But we're ready for Romans 14. If you wanna turn to there, I appreciate y'all being here. All you guests, make yourself at home. We're glad you're here this morning. Romans 14, we do expository preaching where we take a book of the Bible and we go through it a verse at a time. And Lord willing and I enable. We're gonna do a whole chapter this morning. Sometimes I could do four weeks on one verse. Tonight I'm trying to do, or this morning I'm gonna try to do 23 verses in one morning. I just think it's one that doesn't need to be belabored, but I think it is a poignant passage for sure. It is very practical. As Paul gives us this. We've talked about so far, to give us our context of where we are in Romans 14. We've talked about how a Christian is to live. how we are serving God in all the things that we do. How we're to, again, that's our job, we serve God. or to serve God and how we are to fellowship with Christians at church, how we are to work and how we are to serve God in our business dealings in the world, how we are to abhor evil at every step of the way, we're to be opposed to it, we're to be against it, we're to stand against it, we're to resist it, we're to cling to what is righteous or what is good, we're to stand up and uphold that and give the right hand of fellowship and tell it to keep on keeping on, how we are to live with our enemies, he's covered that, We're to bless them, we're not to curse them. We're to feed them, we're to give them drink when they're thirsty. We are to be kind, the hard things of Christianity. We don't return evil for evil. We have a higher standard. Retaliation isn't our goal. They drew first blood, not me, and we're not Rambo. We're to be kind, we return kindness. It's hard, Christianity's not for wimps. We're to rejoice with those who rejoice. Be happy for them. We're to be sad when others are sad. We're to have some empathy for our fellow Christian, for our fellow man. We're to be empathetic. We're to have a heart that is soft and tender. Because that's how God's heart is. He's not some far off God. He's not some distant God. He's not some cold callous being. He's compassionate. He had his son enter into this creation to redeem us. We're to represent that. We're to reflect that in our community. So yeah, we're to be happy when they're happy and we're to be sad when they're sad. We have empathy. He goes on in chapter 13 to tell us how we're to live with our government. He tells us to submit. He tells us to pay our taxes, to pay the tolls, pay the fees, be a good citizen. We're to owe no man nothing. Again, not saying you can't have a bank loan on your house. I think that is, what do you call that? It's back debt. You have value there. I'm not trying to run up credit card debt, just all crazy, but we're to be good stewards of our money, but we're not to owe man anything but to love them. That's a debt that we always have. That is an interest payment that we'll never run out of paying. We are to continually paying that debt of love to our fellow man. God paid it to us. So we're to continue paying that to others. He's called us in chapter 13 to be awake. Christians are to be alert. Christians are to have their eyes open. We're to be testing all things, examining all things, holding fast to that which is true. We're to be deciding if that is good, if that is right. We're deciding if that is evil, or is that something I can function with? Is that something I should embrace and be behind? We're to be watching all, we're to be awake to what is going on in the world around us. We're not to have the wool easily pulled over our eyes. We're to be wise as serpents, right? yet gentle as doves. This is a balancing act of Christianity, where we're supposed to be and how we're supposed to be going. So we're to be alert to the days in which we are, especially. We're supposed to be awake, the day of Christ's return is getting closer, he tells us that. We're to cast off works of darkness, we're to put on the armor of light, we're to suit up, we're to be active in our Christianity, we're to be soldiers. That was probably the best response I got after last week's service. Oliver meets me in my office back there, and he goes, we got armor? I'm like, yeah, we got armor. And so, yeah, it's light armor. And then Adam followed it up with, I had the picture of it, putting it on, and the beam bursting out. You know, he's very movie, visual thinking. And I'm like, I'm right with you, brother. And so that's something we might deal with more this summer, as we're talking about. We're to live honestly with all people. We're not to be rioting. We're not to be drunken. We're not to be sleeping around. We're not to be gluttonous. We're not to be causing strife in the community. It's like, oh, here they come, you know, the troublemaker. We're standing up for what is good, and we are opposing evil. You're going to call that a troublemaker? Yes, sir. But we don't cause trouble just to cause trouble. We are fighting for what is right and righteous, and we do it in a righteous way. We're not to envy our fellow man. We're to put on Jesus Christ like it's a robe. We're to make no provision for the flesh. We are to not plan on sinning and setting things up where we can sin. We're to guard against that while we put on Jesus Christ. And we are to be representing him in the world. Putting on that armor, we're putting on Christ. We're here to represent him. It's a pretty full list that he's gone through as far as on Christian living. But he's not done. Now we move to chapter 14. Chapter 14, Paul comes back to how we are to live with other Christians. But now he's getting down to the nitty gritty. You live in your church, but now it's not so much general, he's now more in some specific things. Now how do I worship and live with each of you? That's what he's talking about. How am I supposed to, you know, we're a diverse group of people here. We come from different parts of the county, you know, outside the county. You know, how do we be different? Different jobs, different occupations, different ages, different things. How do we come together and get along? We're at different places in our faith. Some of us have been saved a long time. Some of us are recently saved. Some of us are thinking about salvation. I pray you do it. I've been saved for 46 years. That's a long time. I better be a little bit further down the road than somebody that's been saved three years. I'd hope so. Some have been saved three, some have been 10, some have been 16, 70, some 25. We have various places of our faith and where we are and how long we've been born again and what we've learned and where we've traveled and what we've taken in and what we have applied and the lessons that we've got there, the things we've sat under and heard taught. So we're all at different places in our faith. That puts us at different places in our faith. So he's like, you need to have a little bit of grace in that. You need to have a little bit of patience in that. Because if you're doing it right, if you're in your Christianity, you're supposed to be growing as we go, right? That's the goal. We're not to be stagnant Christians where I'm safe, this is it, this is as far as I go, this is what I'm doing. No, we're to be growing, right? Paul tells us a race, we're pressing towards the mark, you know, it's a walk, it's something that really, we're to be running, we're supposed to be, there's different phases where we do different times, we're like growing exponentially, and there's times when it is slower, but we're always to be moving forward. You know, we don't get stagnant. Because this is a shock, a lot of people always tell me this, well, you know, I can't wait to heaven, because then we'll know everything. Well, really? No, you won't. No, you won't. You know who knows everything? God. Are you gonna be God? No. No. Might we get some explanation on some things that's happened here and there? I think so. I look forward to the Bigfoot class. I hope we get some explanation on how the pyramids were built and how it was like. I think we'll have all that. I think we'll have answers to those things, but I'm not gonna know everything, because I'm not God. But. God knows everything, and I'll know Him, and I'll be with Him for all eternity. If you look over at Romans 11, verse 33, it tells us there that, oh, the depths and the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgment and His ways past finding out. We're gonna be studying Him forever, so we're ever gonna be learning. To me, it's one of the most exciting things about heaven. It's like, yes, I get to see God. I'm excited for that. Yes, I get to see Jesus Christ. Yes, I get to be there with my family and friends. That's awesome, but I'm also gonna ever be learning. I love learning something new. Why would you ever click on the internet if you weren't trying to learn something new and back something up? Yeah, I want to learn something. I want to have something better than the internet. I got God, who can tell you. He goes, oh, creation of the world, life's theories, I was there. That's why I'm going to take the Bible with me. He can describe it to me. So we all have different opinions here and now. Maybe even there and then. As we're learning, as we continue to grow in that way. Makes heaven not quite so stagnant. A lot of people are like, oh, it's gonna be boring. I'm like, I don't think you're thinking about it right. It's not gonna be boring. Romans 14, look at verse one. You're like, he's gonna get through this and he hasn't even started yet. Romans 14, verse one, says, him that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs. Let him that eateth despise, yeah, let him that eateth despise him that eateth not, Wait, let me start. Let him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let him which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. Verse four. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth, yea, he hath holden him up, for God is able to make him stand. All right. He's talking about weak faith, strong faith. Weak faith, strong faith. I'm gonna tell you right now, it's not what we think. I think the devil is good at building things up wrong and putting that in our mind and making us work with it. Verse one talks about doubtful disputations. It's kind of fun. From King James, don't fight. Let's not fight, you know? If you have weak faith and I have strong faith, let's not fight over things. Let's have a little grace here. And let's see which faith he says is weak. Verse two says, For one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak is the one who eats herbs. He's a vegetarian. So why does Paul pick eating? That's not really a debate that we have today, right? I mean, we have different people who have different diets. Are you doing keto? No. Are you doing this? Are you doing, yeah, we have all those. Are you vegan? No, I'm lacto-ovo vegan. We have all those, just a lot of different passions that are there, that's fine. But that's not really like it was in Paul's day. I think Paul picked this topic, but he could have picked a thousand different things. He could have talked about, oh, do you have instruments in the church or you don't have instruments in your church? Do you have dresses? Can girls wear dresses or can girls wear pants? Do you have movies? Can a Christian watch a movie? What kind of movie? Do you play video games? Can Christians watch video games and play video games? How long should a Christian's hair be? Is it supposed to be touching the ears below the ear? What's it supposed to be in that way? Do you wear a hat or not wear a hat? Do you have drums? Do you not have drums? Do you have alcohol? Do you not have alcohol? Do you have rock and roll or not? Do you have all these weird things? Do you have country music? Are you allowed to have metal music? You're allowed to have rap? How about jazz? Do you allow that in the church? How about jeans? Is that okay? Is that legal? How about head coverings? What about PG versus G versus R or whatever? How much can a Christian allow to do? What about books or magic? Or what about playing cards, the tools of the devil? Are we allowed to have that as a Christian in our house? What about caffeine? What about public prayer? What about communion? What about a million things, right? It's what makes up Christianity today. Fightings and disputings where he says, here, don't have it. Don't have it. On and on and on. It's crazy. Why would they have all these disputings? Don't they know we're the ones that are right? We try, right? I think we're all trying. I think that's one of the points we need to remember. We're doing what's right in our eyes. And that's what he's gonna get into. Paul picked food and meat, why? Because of the Jews. Because with the Jews, it was a big deal. It was a part of their religion. Christianity, we don't think, Christianity? You dietary Christians. I don't think about my diet as a Christian at all. I think about my health and trying to keep my temple. I think about that. Well, my wife thinks about that and governs me. Hey, what about your temple? So I need help, I need a lot of help. But the Jews had them. They weren't allowed to eat pork. You know, they couldn't eat shellfish. They weren't allowed to do that. They had to have a kosher diet. It had restrictions. It was dietary restrictions. They couldn't howl the meat. If they were going to eat meat, did the blood drain properly? There was a whole procedure on how it was put this way and where and how and all this stuff. What pot was it cooked in? Was it cooked with cheese? You're not allowed to eat meat that was cooked with cheese. It's a gross thing to them. Milk comes from a cow. You're going to cook it in its own product? No, it's anathema. They weren't allowed to do that. So if you go up and you try to order something with cheese, Oh, man, what's the place now? I forgot his name, the deli. Shapiro's, yeah, you're gonna be like, they're gonna look at you like, what are you talking about, Willis? No, no, you can't, you know, never with cheese. And so, was it sacrificed to idols? Where'd this meat come from? I just bought it in the market. Where's this guy, where's he get, who's his supplier, how's he get there? So a lot of them just ate vegetables. That way you don't have to worry about it. But you and I aren't under that law. We're free from that, Christ set us free from that. We don't have to worry about our dietary laws. But man, if you'd lived under that law your whole life, and that was your whole culture, and that's what had been ingrained in you all the time, and now Christ comes and says, you can eat whatever you want, you'd probably have some struggles, wouldn't you? Coming from the background that Elaine and I have, there's a lot of struggles coming here that we wrestled with. Changes that were different. You know, and so, there's growth that happens. There's things that there, you know, how you're raised sticks with ya. Sticks with ya. And so, to be safe, we need to just eat vegetables. And who would their hero, who would be their hero for this be? It would be Daniel, right? Because Daniel gets taken to Babylon, and they're like, oh, you're asking these meats, and these meats we know were sacrificed to idols, and Daniel's like, I'm just gonna eat vegetables. Can you give us a porridge? They're like, no, the king wants you to eat this. And so they do the whole big test and then God honors them what they do. And so that becomes their hero. So they wanted to be a Daniel, so they just ate vegetable. But we're free from that law. In food, we're not free from all law. The State Commandments still hold. You know, I'm not to lie. I'm not to steal. I'm not to commit adultery. I'm not to do those things. That law still applies. But all these ceremonial laws don't. You know? I'm not running around drunk and having sex with whoever, you know, and all these things. Romans 13, 14 even talks about that at the end. But ye put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fill the lust thereof. There's still sin. You know, we don't use our liberty as license. And that's when you're like, oh, I've got a license to do whatever. Christ has set him free from the law. That's a dangerous place to be. You can turn the car too hard the other way. And so there's a lot of people that have tried to do that and it doesn't end well. In fact, you know, he gives us a list in Revelation 21, verse 8, it lists those who are in hell, and he lists the fearful, he lists the faithless, he lists the murderer, the adulterer, the idolater, the liars, you know, the sorcerers, and that's the ones who are involved in drugs and magic. It's kind of a combo. It's kind of interesting, I always find, you know, the increase of drug use that we have today, it's one of the things he says that would increase pharmakia. He lists those as the occupants of hell, and so no, we're not to live like that. Sin is sin, we're to flee it, we're to avoid it. You know, as a Christian, as a Christian sinner, yes, you know, because we're alive, but we fall into sin. We don't plan on it. And when we're there, we despise it and we hate it and we repent and we get away, right? When we come to our senses, we're like the prodigal. So some think it's though, we're not just talking about that. They think it's more spiritual to not eat meat. But they're serving God better. They're closer to God because they have this higher standard in their mind that I'm not going to eat meat. I'm only going to eat vegetables. To them, in their mindset, if that's the way they think, it would be a sin for them to eat that meat. Because they've drawn that line in their mind. Is it a sin for you? No. But it would be a sin to them. In Acts, in the book of Acts, we learn that it's okay. Peter's the one who gets the news, right? Whole big sheet full of all these weird animals. And he's like, you know, rise up, kill and eat. And he's like, no, no, those are kosher. He's like, I'm telling you what is clean is clean. "'cause he's getting ready to take in the Gentiles, "'and we eat all the weird stuff, right? "'Give me a bacon cheeseburger, yeah, yeah, yeah. "'Dip it with grease, we want it." And so it's like, we gotta make room, we gotta have provision for the Gentiles, so the dietary laws are off. You know, Gentiles, you guys can eat whatever. Thankfully. Opens it up nice for us. But notice in verse two. He says, for one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs. This is the guy with a higher spiritual standard. is the weak guy. The guy with the more rules is the weaker in his faith. The church with more rules, he says, here's the weaker one. The one with the dress codes, the beat to the music has to be exactly right, you know, and regulated, the instruments, the different things, you know, that have to be deemed fit or unfit, you know, hairstyles and all these different things, contracts about behavior. is perceived as more spiritual and higher, and it's kind of ingrained in us in that way. Paul's gonna go on and call it over and over that they're the weaker brethren. Verse two and three says, for one believeth that he may eat all things. Another who is weak eateth herbs. Let him that eateth, or let not him, that's where I got lost before, 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. Basically, let's not despise each other. And I have to watch pointing out differences that it's not like, those morons, I can't have that attitude because now I'm wrong. In my liberty, by saying like, oh, weak people, man, they're just weak. This is their faith. I'm supposed to be gracious about how I approach all this. Key things at the end of verse three. It says, God hath received him. If we both hold to the same gospel, if we both trust that Jesus Christ is the Savior, that you come to the Savior by repenting of your sins and trusting in the finished work of Christ, it's by Christ and Christ alone that you were saved, by faith, by grace, through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. We're brothers and sisters, right? We have the same Savior. We have the same God. We are serving the same God. We are seeking to please Him in our way. I am to remember that first and foremost. And so I think most of us here, have I spoken to most of you and been around you enough, that we have that standard, right? When you hear a teacher or preacher, we look and like, where is their stand on salvation? Because there might be some other topics that we disagree on, that we don't have that same view or that same standard. But man, if they are agreed on salvation, we're like, that's a brother in Christ, and we can recommend him. And I might even tell you, like, yeah, you watch him, have some discernment. There's some things that we might differ on, you know, we can talk about that later. But they're a brother and sister in Christ. They don't worship exactly like we do. That's why we have a lot of different churches. I might get into that here in just a minute. Verse four is kind of a key point. Says, who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth and falleth, or falleth. Yea, he that is, he shall be holding up, for God is able to make him stand. God is his master. God is my master. So am I his master? Is he my master? No. The master is the one that would do the correcting of his servant, not me. I'm not the one that comes over like, oh, you're wrong, you're doing this. No, I'm in a unique position in that I'm a pastor, and if he came with me and asked a question, I will answer it. That is my job, and I try to teach and instruct in a loving and kind way, and not as a you're a jerk. And so I'm gonna try to do it right, and show you like, here's my view, and here's where I stand, and here's why I don't think. But I need to remember, we need to remember, that they're a Christian, they're a Christian. They answer to God, I answer to God. And we're gonna allow some grace. You know? So the odds are, if you are under an attack, or you find something that they're doing, you're like, I don't think that's right. Don't you know you're free? Why do you limit yourself in that way? Don't go to them about it. Go to their boss, right? Take it from the internet. When you got trouble with your cheeseburger, you're like, I want the manager! You know, and then you call him out and you make a big scene. No, we don't do it that way, but we just like, I'm having trouble with this brother. I need to take it to the man. I need to take it to the Lord. Take it to the master. Take it to them. Pray that he will get corrected. Pray that he will change. Lord, they're being limited in this, and I can just see it. Hold on, whatever it is, have a kindness and compassion heart about it. He's gonna get into more how we live and deal with him around it, but pray for him. Go to the master. Don't go to them. Don't cause a division. And here's a little extra bonus point. Married couples, this goes for us. If you think your partner is lazy and a slob and doesn't treat you right and not going to do all these things, do all the things you should do as you do all those things. They can't fold the clothes. They don't know how to do the dishes right. They squeeze the toothpaste in the middle like some heathen that's going on. They put the toilet paper dripping off the back, not off the front. They don't know how to take out the trash and when to take out the trash and 4,000 other things. You bring that up to each other and what's that going to be for the night? as Christians call it, intense fellowship, right? We're gonna be fighting the rest of the day. My mom says toilet paper goes off the back. And your mom, whatever your rules are that you have for all those different things, it doesn't turn out good. So here's a good verse. Take it to the master. You should both be saved, right? Born again, you're not unequally yoked. And if you are, you take it to the Lord. Lord, this is an issue for me. Apparently it's not an issue for her or whatever. And like, would you change their mind on this? If it's something that we go, I'll pray to them about it. Maybe he'll change you. He's up on the sock, you know, whatever it might be. But you'll find if you're seeking it in that way, in a true, honest way, you're not, you're gonna avoid a fight and conflict all day long of your whole life. I think you'll also be surprised how fast the master works. I think you'll be surprised how fast. And you know what will grow between the two of you? Your faith, once you realize you're serving Him together, even in your marriage, taking it to Him in prayer. Taking it to Him in prayer. No more doubtful disputings or intense fellowships. Take it to the Master and then trust Him. I got a whole book I can give you about Chuck Missler and his wife and the problems they were having. It said that she finally came to the realization of this truth and she set it out and said he got home and he had the best place setting with all his favorite foods on it. And he sits down and he's like, instantly, I'm suspicious. Right? Cause she's like, I read the Bible, she's like, what's my problem? The problem's me, I'm not serving him as I'm supposed to as my husband. He opens the fridge. The fridge is usually full of all the kids' favorite foods. He goes, there's all my favorite foods in here. This is a conspiracy. He says it wasn't 24 hours before they had reunited and then reignited what their marriage was because of her decision to do it like the Bible says, that way. Killing with kindness, in that sense, and how it all went, and so, yeah, Paul says, complain to their boss. Take it to God in prayer. You do right. You do right. Serve them as if you're serving yourself, and give them the excuse, and the liberty, and the license, whatever that you would want extended unto you. That's how we're supposed to do it. This is where that phrase comes in handy again. God's order is never out of order. We just do it his way. Things go better for us all, verse five. We're really moving. One man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Most churches meet on Sunday. Some people are Sabbatarians. Oh, we think we should meet on the Sabbath. We think it should be that way. Again, we go back to what's their heart's desire. They're wanting to meet with the Lord. Who cares what day? Maybe they meet on Saturday because they have a pastor who's written a book or something like that, or he's a famous, and he goes around and he tours and he speaks at other churches on Sunday. We're gonna be like, you heathens, you don't meet on a Sunday. They're making provision and allowing for their pastor to go around and minister to more people, and so they meet on a different day. I've heard churches doing that, like meet on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday, because their pastor speaks someplace else and do those things. It's great, they're generous in their giving and they adjust their schedule to be able to fit that, because where do you find in here where to meet on Wednesday? We do it because it's the weekdays and it's the middle of the week and we need to get over that hump, right? So we get together and we do it. But we honor the Lord's day on Sunday, we all agree to that, we all come and we meet there. But if something came up and things were all changed and things are twisted and flipped and turned around and we said Saturday, would we be wrong in doing that? No. I don't think it sends a good picture to be like, some of our church people meet on Saturday, and some on Sunday, because we can't get along, because we can't agree on all these lesser things. It's a mockery to Romans 14 to be divided up and segregated that way in your church. I don't think that's good. And again, my high horse, I'm stepping back down. But we have liberty here. We're to grow in grace and not fight. I think there's a key thing here in verse five, a principle that we can take, look at it again, it says, one man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind, that last part. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. And here's how I'd sum it up, and what I have written in my margin, and it helps me. If you're gonna believe something, if you're gonna do something, do it with conviction. If that is your conviction, let it be your conviction. We meet at the Lord's house on Sunday, then be here on Sunday. Can't say, oh, we meet on Sunday and then never come on Sunday. How convicted are you? But if you're gonna do something, have conviction about it. Let's just not be one of those who are like, what do you do? I don't know. No, we stand for something, right? The country songs get something right every once in a while. You gotta stand for something or you fall for everything. You know, so we gotta stand for something. We're to make decisions, we're to draw lines in the sand, we're to have things of faith, we're to have doctrine. Doctrine divides, that's right, it divides. And so you put it there and you stand on what your doctrine is. You're to have some conviction. If you're a Sabbatarian and it tears your soul up to meet on a Sunday and not on a Saturday, then meet on a Saturday and find fellow Christians that meet on a Saturday and do that. Now I do think Seventh-day Adventists have some other things going on, but that's different issues, but you know, but some, that's just one group, but other people meet, and some people like to do that. You know, because if you have something that violates your conviction and you keep turning it off and doing it anyway, you're going to sear that and you're going to grow deaf to the Holy Spirit warning you. And you don't want that. You want to stay sensitive. So have convictions and then live by them. And then we also live with grace towards others. They have a conviction. I'm going to extend that conviction to them. Amen. They're standing up for what they believe. I'm going to take strength in it, even though it might not be where my conviction is. I think, again, that's why we have so many churches. They have different passions. They have different convictions. We don't see instruments in the New Testament, so there's no instruments in our church. All right. I don't see cars. How'd it get there? But we have all these different things that go on, but that's a conviction to them. A car doesn't bother them. A musical instrument does. So they get together. How are they on the faith? All these different things, what version of the Bible they're gonna read, you know, how they dress when they come there, and so divide up, and we're like, okay, good, you have your fellowship, I pray for you, hope you pray for me. You know, I'm trying to give you that kind of grace, you know, like-minded people gather as like-minded. That's what we're to do, and so, all kinds of things we could talk about. As long as they're not wrong on salvation, we'll call them a brother and sister, right? Some do, they divide up over that. No, we say that it's baptism that saves, and so they get together and they have their church. I'm like, I think that's wrong, and I will debate you over that. You know, some say, no, you have to meet on the Sabbath day, or you're violating the law, it's a sin. I will debate you on that. You know, and there's a lot of different things that we can debate on. And I'll tell you wrong, but salvation, we can agree on that, and the rest is just preference. And your conviction, power to them, right? Power to us. That's what he's trying to tell us, verse six. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he does 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. Basically, they're trying to serve God. Some do it by eating, some by not eating, some by going to church on Sunday, some by going to church on Saturday. They're doing it to the Lord, amen. Right, that's why he's trying to get into our head. Verse seven, none of us liveth unto himself, no man dieth unto himself. We're not alone. We're all together and we all serve a master. And we're all trying to serve him. That's why their conviction is that way. They're trying to honor the Lord, have a clean conscience in their mind. Verse eight. For whether we live or whether we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. And whether we live therefore and die, we are the Lord's, we're his tool, we're his instrument. Verse nine. For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? And why dost thou set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. That's what we need to remember. Who are we to judge? Another man. That's usually the verse that gets thrown out, like you're not supposed to judge. Wrong. Christians are to judge. We're to judge most everything. Why don't we judge? We judge whether something is good as evil. We're to judge something as right or wrong. If we're for it, if we're against it. We're supposed to test all these things in scripture and know what is right and that is there. What a Christian is not supposed to judge as other Christians. Why does that brother do that? Why does that brother go there? Why does that brother do that? I can't judge you and your motive. You don't know me and my motive. We're supposed to give grace in that. We're supposed to allow some license in there. Like, oh, they're serving in that way. That's what we're not supposed to judge. I can't judge an other Christian. God might have a different conviction for you than for me. There's things maybe that I can do in Christ that is no problem for me at all that would be a big deal to you. Same way, vice versa. I don't eat at Applesbee's. For some reason, it reminds me too much of what I think a bar looks like. Looks like Cheers or something. I don't know. I can't go there and enjoy a meal and do it. We've tried. I don't think we've ever stayed fully. You know, we get up, and we leave. And yet, I know a lot of you do. I don't care. Good for you. I have a limitation there. I can't eat at the Willard. To me, it's a bar. It's always been a bar. I don't go to a bar to eat. So I have a conviction and a stand. I'm not going to go there and do that. You can. I'm going to give you license in that. I'm not picturing there being like, I'm eating a song. I'm like, I have to guard against that. I have to give you some license you're not doing that way. Surely there's still being a Christian in there. But it bothers me, so I don't. So I'm gonna zip it up and say amen, have a good meal. I'll be at Wendy's or whatever it is. So I don't know the whys and the wherefore what you do. There might be all kinds of stuff in your life and your past and all these things that make you have to go that way. I get it. I'm supposed to get it. I'm trying to get it. We're all there. So we're to give grace one to another. We're to allow growth one to another. We can ask why's. We can ask questions. Hey, how come it's okay for you? I'm all cool. I'm to teach when asked. If I'm to give instruction, that's cool too. I can't say it like a jerk and be a jerk. I can't. I'm supposed to be Christ, right? I want Christ to judge me in a very kind way. I always think of Romans 2 quite a bit. He says, how we judge is how we'll be judged. And if we are quick and short and we have no time for grace, he's not gonna have any time for grace for us. He's gonna be quick and he's gonna be short. I wanna try to be generous as I can, because I wanna be generous with me. Yeah, we're gonna get some grace. They have convictions. We're all gonna give an account to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We stand before Him. And that's what we need to remember. And we're not to do it this way. Oh, you'll stand before Him. Doing your dice game. You know, no, it would be church lady. Old reference for a bunch of us. Verse 11, it says, this is pretty famous. It says, for it is written, as I live, sayeth the Lord, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to God. We're all gonna give an account to Him. So get some convictions and then live by it. Live by it. God'll honor that. If you're living to your conviction, he goes, that wasn't my standard, you tightened it up a little bit, but power to you. I think you will. Maybe not quite so flippantly, but he'll do it that way. But be fully persuaded in your mind why you do what you do. I did a wedding Wednesday, and I was talking to the couple before, and I was like, Aim at something in your marriage. Aim at something in your life. He who aims at nothing hits it. Put some standards, put some goals, put some things there that you're gonna live towards, be towards. How you're gonna act and how you're gonna behave. Set something up in your life. Have that in there. That's what God's calling us to, right? Look at verse 12. So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. Don't use your liberty to tempt someone else to sin. Oh, it's wrong for you to eat a hamburger? What about this five-guy bacon cheeseburger with everything on top? Doesn't it look delicious right now? And they're like... Now you're a jerk. You know, now you're looking at God and my freedom in Christ that you can't have. No! We're not to be that way. It's never cool to be a jerk. I have to tell myself that often. And so... You don't want to be that way. You don't want to cause a stumbling block. You want to make them fall. They have a conviction that it's wrong. So why would we put that in front of them? Oh, we're inviting them all over. They don't play cards. We're gonna play euchre halfway through. That would be a jerk move. You know, it's like, we'll see if they leave. We'll see if that's really a conviction. Let's not be that way. We have a euchre party here at the church. We're freeing Christ. If you can't play euchre, were you raised in a different state? Because this is Indiana. We all play euchre. But come and play and have fun. If it bothers you, you abstain. It'd be like, I'll let those heathens play euchre at the church. No, you're the thing. Power to them. If your conviction's your conviction, let it be your conviction. Our conviction is our conviction. Verse 14, I just got block listed off a lot of things because I allowed cards in the church. Verse 14, and again, a good example, David Korn. I went and saw his magic show on Thursday. He did a great job. He sees me beforehand, and he's like, hey brother, it's going to be quite a bit different show tonight. And I'm like, really, how come? He goes, my wife's major pregnant, and she's like major pregnant, so they're waiting on another little Colonel to come into the corn family. That's how I put it. And so yeah, she didn't do some of the tricks. She did some, but I'm still thinking, I don't know how she did those, but it was there. But the week that he was with us and went around, he did tricks with the rook deck. And I'm like, oh, a rook deck. I'm like, he goes, yeah, you know why, right? And I'm like, yeah, I know why. He said, because a lot of churches have a problem with playing cards. They see them as sinful and evil. And he's like, no one has a problem with rook. So he has a rook. You pick a card, any card, it's a rook card. It has numbers on it, they're different colors, you memorize it, sign your name, and so, yeah. So he's just, I don't want to offend the weaker brethren, I don't bring a deck of cards and make them have to deal with it. And so he complies in that way. It's a very good way, very good practical thing the way he does it. So. Verse 14, I know I am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Most everything's neutral. Most everything's neutral. Guns are neutral. You can use them for good, you can use them for evil. The guy stopped a school shooting because he had a gun. The guy who did the gun, it was evil. He used a gun. It's neutral. Movies, neutral. They can be good, they can be evil. It could be good. It could be evil. Same way with clothes. You can wear things that are good. You can wear things that are evil. Dancing. Not good, at least not mine. It could be good, it could be evil. I've seen beautiful dancing, done unto the Lord. First, the time we went to Young Messiah, Handel's Young Messiah, they had a big dance troupe come out and it was like, how are they gonna do this? Strict Baptist then. I'm like, oh, okay, like that. That's pretty good. So they were able to worship the Lord. I'm like, you can do that. Jews kinda have a little dance when they worship. As they come out and the priest do their little, they do. Instruments, good or evil, all the, they're neutral. It's how we use them. Paul's like, let's remember that. Let's not just think, oh, they've got a gun, it's evil. It's a gun. How are we gonna use it? You know, it's a Bible. How are we gonna use it? Should we be using it for good? Not to beat somebody over the head. Not to tell them how wrong they are and shake it. We want to reach people, not repel them with the gospel. We want to be Christ to them. We want to be kind. We want to be gracious. We want to be loving. I've got a few more verses. Verse 15, but if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably? Destroy him, or destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. If you know it's their conviction, comply to their conviction, like David Cord with a rook deck versus a deck of cards. Don't trouble them and pick a fight. Be loving in what you do. He tells you here their faith is weaker. They need more rules for them to feel like God has not abandoned them. Their faith is weaker. They need more rules to follow to say that they are safe and they are secure in Christ. They need to do these things outwardly to convince themselves that they are safe. They need more rules. They need more restrictions. They need to be trusting in that. We wanna be trusting in God and God's word that he says us, that he has saved us and that he will keep us and that he has and he has set us free. We're gonna do this, but we're not gonna destroy someone's faith over a sandwich. Stupid. Over a deck of cards, over what restaurant you go to, of what song was on your radio or what was, we're gonna do that? Who are we? That's what Paul's saying, who are we? We're gonna destroy someone's faith over some personal petty conviction that you have. That might not be petty to you, but he's like, what about your brother? You don't know who they are, where they are, what they're going through. Have some compassion. Dye it a self a little bit here. That's what he's calling us to. Does it hurt you? Oh, look at verse 16. Let not then your good be evil spoken of. Be always thinking of the best way to act, the best way that you're supposed to proceed in this situation. Remember, Christ was kind to you, so be you kind to them. Christ is patient to you, be you patient with them. Christ puts up a lot with me, for sure, so I should put up a lot for everybody else. Verse 17, for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy and the Holy Ghost. That's not what it's about. We wrongly make it about that, for what? For pride? Look at our standards and how we are. Die to self! Pride in this? Humbly serve the Lord. That's attractive to people. Who is this with that faith? Kind, loving, compassionate, understanding where they are. I don't feel judged or anything. That way, in that sense, God hates pride, especially in the church. Satan loves it. He makes it this caricature that a lot of people throw up to you, like, oh, you got a church? Oh, I bet they put the offering plate under your nose. I bet they're gonna do this, I bet they're gonna do that. That's why I like them to say, no, not here. No, not in this place. We try not to. We just want to serve the Lord in our own way. Verse 18, a biblical way. 18 says, for he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and things which whereof one may edify another. Your convictions are different, that is true. But if you try to trick or browbeat or force someone into your convictions, that's wrong. That's wrong. It might be a sin unto him, and you'd be causing them to sin again. Remember that stumbling block thing? Shame on you. Shame on you. You know, if you're asked to do something that's convicted, you might be able to tell him, like, dude, that's fine for you, but I really have a conviction. Can we go somewhere else? I don't wanna go there. I can't really be in that place. And if they're kind to their brother, they would allow that, I'm sure. Right, wouldn't you? So just being kind and open and honest instead of being like, I can't believe they serve McDonald's and not Chick-fil-A. You know what I'm saying? It's the Christian chicken. And, no. And yet, we kind of do that stupid stuff, don't we? That's what makes it funny. Verse 22, is that where we're at? No, I think we're at verse, where did I leave off? 21, okay. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything, whereby thy brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself that thing that he alloweth. We're not to be compromising. We're not to ask others to compromise. And you're not compromising when you step down. You're like, that's okay for me to eat a hamburger, but you only serve salad? All right, I'll eat a salad around you. It's okay. You're honoring God. So if I'm going somewhere where I know they have a conviction about dress, I leave my shorts at home and I don't bring my guitar. I'm gonna live by their standards. I'm gonna act by their standards. I'm gonna behave in a way that they seem okay. I don't wanna go in there and say I'm flaunting my wife and liberty and Christ in my shorts and my polo shirt. That's stupid. So I'll wear a jacket and tie there. And he leaves us with a very handy, practical thing here, verse 23. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he that eateth not of faith. For whatsoever is not of faith is sin. If you go against your conviction, it's sin. Until God changes you, God can change you. There's standards that I had, that I've eased up on. I don't have to say enough. It doesn't bother me. I can rejoice and see it. It was a shocking thing here, like the time I got voted in as pastor my first week. Someone gave a gift, a dance of praise to the Lord for us finding a pastor and to be here, and that was hard for me. But I tried to practice this through it all, and it became beautiful. But that's what they wanted to do. I was outside my comfort zone, I'll tell you that. I said, I don't eat at certain places, and I don't judge you if you do. I just usually don't tell anybody where I'm at. Applebee's, one place. Here's the most practical takeaway, this last part. It says, for whatsoever, the very last thing, for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. And I'm gonna summarize it down to this little catchy phrase that I have written off to my side in the margin of my Bible. If you doubt, don't do it. This is a good way to live as a Christian. We can boil it down to that. Trust that the Spirit's within you, teaching you, guiding you, leading you, right? Instructing you in paths of righteousness where you should go. And if you come in certain circumstances and you're like, I don't know. Don't. And be honest with who you're with. You're like, I'm just really not feeling comfortable here right now. I don't know what's going on, but can we do something different or go somewhere else or be whatever? The conscience that God has given us, along with the Holy Spirit, is a gift. It is how He communicates to us. We are to be sensitive to it. And we're to keep it very sensitive in how it's supposed to lead us and how we're supposed to go. It is how we live our Christian life through this lost and fallen world. Because we're to be in the world, but not of it. That means we're out there. We're not the Essenes in a camp, all tucked away by ourselves. We are in the world alongside of other people, lost people, and their conviction. And so I have to live in that. So I have to be in tune with the Holy Spirit through my conscience, steering me. So we need to listen and not rebel against it. And just go against it, because if you turn off that switch, that's dangerous. If you've seared your conscience. But when in doubt, don't. A hundred things. If you pause for a second, let's move on. Next thing, let's go. Trust it. It's like a muscle like anything else. Trust Him. Use it. Exercise it. You'll get better at it, and He'll steer you in the paths that we should go, and the paths of righteousness you should go. So, there, we did it. I went over, sorry, three minutes. But have some convictions. Have some grace. Pray that the weak become stronger. Doesn't make it your personal mission in life, I'm gonna go try to tell them all the liberties they have. It's probably not a good ministry to have. Probably would not be well received. We can pray in that way. Draw some lines. And if you're convicted of sin, have some convictions of sin. Maybe there's some that we need to tighten it up a little bit. But there's, God's like, it's not all about that. It's about can you get along? Can you show all this? It was know us by our love one towards another. It was our verse for Valentine's Day. Same thing. Our love towards another from this fellowship to Sycamore, to fellowship, on down to all the different churches that are around here. Do we have love for our fellow brothers and sisters in their ministry and what they're doing? Do we pray and give thanks to them? Others do for us. I received an envelope today of another ministry giving us support. It says, we like what you're doing. It's convicting. It's convicting. We've tried to emulate it in my life, my wife and I, to try to support others in that way. Might not be exactly how we are, but they're fully convinced and serving the Lord in that way, that's great, I want them to do that. So let's have that for ourselves too. And if you've been convicted of sin today, it's time to deal with it. God's called it sin, called it out in your life, deal with it.