Thank you, Wanda. In Romans, the 14th chapter, where we've come to in our study, if you want to turn there with me. Romans chapter 14, I'll read the first 13 verses to us. Romans chapter 14, and let's begin in verse 1. Him that is weak in the faith receive you, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs.

Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgeth another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Yea, he shall behold him up, for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another. Another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord. And he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doeth not regard it. And he that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks. And he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. But whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

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. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." These are called by our forefathers things indifferent. Should we eat? Do we have the liberty to eat certain foods? Should we abstain from certain foods? Do we observe certain days? Are we at liberty to disregard all days?

And our forefathers called this indifferent. Now, if you look up the word indifferent, it will give you a definition of something like this, a state of having no particular interest or concern or sympathy. It means something you're just not concerned about. It makes no difference to me. That's what we often say. We're indifferent to that. But our forefathers meant it in a little bit different sense. When they used the word indifference, they meant it as things non-essential. We have things in the Scriptures that's absolutely essential truths. Then we have the things in the Scriptures that they called indifference.

Now, when we think about things essential, we think about things like the death of Christ, don't we? That's essential. Without the shedding of blood, there is absolutely no remission. The death of Christ is essential to understand and believe in regard to salvation. And faith is the same way, isn't it? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith in His death. being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. But when we think of things indifferent, we think of non-essentials.

That is these days. Should we observe certain days or not observe certain days? Are we at liberty to eat all kinds of food or are we restricted to the food that we eat? And this is what these verses are dealing with tonight. You can imagine, brothers and sisters, in the early church, we call this the transition, when they were coming from under the law and under the ceremonial law and coming into this new covenant, the gospel. And you can imagine the problems that they faced. For instance, you had a Jewish believer. He was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ. He believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

But he was brought up from his youth, believing that he wasn't allowed to eat certain foods. Remember Peter, there in Acts chapter 10, when the Lord let down the sheet and there was all kinds of beasts on it and creeping things. And the Lord said, Peter, rise and eat. And Peter was an unlearned man. He wasn't all that astute in the law, but he knew this, that there were certain foods he weren't allowed to eat.

And he said, Lord, nothing or unclean has ever entered my mouth. So you have this view that he was brought up from his youth that there are certain foods unclean. You don't eat those foods. There are certain clean foods that you're at liberty to eat. And he had this friend that was a believing Gentile. How were they when this believing Gentile friend said, man, listen, I could eat anything. I can eat snakes. I can eat fowls of the air. I love a good pork sandwich. How were these two men to fellowship with each other and to be at peace one with another?

That's what these verses are about. And the same way with holy days that he tells us here, these days observing certain days. You know, the Jews had, my goodness, they had feast days, they had new moons, sometimes entire weeks that they had to observe. And the Gentiles basically said, we don't have any days that we observe. When I say that these things are things indifferent, I don't mean they weren't important. Man, they were important. It was a matter of conscience. That's what made these things important.

Paul tells us here in verse one, there's one man believes that he can eat anything. Another believes that he's limited to what he believes. So this was a matter of conscience, wasn't it? It was a difficult time for believing Jews and believing Gentiles. The believing Jew was so convicted in his conscience that he could not eat foods that he had been taught was unclean.

His conscience would not let him go there. Martin Luther said, there's two things you don't sin against, the Word of God and your own conscience. And his believing Gentile just couldn't come up to him and said, forget all of that. That's not important anymore. This man's conscience was at stake. So he said, I cannot eat the food that you're eating. Well, you have the Gentile believer who said, you know, I'm sorry, but you're not going to bring me under bondage to certain foods. You're not going to bind my conscience to certain days that I have to observe.

So how in the world could these two people be at peace one with another? That's what these verses are about here. And I think you and I can see the difficulty of the situation that they found themselves in. And he says here in verse one, and I think this, what the apostle Paul says here creates a question in itself.

Him that is weak in the faith receive you, but not to doubtful disputation. Him that is weak in the faith receive you. But here's a question that's often asked, and it was probably asked in that day. Is this man weak in the faith, or is he lost? He's got all these observances of these food tied to himself and he's bound himself to keep these days. Is he just weak in the faith or is he lost? Is he a man that has no faith?

We face that today, don't we? Mainly in the realm of knowledge. You know, when we talk to some people and boy, you start talking to them about the grace of God and the free grace of God and the sovereign grace of God. And they know hardly anything. And you begin to think, is this man just weak in the faith or is he a man that has no faith whatsoever?

Don't you imagine this is why this issue is not tackled by the Apostle Paul until the 14th chapter and still in the first chapter. Because it's tackled here and it's dealt with here because he's got he's got the first 13 chapters, especially the first five chapters, to deal with this matter of what true faith really is. Is he a true believer?

So we'd have to say this about this, wouldn't we? We'd have to say weak faith still comprehends some things. It may be weak faith, But we've got to insist weak faith knows something about being a sinner. And that takes us all the way back to the third chapter. And I bet you anything when the Gentile believer and the Jewish believer begin to sit down and talk about these things, I bet you anything they said, well, let's determine what real faith is.

Are you a sinner? Can we go back to the third chapter and say all have sinned and come short of the glory of God? We're all guilty before God. There's none righteous, no, not one. We're all going out of the way. Now, faith comprehends that, doesn't it? It may be a weak faith, but it doesn't say, well, I'm not a sinner. I have nothing to repent of. And the second thing is this, we go back to the third chapter where Paul mentions often this thing about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. So is he weak in the faith? Well, what does he think of Jesus Christ? What does he think of the death of Jesus Christ? Does he realize how essential it is to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved?

This is why our forefathers, during the days of Reformation, when they came out from Catholicism, they used, I think there were just four of these phrases, I forget now Chris, but I think there were just four of these phrases, where they came up with these that said, it's scriptures alone. It's Christ alone. It's grace alone. And it's faith alone. And the reason they came up with that was to separate weak faith from no faith.

Is your faith in the Holy Scriptures? Do you believe in the inspiration? It's God's Word. Do you believe that Christ has finished the work? That He's obtained eternal redemption? That He's reconciled us to God? Do you believe we're saved by grace alone, or do you have to add your works with it? Is it faith in Christ that justifies it?

Without your efforts or without your merit. So they did that to distinguish weak faith from no faith. So when Paul says here, he that is weak in the faith, receive you. Make sure that if he has little faith, make sure it's real. That's what he said. Make sure that it's real. And he says, him that is weak in the faith receive you, but look at this, not to doubtful disputation. That is, don't receive him just to fuss with him. Don't receive him just to argue with him and try to correct him all the time and straighten him out all the time. Receive him into your fellowship. Receive him into your heart. If he's a true believer in Jesus Christ, he's a brother. And you're going to spend eternity with Him.

Now here in verse 2, this shows how serious this was. This wasn't just stubbornness on somebody's part. For one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs. See, this wasn't just being stubborn. This believing Jew earnestly believed in his heart. It was a strong conviction.

I can't eat that. If I override my conscience and eat it anyway, I'll sin. And the Gentile believer earnestly believed, I'm not bound by any of those things. So this makes it serious, doesn't it? They both earnestly believed their position. And here in verse 3, Paul gives a warning to both sides.

He says, Let not him that eateth, you Gentile believers, don't you despise that Jew that cannot eat. And let not this believing Jew which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. You who have liberty to eat, Don't look down upon those who can eat. And you who don't have the liberty to eat, don't you judge and condemn those who do eat. In other words, stop judging one another and stop nitpicking one another. That's one of the ways this was resolved.

You and I have professing believers today. We've had them come here. We had a couple not long ago, well, it's been a while now, that don't come here anymore, but his conscience and her conscience would not let them sit and eat a meal with us in the cafeteria.

And he said, it's a sin to me. And I said, brother, that's fine. You know, that's fine. If your conscience is convicted of that, you better not do it. You and I can go back there and enjoy the fellowship, but he could not. So I don't want to look down upon him for that, but I don't want him judging me either. So that's what the Apostle Paul is saying here. Now, look in verse four.

Who art thou that judges another man's servant? To his own master he stands or fall, yea, he shall be holding up, for God is able to make him stand. Who are you to pass judgment and censor another man's servant? Who do you think you are? Boy, he's getting strong now, isn't he? You who despise other people and you who judge other people, who do you think you are? That brother has a master and you're not him.

We had a We had a fellow, and some of you know the fellow, I would never mention his name, but it was a couple here in this congregation that had this pastor. And he was sort of cultish, really. You know him, realize he was just a, wasn't just a step from being a cult. And he wanted to rule the daily life of everybody in this congregation. He didn't want you going to a conference. He didn't want you listening to another preacher. He basically wanted to rule your your life.

And he got another pastor. This couple here tonight got upset with him and went home. And he got another pastor and come to their house. And this other pastor looked at this man and said, Are you going to submit to him or not? And you know what this fellow told him? I'm not. I'm not. Why did he tell him that? He has no business to set himself up as the master. He's a servant of Christ, not the master.

How many masters, brothers and sisters, do we have? We have one, don't we? Christ said, you call me Lord and master and you say, well, for so I am. How many masters then do we have? Is he the only one? Call no man master on the earth. For one is your master.

I will follow any man who preaches Christ to me. And I'll appreciate him and pray for him. But when he starts nitpicking in my daily life and trying to rule me and master me, he better back off. I'm not going to submit to him. Are you? You better not, had you. And that's why Paul is saying, yeah, we've got one master. And that's Jesus Christ. the Lord Jesus Christ.

I was at a particular church one time and I saw going out, I saw on the track table their bylaws. They had it in a pretty large book, bylaws, rules and regulations for the members of our congregation. Rules and regulations. I'm not kidding I put it back down, but I read through three or four pages while I was standing there. It literally told the men in their congregation how long their hair could be. It literally talked about not being over the ears. And it told how long the woman's dress had to be below her knees. In bold letters, I remember bold letters because I remember because one church had the plaque on the front of their wall. It said, absolutely no alcoholic beverages, alcohol as a beverage. You know what that church just did?

It went from being a servant to the master. That's what Paul is saying here. If you're going to judge and nitpick people, you've set yourself up as the master. And there's only one master. Church of England tried that way back in the 1700s. They forbid people like George Whitefield and the Westleys from going out in the field and preaching. And they couldn't street preach. So they finally had to leave the church. We have one master, don't we? One master.

And it's the same way not only with food, but he says here in verses five and verse six about days. Look at this. Verse five. One man esteemeth one day above another, and another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

He that regardeth the day, Regardeth it to the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he regardeth not the day. He that eats, he eats to the Lord, and he gives God thanks. He that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. It's the same way with these days. You know, we've had a little bit of that here.

We've got some people in our congregation here, bless their heart, and I love them to death. And I'd never judge them for it, but they don't like Christmas. When it comes time to, you know, Christmas, they'll start missing a little bit. We had a dear, dear couple in this congregation. I mean, still to this very day, they're very dear to me. But I got all the men one year, a little can of cleaner or something, and he came and give it back to me.

And he said, I don't believe in Christmas. Hey, brother, that's all right. I'll take it back and use it myself. I love the Christmas season. I can see some benefit in it. But some dear people and their dear, dear believers, they say this is a pagan holiday and the quicker it be annihilated, the better. How do we get along with each other like that? We just leave each other alone. We don't judge each other.

Well, you remember this, this probably more to the point, because there's some wounds open up, but still this very day isn't healed. Remember when we went through this deal with COVID? Remember what a trying time that was? Everybody was anxious. Sometimes we got fearful about it. They were telling us 100,000 people is going to die the next week and all of this. And we began to wonder. Are we allowed to meet? Should we meet? When we meet, are we going to wear a mask? Are we not going to wear a mask? Are we going to sing? There were some churches that quit singing. The pastor took up the songbooks and so on.

And boy, there was wounds opened up during that pandemic that to this very day have not been closed. And it was simply because they began to judge one another and accuse one another, instead of being patient with one another and loving one another and waiting and letting brotherly love win the day, they did what the Apostle Paul said. They began to judge and nitpick at each other. And I know some dear people, very, very dear saints to this very day. They can't get along because of that. Ain't that sad? Can you imagine the early church? Can you imagine what conflicts they had with this? Because the Jews were deeply convicted, and the Gentiles were deeply convicted too.

And the remedy, Paul said, quit judging. If you don't eat, then you say, Lord, to me that's unclean, and I thank you. If you eat, you say, Lord, I thank you for this meal, and you give him thanks. And let it go at that. Let it go at that. Now here in verses 7 and verse 8, I want you to notice this. He changes here and gives a reason for this that we've been talking about.

Verse 7, For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. I'm not my own. You're not your own. You belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me read a little bit here because, boy, some of these dear old writers said things in such a clear and powerful way that it makes so much sense. Listen to what the man says here about a believer does not live to himself. He said, No believer can make anything lower than Christ and His will, the rule of life.

Our opinions, our convictions, our preferences, and even our conscience itself must be brought to Christ Himself and to His Word for guidance and correction, for we are His. On no point does it become Christians more to examine themselves than on this very point. To live to ourselves is evident that we are strangers to Christ and His gospel. If it be the great motive of our lives to merely live at ease, if it be our great motive to gratify our flesh, to gain property, and to be distinguished in the places of fashion and amusement, it is evidence that we know nothing of the power of that gospel which teaches us to deny ourselves and to take up our cross and follow Christ daily. And as we do that, it will change our attitude not only towards us, but towards others.

And then another man made this statement about no man dies to himself, and here's what he said. He said this expression is used to denote the totality with which Christ, with which Christians belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is done and suffered with reverence to His will. In our conduct, in our property, in our trials, In our death, we are His, to be disposed of as He shall please. In the grave and in the future world, we shall be equally His. This is the great principle on which all Christians must live and act, and when this is done, we will find ourselves being more tender and respectful to those who differ with us. in these things.

And that's so, isn't it? I want you to hold that passage there, and I want you to look at a couple of scriptures concerning that. Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, just over to your right. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and then 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And look in verse 19. We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not our own. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19. What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God.

And look in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and look in verse 14 and verse 15. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 14. For the love of Christ constraineth us, for we thus judge that if one died for all, then we are all dead. Some versions say If He died for all, then all died. Speaking of the elect, they died in Him. And verse 15, And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again.

We're not our own, are we? We're bought with a tremendous price. And everything we do, we're to do it for the glory of Him who purchased us. and bought us, even our relationships, brothers and sisters, with one another. This is what regulates that relationship. I'm not my own. You're not your own. We belong to somebody else, lot, stock, and barrel. Look back over in our text quickly again in verse 9.

Paul is going to tell us about one of the purposes of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ when he died upon the cross. There are some who have been so bold to tell us that the death of Christ had no purpose to it. For sure, you know, he opened the door for redemption, but he didn't for sure redeem anybody. He died on the cross hoping this would happen or hoping that would happen. But when we read the Scripture, we realize in Scriptures like this, there was a purpose. in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul is going to tell us one of these purposes in verse 9.

For to this end Christ both died, rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. In His death, He redeemed. And in His resurrection, He was promoted to something else that he earned in his death. And what was that? This glorious position. This high position. By his death he redeemed and by his death he earned the right to be Lord over everything and Lord over everybody. And that's what the resurrection is about.

When Paul was talking about Christ being obedient to death, even the death of the cross, what was the very next thing he said? Therefore, God has highly exalted him and gave him a name that's above every name at the name of Christ. Every knee should bow, every tongue should confess. And what are they going to confess?

That Jesus Christ is Lord. He earned that right, didn't he? He took that right to Himself, and that's why He's reigning today on the right hand of His Father. He's exalted as Lord as well as Redeemer. Paul made a statement here. He said, to this end Christ both died, that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living. And there's been all kinds of discussions just how far reaching is that? When he talks about the dead, Christ is Lord of the dead.

Who are the dead? Yeah, spiritually or physically. I think we can look at it like this. You consider the physical dead. He's Lord of them. If you consider a man is spiritually dead, he's Lord of them. There are those who are said to be dead and their life is hid with Christ in God.

Well, he's their Lord too, isn't he? And when you consider He's Lord of the living, well, He's the Lord of everybody here. He's the Lord of every man who lives upon this earth right now. He's the Lord of those who are alive in Christ. So I guess you could just spread this out and say He's Lord of everybody. There's no limit to this, is there? And He earned that right in His death.

And He's been exalted to the right hand of God to reign there over all people. Here in verses 10 through verse 12, we are told that not only is He the Redeemer and He is the Lord, but verse 10 tells us that He is also the Judge. Look what He tells us in verse 10. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Why do you set it not, thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, Every knee shall bow to me. Every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Jesus Christ is not only the Lord, but He is the Judge of every last man.

I am not going to judge Larry Baker. Many of them differ on some things, but they are things indifferent. They are things that do not concern our salvation. And I am not going to judge him. The Lord will judge him. And he won't judge me, the Lord will judge me.

I'm so content to leave that there, are you? I don't want to come. I was going to say something about this a minute ago, I thought it would come to me. But a few years ago, there was a huge family that came here to visit. They stayed a whole weekend. A big family, extended family. They came from Wisconsin. They came from Virginia. They met here. And the reason they wanted to meet here, they needed some advice. I don't know why in the world they'd drive this far from advice from me, but they did.

And what was going on, he told me, he said, I was on a board in this Reformed church. And he said it was an extremely Reformed church. Legalistic and self-righteous. And he said, I was on a board. They sent a group of us out. to the church members' houses. And we would sit and talk with them, what movies are you watching? And are you reading any magazines?

And he said when the Lord finally awoken him up, he said, it just sickens me to death that I was judging those people in these matters. There's one judge, one judge, If you ever catch me coming into your house to see how you're living, run me off, would you?

If the Lord cannot keep you, I sure can't keep you. And I'm very content to think I'll stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. I've got enough to give account of myself. I'm not going to take your problem upon my shoulders. I'm very content with leaving it there. But I want to close with this.

Here in these verses, notice how Paul exalted the Lord Jesus Christ as God. And I want to show you the passage that he quoted in Isaiah chapter 45. He quoted verse 11, he quoted Isaiah chapter 45. And look over in Isaiah chapter 45 right quick. This is where he quoted from. Boy, if there's anything the Apostle Paul loved, it was the fact that Jesus was God. And he quoted this Old Testament passage. And look at it here in Isaiah chapter 45 and look in verse 21. This is where he quoted from. Tell you and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord, the eternal, self-existent One? And there is no God else besides Me, a just God and a Savior? There is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none else." And look at this. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear." Who is that saying that?

Jesus Christ. Every knee will bow to Him. Every person will give account to Him. And who is Jesus? He's God. We'll all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Every one of us will give account of himself to God. Is there a difference there? No. Jesus Christ is God.

And he says in verse 24, Surely shall one say in the Lord, in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men come. And all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory."

I love to call Jesus God, don't you? I love His name Jesus. Sometimes in the New Testament you read His name is Jesus, and that's His name, His saving name, His human name. Mary gave that name to Him. And Jesus in his humanity is the everlasting God. That's wonderful, isn't it? And you'll see the way he sums it up back in our text again in chapter 14 and verse 13. Here's the way he sums it up.

Let us not therefore judge one another anymore, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or on an occasion to fall in his brother's way. Try your dead level best, brothers and sisters, never to cause a true believer to stumble. Never put a block in front of him to cause him to fall. Love him. Bear with him. Be patient with him. No matter which side of these indifferent issues you come down on, love him and be patient. You're going to spend eternity with this man. Better to lay aside the issues than to make an issue out of it.

I hope that was a blessing to you. Father, we thank you for your precious word. We thank you for the dear saints that are gathered here tonight and been so mindful of your presence and been so respectful and kind and patient. These things, Lord, have been such a help to us. We've taken heed to these things and they've kept us from bringing ourselves and others into snares and creating hard feelings. Your love certainly constrains us to live to you and not to ourselves and seek our brother's good and not our own. Watch over this dear congregation. I pray.

This Sunday that you'll go with me as I preach in Danville. It'll be a blessing to the folks there and I pray for Chris as he goes to preach for these dear saints there in Agristown. I pray that they're your people. I pray that you'll give him the clarity to preach to them and help them. Now he needs your help as we all do. We're mere men, Lord, we need you. I pray for Patrick as he comes here to preach Sunday. that you give him the message that would honor your name and lift up the dear sanctuary.

Watch over this dear congregation. Lord, be mindful of those who are sick. Of Linda and her husband, Jack. Oh, Lord, we don't know how to pray. We don't know what to say or what to do. But you're wise and you're almighty. We leave all things in Your care. Amen.