Let's turn to Romans chapter 14 this evening. Romans chapter 14. We welcome you. Thank you for joining. Good to see a goodly number gathered out at the house of God this evening. We're here to pray for our gospel mission. We can take also to the Lord. our Children's Bible Club at the end of August, and so we're here to pray for these things. We want to bring a short message, as I've said, Romans chapter 14, and we'll come into the chapter, the verse 11, or verse 7, Romans chapter 14, and the verse number 7. And the verse reminds us here, for none of us liveth to himself No man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live on to the Lord. And whether we die, we die on to the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. And thank God for that. For to this end, Christ both lied and rose, and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For as is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to me, so then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more. But judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. Amen. And we'll end there at the verse number 13 of this particular chapter. You know, it ought to be the desire of every born again Christian to live in such a way that we help others on to God, whether they be unsaved people that we have the privilege of leading to Christ, or believers who look at our consistent lies of faith that inspires them to live such a life themselves. Certainly the world beyond the four walls of this building is no friend to grace or to God. The hymn writer Isaac Watts asked the question, is this vile world a friend to grace to help me on to God? And well, we know that it isn't. Certainly this world is no friend to grace, to the Christian, and certainly this world does not want to help us on to God. In actual fact, the world does its best to keep us from God and away from that which is right and righteous. And yet however good our intentions may be in helping others on to God, there are times in our lives that instead of being a stepping stone for those to make their way to God, we become a stumbling block. over which others stumble and fall. A stumbling block is really what we would term as a trip hazard. That's what is being taught here in the verse number 13. Now these words are obviously primarily containing counsel for those who live with others and live before others within God's family. We are not to live as a Christian. that would cause other believers to trip and to stumble and to fall in their own Christian lives. There are things that we shouldn't do because if a weaker brother sees us doing such things, well then that weaker brother will stumble and will fall. And so though these words are primarily to the people of God, I believe that we can apply them when it comes to our dealing with our fellow man, those who are not yet Christ. In either case, we are not to put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in their way. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, he said this, inconsistent professors are the greatest stumbling blocks to the spread of the cause of Christ. Inconsistent professors are the greatest stumbling blocks to the spread of the cause of Christ. And so in light of our gospel endeavors, whether that is on a weekly basis here, or whether that is through some focused effort in the gospel, like a Bible club, like a gospel mission, I have to ask myself the question, am I Am I a stumbling block? Or to put it another way, am I a hindrance to the advancement of the gospel? And with those questions in mind, I want to draw your attention to a number of other related questions and other related matters by asking a few more questions. Firstly, in what ways can I be a stumbling block? In what ways can I be a stumbling block? Professing Christians, as I've said, can become stumbling blocks, hindrances to the gospel. They can bring discredit on the cause of Christ, and they do so by their inconsistencies of temperament, word or deed. In other words, when our conduct, our conversation, and our character does not mirror that which is taught in Holy Scripture, then we make Christianity unlovely and unattractive in the eyes of the world, because the practice of our lives is inconsistent with our profession of faith. J.C. Ryle said, the world may not understand the doctrines and principles of believers, but they are very keen sighted about their practice. And how many a person have you not heard say in your workplace or maybe even in your family, well, if that's Christianity, I certainly want to have nothing to do with it. Such a person, instead of them becoming a stepping stone to Christ, become a stumbling block to the Lord Jesus Christ. I was thinking about a number of men that we read in Scripture that sadly, at a juncture in their life, became Rather than a stepping stone, they became a stumbling block. Remember whenever David, a man after God's own heart, had sinned with Bathsheba? wife of another man. God confronted David with words from Nathan the prophet, and thankfully David heeded that counsel in the reproof of God's servant. He repented of his sin. He came to experience the forgiveness, the remission of his sins, and thank God for that. However, David's unjustifiable actions with another man's wife provided the enemies of God with an opportunity to blaspheme the name of God. Let me read really the dialogue between David and Nathan the prophets. You find it over there in 2 Samuel 12 verse 13 and 14. And the word of God says, And what we learn from this tragic event in David's life is that the things that we say and do can at times give the enemies of God an opportunity to discredit the cause of Christ and to disdain the gospel message that we proclaim. Lot and Sodom did something similar. Having compromised with the sins of the cities of the plain by living or failing to live what he professed, here's a man who came to become a stumbling block. He lived among those who committed abominable sins. And because of that, when it came the time for Lot to entreat his sons-in-law to leave the cities of the plain because of coming judgment, they mocked him. They thought that Lot was joking. Lot, because his life did not live up to what he professed, really became a stumbling block to the deliverance of his own sons-in-law. You know, God forbid, brethren and sisters, that we would become such a stumbling block by an inconsistent life, not living up to what a Christian ought to be, and for a person to point the finger at us and say, if that's Christianity, If that's the gospel and the effect of the gospel in a person's life, I want nothing to do with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. J.C. Ryle, again, he said, the inconsistencies of professing Christians too often supply the men of the world with an excuse for neglecting religion altogether. An inconsistent believer, whether he knows it or not, is daily doing harm to souls. His life as a positive injury to the gospel of Christ. Those are serious words indeed. It's a serious thought indeed, brethren and sisters. If the world sees the Christian contradicting what they profess to believe by his or her practice, then they are justly offended. And so we must not furnish the ungodly with an excuse not to come and hear the gospel by living an inconsistent life. The Bible tells us that the cross is an offense. The cross, the preaching of the cross is the offense in the gospel. It's not the Christian. And so we must keep it that way, brethren and sisters. We must not allow ourselves to become the offense. but simply the cross, the cross of Christ being no offense. And so in these ways we can be inconsistent by simply not living as we ought to. But what are the consequences of being a stumbling block? Well, there are many and they are varied. The consequences of our careless living for the ungodly is that then they come to comfort themselves with the false notion that they are no worse than the professing Christian. And so what need have they for the gospel? What need have they for the gospel? What need have they to repent of their sin? What need have they to come to hear the gospel? If this is simply how the godly live, we really provide the ungodly with excuse. They comfort themselves in saying, well, I'm no worse than them. I go to that particular church. I'm no different than them. In actual fact, I am a lot better than them. Well, the consequences out there among the ungodly. What about the consequences within the church? Well, the consequence within the church is that the church has made a laughing stock to the world. And the message that it preaches, it really finds no traction out there in the ungodly world. Why? Because it doesn't find traction within the church. The consequences of our careless living for ourselves is that we dishonor the name that we have taken to ourselves, the name of Christ. And we discredit the gospel. And if we continue to live in a disobedient way, God, in his providence and in his wisdom, may well see to our taking ourselves out of this world. Many sleep. That's what Paul said. Those who ate and drank unworthily, he said, many sleep because of disobedience. And then the consequence of our careless living for our families becoming a stumbling block in our families is that our spouses and our children, they're given poor role models to imitate and substandard examples to follow. Mom, dad, You don't want to be a stumbling block to your boys or to your girls, to your sons, to your daughters. And for those who are Christians and you're a brother and you're a sister, you certainly don't want to become a stumbling block with regard to some other sibling, to maybe a brother or to a sister in your family. You want to be those who are stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks. And so we must keep these things in mind. You see, Paul reminds us in the verse 7, We've all heard the statement, no man is an island, and that is true. Our lives impact those around us. We don't live in isolation. And so how we live as believers in this community determines at times whether those who desire to hear the gospel would want to come and hear the gospel even in this place. And so we must keep these things in mind when we're tempted to lapse into a spiritual state that would cause others to stumble and to fall and to falter in their walk with God. And if we have fallen into such a state that we have become a stumbling block, Brethren and sisters, the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. We must not bring ourselves into a place of abject condemnation, where there's no hope of remedy. That's where the devil has us. That's where he wants to take us. But thank God, even tonight, if you sense in your soul, you know, I have been a stumbling block. certainly haven't been helping others unto God. But how I've lived, the blood of Christ can cleanse you. The Christian life, as was often said, is a series of new beginnings. And thank God you can begin anew tonight. There's forgiveness, there's cleansing for our sin at the cross of Calvary. The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin. The final thought is how can I avoid How can I avoid becoming a stumbling block? It's very simple. Keep near to Christ and keep near his cross. Those are the best ways in which we can become or we can avoid becoming a stumbling block to others. The Lord Jesus Christ said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven, a bright testimony backed up by good works will help rather than hinder in advancing the gospel and bringing glory to God. One preacher, he gave this advice, for the world's sake, as well as for your own, let us labor to be eminently holy. Let us endeavor to make our religion beautiful in the eyes of men, and to adorn the doctrine of Christ in all things. Let us strive daily to lay aside every weight in the sin which doth so easily beset us, and so live that men can find no fault in us except concerning the law of our God. Let us watch jealously over our tempers and tongues, and discharge of all our social doings. And in doing these things, in doing these things, we will avoid becoming a stumbling block to others. One last quote from J.C. Reilly said, the natural man cannot be expected to love the gospel, but let us not disgust him by inconsistent living. Let us not disgust him the natural sinful man by inconsistent living. Now, brethren, sisters, mission or no mission. I speak about the gospel mission. Mission or no mission. Let us live consistent Christ-like lives that will see to the winning of at least the ear of a person for the gospel. And then winning that ear, may then God win the heart and bring that person to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not be stumbling blocks, but stepping stones, helping the ungodly to Christ and helping one another on the road to heaven and to home. May God help me from being a stumbling block. May God bring others to Christ as we live a faithful, consistent, God-honoring life for the glory of God and for the praise of his name. Amen and amen. Let's bow our heads briefly in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we come now to Thee in Jesus' name. Lord, we realize that the Scripture reminds us that we are epistles read of all men, and we recognize, O God, that how we conduct ourselves and what we do and what we do not do really reflects the gospel that we say that we have believed and we have received. And so we pray, O God, that the gospel will not only, as it were, govern, regulate our lives whenever we walk through the doors of this building, whether that's on the Lord's day on a Wednesday night or any other night of the week, but may the gospel regulate our lives day by day at work, at school, in the home. Oh God, we pray that our children will not trip over us into hell, but we cry to Thee that they may step as it were where we have trod, that they'll come to the cross where we came to, and they'll step into heaven, and life's journey is done, and the race is over, and the lads and the lassies would be gathered onto Christ. What will heaven be like? If they're not there, we do not know. But oh God, bring our loved ones, all of them in. Unite our families. Rescue them. And may on the day of judgment, may there be no one that will stand up and say, because of that individual, Because of that Christian, the year for the gospel that I once had was removed, taken away, because they lived such an inconsistent life. Oh God, we know that we have our faults and we have our failures. We know them well. I and then Lord, we don't know them. And yet, dear Father, we just cry, Lord, from this day on, that we'll live a life that glorifies Thee. We pray that as others look upon us, that they'll see Christ in us, the love of God in our soul, the concern that we have for their soul. God will be real, and they'll know it's real. Oh, answer prayer, we pray, and work, Wondrously, again in our hearts, we pray this in Jesus' precious and holy name. Amen and amen. Well, the message is short and brief and simple, but I trust that the impact will be lasting and that we'll know and it'll keep in our minds as we go out from day to day, will I be a stumbling block today? Will I help someone else onto God as I was helped even in my life?