If you would, turn with me again
to the book of Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. Last week we left off in verse
9, so we'll begin this morning in verse 10. The apostle starts
this part of the letter out with two questions. He says, But why
dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set it not thy
brother? For we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ. Now those are two good questions
and questions we should ask ourselves. Because we all judge our brother
whether we admit it or not. If we don't say anything outwardly,
we do it inwardly. It does good to ask ourselves
those questions. And one thing I want to remind
you of is that this letter is written to believers. This is
not written to the world saying, why did you judge? It's written
to people who profess to know Christ. We had men judging other
men. Basically, this came about by
some men thought it was necessary to abstain from certain type
meats. Others thought it was okay to
partake. Other men wanted to observe certain holidays, Jewish
holidays, and other men didn't see the necessity of doing so. And so they begin to judge one
another. And I'll tell you this, and it's
something that I hope I'm learning by experience, is that everyone
who assumes the character of a judge acts unreasonably. The reason being is right there
at the end of verse 10, for we shall all stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. We're all guilty. All in the
same condemnation outside of Him. Only God's made one to differ
from another. What do we have that we didn't
receive from Him? And if we received it from Him,
why do we think we're special or somehow or another deserve
what God's given? Why do I judge my brother? Well,
it's really a simple answer, and I know you know the answer
also. Sin. Sin. And when I judge my brother,
I know this much too. The problems with me, not with
my brother. By nature, friends, for the most
part, we're fine with those that agree with us. But when a brother
differs, it's another story. And this isn't all of us. It
just flows out. We don't like it. We're not proud
of it. But we're plagued by sin at every turn. And one thing
here the Apostle strongly urges every believer to consider is
what I just mentioned. One day, all of us, without exclusion,
are going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give
an account. Now Christ alone is our judge,
and to judge one another and despise one another, to be upset
with one another because of differences, not only reveals our lack of
understanding and love, but it really reveals our desire to
be God, to be Lord, to be judge, instead of bowing to the Lordship
of Christ. The Scripture is plain when it
tells every believer to follow Christ, follow the Lord. We on
Wednesday nights have been looking at Joshua, and when those folks
came to the brink of Jordan, and it was time to cross, he
had told the commanders to go throughout the camp and tell
all the people He said, when the priests take that Ark of
the Covenant, which is a picture of Christ, you follow after it. That's our encouragement to one
another. Follow Christ. Keep your eyes
on Him. Follow Him. He's our example
in all things. He's the final authority, isn't
He? He's the final authority of what's right and what's wrong
for a believer. In verse 11, he says, For it
is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow
to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. And Paul refers
here to Isaiah chapter 45, verse 23. It's by Christ, friends,
and Christ alone that all men will be judged. Who are we to
judge what only Christ can truly judge? That's what Paul is saying
here. We have no business judging anybody. Our opinions and all we do is
deeply affected and influenced by our sin. What does the Lord
say? You get the splinter. You want
to get the splinter out of your brother's eye, you need to get
the big 2x4 that's in yours so you can see clearly to get the
splinter out of his. Now that's a paraphrase, but
that's what he was saying. Hard for us to see clearly to
judge anyone when we can't see because of our own sin. We're
blind by nature. Religion and its members, those
who belong to religion, and I always use that word. I mean, some people could say
that what we do is religion, but it always kind of just crawls
on me a little because it was the religious people of our Lord's
day that crucified Him. You can be religious about anything
and be wrong. But religion and its members,
they've made their man-made creeds, their laws, their organizations
the judge of men. They get together and have little
committees, and I've seen them throw people out of church. Get
out. You're not doing what we think
you ought to do. But that's something that belongs to Christ, and Christ
alone is master and judge. And we see in verse 12 a great
deterrent, I would think, for judging others. So, then every
one of us shall give account of himself to God. I'm only giving an account for
me and me alone. You're going to have to for you.
I don't have to give an account
to you nor you to me. You don't have to give one to
the preacher, the pope, the priest, the church. No, you've got to
give an account to God. Isn't that what it says? Give
an account of Himself to God. That ought to cause us to tremble.
That ought to cause us to be on guard when we find ourselves
judging and beg God to give us deliverance from it. Now our
sins are blotted out by the blood. I know that. We shall not indulge
in sin. We're accountable to God. Not
for salvation. performed that force, completed
that force, but we are accountable to God for our conduct, stewardship,
and our desire should always be to glorify Him in all that
we do. Now you might ask, do you do
that? I fall so, so short every single
day. But that doesn't change the fact
that I'm to strive for it. that I'm to desire it, then I'm
to ask God to help me with it every single day. Every true
believer knows that they should not continue in sin that grace
may abate. Paul asked that question. Oh,
yeah, grace, what a wonderful thing, unmerited, undeserved.
But do we continue on sinning so that we can brag more on God's
grace? God forbid, he said. We're accountable. Men by nature will sadly use
the grace of God to justify their actions. I've heard people say,
probably at one time said it myself, not judging, just telling
the truth. But men say, well, you know,
I'm just a sinner. I'm just a sinner and sin's what
I am, sin's what I do." Yeah, that's true. You never spoke
to her words. You and I both are sin. Sin's
what we are and we sin because of what we are. But being a believer,
a child of God, professing Christ, saying that He is our all in
all, That makes us accountable and responsible to live as an
example of God's grace. And it's for the glory of Him
who gave it and who loved us and gave Himself for us. Now
let me tell you something that hurts me deeply to say. I say this knowing that God is
sovereign. And that he's in control, complete
control of everything. And that nothing comes to pass
that he has not allowed. Let me just say that up front.
I don't want you to misunderstand me. And I say this knowing that
it's God and God alone that saves. Only God can save a sinner. Draw
him unto himself. Reveal the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ to him. It's God that calls, reveals,
redeems, justifies, and will one day glorify. I know that. I believe that. But I'm convinced that some of my children, if
not all of them, have been influenced in a negative way by my poor
example as a believer. And I have to live with that
before God. I cast that care upon Him, but
it often comes back. There's always a reaping to what
a man sows. I wish I could go back. I wish
I could change some things, but I can't. And if not by the grace of God,
I couldn't. If I even could go back. And
verse 13 says, 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. I borrow these words from Brother
Henry Mahan's commentary I just couldn't say it any better and
plainer. So I'm just going to read it
to you. Verse 13, this is his comment on that verse. This is
the conclusion. Let's don't set ourselves up
as critics and judges of the conduct and lives of other believers. Let's don't. Let's don't spend
our time finding fault with one another. Picking out weaknesses. Exaggerating differences of opinions
and practices. But rather let's spend our time
endeavoring to help one another. Spend our time to avoid doing
and saying things that may cause another to stumble. And He said
we can do this by making our fellowship to be in Christ. And by loving one another in
spite of our differences, and by avoiding the trivial things
on which we differ. I think that's good advice. I
think that's what Paul is saying in these verses. In verse 14,
he said, I know and I'm persuaded by the Lord Jesus Christ that
there's nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything
to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved
with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably, destroy not him
with thy meat for whom Christ died. I know sometimes a King James
Version can be a little hard to understand, but basically
what Paul is saying here is though there are many things that we
as believers can differ and judge one another on, we must always
remember this issue that Paul was dealing
with here. Some felt like they had to abstain
from certain foods that they thought were unlawful. Paul's
opinion is not a private one here. It's not a personal opinion.
He doesn't say, well let me tell you what I think. We do that
quite often. on sports and all kinds of things. Well, let me tell you what I
think about those Rangers or those Cardinals or whatever we're
talking about. But our personal opinion when
it comes to the Word of God doesn't matter. The things of God, your
personal opinion means nothing. The Word of God is the final
authority. And Paul says, I've been taught
by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying here.
I'm persuaded by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's taught me that our
relationship with God and our spiritual condition is not determined
by meats and drinks or what goes in the mouth. If you would, turn
quickly with me over to Matthew chapter 15. It holds your place
in Romans, but Matthew chapter 15. I have mine marked, so I have
an unfair advantage, but Matthew 15, verse 11. You're familiar
with these scriptures. Matthew 15, 11. In verse 10, he says, hear and understand. Oh, I wish I could do that. Wish I could really hear and
understand. He said, Not that which goeth into the mouth, the
fowl of a man, but that which comes out of the mouth. This
is the fowl of the man. And then came his disciples and
said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after
they heard this saying? I bet they were, because that
was their salvation. You do this, you do that. You
don't do this, you don't do that. You don't eat this, you don't
eat that. This is what you eat, this is what you don't eat. Yeah,
I bet they were offended. But he answered and said, Every
plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted
up. Let them alone. Two of the, three of the saddest
words in all of scripture. Let them alone. There was a man I once attended
church with that used to always say, Lord, don't leave us to
ourselves. That's a good prayer. Leave them
alone. They be blind leaders of the
blind. And if the blind lead the blind,
both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, are
ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand that
whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and
is cast out in the drop. But those things which proceed
out of the mouth come forth from the heart." They come forth from the heart. For out of the And they are the
things which defile the man. Verse 19, For out of the heart
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man. But to eat with unwashing hands? Defileth not a man. Now if a person eats or drinks
or does what he thinks is forbidden by God, Paul's saying in these
verses that he's guilty with respect to God as if the thing
were forbidden. He's trying to show us here to
teach a man liberty the right way. We have liberty in Christ. But don't encourage him to violate
his conscience. Be patient. Don't judge him. Allow time for God to deal with
him as he's dealt with the more mature believer. I think I told
you last week that when the Lord first saved me, I don't know
how anybody could have stood to be around me. Just a fanatic
lunatic almost. And I'm sure some of the older
fellas said, hold on Harold, just give him a little time.
He'll calm down if he's one of the Lords. But we, by nature,
we just want to jump on a man's chest with both knees and say,
bap, bap, you know, boy, you better straighten up. And what
we're saying is, is that you need to learn to be like me.
That's exactly what, teach a man liberty. Don't encourage him
to violate his covenant. God will deal with him. Now here's an example again that
Brother Mahan gave. He said, if meat offered to idols
is available to you and you see no harm in eating it, don't eat it if you're in the
company of a brother who will be offended. Don't destroy his
confidence in you and his fellowship with you just for the sake of
your appetite. You can do without it. you can
do without it. Friends, this can be applied
to anything and everything. It may be lawful, but We must
always remember that not all things are expedient. You know,
there's two passes of Scripture I want to read to you. You don't
have to turn there because I need to hurry. But two passes of Scripture
by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 and another in 1 Corinthians 10 that
says, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me,
but I will not be brought under the power of any." And then he
said in chapter 10, verse 23 of 1 Corinthians, All things
are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things
are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Now when Paul says,
all things are not expedient, what he means there is he said,
when the doing of these things destroy the peace, comfort, edification
of others, when it causes them to stumble, if it grieves the
weaker brother and causes offense to him, don't do it. It shouldn't be done. And in
verse 16 here, he says, let not then your good be evil spoken
of. It's good to be free from phariseeism. I don't even know if that's a
word, but we're going to make it one. And you know what I mean,
pharisaical, just holier than thou. It's good to be free from
that, I'm telling you. It's good to have the liberty
and the peace of Christ, but we've got to be careful how we
use our liberty. We've got to use it in such a
way that it doesn't offend and become an occasion of division
among the people of God. Verse 17, For the kingdom of
God is not meat and drink, It's righteousness and peace and joy
in the Holy Ghost. And verse 18, for he that is
in these things serveth Christ, is acceptable to God and approved
to men. Now, I know you know this, but
religion causes men and women to cling to external things. I was raised in a Southern Baptist
church, a free will church. Man, I tell you, people hold
on and cling to baptism as though it was salvation. It's not. You say, do you know the Lord?
Well, I was baptized when I was 12. I'll give you the date and
the time and the year, as I said last Sunday, but hold on to it. Cling to that. Men like the externals
in religious worship, but they don't have anything to do with
eternal life. I'm looking around to see if
anybody is wearing a cross. I don't think you are, but people
cling to things like that. I'm not going to judge somebody
for wearing that, wearing a cross, but if you make that anything
special, oh, this is a cross, my cross, then it becomes wrong. It doesn't have anything to do
with life eternal, something that hangs on your neck or you
hang on your wall. Down with external things. It's
the righteousness of Christ, the joy experienced by the presence
of the Holy Spirit, and the peace purchased by the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ that have to do with life eternal. Those are
the things that we're to be concerned with. When you have the righteousness
of Christ, dear friends, and you have the joy of God's Spirit,
and the peace of His blood that cleanses you from all sin, you'll
serve Christ. and he who is accepted in the
beloved. You'll also be beloved and approved
by others that know God. You see, true believers recognize
true godliness. And it's not walking around being
pious and judging everybody and thinking you're better. It's
just really the opposite. Most of the time, the most humble,
quiet man is probably closer to godliness than the one that's
always blowing off about what great things He's done for God.
In verse 19, I need to wrap this
up, "...let us therefore follow after the things which make for
peace." Not peace with God, only Christ can do that, but this
is talking about peace with one another. Because He goes on to
say, "...and things wherewith one may edify another." In verse
20, "...for meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed
are pure, but it is evil for that man who eateth with offense. Eating something called unclean
will not cause a man to be lost." As a matter of fact, there's
nothing common or unclean. You remember the vision that
Peter had. Every creature in itself is good,
and every Christian may lawfully eat thereof with moderation and
thankfulness." We're not under that Levitical law anymore. We can eat. Well, we want to. Not everything is good for us,
but we eat, and if we do it in moderation, there's nothing wrong
with that. I was just thinking, I had a
person one time, he was a business associate, and he was somewhat
wealthy. And he asked me, and he knew
I went to church, he knew I taught Sunday school, and he asked me
one time if I thought alcohol was evil. And so I said, well,
can I ask you a question? And he said, yeah. And I said,
do you think money's evil? And he said, of course not. He
had a lot of it. And I told him, I said, no, you're
right. Money's not evil. It's the love
of money that's the root of all evil. And I said, it's the same
with alcohol. Alcohol in itself is not bad.
It's the love and overindulgence of it that makes it wrong. Especially
if it causes a brother or sister to stumble or be offended. Look
at verse 21. It is good neither to eat flesh
nor to drink wine nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth
or is offended or is made weak. Hast thou faith? Verse 22. Have
it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not
himself. in that thing which he loveth."
You know, a man is not bound by superstition, holy days, leads,
drinks, rituals, ceremonies. We've got liberty. We find our joy, our righteousness,
our peace only in Christ. And a man that can do that, he's
happy and he's contented. In verse 23, "...and he that
doubteth is damned if he eat." Because he that is not of faith,
whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Now that doesn't, that
word damn there, that doesn't mean eternal condemnation from
God. It simply means disfavor. Disfavor. The man who doesn't
understand the full extent of a believer's liberty must walk
in the light that he has. And whatever we do, friends,
we must do it with faith and conviction that's agreeable to
the will of God. Whatever is not of faith doesn't
become sin. That's what he says. And this,
it don't only apply to meats and drinks, but it applies to
all things. All things. God help us, first
of all, to never judge, because who are we? And may God help
us to live in a way pleasing and glorifying to Him, to whom
we owe all things. I don't want to try to encourage
you and discourage you, but that can only be done by the grace
of God, who God granted. And there's a good chance before
the day's out I'm going to judge, and I'll probably cause somebody
to stumble because of my action. God help me. God help us. Amen.