that destruction is referring
back to the righteousness, the peace, and the joy in the Holy
Ghost. Don't do those things where the
Spirit of God is bearing fruit in your brethren, that hope in
Christ, that peace they have with God. Don't do anything that's
going to upset that peace in your brethren. He says there are all things
indeed are pure. All right. Every, you know, it's,
this is pure, but someone could say, well, you shouldn't drink
from a glass container in the pulpit. You know, I don't know,
but you know, you should only drink from plastic or something,
you know, just saying like there's things that people can do. And
Paul's saying, everything's pure. I know that this isn't wrong
to drink from a glass in, in the pulpit. All things are pure,
but it is evil for that one who eateth with offense. Meaning
that if it's sinful, if they think it's wrong, then they shouldn't
do it, and if they see you doing it, they're gonna be confused
and either judge you, or they're gonna start doing it without
a clean conscience, and then it is sinful for them to do it. And we'll look at that in a second.
Verse 21. He says, it's good neither to
eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother
stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. And that's the
destruction he's talking about. You're taking a weak brother
and weakening them further. You're making them even more
weak because now their peace and their joy is hurt and set
back. All right, and let me read verse
22 and 23. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself
before God. Happy is he that condemneth not
himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth
is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith, for whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. All right, and that damning is
speaking of what that brother feels in their conscience. All
right, when I've sinned done that which I know is sinful,
I feel the guilt and the shame and the condemnation of that
sin. And I feel, Lord, if you kill
me now, you are just. And I know he's just to do it. I feel that. I feel that condemnation
because of my sin. And so what he's saying is your
brother or sister, if they partake in that thing, and they think
it's wrong to partake in it, and they're doing it, now they're
bringing condemnation into their heart. Now they're feeling, Lord,
I just did that against you, which I know better. I shouldn't
do that, right? Even if we know, well, liberty,
you have liberty to do that. You shouldn't feel hurt in that
way, but they do, right? It's just reality until the Lord
gives it to them. And so our comfort, we have great comfort and peace
when our eye is fixed upon our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
don't we? And when we start dabbling in
things that we are thinking, maybe I shouldn't be doing this,
I'm not really sure, that comfort gets rattled and shaken and a
lot of times falls apart, right? And it takes his grace and kindness
toward us, that his spirit restores us to that peace and that comfort
again, until we do other things that offend. conscience and or
offend we believe offends our Lord and so keep your eye on
on Christ look to him and you that have great liberty remember
that that just like you get upset and hurt and it really can trouble
you for days maybe weeks right why would you want to do those
things why would you want to hurt your brother that way where they're
troubled and hurt for days and weeks as well so The main point
of this passage, when you're in Romans 14, is pursue those
things which edify and bring to the mind of your brethren
what Christ has accomplished, our righteousness and the peace
that we have in him and the joy in the Holy Ghost, because that's
really what's important. That's focusing on the things
which are important in our salvation. This is what Christ saved us
for, that we might know him, not have schisms and doubts and
fighting and those kinds of struggles from one another. We get enough
of that with this flesh and this world. We get enough of that
stuff, so we don't want to do that to each other. Let's seek
him and seek to grow together in him. And certainly this is
a good message for us. You know, in, if the Lord adds
more to the body, the best thing we could do is be, you know,
healed and strong and confident in the Lord and, and, and what,
and our understanding of these things so that we can be a help
helpers of their joy, right? When in Christ, by creating an
environment that is conducive to hearing his gospel without
without that distraction of offending one another. All right? And so
regarding your weak brother, remember, our Lord is able to
make him stand. Just as he grows us in grace
and we are ever dependent on him growing us in grace and keeping
us, so be confident in him. If you have a problem with somebody,
pray for them. Begin there. Knowing that it's
our Lord who saves them. So it's a work of his Salvation, right? We were regenerated
by the spirit. We're made to hear These things
by the spirit and so focus on on these things because that's
what's important. All right, let's Let's close in prayer Our
gracious lord. We thank you father for your
grace toward us and lord We ask that you would help us to see
one another even as you see us in our lord and savior. Jesus
christ Help us lord with these things that could rightly be
called doubtful disputations. Lord, it's so easy in our flesh
to spin things up and to make them more severe than they really
are. And Lord, through offense, we
can drive others away. And we don't want to be part
of that, but we want to focus on edifying our Lord and edifying
the hope that you've given to your people in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We pray that you help us to walk rightly toward one
another and in joy and in gladness of the Holy Spirit. And we thank
you for your grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his
name that we pray and give thanks, amen. All right, brethren, I
went a little over, so we'll start at five after. All right,
that'll be 15 minutes from now, so five after the hour will begin
on that clock.