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Romans 14. We'll be looking at verses 13- 18 this morning. Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block
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in a brother's way. I know and am convinced in in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But to him who thinks anything to be
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unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with
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your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not eating and
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drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. Let us pray.
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Father, we do ask that you would open your word to us by your Holy Spirit. Help us to understand what you have given the apostle to set down for our
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instruction. Help us to apply in our circumstances, in our culture, in our time, the truth that we read here. We ask that you would guide us in your word, sanctify us in
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your word, for your word is truth. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.
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The bottom line of what Paul is saying in this passage is actually the verse that I did not read, verse 19, where he says, "So then, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up
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of one another." edification, the building up of the body of Christ in each and every congregation done in a spirit of love which produces
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an atmosphere of peace. These are the fruit of the spirit of course along with others. But what is often found in the letters of Paul to the churches is strife and
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discord, disagreements and factions. and eventually, as we know from church history and perhaps even well certainly even our own history, schism.
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So, so it appears that we really haven't caught the gist of what Paul is writing here, that the Holy Spirit has not yet
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convinced our minds, maybe moved our hearts to where we can read what he says here with understanding
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and with the courage by the Holy Spirit to actually put it into practice. What does the circumstance look like in
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He's talking about the weak. He's talking about the strong. And here he's talking about not putting stumbling blocks in front of others. So what was going on there? Could we liken it to the
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the very vicious practice of putting one's foot out when a blind person is walking down the sidewalk and tripping them? In other words, we're the strong
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being malicious. being malicious. Or can we look at the other side and say it's like somebody walking around with their eyes shut and then complaining when they stumble over something?
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I don't think what Paul is dealing with in Rome was either so malicious nor so stupid. I don't think that what we see here are people who are aggressively and even
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maliciously trying either to condemn others or to cause others to stumble. I think rather what we're dealing with here is a matter of Christian liberty
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and a matter of conscience. And as this passage has aged over 2,000 years, it has been used by, we might say, both
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sides, the weak and the strong, in very wrong and negative ways. In in my own experience, it seems that
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in the modern church, the weak have the upper hand. And often Romans 14 is used to justify
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the suppression of liberty within the church. Now Paul sets the matter, I think, fairly straight in verse 14.
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He says, "For I know and am convinced." Now that's that's pretty firm for Paul. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in and of
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Let that sink in a little bit and consider just who it was who was saying it. This is Saul of Tarsus. This is the Pharisee as to the law
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without blemish, without blemish, exceeding his countrymen in his in his own adherence to the minutia of Torah as well as to all of the rabbitic laws that
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went along with it. And yet he says, "I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in
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itself." Later he will say to the Corinthians, actually excuse me, earlier later in our Bible, earlier in time, he will say, "All things are permissible
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to me, yet not all things are profitable." Now, that's the attitude of liberty with which he's coming to this issue in Rome. He he will side with the strong and say,
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"All things are permissible to me, and there's nothing unclean in and of itself." But he will also say not all things are profitable. And to Paul, what is profitable is the edification of the
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body. And he will say here and he will say in Corinthians he will say I will not eat any meat if by abstaining I can strengthen my brothers or if by eating I
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might cause my brother to stumble. So there's the attitude that Paul would inculcate by the Holy Spirit in both the weak and the strong. As he says in
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Philippians, do not think only of yourself, but rather think of others as more important than yourself. That is what brings about the harmony,
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the unity, the building up of the body in love and peace, which is the goal of all of this. I It's not to convince the weak to do what the strong can do.
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It's not that the strong don't do anything because it might offend the weak. That's not the point. It's not being
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right. It's acting in love, which at times means abstaining rather than causing your brother to stumble.
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But it has been my experience, maybe not yours. So what I have to say may be foreign to your own experience, but it has been my experience that the modern church is full of a lot of clumsy
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believers. Believers that look like newborn deer or horse as they try to walk. Their legs are wobbly and they like it that way. And they wobble through life
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telling everyone around them, "Oh, you can't do that or will cause me to stumble." See Romans 14. Romans 14. That is not what that means. In no way can you read Romans Romans 14
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and find Paul advocating a maintenance of weak consciences. And what happens is the church seeks the lowest common denominator.
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In other words, how little liberty can we all agree on? Think about that. How how little how little can we grant
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one another in terms of Christian liberty so that we're all comfortable. And and you think Paul would approve that? I don't think so.
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If the Son has made you free, you are free indeed. free indeed. So where in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is this mindset, oh let's not do
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that because if we do that for example and and I know this may offend some but this has been these these have been causes of schism and faction in our own body which
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frankly is is what matters to me. But do we have the liberty to sing
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And we had we have had and perhaps will have maybe even still have those who believe that we should only sing the Fine, only sing the psalms.
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But don't condemn others who will sing the hymns. the hymns. And I'm not even going to go into great detail. I'll leave it to your own imaginations. Who has the liberty to pray to their Lord and their father? You
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see, these are things that we have dealt with. This is where it comes home to our congregation as it does to so many others. What can we do in the Lord?
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Paul says anything short of sin. Well, that's a tricky one, isn't it? Because if you don't, if your conscience doesn't allow you to do something, you think
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it's sin it's sin to do it. Well, for you it is because Paul says anything that is not from faith is sin. But it's not the thing in
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itself. That's what he's trying to make clear. There's nothing in clean itself. Now, there are sins. Please don't get me wrong. We're talking about matters indifferent. We're talking about things
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that in the doing not cause sin. But if the doing is done without faith, that is what is sin.
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And so the church often to try to avoid any controversy or any challenge will seek the lowest common denominator. What
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is the least amount of liberty we can all live with happily together? The problem is
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the lowest common denominator is death. And I don't mean physical death. I just mean a a body that is morabund that has no life and has no liberty because there will always be a weak bre
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brother or sister who cannot do what you can do with a clear conscience. And so the church has to learn how to deal with that without suppressing liberty,
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without plateauing and saying, "Okay, we've reached this level of liberty, but you know what? We're not going to go any further because that's going to offend too many people. The word is our guide. The word is what
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defines sin. The word is what defines whatever limits there remain. And the word does speak to the polity of
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the body. The word speaks for example as to who should be the leaders of the body. And so there are places that we don't go because the word doesn't allow
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us to go there. But if we begin to deny, and I can't remember who first said this, but if we begin to deny what the scripture allows,
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we will soon allow what the scripture And the meaning of that statement is that the front line for the church is
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liberty. that we must as we grow take hold of the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ and if something is not denied to us in
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scripture then we may embrace it we need not and I want to make sure that I'm clear on one point let's look at the attitude of the weak
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someone who would say you can't do that because that will cause me to stumble Now, to give another example from our own history as a church,
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for the first 25 years of of my time as an elder, an elder, the Lord's supper was entirely grape
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juice. Now, I I never personally thought that was correct, was correct, but the whole advent of grape juice into the church comes through the temperance
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movement. And in fact, I think the fellow who was a pastor at the time, um, I'm pretty sure his last name was Welch,
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and he is in fact the man who developed Welch's grape juice. Okay, we went back and forth on it as elders and congregation. We talked about it and obviously we have come to what is a
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compromise and we serve both wine and grape juice because it's not about making the weak drink wine.
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It's not preventing the strong from being able to. It's recognizing the freedom that we have in Christ to do so. And and so when the when the person
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comes up and says, "You can't do that because I'll stumble." Well, that is not the right attitude. First, the first thing the weak must do is ask from the scripture, is it a sin
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that my brother is doing? Not do I think it's a sin or have I been told it's a sin, but is it a sin? Is it unclean? Will it defile?
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Paul says no. food, drink, days. They are not matters of sin. And therefore, the weak must allow and even
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rejoice in the strength of his brother or sister to be able to do what God allows. But the second thing they must do is to search their own conscience. Now, I'm
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going to give a hypothetical. It's it's not really a hypothetical because it's my own family because my father was an alcoholic.
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Now, if if a brother aka my brother determines that it is biblically fine for someone to drink, but not wise, coming from a family in
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which drink was very destructive, then with a clear conscience and thanks to God, that brother chooses not to drink. That does not mean that brother
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is weak. is weak. It means that brother chooses not to do so. So again, what Paul is not seeking is uniformity that we all do the same
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things. What he's seeking is clear consciences, but also consciences that grow by the spirit through the word. So as a as a weak believer and and you look
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at what someone else is doing and you say, "Well, you know, it's not a sin, but I just can't do it." Fine. But don't even stop there. continue to be in the word asking the
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Holy Spirit to reveal to you the liberty that you have in Jesus Christ so that several years, 10 years, whatever you find that it no longer
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bothers you. bothers you. So the the weak have a responsibility not to condemn the strong, but also not to maintain the status quo, but rather
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to have their conscience washed by the water of the word. And the and the goal for all of us is to stand in the liberty that we have in
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Jesus. And that is the weak. But what of the strong?
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Well, does right make might? And yeah, I said that backwards.
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Knowing that we're right, as Paul does, he says, I know, and I'm convinced in the Lord Jesus that there's nothing unclean in and of itself. And therefore, just shut up. I'm having this meat. you know, I'm having my ham and Swiss on rye
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because right makes might. No, it doesn't. In fact, that attitude is one of the essential qualities or characteristics
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of a cult where all the people do what the leader does because the leader does it. That's a cult. And you'll recognize it even
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within Christian circles that everybody will think and do according to an individual because that individual thinks and does those things without
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ever examining their own conscience. That is a cult folks that is not a church. And there are some around here.
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And there are some in the modern church, the contemporary church, that are very insidious and very dangerous. We must all examine our own conscience
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and never do anything simply because someone else does it. Even if it's someone that you respect and honor, everything that is done apart from your faith is sin.
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And that's not liberty. That's actually bondage. because you have bound your mind and your conscience to that of someone else. As if the Holy Spirit doesn't dwell in
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you, but only in him or only in her, only in this influencer or or that writer or whatever. No, we must all appear before the
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judgment seat of Christ. Paul refers to here in Romans 14 and again in 2 Corinthians 5 to give an account for the deeds done in the flesh individually.
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So Mark and I will give an account for the care that we have given to the souls entrusted to us in this church. But we won't be standing by any of you. You'll be standing before the Lord
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alone. And when you say, "Well, so and so did it." The Lord will say, "But you did it without faith. You did it without a clear conscience. In fact, you did it
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only because he was doing it." And therefore, I cannot commend you. I cannot say, "Well done, good and faithful servant servant." I can say, "What was you thinking?
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I gave you the Holy Spirit. You had no need of any to teach you. You had the anointing within you. Why were you doing it? Because the other person did it.
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See, that's the danger of the strong is right makes. right makes. And I can be fully convinced as I am in certain things that it is fine to do what I do.
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But there are times when you don't do because it will cause other to stumble. All right. So, what does it mean to stumble? Again, it doesn't mean walking around with your eyes shut saying you
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can't do that or I'll fall. And it doesn't mean sticking your feet out so that blind people trip over you. What it means is love
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and considering one another more important than yourself. What it means is giving consideration for the other, the brother, the sister,
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knowing something of their background. For example, perhaps they were also raised in an alcoholic home and you you invite them over to dinner and you you don't put out wine.
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You you don't put them in a situation. Now, this is again, it's a hypothetical. It's a a practical application, but you don't put them in a situation where they might do something only because you're doing it, not because they're convinced
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it's okay. That's what it means. And so when Paul says, "Do not let that which is good to you be spoken of as evil," too many people, too many strong ones
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have read that as meaning that I must defend my right to do what I want to do. That is not what it means. It's not even close to being in context
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to take it that way. We need not defend what we consider to be right. Paul doesn't. He says here again in Corinthians is I
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know it's okay. I know there are no idols. I know I can have a steak when I want it wherever it's come from. But I am not guided by that. I'm guided by
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the edification of the body. I'm guided by my love for my brethren or sister. And so And so we have to be careful
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not to live in such a way that others imitate without imitate without the faith that cleanses their conscience. Then your liberty becomes a cause of offense. And that which you consider
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good may be spoken of as evil. Again, you're not defending your own rights. You're governing them in such a way that they will not cause someone else to fall
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into sin by living out of faith. And so it is a challenge. It requires wisdom.
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So for the weak, Paul says, and this I think is is the crux of what he's saying to the weak. Whatever is done apart from faith is sin.
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And in the whole passage, what he is saying, this is up to you. This is your individual conscience. Which means of course you need to know your conscience.
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your conscience. You need to examine your conscience. This is a good day to say that because we're going to be celebrating the Lord's supper. That's what it means to examine yourself is to look to your own
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conscience. Is it clear before the Lord? And by that I mean is what you do what you do you do with thanksgiving to God and in full
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measure of faith that it is pleasing to him that you should do it. If not, it's sin. Okay. So the weak he says whatever is
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not from faith is sin. But to the strong, he says, "Do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil. Live and grow in the freedom that we
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have in Jesus Christ. Do not at any point suppress it beyond what you can find in scripture. But do not use that liberty to force
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another to do what he or she does not have the faith to do. because at that point you have caused a brother to stumble as Paul says one for whom Christ
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died. Now that statement right there is the most powerful one in the New Testament as regards how we should look at one another.
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One for whom Christ died. Now if anybody can say that to a brother or a sister and say you are one for whom
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Christ died now let me cause you to I think it's questionable whether that person has the spirit himself.
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And so Paul is really I think hitting very hard in this passage again not to have some type of uniformity not to where everybody does the same thing with a clear conscience. I'm sure he would be
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delighted in that. But I think that would be talking about the kingdom of heaven which has not yet come. But in the meantime, the meantime, the goal is righteousness,
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joy, peace in the Holy Spirit. And often times we read the Holy Spirit as a suffix kind of like we do in prayer when we say in Jesus name.
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No, this only comes from the Holy Spirit. This is not something that is native to our fallen hearts. In in our hearts, we do want uniformity.
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In our hearts, we do not want other people doing things different from what we do because it makes us uncomfortable. And that's where the true community of
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Jesus Christ is so radical in the world is it allows a multitude of people with different levels of conscience in the Lord to do what their conscience allows
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with thanksgiving to God and to love one another in peace and harmony. I don't know that I can possibly say how radical a society that is
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and how astounding it would be and has been to the world around it. We gather with people who are of like mind. We
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gather with people who are of like ambitions, like goals. Our groups, our associations are all along the line of what people do. the homebuilders
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association, for example, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving, for example. That's not the church. The church is a new humanity.
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Which means just as there is diversity within the human race outside the church, so there will be diversity in the church. And yet, not as the world,
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which does not have peace and has nothing but adversity and strife, not so the church. With all of that diversity, there is still harmony and
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unity, peace and love. Clearly, that's only by the Holy Spirit. And so, when Paul says in Philippians,
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do not grieve, I think it's Philippians, do not grieve the Holy Spirit. I think that that this passage in Romans 14 and similar to what he says in 1 Corinthians, this is this is the venue
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of that not grieving the Holy Spirit. Do not judge the strong brother who is able to do what you are not able to do. Do not condemn him, but do not pass
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judgment, you strong brother, on the weaker brother who's not able to do with clear conscience what you may do. but rather both seek for the edification of the other and for the whole.
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And so again it is a challenge but it is a matter I think of shared focus.
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Both the weak and the strong have the same goal same goal and that is the building up of the church to the glory of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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How we individually will grow in that shared goal is a matter indifferent as long as we maintain that shared
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focus. That shared focus is a renewed and revived emphasis on the kingdom of God. He refers to the kingdom here when he says the kingdom of God is not eating
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and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. I think certain types of teaching have led modern believers to put the
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kingdom of God entirely off into the future. that would render what Paul says here completely meaningless.
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Certainly, the fullness of the kingdom of God will await the consummation of the age and the revelation of Jesus Christ, his second coming. But in the meantime, his spirit is here in his church and in his people. And
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therefore, the life of the kingdom should be here and growing in our midst. righteousness, peace, and joy. And that means weaker brothers and
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stronger brothers accepting one another because they have one common judge, one common Lord to whom they will both stand and they will stand because Jesus is
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able to make them stand. And so a revived interest emphasis on the kingdom of God I think is key to this shared focus. In
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Colossians Paul writes, "For he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son.
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beloved son. We are of a different citizenship now. We have a different allegiance. We have our own king, the king of kings. And that should be our mutual emphasis. And
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then beyond that, I think the shared focus requires meditation and contemplation on what that kingdom looks like. In the political world, especially since
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the reformation, the reformation, there has been an emphasis in political writings on personal liberty, the liberty of each individual citizen.
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And that is an ongoing controversy and a matter of debate within the public forum. But within the church, we rarely talk about liberty. In fact, most churches unfortunately do
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descend into what you can and cannot do with an emphasis on the cannot. And it we read the scripture and we find Paul saying, "All things are permissible
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to me, to me, but I will only do that which builds up my brother." And so we read about the kingdom in verse 17. It's righteousness, peace,
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and joy. righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And so what it boils down to is that the
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weak and the strong are really not differentiated in Jesus's eyes. They are both groups of people for whom he died, individuals for whom he died.
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And therefore there's no reason why they cannot maintain their differences in what they may do with peace and harmony in the Holy Spirit. Let's pray.
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Father, we do ask that by your spirit you would progressively bring about the peace and harmony in righteousness by your Holy Spirit. and that every believer
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would meditate on the freedom that he or she has in Jesus Christ. Rejoice and walk in that freedom to the extent that conscience allows. conscience allows. But we do pray, Father, that for each
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one of us, you would stand guard over our conscience by your Holy Spirit and through your word. that we would not use our liberty as a license for sin, that
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we would not declare liberty to do that which is displeasing to you, including causing our brother to stumble, but rather instead of suppressing
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liberty, we would grow in it, giving thanks to you because you have are the one who has set us free. Father, we ask as we gather around the
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table that you would be blessed by our fellowship, that you wouldite unite our hearts through the Holy Spirit, even as we partake of the bread and the cup. For we
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do this in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, in honor of his great sacrifice on our behalf, knowing that we are washed in that blood that was shed and
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that we have become that body that was broken. All glory and honor to you. We ask in Jesus name.
