Now tonight, if you will, turn
back to Romans 14. It's been said one of the first
rules for public speaking is don't apologize for your shortcomings and for
your inabilities, just make the best of them. I couldn't hide
this cold if I wanted to, I don't imagine. But I wanted to bring
this message tonight and I'm going to bring it in outline
form. I'm not going to keep you long
because I don't think I could last long. But now let's begin with verse
1 of Romans 14 and see if we can outline this chapter and
get some help. as Brother Cecil prayed from
the Holy Spirit in our study. Now the entire, listen to this,
this is important. The entire chapter, Romans 14, and part of the next chapter,
all of Romans 14 and part of the next chapter, deals with
our attitude toward one another in regard to disagreements in
regard to disputes. Now the discussion in this chapter
regards two things. It regards the eating of certain
kinds of food and the keeping of certain days. Now neither of which is really
applicable to you and to me. That is the eating of certain
foods and the keeping of certain days. But while the subjects
of disagreements and disputes vary, the principle laid down
here can apply to any dispute and any disagreement. So let's
don't make up our minds about the eating of certain kinds of
food. From the looks of some of the men that came in to study
tonight, they ain't got much principle along that line. But we're not going to hold this
to the eating of... I didn't call any names, Charlie.
We're not going to hold this to the eating of certain foods,
or the keeping of certain days. It's like Robert Haldane said,
the subjects of disagreement vary, and Paul is just using
this as an example. But the principle laid down here,
our attitude toward one another, The principle laid down here
can govern any disagreement or any dispute, and that's what
I want our attention to be upon, rather than upon the eating of
meat and the keeping of certain days. This was their problem.
Ours is along a different line. This was their dispute. Ours
may be involved something else. First of all, verse one, him
that is weak in the faith, receive ye. Now what's this talking about? This statement is addressed to
the strong Christian, the strong believer, or really the more
knowledgeable Christian. This is addressed to the man
who has grown in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, and
it tells him how to behave toward those who are inferior to him
in knowledge and inferior to him in understanding. and inferior
to him in light. Now this is true. There is weak
faith and there's strong faith right here tonight. Represented
in this building there are those with weak faith and little knowledge. There are those here with strong
faith and a lot of knowledge. There are those here tonight
who are babes in Christ, and there are those here this evening
who are fathers in Christ. There are those here tonight
who know very They're those here who have been well taught of
the Holy Spirit. If we're instructed in the Word
of God, which we are, to grow in grace and in the knowledge
of Christ, then it can be safely assumed that there's room for
growth. It can be assumed that there
is weakness and there are immature believers. So the very first
statement here is addressed to you who are strong in light and
strong in grace and strong in faith and strong in knowledge,
and it tells you to receive the weaker brother, the one who is
a babe in Christ, the one who does not have as much light and
knowledge as you may have, it says to receive him. Now what
does it mean by receiving him? It means to welcome him into
your fellowship. It means to welcome him into
your intimate conferences. Now look at the next line. but
not to doubtful disputations." Now what does that mean? It means
this, not to criticize him and not to harshly judge him because
he's weaker than you, because he does not know as much as you.
Receive him into your private conference, receive him into
your intimate conversation. Take notice of them. Give them
proper instructions. Bear their ignorance patiently. rather than demanding that they
know immediately what it took you years to learn. Now some
of you here have strong faith, you have much knowledge, you
have a lot of life, but you didn't get it overnight. It took a long
time for God to bring you to the place where he has brought
you. Now this man who is a babe in Christ, this person who is
new in Christ, this person who does not have as much light or
knowledge as you have, Receive him into your fellowship, into
your intimate acquaintance, but don't receive him so that you
can criticize him and judge him and find fault with him and expect
a miracle of him, expect him to know everything that you know
when it took you a long time to learn it. Now verse 2, he
gives us an illustration. For one believes that he may
eat all things, That is, this man is fully persuaded that no
food in itself is common or unclean. Now, there are two instances
from which this is taken. Over in the Old Testament, certain
meats were forbidden. Also, during the New Testament
days, I think especially in Corinth and in some other places, on
the marketplace, meat would be for sale which had been sacrificed
to idols. In other words, the heathen sacrificed
animals to their gods, too. And this meat was put on the
market for sale, and it was for sale cheap. And many Christians
were buying the meat, and they were eating it. And Paul said,
there's nothing to it. As far as I'm concerned, there's
only one God. An idol doesn't even exist. And
he said, you could take meat and offer it to an idol, and
I can sit down and eat it right after your sacrifice is over,
and right after your heathen worship service is over. because
that idol doesn't even exist as far as I'm concerned. But
here's a weak brother, a new Christian, a babe in Christ,
who sees that meat offered to idols, and he himself may have
been in those services where meat was sacrificed to idols
just recently. And he doesn't think he can eat
that meat. One is fully persuaded that nothing is common or unclean.
that the difference between clean and unclean meats commanded in
the law of Moses was done away in Christ, but read on. But another
who is weak eateth only vegetables. He thinks that these laws of
Moses are still in effect. He thinks that they're still
in force, and he will not eat any kind of meat to avoid eating
unclean meat and to avoid eating meat that was offered to idols,
and he feels strongly about it. And there was a dispute in the
early church here about this factor. And Paul says in verse
3, Now let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not.
In other words, the man who has strong faith and who is knowledgeable
and who has much light and who is a father in Christ Jesus,
let him not look down on that brother who finds that he can't
eat that meat. that he has convictions about
it. He just will not eat it. He eats
only vegetables, and he wouldn't touch that meat to keep from
offending the law of Moses. Well, Paul says, Let not the
man who is strong in faith despise him who is weak in faith. And
let not the man who abstains from the meat criticize and pass
judgment on the man who can't eat it. And then he goes on and
says, And let not him which eateth not criticize the one that eateth,
for God hath accepted him, or God hath accepted both of them.
Now the strong believer who knows that his righteousness is Christ,
that his sanctification is Christ, that his wisdom is Christ, that
Christ fulfilled all the law and Christ put away that handwriting
of ordinances against us, He has no convictions at all about
eating meat or drinking wine, but here's a brother who does.
Now the man who has those convictions should not criticize and look
down upon and despise the man who has these other convictions.
And neither should the man who has the convictions against eating,
he shouldn't judge this man and say, well he's not saved or he
wouldn't eat that meat. He doesn't know the Lord or he
wouldn't do this. He's never been born again, or
he wouldn't do this. I can't do it, and therefore
if he were a Christian, he couldn't do it. Now, the disagreement
here is not over the gospel. You note carefully, it's not
over the gospel of substitution, because Paul was ready to dispute
over that in a moment. Why, he said, if any man comes
preaching any other gospel, let him be accursed. I don't care
if it's an angel from heaven. The disagreement here is not
over the moral law of God. Shall we sin that grace may abound? But Paul said, God forbid. He
was ready to take anybody on over that issue. The disagreement
here is not over the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, faith,
repentance. It's over material things. It's
over physical property. It's over things totally indifferent.
It's over, as Christ said, that which goeth into the mouth and
is cast out into the draft, and that which regards the flesh
and not the spirit. That's what it's over. And Paul
said, let us not judge one another and fall out with one another
and criticize one another over things that pertain only to the
flesh and to the material. Now then, the natural man's religion,
it lies in works. You know that and I know that.
The natural man's religion is in deeds and ceremonies and self-approval
before God. He's going to make himself righteous. As Paul said in Romans chapter
10, they're going about to establish their own righteousness. That's
the natural man's religion. And when that natural man comes
to Christ in real faith, in saving faith, sometimes it's difficult
for him to realize that his entire acceptance before the Fathers
in Christ. Sometimes it takes him a long
time to get rid of the grave clothes. Sometimes it takes him
a long time to shed those things that have been traditions and
habits and ceremonies and rituals and principles and convictions
through the years. He's held to these things, these
materialistic things, these physical things, these things that pertain
to the flesh. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. That's been his religion. That's been his salvation. That's
been his redemption. That's been his righteousness.
That's been his hope. And when Christ comes in, he
still has those things, just like Lazarus had the grave clothes
on when he came out of the grave. He was alive, but he was still
covered with grave clothes, and Christ said, Loose him and let
him go. It took Martin Luther years Every
one of us know Martin Luther was a choice vessel of grace.
Every one of us know that without Martin Luther we wouldn't have
the freedom we have today in this country. Every one of us
knows that Martin Luther was one of the kingpins of the Reformation. And yet he stayed in bondage
to ceremonies and rituals and material religion and self-righteousness
for years and years and years and years. until God finally
brought him to see what it took years to teach him that the just
live by faith. And you men who know something
about the writings of Martin Luther, you know that when he
found that out, the pendulum swung so far that Martin Luther
almost wanted to take the book of James out of the Bible, because
he felt it contradicted the writings of Paul. But the natural man
is so tied up with his tradition and his ceremonies that it takes
a while for him to get rid of it. Now verse 4. Who art thou
that judges another man's servant? To his own master he standeth
or falleth. Yea, he shall be held up, for
God's able to make him stand. What's this talking about? The
weak believer and the strong believer are both God's servants. That weak believer is not my
servant, he's not the church's servant, he's the Lord's servant. And that strong believer is not
the weak believer's servant, he's not the church's servant,
he's the Lord's servant. The Lord chose both of them.
The Lord bought both of them with the precious blood of his
dear son, and the Lord will develop them And the Lord will bring
them along in faith and growth and service according to his
good pleasure. And it's before his master that
he stands, or before his master that he falls. Not before you
and me. It's not my business to judge
him, it's not my business to put him down, it's not my business
to criticize him, and it's not his business to judge me. I belong
to one master. Scripture says, Call no man master,
one is your master, and call no man father, one is your father.
And Paul said, You are not to judge another man's servant.
He serves his master according to his master's own will for
him. For God is able to hold him and make him stand. If a
man is right on the gospel of Christ, and a man has a true
saving interest in Christ, then he cannot fall, because no true
servant of Christ shall fall, and I needn't worry about it.
I cannot by censure or criticism sustain him, and I cannot by
censure or criticism destroy him. He stands or falls before
his own master." Now read verse 5 and 6. We have another illustration
here. One man esteems 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 to the Lord. He that regardeth not the day,
to the Lord he doth not regard it. Now what does this mean?
Here's another illustration or instance of difference of opinion
in this early church. And it has to do with the observance
of special days. Now this has nothing to do with
Lent. That came along afterwards. This has nothing to do with meatless
Fridays that came along afterwards. This has nothing to do with lucky
or unlucky days such as Friday the 13th. No man could keep that
heathen day unto the Lord, could he? No man could do that. This is not talking about heathen
days to heathen idols. A man could not be said to regard
that unto the Lord, could he? Well, what is it talking about?
One man esteemed with one day above another. Another man esteemeth
every day alike. He that regardeth the day, regardeth
it to the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day to the Lord, he regardeth
it not." What days is Paul talking about? Well, he's talking about
the days appointed by Moses. He's talking about the Passover
day. He's talking about the Feast of Tabernacles. He's talking
about Pentecost. He's talking about the seventh-day
Sabbath. These were holy days to those
early Christians. You think about it. Some of these
people who were in the church at Rome were Jews, and they had
kept these days, and their fathers had kept these days, and their
grandfathers had kept these days, and their great-grandfathers
had kept these days, all the way back to Moses. And it was
difficult for some of them not to keep these days. It took them
a long time to break their traditions. And since both parties, here's
the thing Paul is saying, The man who regards the day, regards
it unto the Lord. And the man who doesn't regard
the day to the Lord, he does not regard it. The man that eateth,
eateth to the Lord and gives thanks that he can eat all things.
The man that does not eat certain meat, he eateth not and giveth
God thanks that he doesn't have to eat it. And then in verse
7, Paul said, For none of us lives to himself, and no man
dieth to himself. Whether we live or whether we
die, whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we
die, we die unto the Lord. Now what does that mean? It means
this. None of us lives to himself. If we live, we live unto the
Lord. I am not a separate tree planted out on the side of the
hill in the kingdom of God. I am a branch that is joined
to the same vine to which you are joined, Christ Jesus. I'm
not a separate tree standing out there all by myself to be
an example for all the other trees to be like, and demanding
that they all be like me and that they grow the same amount
of fruit and the same amount of leaves and the same width
of trunk and the same height. I am just a branch that is joined
to divine Christ Jesus, and so are you. I'm not a building which
stands separate and apart, a huge magnificent edifice to the glory
of God. I am simply a part of the living
temple. I am one stone in the living
temple of which Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, and I don't
live on my duties and my services, I live on Christ. And I don't
live by my righteousness and my deeds, I live by Christ. And
my life and my salvation ought to be, and should be, and will
be, if I know Him, to glorify Him. None of us lives to himself. Whether we live, we live unto
the Lord. Whatever he permits us to know, whatever he permits
us to do, wherever he permits us to serve, whatever talents
he permits us to have, we're just part of the vine, and part
of the body, and part of the temple. Now, no man dies to himself. Whether we die, we die unto the
Lord. I have no power over life or
death. I have no power to shorten it or lengthen it. I have no
power to hinder it or to hasten it. This is the master's business. So I'm not to censor my brother,
and I'm not to judge him, and I'm not to despise him, and I'm
not to find fault with him. He's the Lord's, and I'm the
Lord's. Now we're not talking, as I said,
about the gospel of substitution. Paul was intolerant along this
line. We're not talking about this
thing of lasciviousness. Paul was intolerant along this
line. We're not talking about this
thing of fruits of the Spirit. He said, The works of the flesh
are these, and the fruits of the Spirit are these. And those
that are in Christ Jesus shall bear the fruits of the Spirit,
and those that are not in Christ shall bear the works of the flesh.
But we are talking about things indifferent. We are talking about
the material things on which most churches divide. We are
talking about the things over which men fall out with one another,
the things that have nothing to do with the gospel. So we
don't live unto ourselves and we don't die unto ourselves,
we live unto the Lord or we die unto the Lord. Now look at verse
9. For to this end, and this goes back to that master back
in verse 4, to his own master he standeth or falleth, for to
this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might
be Lord, both of the dead and of the living. Now that could
mean that he is Lord over all flesh, and he is. No question
about that. The scripture says, Thou hast
given me authority over all flesh. Christ said to his disciples,
I have all power in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and preach
the gospel. But I believe verse 9 goes with verse 7 and 8. It
says in verse 7, I don't live to myself and I don't die to
myself. Whether I live, I live unto the Lord, and whether I
die, I die unto the Lord. I'm one with you in Christ. He
is the head, we're the body. He's the vine, we're the branch.
He's the chief cornerstone. For to this end, Christ both
died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord, my Lord, whether
I'm living on this earth or whether I'm in glory. He died that he
might be the master, the Lord of every believer, whether living
or dead. He bought us from all slavery, He bought us from evil
service, He redeemed our lives from destruction, and He redeemed
us from other gods which had dominion over us. You say, what
other gods had dominion over us? We followed the Prince of
the Piety of Herod, and we're the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. Jesus Christ is now our Supreme
Master. And we are to cultivate a relationship
of peace and love, and we're to avoid disputes over indifferent
matters, because one is our Lord, and we're answerable to that
one. And we're in subjection to that one. And my relationship
with him doesn't change, whether I'm in the midst of a religious
ordinance, or whether I'm in the grave asleep. He's still
my Lord. So then, verse 10, why do you
judge your brother? These words are spoken to the
man who's weak in knowledge. He still puts emphasis on meats
and drinks and days, and he condemns everybody that doesn't see his
way in these things. They're not as holy as he is.
They're not as pious as he is. They're not as righteous as he
is. Why do you judge your brother,
talking to the one weak in faith, and then to the one strong in
faith? Why do you set it naught, your brother? Why do you despise
your brother? These words are to the strong
in Christian liberty and to the man who's apt to be puffed up
with his superior knowledge and look down on the weaker one.
Why do you find fault with him? For we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ. Now what does that mean? Well,
I know what it doesn't mean. Number one, it does not mean
that the believer is going to be tried for his sins at the
judgment. Our sins were laid on Christ.
They can't be tried twice. Payment, God's justice, cannot
twice demand. Once at my bleeding surety's
hand and then again at mine. It does not believe that we're
going to stand before God at the judgment before Christ because
the Father judges no man. He hath committed all judgment
to the Son. We're not going to come to the judgment wondering
whether or not we're saved, wondering whether or not our sins are paid
for. wondering whether or not we're
going to heaven or hell. We come to the judgment knowing
we are redeemed, that Christ hath borne our sins, and our
sorrows, and our sicknesses, and our diseases, and the chastisement
of our peace was upon him, and he hath paid the price, and there's
no condemnation, no judgment to them who are in Christ Jesus.
But I know that believers are not going to bypass the judgment.
For two reasons. Number one, I know the scripture
says that at that great judgment he shall separate the sheep from
the goats. The sheep on his right hand and
the goats on his left. And he shall say to them on the
left, I was in prison and you vested me not. I was hungry and
you fed me not. I was thirsty and you gave me
no drink. Lord, when we ever see you in prison or sick or
hungry or thirsty and as much as you've done it not to the
least of these, you did it not to me. to these. I was hungry
and you gave me meat. I was weary and you comforted
me. I was in prison and you vested me. Enter ye, blessed, into the
kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world."
We're not going to bypass the judgment, but we're not going
to be on trial, and we're not going to be defendants, because
there's no condemnation or judgment reserved for the believer. But
we shall be there, for we shall see there that our entire redemption
and our entire righteousness is in Christ and not in days
and meats and drinks and self-righteousness and personal holiness. That's
why we're going to be there. We're going to be at the judgment
so that we will appreciate more than ever before what Christ
has done for us. We're not to judge one another.
Christ is our judge. God hath committed all judgment
unto the Son. We shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ, saved and unsaved, lost and redeemed,
children of God and children of the devil. For verse 11 says,
it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee is going
to bow to me. That's every son of Adam. And
every tongue is going to confess to God. Now this passage is quoted
by the Apostle from Isaiah 45, 23. I came across something today
that was interesting. The Apostle Paul, we know, had
as much authority as any Old Testament writer. Why did he
frequently quote from the Old Testament? He had as much authority
as Isaiah. He had as much authority as Jeremiah. He had as much authority as Daniel.
So why did he continually quote from these men? Robert Haldane
says he is quoting the Old Testament. is to prove and to give evidence
that the Old Testament and the New Testament are given by one
Spirit and they harmonize in all parts. And just exactly what
Paul said in Philippians, God said through Isaiah the prophet,
as I live, saith the Lord, every knee is going to bow and every
tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It is to
Him that they shall bow. It is by Him that believers shall
be cleared It is because of him that we shall not be judged and
found guilty. It is by him that all unbelievers
shall be cast out. We all shall appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. So then, verse 12, every one
of us shall give an account of himself. The weaker brother is
not going to give an account of the strong brother, so don't
judge him. And the strong brother is not
going to give an account of the weaker brother, so don't criticize
him. We're going to give an account of ourselves, and our account
is going to be settled because of and in and through Him who
is our Redeemer. Verse 13, now, let us not therefore
judge one another any more. Let us not spend our time criticizing. Let us not spend our time finding
fault. Let us not spend our time endeavoring
to find what we don't like about the other person, what we think
they ought to do that we do, and what we think they ought
not to do that we don't do. But let's judge this rather,
let's spend our time doing this rather, that no man put a stumbling
block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. In other
words, let us spend our time endeavoring to help one another.
and to avoid doing anything or saying anything that will cause
another person to stumble. Now how can we do this? We can
do this by making our fellowship on Christ and not on other people's
faults. We can do this by when we're
together, when we're together, making our discussion and our
fellowship to be around the person of Jesus Christ, his promises,
his word, his faithfulness and not on the weaknesses and faults
and shortcomings that we feel exist in someone else. Secondly,
how can we do this? By loving one another in spite
of our differences of personality. If you have 300 church members,
you've got 300 different personalities. If you've got 300 church members,
you've got 300 people in different stages of growth. You have babes
in Christ, you have young men in Christ, you have fathers in
Christ. You have those who have a lot of knowledge, those who
have little knowledge, and those who have practically no knowledge.
They just know they're lost and Christ died for them. You have
those who have been raised in holiness movements, and those
who have been raised in primitive movements. You have those who
come out of Methodism. You have those who come out of
Catholicism. You have those who come out of
this, that, and the other, out of Arminianism and out of Calvinism. You have past traditions, you
have age differences, you have development differences, and
we have to love one another and have real, sincere compassion
for one another in spite of these differences. And then the third way that you
can do this, he said, let's therefore judge one another any more. Let's
not judge each other, criticize, find fault with, into each other
any more. But let this be our object and
our goal, that we try to help one another, that we try to keep
from putting any kind of occasion to stumble or any kind of stumbling
block. And how can you do this? You
can do this thirdly by avoiding a collision on your points of
difference. Now you know where they are,
and I do too. And the thing to do is leave them alone. Leave
them alone. Yeah, but you say, I believe
this so strongly, I want everybody to believe. Well, give them time.
How long did it take you to learn it? How long did it take you
to learn it? Give them time. That's what it
says over here, to receive the brother into your fellowship,
but not to argue with him, and not to put pressure on him, and
not to force him to accept your convictions on these things.
If both of you are in Christ, you've got a whole lot to fellowship
about. You've got a whole lot to talk about. Now then, verse
14, Paul says this, he says, I know, I'm persuaded by the
Lord Jesus Christ there's nothing unclean of itself, but to the
man, my brother, that thinks it's unclean, to him it is. If
he can't eat in faith, and if he can't worship in faith, and
if he can't do this thing in faith, he better not do it. He
better not do it. If our brother be grieved, though,
If our brother be grieved with our meat, you're eating meat.
Here, let's just take this for example. Paul used it. They bring
the meat in that's been offered to an idol. There it is. Big
beautiful roast, you know. They got it down in the marketplace,
and there it is. And you're strong. To you, an idol's nothing. That
meat's okay. Here's your brother sitting here,
and he can't eat it. Now, if you eat it in front of
him, you're going to offend him. And you say, well, there's nothing
to it, though, and if he can't grow up and be what he ought
to be, let him sit there and hurt. Now, listen to what Paul
said. You're not walking charitably. You're not doing that in love.
It's not love that motivates you to go ahead and eat it, even
though you know it's going to hurt him. That's not love that's
speaking. That's pride that's speaking.
That's arrogance. That's your human haughtiness.
The thing for you to do is don't eat it. It's just flat to a preacher,
nothing wrong with it. It is to him, and you're in his
presence, and you're going to offend him and you're going to
wound him, so just leave it alone. Now if you've got some meat there
at the house, you go right ahead and eat it. Verse 22 said, Do
you have faith? You have it to yourself before
God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in the things which
ye allow. That's between you and the Lord. Now if it's going
to offend that brother, then leave it off. because it's not
worth it to destroy him. Look back, if you will, at verse
15. You destroy him with your meat,
a man for whom Christ died, a man that loves Christ. And you destroy
him just to eat a piece of meat, and it's not worth it. Now then,
verse 17 says the kingdom of God is not meat and drink anyway.
The kingdom of God is not a matter of rituals and ceremonies and
getting the food I want and the drink I want, or it's not abstaining
from those things. The kingdom of God is not to
get religion and quit going to the show. The kingdom of God
is not to get religion and quit eating certain food. The kingdom
of God is not to get religion and start observing Lent. That's
not the kingdom of God. Men are prone by nature to hold
to these externals. They hold to these externals
in religious worship, and they ignore the essentials. It's sure
easier, I'll tell you that. It sure would be easy for me
to fix up a list of things you could do and couldn't do and
hand them out to you next Sunday and say, now do that and you'll
go to heaven when you die. Well, that'd be awful easy to
do because I know I'd leave something off that you could enjoy very
much. I'd leave something off. So Paul
says the kingdom of God's not meat and drink. What is it? It's
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. It's the righteousness
of Christ in the believer and imputed to the believer. It's
righteousness imputed and it's righteousness and integrity and
honesty imparted. It's righteousness which Christ
worked out for me and it's the righteousness which God works
out in me. It's the righteousness which
I have imputed to my account and with which I'm clothed by
the blood of Christ And it's that change of nature and change
of life and change of direction and change of will and change
of manners that is manifested day by day in a growth in the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's peace. It's peace by
Christ and it's peace in the heart. Peace in Christ. And it's joy in the Holy Ghost.
Look at verse 18. And he that in these things serves
Christ is acceptable. to God. The man who in these things,
in what? In righteousness, in peace, and in joy. If he serves
Christ in these things, he's acceptable. Now then, let me
read you the closing verses from my amplified version, and you
just listen as I read them. So let us all aim for an eager
pursuit in the church that which makes for harmony and mutual
up-building of one another. You must not, for the sake of
food, undo and break down and destroy the work of God. Everything
is indeed clean and pure. Everything ceremonially is clean
and pure. But it's wrong for anyone to
hurt the conscience of someone else and make them fall by what
he eats. The right thing would be to eat
no meat and drink no wine at all or do anything else if it
hurts your brother's conscience or makes him stumble or offends
him or weakens him, leave it all. Now your personal convictions
on these matters exercise as in God's presence, keeping them
to yourself. Strive only to know the truth
and to obey his will. And blessed, happy to be envied
is the man who has no reason to judge himself for what he
approves. who does not convict himself by what he chooses to
do. But the man who has doubts, the man who has misgivings, the
man who has an uneasy conscience about eating, and he eats anyway,
perhaps because of you, he stands condemned before God because
he's not true to his own convictions. You see, we've got to be true
to our own convictions of what God has taught us. And if I force
a person to do this thing about which he has convictions, It
may not be sin to me, but it be sin to him, because he's not
acting according to his conviction and the leadership of the Holy
Spirit. For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith,
that's sin. That is, whatever is done without
a conviction of its approval by God is sinful. So the right thing to do is to
eat no meat or drink no wine at all or anything else if it
hurts the brother's conscience or causes him to stumble or offends
him or weakens him. So let us aim for what? Let us
eagerly pursue what? That which makes for harmony
and mutual up-building, edification and development of one another.
May God bless the message.