Now, here in Romans 14, this
chapter deals with how we're to handle disagreements with
our brethren regarding things that aren't specifically spelled
out in Scripture. Now, we talked about these things
this morning. We're not talking about a disagreement about the
redemptive glory of Christ. We're not talking about a disagreement
about what Scripture tells us that Christ accomplished at Calvary. And we're not talking about disagreement
about the great foundational truths of the gospel, election,
electing love, particular redemption, the perseverance of the saints.
What we're talking about in the examples that Paul uses is eating
certain kinds of food or how you observe a certain day. Parts
of that old ceremonial law that the Jews were raised up under
that has been done away with in Christ. And we don't face
these same specific issues today, but the same principle about
how to handle them applies, and hopefully that's what we'll learn.
Now, verse 1, Paul says, him that's weak in the faith, receive
ye, but not to doubtful disputations. Now, there are conflicts that
can arise between a weak believer and a strong believer. Paul's
talking about here one who's weaker in the faith. Now, both
have faith. But one's weaker than the other.
One hasn't matured as much as the other yet. And we know that
believers, you're always growing in grace. Scripture talks about
us growing in grace and knowledge. Well, then it stands to reason
that over the course of time, there's going to be weaknesses
that need to be strengthened. There's going to be immaturities
that need some time to grow and mature. And babes in Christ need
to be given time to develop and grow. And Paul's instruction
here is to the stronger believer, the more mature. And he tells
him that you receive him that's weak, weaker in the faith. And
that word receive means you extend the hand to him. You extend the
hand of fellowship. You extend the hand to embrace
him, to hold him, to help him, to help pull him up, to encourage
him. And you receive him as an equal.
It's not like, well, you're doing him a favor to receive him. No,
you receive him as an equal. They're a child of God, just
like you are. And don't receive them so that you can criticize
their weaknesses, so you can criticize the way they think
about things or the way they may do things. They're a weaker
brother, just like our children, our little children, they're
weaker. So you have some patience with them. John Gill said this
about the weaker in faith. They have more affection than
judgment. They got a lot of love. They
just haven't learned as much yet. And that is just like our
little ones, our little children. They've got a lot of affection.
They're sweet children. But they just don't know a lot
yet. But the fact that they don't know a lot yet doesn't mean they're
not precious to us. They're so precious. They can't
read yet. They don't have their multiplication
tables memorized. They'd rather watch cartoons
in the news and maybe they're better off. But give them time. They'll grow. They'll get there. Just give them time. We're willing
to give them time to grow up on us. Well, we should be the
same for a weaker brother. Give them time to grow up. They
haven't had the time to unlearn things that they've learned in
the past. Whether it's something they learned in false religion
or something that they learned through human wisdom. It just
takes time to unlearn those things. When you teach a child something,
buddy, it's part of them and it's hard for them to ever unlearn
it. That's why it's so important
to teach them the Scriptures. When they're little, Teach that
child when they're young. They won't forget it as they
get older. But yet, when they're taught something that's not right,
it just takes time. Henry said this in his outline.
He says, bear their ignorance patiently rather than demand
that they know immediately what it took you years to learn. It
took us a long time to learn. Well, let's give them the time
to learn it too. Now, verse 2, Paul says, For
one believeth that he may eat all things. Another who is weak
eateth herbs." Now, one believer understands he can eat anything
because salvation, righteousness, is not in touch, not taste, not
handle. If you look over Mark 7, here's
what the mature believer knows. He understands this is the teaching
of our Lord in this very matter. Mark chapter 7, verse 14. And when he had called all the
people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me, every
one of you, and understand. There is nothing from without
a man that entering into him can defile him. But the things
which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was
entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him
concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye
so without understanding also? Do not ye perceive that whatsoever
thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him,
because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly,
and it goeth out into the draw, purging all meats? And he said
unto them, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth
the man. For from within, out of the heart
of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, an evil eye, blasphemy,
pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from
within and defile the man. You can't eat something that's
going to defile you. You're already defiled. It comes from within.
It comes from the nature that we're born with. The problem
is not what we eat. We're the problem. And that's
what the mature believer understands. That wicked heart that I'm born
with, I'm the problem. Look over in Acts chapter 9.
Even the apostle Peter It took some time for him to learn this
lesson, but learn it he did. Acts chapter 10 verse 9, Now
on the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh
unto the city, Peter went up unto the housetop to pray about
the sixth hour. And he became very hungry, and
would have eaten. But while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
and he saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto
him, as it had been a great sheep knit at the four corners, and
let down to the earth. wherein were all manner of four-footed
beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things,
and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him,
Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter," here's Peter's personality,
"'Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common
or unclean.' And the voice spake unto him again the second time,
What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." Don't
you call common and refuse deep what God's cleansed and made
for your use. Now one more scripture, 1 Timothy
chapter 4. These are the things that the
stronger in faith, more mature believer understands in 1 Timothy
4 verse 1. Now the spirit speaketh expressly
that in latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking
lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot
iron. And here's the things that they forbid, these false prophets,
forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which
God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which
believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is
good, and nothing to be refused. Everything that God created,
what did he look, and said, it's good. It was all created good
for your use, if it be received with thanksgiving, and for it
sanctified by the word of God in prayer. But the weaker brother,
the weaker in faith, he doesn't understand that yet. You know,
in Paul's day, they'd still think it's a sin to eat bacon, or it's
still a sin to, you know, eat meat that's offered to an idol
or something. They would think sin is in those things. And the
more mature believer understands sin's not in those things, it's
in the heart. But the weaker brother, to avoid,
you know, accidentally eating meat that was offered to an idol
or something, he just never eats any meat. He just becomes a vegetarian.
Now, in our day, diet's not the issue. You can eat bacon in the
morning, nobody thinks a thing about it. But something like
alcohol, here in the Bible Belt, this is, you know, this is the
issue. And people think it's a sin to
touch alcohol. You know, I knew a woman once
who said, I never listened to a preacher if alcohol ever touched
his lips. Well, drinking alcohol to excess, now it's dangerous
and it is sinful, because doing anything to excess is sinful.
But sin isn't in that glass of beer or that bottle of wine.
Sin is not in what we put in our mouth. That's why our Lord
taught it's in our heart. It's in our motive. It's in our
thoughts. It's in our intents. And you are perfectly free to
go out to eat somewhere and order a glass of wine or beer or whatever
you'd like with your meal. That's fine. You're perfectly
free to do that. But now the weaker brother He might think,
well, that's sinful. You ought not do that. He just
has a real problem with it because that's what's been pounded into
his head all his life. Well, how do you handle that
situation? Perfectly fine to do it. But this weaker brother
has just a real problem with it. Well, how do you handle that?
Look at verse 3 in our text. 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. See, neither
one, the weaker brother or the stronger brother, neither is
to look down on the other one now. The weaker shouldn't call
the stronger brother a sinner because he's free to enjoy the
liberty as in Christ. But the stronger can't despise
and look down his nose at that weaker one because he hasn't
grown in this particular grace yet. You've just got to remember,
people need time to grow. And don't despise any believer,
weak or strong, because if God's received them, We should too. Now look over at 1 Corinthians
10. Paul gives us clear instruction in 1 Corinthians 10. How do you
handle this situation? 1 Corinthians 10 verse 23. Now
all things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.
All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let
no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth, another's
well-being. That's what we're to seek. Now
whatsoever sold in the shambles, that's the meat market, that
eat, asking no question for conscience' sake. For the earth is the Lord's,
and the fullness thereof. If any of them that believe not
bid you to a feast, and you be disposed to go, go. And whatsoever
set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake.
But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice
unto idols, eat not, not for your conscience' sake, for his
sake that showed it. And for conscience's sake, for
the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. If you
don't eat that meat, there's plenty others to eat. Don't worry
about it. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. Now
conscience, I say, not your own, but of the other. For why is
my liberty judged of another man's conscience? For if I by
grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which
I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat or drink,
whatever ye do, Do all to the glory of God. Give none offense,
neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of
God. Don't do something, even if you're
free to do it, don't do it if it's going to cause offense to
your weaker brother. If you go out and eat dinner
somewhere at a restaurant with someone that may be offended
if you order a glass of wine, just don't do it. And that's
not being hypocritical, you're just protecting their conscience
until they've had time to learn and to grow. You know, I'll give
you another example. Praying in public before a meal.
Me personally, I tend to think that makes a person kind of look
like a Pharisee, you know. You can give thanks in your heart.
You don't have to, you know, go through that outward motion
when you're out in public like that. You should at home, but
you know, I'm public. But you might go out to eat with
somebody that would be very offended if you don't pray aloud before
you eat, not giving thanks. Well, then pray! There's never
a bad time to pray to your Father and give thanks. I saw Larry
give a good example of the attitude we're to have. I noticed last
week Jonas kind of staying on his own two feet back here. He's
going to be starting to walk, you know, before long. Well,
when that kid starts tottering forward, we're not going to put
something down in his way to see if he can prove that he can
really walk and he can steer around it. You know, he can't. You clear the way so he can walk
and you don't stumble and bump his head or something. You know
he can't handle those things yet. Now, we won't do that when
he's 16, but right now we do because he's a little guy. He
needs time to grow. Well, it's the same way with
the baby in Christ, the weaker brother in Christ. Don't put
something in their way to see things steer around. Clear a
path for them and make it a little easier for them. Growing up is
tough. It's tough for our children,
and it's a tough process for the believer too. Growing up
is tough. Now, I want to make sure we understand again, I'm
talking here about trivial matters. I'm not talking about something
that's specifically spelled out in Scripture. We're not talking
about immoral behavior, something that's forbidden in Scripture.
We don't tolerate that. It's taught in Scripture. We're
not talking about a disagreement over the gospel of substitution.
how man's made righteous. We don't give an inch on those
issues because those things have to do with the glory of the Redeemer.
But when there's an issue that has to do with the flesh or our
opinion, something that's not spread out in Scripture, we can
just give a little on our liberties and our rights for the benefit
of our weaker brother. Now look at verse 4. Who art
thou? Who do you think you are that
judges another man's servant? To his own master he standeth
or followeth. Yea, he shall be holding up,
for God is able to make him stand. Now every believer, whether they're
weak, if they, they're strong in faith. Every believer is a
servant of God. They're God's servants. God chose
you. If you know Christ, it's because
God chose you. Christ came and died for you.
Imputed his righteousness to you. Shed his blood to put away
your sin. He bought you and made you his
own. God the Holy Spirit came and gave you life. He gave you
faith in Christ, pointed you to Christ, made you a child of
God. You belong to Him. You're His
servant. Not mine. Not mine to judge. Just like a father. My responsibility
as a father is to raise my daughters, to teach my daughters, to instruct
them, to raise them, to correct them. I set their curfew. I don't set the curfew for your
children. Now, most of you have little ones, so I don't set your
kids' bedtime. I don't tell you when to put
your kids to bed. And when they get older, I don't tell you when
to have them come in. That's your job. That's your
responsibility. They're my responsibility. I
don't judge your children. I don't correct your children.
I correct mine, but not yours. Well, the Lord's the Master,
and He'll take care of His servants. He's perfectly capable of taking
care of His servants. of the Lord's service is going
to be upheld by the Lord. None of us, I don't care how
strong in faith we are, none of us are genuinely a profitable
servant. We've never done as well as we
should or as much as we ought. Never. And no matter how much
we grow in grace, no matter how strong your faith ever becomes,
we will never stand on our own. We'll always be upheld by Christ.
And no matter whether you're weak in faith or you're strong
in faith, you will be holding up of Him. God's able to make
you stand in Christ, and that's the only way we'll stand is because
of Him. So let's just not be so judgmental
and quick to criticize people. If it's not about matters of
righteousness, just let it go. Now, verse 5, Paul gives another
example here. He said, One man esteemeth one
day above another. Another esteemeth every day alike.
Well, let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Here's
another example of the kinds of things that we can compromise
on to help our weaker brother. Those old Jews, buddy, the Sabbath
day was very, very special to them. The Passover day, the different
feast days, those were very, very important. And even after
the Lord saved them, it was very, very difficult to break those
traditions, to break those habits that they'd been taught since
they were children. Well, the stronger brother, he considered
every day to be the day the Lord's made. He rejoiced in being, be
glad in it. And he rejoiced in the Sabbath
day as much as he did another day. But the weaker, he still
felt like that Sabbath day was special above all other days. And we still have those thoughts
here about Sunday. You know, Sunday is not the Christian
Sabbath. Sunday's the day we meet together.
It's the first day of the week. That's the day the New Testament
church meets together to worship. But it's not the new Sabbath
day. And I will grant you, the world would probably be a better
place if just all the businesses and restaurants and everything
closed on Sunday and it was a day of rest and people could have
plenty of time to worship and these things. But there's nothing
wrong with doing these things on Sunday. You know, there's
nothing wrong with having some recreation. If you don't want
to go play golf on Sunday afternoon, go! Contrary to popular opinion,
your grass is not going to die if you cut it on Sunday. Because
if it would, I'd cut it on Sunday and say, Don, let's cut no more.
But that's not what happens. It grows just as well if you
cut it on Monday or Sunday. Now, on the other hand, there's
absolutely nothing wrong with never cutting your grass on Sunday.
As long as it's not a matter of righteousness. If it's just
a matter of I want to have a day of rest, I want to have my energies
taken up with worship and not get caught up in these other
things, I want to give my neighbors a break so they can take a nap
without my lawnmower interrupting them. If that's your bit, that's
fine. As long as it's not a matter
of righteousness. I heard Scott Richardson, when
I was a kid, I remember him saying this. He said, don't tell me
my boys can't play basketball on Sunday. If you tell me that,
I'll make them go play. Now, as for that, I play basketball
365 days a year. If it's a matter of righteousness
now, that's a different matter. But if it's just, you know, If
that weaker brother just has a problem with it, well, then
don't play on Sunday. Just play another time. You see
what I'm saying? This afternoon we're going to
have a picnic. There's nothing wrong with going swimming and
playing cornhole and doing those things. What better day for us
to get together and enjoy each other's company and fellowship
than Sunday? Nothing wrong with it at all. But if it would offend
your weaker brother, just don't do it. He that regardeth the day, regardeth
it unto the Lord. And he that regardeth not the
day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. 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." See, either
way, the stronger or the weaker, whatever it is that they're doing,
they're doing it unto the Lord from their own conscience. See,
there's common ground. Both have faith. Both are concerned
about the glory of the Lord. The weaker, he has regard to
Sunday and he does it to honor the Lord. The stronger, who regards
every day the same, he doesn't see Sunday as any different because
he understands he's free from the law in Christ. He doesn't
treat the Sabbath day any different than any other day because he
understands it's not the day. Christ is our Sabbath. He's our
rest. We rest in Him. Well, he does
that. He believes that. He operates
under that principle because he wants to glorify the Lord
who set him free from the law. The weaker who would never drink
alcohol does it because he thinks that would bring more honor to
his Savior. The stronger who understands
wherever we need to drink doesn't defile us. He enjoys his freedom
in Christ in moderation. Not just alcohol, but everything.
And both give thanks. You notice that? The one who
eats everything, he eats and gives thanks. Because believers
are thankful people. Thankful that the Lord's provided
all this for us to eat and enjoy. The weaker gives thanks too.
He's not eating meat. He's cut many things out that
he won't eat. But despite all the things he
won't eat, there's still plenty. And he gives thanks. So whatever
day it is or whatever it is we're doing, do it and be thankful.
And follow your conscience in these matters. Serve the Lord
after your own conscience, and pray that the Lord let you grow
in grace and knowledge. Henry said this in his outline.
He said we must be convinced in our own minds. For to serve
or to worship only in imitation of someone else is folly. And to do something without being
convinced in the heart could be destructive. Now we're to
follow the example. You know, if you're younger,
a weaker believer, you'd be wise to follow the example. of the
older and stronger believer, but follow your own conscience
in these matters. And here's why it's so important
that we watch out to not offend the weaker brother. Look at verse
7. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
For 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. No man is an island. We're not
a tree planted on top of a hill out here all by ourselves. We're
part of the tree, but we're all part of the same tree. We're
the branches. Christ is divine. He's the trunk,
He's the root, and we live in Him. We're all connected. We're all living stones that
have been built up as part of that living temple of God. And
what one branch does affects the branches all around it. What
one stone does in that wall, in that temple, affects every
stone around it. See, we don't live for our pleasure
and for our freedom and for what we want as our good. We understand
our actions always affect those around us. And we're always watching
out for another man's welfare. That's what Paul said over in
1 Corinthians. And we don't live by what we
do. I don't live by what I do. I live to serve Christ and serve
God's people. And I don't die at a time of
my own choosing. I'm not my own. My life is going
to last however long the Lord wants it to. And when it ends,
that's in the hands of the Lord. Just like when it started, it
was in the hands of the Lord. When it ends, it's in His hands.
And when the believer dies, we leave here, depart from here
to go be with the Lord. Because we belong to Him. Because
He bought us and we belong to Him. Whether you're weak or strong. Now verse 9. For to this end
Christ both died and rose and revived. that he might be Lord
both of the dead and the living. Christ is the Lord of all. He
died to purchase his people, to redeem his people back from
the penalty of the law. And he bought them. Lock, stock
and barrel, he bought them. And he's the Lord of all. He's
the Lord of the living. He gives life and he sustains
life. And that's physical life and
that's spiritual life. He's the Lord of the living.
Anybody that has spiritual life, he gave it to them. Well, anybody
has physical life. He gave it to them, too. And
He's the Lord of the dead. He receives the dead in Christ,
and one day He's going to raise them from the grave, and we'll
be forever with Him. Now, since we all belong to Him,
we're all part of the same tree, part of the same family, we find
a way to have peace and harmony with each other, to care about
the other's welfare more than ourselves. And if you operate
with that guideline, You'll handle these matters just fine. All
right. Well, I hope the Lord bless you.