ABC’s of the Christian Life #15: Following Jesus Christ Rightly #9: Christian Liberty & Toleration

First Baptist Church Leominster

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

♪♪ ♪♪

00:41

Well, we've received a few ideas from you folks, as we requested a couple weeks ago. Perhaps prolong this series for a while.

00:53

We're addressing what we might deem as some of the most important but basic principles of living the

01:02

Christian life, following Jesus Christ rightly. And today we want to address the matter of Christian liberty and toleration, put that matter in there too.

01:15

And so this matter of Christian liberty is very important. The scriptures speak about Christian liberty. There's a lot of Christians that don't fully understand this principle and how important it is.

01:29

And there's probably some of us that need to learn it and to apply it better in our corporate life here in this body.

01:39

Now a number of the lessons that we have already considered, and again these are not prioritized as far as importance,

01:44

I wouldn't dare try and do that, but among some of the subjects that we have dealt with in this matter of following Jesus Christ rightly, most of them have to do with our individual

01:56

Christian lives, living before the Lord, how we might live rightly before the Lord. But this principle of Christian liberty not only speaks to how we live before God as individual

02:08

Christians, but it addresses how we're to live as Christians with one another as well.

02:16

And so this principle addresses how we are to live in fellowship with one another as Christians as well as living as individual

02:27

Christians before the Lord. And we'll see it's important to live before Christ with a clear conscience, but it's also important that we allow and enable our brothers and sisters in Christ to live with a clear conscience before the

02:43

Lord. In other words, not only does Christian liberty influence our personal relationship with God, but it also influences and affects our fellowship with one another in the local church, the body of Christ, of which this church is an expression.

03:00

What is meant by the teaching of the scriptures regarding Christian liberty? Well, when one becomes a

03:07

Christian, God sets him or her at liberty from the bondage under which he formerly lived.

03:17

God sets his people free. Our Lord Jesus said, Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

03:25

There's liberty there, emancipation set free from slavery, from bondage.

03:32

From what bondage was the believer set free? Well, first, the Lord has set free the

03:37

Christian from the penalty of sin under which he formerly labored. Paul wrote of Christians having been set free from sin,

03:47

Romans 6 .8. Sin can no longer condemn the Christian, thankfully, because, of course,

03:54

Christ bore that penalty on behalf of his people. Secondly, the Lord has set free the

04:00

Christian from the enslaving power of sin under which he labored before. The power of sin dominated, but not now as Christians.

04:09

Well, it still plagues us, still troubles us, but doesn't dominate us. Christ is our

04:15

Lord. Sin is no longer our Lord. Christ is our Lord. We struggle with sin, but whereas before we fought against the

04:23

Lord in order to serve sin, now we fight against sin in order to serve the Lord.

04:29

It's a whole different way of life. Paul wrote, but now having been set free from sin, having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end or the outcome of that kind of life, everlasting life.

04:45

And then third, the Lord has set us free, or set free the Christian from the yoke or burden of God's law as a covenant before God.

04:53

We're set free. The law was a yoke. It brought bondage to those who tried to keep the law apart from Christ.

05:03

And so James could reason at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 as to what would be required of Gentile Christians.

05:11

And the question that was being debated, do we make these Gentile Christians Jews? Do they have to keep the law as we attempted and were required to keep the law?

05:23

Should we, therefore, put God to the test by putting a yoke on the neck of these

05:28

Gentile disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? A yoke speaks about slavery.

05:35

And the law brought them into slavery, as it were, a sense of defeat, the sense of sinfulness, the gravity of sin upon them.

05:45

Well, James then stated the conclusion of the council as to what they would require of the Gentile converts.

05:51

Therefore, I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood, basically things that would cause a great offense to the

06:07

Jews, the Jewish population, wherever these Gentile converts lived. And we read later in Acts 15, when the

06:14

Gentile believers received this news, they greatly rejoiced over the comfort, the consolation, because they realized that they were not going to be bound to the law of God as a covenant any longer.

06:29

And then fourth, similar to the above, the Lord has set free the Christian from the rigors of the law that had been formerly imposed upon Israel.

06:38

This poses some difficulty sorting out, but the fact is, you know, if you break today's

06:46

Sabbath ordinance, we won't drag you out in the street and stone you. That's what they did in ancient

06:53

Israel. The rigors of the law are no longer upon us. We've been delivered from the rigors of the law, and our confession of faith states that.

07:02

It's biblical principle, but the confession states that. The threatenings of it, in other words, the threatenings of the law, serve to show that even their sins deserve, that is what the law reveals to Christians, what their sins deserve and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse and unallayed rigor thereof.

07:25

There was no mercy really extended under the law, but we are free from the rigors of the law.

07:34

And so the law serves as a guide to direct us in the course that we want to go. It's not a whip trying to beat us into a course that we didn't want to go before we were

07:44

Christians, but now it instructs us and guides us. In fact, the Mosaic Law in the

07:49

Old Testament has a total of 613 laws. I found a list of them on the internet this week, and I saved it as a file if anybody's interested in looking at those 613 laws.

08:01

And through Christ, we're delivered from those, from the rigors of the law.

08:08

And so the Christian has been set free from this list of rules and is now living under the principle of grace, which is able to produce true righteousness in him.

08:17

As the law guides him, instructs him, and directs him, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for instruction and righteousness,

08:25

Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3 .16. But it's no longer a condemning, damning letter, but rather it's a, you know, the whole

08:34

Bible is a letter of godly and blessed instruction to the one who wants to please

08:41

God and walk with him. And so the Christian is to resist having his conscience bound by a legalistic spirit of external standards being imposed by others, which they often claim is a reflection of the law of God.

08:55

Paul wrote to the Galatians, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made you free.

09:02

See there's Christian liberty. And be not entangled again, don't be caught up in that again, into that yoke of bondage, a legalistic spirit.

09:12

Christian liberty is a glorious principle and teaching of Holy Scripture for the

09:17

Christian. Sinclair Ferguson wrote a brief but good article regarding the doctrine of Christian liberty, and he stated four principles that should govern our liberty, and they're quite good, so I gave them here at length for us.

09:32

Principle one, Christian liberty must never be flaunted. Hey, I'm free, I'm going to live like I want, and I don't care what you think or what your opinion is.

09:42

It never flaunted. Whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God, not to be paraded about by others before others.

09:51

And so we're free, for example, in Christ from the dietary laws of Moses. Christ pronounced all foods clean, and these are

10:00

Sinclair Ferguson's words because he was responding to a question from some of his Scottish brethren, can we eat black pudding?

10:08

And the reason is, Scottish black pudding is made with blood. And though there's an Old Testament law that says you're not supposed to eat or drink blood, and so the question arose to Sinclair Ferguson, is it proper to do so?

10:27

And he said, but you do not need to exercise your liberty in order to enjoy it. Indeed, Paul elsewhere asked some very penetrating questions of those who insist on exercising their liberty, whatever the circumstances.

10:40

Does this really build up others, is the kind of question we ought to ask. Is this really liberating you, or has it actually begun to enslave you?

10:48

And so, Christian liberty must not be flaunted. Second principle, Christian liberty does not mean that you welcome fellow

10:55

Christians only when you have sorted out their views on X or Y, or with view to doing that.

11:02

In other words, you know, I meet you, you claim to be a Christian, but I'm going to wait until I can assess you, whether or not, you know, you speak forth your faith according to my pronunciation of Shibboleth, and I accept you or reject you accordingly.

11:17

No, that is not how we are to be. God has welcomed them in Christ as they are, so should we.

11:25

True, the Lord will not leave them as they are, but he does not make their pattern of conduct the basis of his welcome, and neither should we.

11:32

If we learn a person's in Christ, then we ought to be grateful for that, and accept him as that, and treat him as that as well.

11:43

And principle three, Christian liberty ought never to be used in such a way that you become a stumbling block to another Christian.

11:50

I'm free to eat anything I want, drink whatever I want, and I don't care what you think. No, we're given

11:57

Christian liberty in order to be the servants of others, not in order to indulge our own preferences.

12:03

That's an abuse of Christian liberty. And principle four, Christian liberty requires grasping the principle that will produce this biblical balance.

12:12

We ought not to please ourselves, for even Christ did not please himself.

12:20

And so Sinclair Ferguson went on to write, there's something devastatingly simple about this. It reduces the issue to the basic questions of love for the

12:28

Lord Jesus Christ, and a desire to imitate him since his spirit indwells us to make us more like him.

12:37

And in fact, I doubt if we're going to get there, and so, but let's turn back to one of the last quotations that I gave from Martin Luther, and I think it's on like page 10 of your notes.

12:53

Let me see. I hope I can find it quickly without troubling us too much. Nope, it's on page 12.

13:02

Alright, look at how Martin Luther described the Christian life. Right in the middle of the page,

13:10

Martin Luther summed up this matter well when he wrote on Christian liberty, a Christian is perfectly free,

13:16

Lord of all, subject to none, yet a Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

13:25

And there you have the balance, and I think that wonderfully sets forth this matter of Christian liberty.

13:33

Now in order for us to understand this matter, this principle, more clearly, I want us to consider Romans 14.

13:39

And so I hope you have your Bibles and that you are open there. And actually we have to look at all 23 verses.

13:48

That might be a little optimistic, I don't know, but we'll see what we can do.

13:54

Actually the subject of Christian liberty begins with Romans 14 .1 and continues into chapter 15.

14:00

We won't go that far, but all the way to verse 13 of chapter 15. The entire passage, 14 .1

14:07

-15 .13, speaks of Christian liberty. And Paul was addressing the need for the church at Rome to develop true fellowship within the church, between the believers.

14:22

And this was no easy matter to achieve, for there existed deep differences between, especially two groups of Christians within this church.

14:35

There were some whom Paul referred to as strong Christians who had contempt for the weak

14:42

Christians. The weak Christians tended to pass judgment upon the strong, because the strong felt they were at liberty, and the weak were more narrow in their understanding of what they thought was right before the

14:57

Lord. And so the weak Christians tended to pass judgment upon the strong, refusing to extend fellowship to them.

15:05

The matters that separated these two groups were their different convictions on eating food as well as observing certain days, as special days, religious days.

15:18

And we'll show that the problem that Paul was addressing was most likely due to the different convictions of the

15:24

Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians. The problem of disrupted fellowship was a major issue for the

15:32

Apostle Paul. It was not simply his concern that Christians were able to get along with one another so there would be less tension, less difficulty within the church, but really

15:41

Paul viewed true fellowship in the church at Rome, the center of the empire, as really the fulfilling of God's purpose in history, to glorify himself by calling a people to Christ unto himself.

15:58

He saw that the fellowship between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians to be the realization of God's purpose in history.

16:06

Thomas Schreiner, who was one of our speakers last week at the Bulletin Conference, wrote a tremendous commentary on Romans.

16:13

He wrote these words, The resolution of this division is crucial, for it relates to God's saving purposes and promises.

16:22

Indeed, in Romans 15, 7 -13, the theological center of Romans emerges once again.

16:29

For the driving force of Paul's ministry was not the inclusion of the Gentiles and the folding in of the

16:34

Jews into the people of God, although these were crucial to him. The reason for the salvation of the

16:39

Gentiles and the Jews was so that God would be glorified. That's Paul's chief purpose.

16:47

The same idea is expressed in verses 9 and 11. Gentiles have been included so that they will praise

16:53

God along with the Jews. Glorifying God and praising him are two different ways of expressing the same idea.

17:01

Paul's passion for the Gentile mission, as we saw in Romans 1 .5, was motivated by the desire to bring glory to Jesus' name.

17:11

The recurrence of that theme here, that is in Romans 15, along with the emphasis on the fulfillment of God's saving purposes in the scriptures, demonstrates that chapters 15, 7 -13 not only functions as the conclusion of this section on Christian liberty, but also draws attention to the major theme, that being the glory and praise of God of the entire letter.

17:37

So it's not just that he's addressing a little problem in the church here toward the end of his letter, he sees this as significant.

17:47

Now the first major division of this portion of Holy Scripture are the first twelve verses of Romans 14.

17:53

And the subject of this passage is, Do not judge your brother. We read these twelve verses.

18:00

This is from the English Standard Version. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

18:09

One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

18:26

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the

18:35

Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.

18:43

Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the

18:51

Lord. The one who eats eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. While the one who abstains abstains in honor of the

18:59

Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, none of us dies to himself.

19:04

For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the

19:11

Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

19:19

Now, that is a rich passage, but we want to work through it as best we can. Paul opened this section with instruction to include believers in Christian fellowship who are weak in faith.

19:31

Verse 1 reads, As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

19:39

He does not yet define what a weak Christian is. He just states them, classifies them as such.

19:46

But from the larger context, we can see a weak Christian in this context is one who gives undue regard to matters of a secondary nature, non -essential matters to the faith.

20:01

Here we see that Christian fellowship within a church is of such importance that care should be given to include all true

20:08

Christians in the fellowship of the church. Non -essential matters should not be elevated as a test whether or not to extend fellowship to other

20:18

Christians. Notice that Paul seemed to first give instruction to those he assumes are strong.

20:27

He gives instruction. This is what you need to do with regard to the weak. He's addressing the strong in verse 1.

20:32

You see that quite clearly? John Calvin said it well.

20:40

Now Paul passes on how to lay down a precept, especially necessary for the instruction of the church, that they who have made the most progress in Christian doctrine should accommodate themselves to the more ignorant and employ their own strength to sustain their weakness.

20:58

For among the people of God there are some weaker than others and who, except they are treated with great tenderness and kindness, will be discouraged and become at length alienated from religion.

21:12

And that happens within probably any church setting. I happen to know of a person right now who's very discouraged because of the perception of how she has been treated.

21:28

I don't think her perceptions are correct altogether, but this illustrates it happens.

21:34

And oftentimes we're not even mindful of it. There are those around us who are weaker in some ways, they're newer in the

21:42

Lord, and they haven't learned some of the lessons we have, and we have to be cognizant of that and not presume in the way we deal with them.

21:52

More mature Christians should be sensitive to those who may be less knowledgeable in Christian doctrine and practice.

21:58

There are some who may be weak in faith in that they have personal convictions that they hold that may not be the same as ones held by others in the body.

22:07

They might be more zealous, they think, than others, because they are holding to certain truths and they wonder why others aren't.

22:18

With respect to matters that are not essential to the faith, we are to be patient with them and not alienate them or distance ourselves from them in refusing fellowship to them.

22:28

We are not to impose our convictions on secondary matters on others.

22:34

Let them slide. We have a tendency to want to embrace hobby horses, don't we?

22:42

Spiritual hobby horses that we've been riding for quite some time and we think everybody ought to hop on that hobby horse along with us and ride right along to nowhere with us as though we're really accomplishing something.

22:55

Matthew Henry gave these words of introduction to this section of Paul's epistle. It is certain that nothing is more threatening, nor more often fatal, to Christian societies than the contentions and divisions of their members.

23:08

By these wounds the life and soul of religion expire. In this chapter we are furnished with the sovereign balm of Gilead.

23:18

The blessed apostle prescribes like a wise physician. Why, then, is not the hurt of the daughter of my people recovered, but because its directions are not followed?

23:28

This chapter, rightly understood, made use of, and lived up to, would set things to rights and heal us all.

23:35

Amen. Patience. Tolerance. Acceptance.

23:42

The point that Paul made in verse 1 is that personal opinions about non -essential matters should not be allowed to alienate some of the brethren.

23:53

These should not be brought into play with respect to fellowship in the church. In the second verse,

24:00

Paul defines whom he regards as the weak Christian. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.

24:10

The one who believes that there was no restriction on the Christian's diet would have been the strong Christian. In other words, the

24:17

Gentile Christian within this context. The weak

24:22

Christian would have been the Jewish Christians. There are many Jews who are vegetarians and abstain from all kinds of meat.

24:32

Their Old Testament spoke about clean and unclean meats, but they would have an oral tradition that was broader than the law.

24:39

They put a fence around the law. They assumed if you keep this outward law, external law, you're going to keep everything in the middle.

24:46

And so they just put aside all meat. There are many Jews who weren't vegetarians in that day.

24:57

Well, these weak Christians, again, would give emphasis to secondary matters on issues of diet.

25:05

Well, they were weak in faith in that they thought that God was more pleased with them because of their standards than God was pleased with others who did not hold to their standards.

25:18

And so Paul wrote specifically about the issue of varying convictions regarding diet among the members of the

25:24

Church. But the principle bears out that all of us probably have convictions about non -essential matters.

25:31

If we're not mindful and careful, we can potentially grieve or discourage others in the body in their

25:38

Christian walk. I've got convictions about matters that I don't stand up here and publicly speak about.

25:43

I don't know that it would bring benefit to you. I suppose if you asked me in private,

25:49

I'd tell them to you, but it's not necessary to do so. The Lord is able to uphold

25:56

His people and instruct them in the way. I don't stand up here and talk very much about stewardship because everybody in the world out there seems to be after somebody's money.

26:08

And so in 20 years, I think we've talked about it twice over the years. And the only reason

26:14

I know is because somebody who doesn't go to this church asked me for some notes last week about the matter because he was trying to work it through himself.

26:22

So I don't address it. Now, it's an important matter. I wait till somebody comes and asks me, and usually a young Christian will do so, and then

26:30

I'll tell them, you know, give them the scriptural instruction. But why alienate people when it's needless to do so?

26:39

It's not good to do so. A secondary matter. Well we next read in verse 3,

26:47

Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

26:53

Paul indicates that the weak are being judgmental toward those Christians who believed it was okay for the

27:00

Christian to eat all kinds of foods. The diet of these Gentile Christians would have shown no regard for the distinction between clean and unclean foods that the

27:10

Jews would have held according to Old Testament classification. The Gentile Christians felt free to eat all foods that were despised by the more restrictive

27:22

Christians. And so Paul told the Gentile Christians that they were not to despise those who are weak in faith.

27:28

He warned the weak not to judge the strong, that is, condemn those who differed from them in their convictions about food, for God had accepted them.

27:38

Paul was giving instruction to both groups, the strong and the weak. As John Calvin stated, he wisely and suitably meets the faults of both parties.

27:50

You can fall in either way. They who were strong had this fault. They despised those superstitious who were scrupulous about insignificant things and also derided them.

28:01

These on the other hand were hardly able to refrain from rash judgments, so as not to condemn what they did not follow, for whatever they perceived to be contrary to their own sentiments they thought was evil.

28:13

And hence he exhorts the former to restrain from contempt and the latter from excessive moroseness.

28:22

And so you can see, both there were conflict, the strong so -called, the weak so -called, and yet they both had their issues.

28:30

The challenge of verse 4 is Paul confronting the weak. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?

28:36

It is before his own master that he stands or falls. He will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

28:42

Who are you to judge? Who are you to condemn? The weak were condemning the strong, were assuming the prerogatives that God alone reserves for himself.

28:53

He is the judge of his people. And the weak Christian is mistaken to think that the strong one is at fault and is unapproved of God.

29:00

It is God who has brought him to salvation, and God will see to it that he stands. The Lord is able and has purpose to sustain his people in their faith.

29:12

We don't have to have everybody walk like we walk, in the same steps that we walk.

29:18

The Lord is directing them and will carry them on. And I've always regarded, to me, one of the primary principles of ministry is not for me to come to somebody and press an agenda that I perceive to be very important in life, in my life, in Christian life, but rather it's my intention when

29:41

I come to a person to ask the Lord and to try and assess, where is this man, where is this woman, where is this child in the

29:51

Lord's dealings with him or her? And where is the Lord taking this person in the next step?

29:58

Lord, how can I be used of you to help that person in the next step? You see the difference in philosophy of ministry?

30:07

You know, rather than, I don't go around trying to make a Calvinist out of everybody, but there's nobody that has, you know,

30:14

Calvinistic convictions as strong as I have, in my mind. But sometimes that's not necessarily where the

30:22

Lord has a person right now, and that person needs to be dealt with biblically. We are to seek to be used of the

30:29

Lord to serve him and serve his people in the steps that he is taking them.

30:38

When Paul stated that the Lord is able to make him stand, he was affirming that the Lord Jesus will see to it that he perseveres his people.

30:47

It matters not what food the Christian eats or doesn't eat. What day he regards as a holy day or doesn't regard as a holy day,

30:56

Paul says it's immaterial. The Lord Jesus is going to see to it that he does okay.

31:02

And then with verse 5, the other area of debate is introduced, which was the observance of special days as a religious duty before God.

31:09

One person esteems one day as better than the other, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

31:18

In other words, there's not a right or wrong here. It depends on one's attitude, right?

31:24

It depends on what one's background has been. What you've been taught in the past will often affect more your convictions than what you think the scriptures teach.

31:37

There are some things that Christians can differ upon in their opinion that should never divide the brethren or disrupt their fellowship.

31:44

The day that the weak Jewish Christian would observe would have been any number, say, of holy days that were observed by Israel in the

31:51

Old Testament. Passover, Pentecost, Hanukkah, which is mentioned in the

31:58

New Testament, not the Old. Some say that verse 5 should include the belief of some

32:03

Christians regarding the weakly observance of the Sabbath day. One man regards everyone alike. I don't think

32:09

Paul was talking about the Sabbath day. He talked about Sabbaths in another context, rather than singular

32:19

Sabbath. And I think the note in the Reformation Study Bible states it well.

32:25

A pattern of holy days characterized a Jewish year, and it's probably to these that Paul refers, not the

32:30

Sabbath. If the Sabbath were in view, it would have been more natural to say one man considers the Sabbath above the other days.

32:36

He didn't say that. One considers one day above the others. He was referring to holy days in the

32:43

Jewish calendar. Returning to our text, we read that Paul taught that as long as the motivation was to please and honor the

32:51

Lord, it didn't matter if a person observed a day or didn't observe a day. That's what he says.

32:58

The matter is wholly up to the conviction of the individual, as long as he is truly doing what has been motivated to please the

33:07

Lord. So verse 6a, the one who observes a day, observes it in honor of the

33:13

Lord. And the same principle applies to the one who chooses to eat before the

33:18

Lord. Verse 6b, the one who eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to the

33:24

Lord, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord, gives thanks to God. And so much behavior on the part of the

33:32

Christian is either right or wrong depending on his motivation. You can do the right things in the wrong way and sin.

33:45

You may do some things in ignorance but not sin. Paul next gave the reason for this in verse 7, for none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself.

33:56

This verse is commonly misunderstood. People think he's talking about none of us are living in isolation from one another, but that's not what he's talking about.

34:09

When he says none of us lives to himself, none of us dies to himself, he says no one lives apart from the

34:16

Lord. There's this connection and relationship to the

34:21

Lord. And so verse 8 really explains verse 7, for if we live, we live to the

34:27

Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. Verse 8 interprets verse 7.

34:34

You see that? None of us lives to himself. In other words, you live before God, not just yourself.

34:45

I won't read that quote because of the time. Paul declared that this was the purpose for which

34:52

Jesus Christ died and was resurrected, so that he would become the Lord of all. Verse 9, for to this end

34:57

Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. Jesus Christ is

35:03

Lord of all. And this Lordship, this authority is not the same as the authority he had, say, in eternity as the second person of the

35:10

Godhead, but his authority conferred upon the man Christ Jesus, the God -man, because of his obedience to the law of God through life, his obedience even unto death, his active and passive obedience, therefore

35:24

God gave him all authority over all flesh, so that he might be the Lord of the living.

35:38

Again, because of the time, we have to pass down now to the second section, middle of page 7 of your notes, if you're following along.

35:46

And in this second section of chapter 14, we have, do not make your brother stumble.

35:53

You can cause great difficulty for another. And oftentimes this happens, and we might be unknowing that we're doing it to others.

36:05

Let's read these verses quickly, please. Therefore let us, verse 13, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer.

36:12

He's suggesting that we put a stop to what we've been doing, right? But rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

36:21

I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it's unclean.

36:30

For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you're no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom

36:39

Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.

36:44

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy of the Holy Spirit.

36:50

Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up -building.

37:00

Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it's wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.

37:09

It's good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

37:16

The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

37:24

In other words, the person is blessed who has a clear conscience, who's not bound by these external rules, but he's free.

37:36

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, if he can't do it with a clear conscience. Because the eating is not from faith.

37:44

For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Verse 13 is a conclusion and proposal of the apostle to his readers.

37:53

Therefore, let us not pass judgment on another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

38:01

Notice how Paul included himself in this instruction. It's an exhortation, but he said, let us not pass judgment.

38:09

It's really giving a command, but in a soft way where he includes himself.

38:15

And this is oftentimes a good way that we can press the command of Scripture to another person and include ourselves in that.

38:24

Let us not any longer put a stumbling block in the way of others. Paul included the words any longer, which seems to suggest

38:32

Paul recognized that all Christians everywhere have a tendency to find fault and pass judgment upon others.

38:40

We're all little judges, aren't we? We've all got our little standards that we have set up, and we think they're legit.

38:48

After all, here's chapter and verse. And when we impose those things as our chief concern rather than the people for whom the

38:59

Lord died, we get ourselves into trouble. And so instead of passing judgment on others, let us purpose never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way.

39:11

We might say, let lesser matters slide. They're not essential. Do not try and make other

39:18

Christians conform to your convictions about non -essential matters. You'll cause more harm to the cause of Christ by converting others to your convictions than if you had let the

39:28

Lord be the judge and sanctifier of his people. That's what Paul is saying. Verse 13 depicts the

39:35

Christian as walking in the way. He's walking on the way, you know, this pilgrimage, going to the

39:41

Lord, going to Zion, his heavenly Zion. And what do you do? You put a rock in his way so he trips over it.

39:48

A stumbling block. Don't do that. John Murray wrote, a

39:55

Reformed commentator, theologian of the 20th century, A stumbling block is an impediment in the way over which a person may stumble.

40:02

An occasion of falling refers literally to a trap. Here these terms are used metaphorically and convey the same thought, namely, that which becomes the occasion of falling into sin.

40:13

In the most aggravated sense, an occasion of falling is placed before a person when the intention is that of seduction.

40:20

There is deliberate intent that the person may fall. We are not to suppose that the strong in this case are conceived of as actually, have actuated by that express intent.

40:30

The strong person is not intentionally trying to cause the weak one to fall. But this only accentuates the care that must be taken by the strong in circumstance of the weakness on the side of their brethren.

40:41

See, we can do it unwittingly. We have to be attentive to this, careful about this.

40:46

The strong are regarded as placing a stumbling block when they do not desist from what becomes an occasion of stumbling for the weak brother.

40:53

What is condemned is the inconsiderateness that disregards the religious interests of the weak.

41:10

Paul makes the rather profound statement that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

41:20

That's an amazing principle. You could have never said that, of course, under the

41:26

Old Testament Mosaic Law as a covenant. This is something new.

41:34

Paul is asserting that the distinction between clean and unclean foods as set forth in the Law of Moses is no longer.

41:43

And so, it's no longer to be regarded by Christians in the Kingdom of God over which the Lord Jesus reigns.

41:49

It doesn't matter what you eat or what you don't eat. Now, he's talking about clean and unclean ceremonial foods.

41:55

He's not talking about healthy and unhealthy foods here. There are some unhealthy things that we probably shouldn't be eating.

42:05

Mary wasn't home yesterday. I went down and bought a slab of bacon, and after I cooked the bacon on the stove,

42:11

I shredded some potatoes and cooked the shredded potatoes in the bacon grease. It was delicious. Don't tell her.

42:21

Now, that wasn't wrong because it was unclean or clean.

42:27

We're not talking about that category. It might have been unhealthy. All right. And maybe it was wrong for that sake. I don't know.

42:32

Healthy or unhealthy. But we're not talking about that. We're talking about clean and unclean, and that distinction is no longer.

42:40

Nothing is unclean in itself. And so, the change respecting God's will of the diet of His people reveals a significant principle in our understanding of the nature of God and His right to command the people in the way that He would have them live.

42:57

We don't have time to get into this, but realize that God's laws are not above God, as though God has to conform to His laws.

43:07

But what makes laws right or wrong is because God Himself declares as such.

43:13

And you can go down through the biblical history, and you can see that before the flood, people were vegetarians.

43:21

And then Noah and his sons and thereafter were allowed to eat meat, as long as they didn't eat the blood with it.

43:28

But then the Mosaic Law came, and there was a distinction between clean and unclean meats. And then the Lord Jesus, in Mark 7, taught that there is no longer any distinction between clean and unclean.

43:41

And so, the reason that something was okay at one period and wrong at another period is simply

43:47

God has the authority to declare what's right and wrong when He determines it so.

43:53

And in this current age, there is no clean and unclean foods with respect to eating, so that somehow it's going to commend you before God.

44:05

That's just no longer a principle. Let's drop down on page 9 quickly because of the time, please.

44:15

And about a third down. We next read in verse 15a, For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.

44:22

In other words, you've got this Christian liberty, but if you flaunt it, and somebody else who doesn't realize the broadness of eating in this

44:34

New Covenant age, and you flaunt that in their presence, a Jewish person, over the foods that they deem clean or unclean, you're no longer walking in love to that person.

44:46

You ought to voluntarily restrain yourself for the sake of that person, that weak person who may be a

44:54

Christian, but just hasn't come to understanding about these matters. And so, we're to love one another, and we are to voluntarily limit our

45:05

Christian liberty for their well -being, lest we cause difficulty or a problem for them.

45:16

Bottom of page 10, verse 16, Paul gave further instruction to the strong,

45:21

So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. And what is he regarding as good here?

45:29

He's talking about the gospel that you represent. Don't let that be spoken evil of. And many times, non -Christians, and even some

45:39

Christians of a weaker sort, will disregard the message we proclaim if they perceive that we are violating them in the matter of our insistence on our

45:52

Christian liberty. And we should not in any way hinder the gospel, allow the good that we proclaim to be viewed in any way less than what it is, the good gospel of Jesus Christ, by what we do or what we don't do.

46:13

And then he affirms in the middle of page 11, verse 17, For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the

46:21

Holy Spirit. And so, if the strong Christian were to grieve the weak Christian because of what the strong Christian ate, it might result in reaffirming the errant belief that the kingdom of God is received because of what he eats or drinks, or doesn't eat or drink.

46:37

And that's a wrong lesson to convey. And again he affirms, verses 18 and 19,

46:44

Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up -building.

46:53

Let's deal with essentials, the important matters, in order to build people up in Christ.

47:04

Really that's the only way you can have true biblical fellowship in the church, because we all have different backgrounds, maybe have been under different emphases in teaching and whatnot, and now we're all mixed up here into one body, and we have to be governed by these principles if we're going to be blessed of the

47:26

Lord in our relationship with one another. And so for these lesser things, let's not destroy the work of God in somebody's life.

47:36

And so Paul reasons in verse 21, It's good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

47:48

You know, we have a certain alacrity toward alcohol in America among Christians.

47:54

You don't have in other places of the world, certainly didn't have in Germany where we lived for four years. I was telling somebody the other day, well

48:03

I remember, I won't mention who it was, but Mary and I every year at Christmastime, I don't know, we'd get half a dozen eight bottles of wine given to us at Christmas by the members of our church in Munich, Germany.

48:16

I'd be shocked if I got a bottle of wine from one of you people at Christmastime. But it's a different context that Christians have, and it's really only here in America with our experience of prohibition and whatnot, that we experience some of these standards that are advocated.

48:40

And Paul says it's good not to drink wine if that caused you to stumble. But the idea is that they commonly drank wine and ate all kinds of meat, as long as it wasn't going to cause difficulty or stumbling for other people.

48:56

And so verse 22, he says basically, keep these matters to yourself.

49:01

The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. And again, blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself or what he approves.

49:09

It's the blessed man that's not bound by all these externals, but rather he's as a liberty of conscience.

49:17

He's not controlled or governed by these things, but he's free before Christ, and he walks in joy and a sense of well -being, and he doesn't have a conscience that plagues him when he fails or falls short in some of these external laws that he's imposed upon himself or others have imposed upon him.

49:42

And believe me, I know what it is to be in a legalistic church. I was a fundamental independent

49:47

Baptist back from 74 to 79, and I know what that's all about.

49:54

And the church is not characterized by joy in that kind of situation,

50:02

I assure you. We ought to be characterized by joy and peace and righteousness as we live out our life before the

50:11

Lord. And again, to close, Martin Luther summed up this matter well when he wrote on Christian liberty, a

50:18

Christian is perfectly free, Lord of all, subject to none. But a

50:25

Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

50:31

And we're to limit voluntarily, out of love for the Lord, out of love for our brethren, limit our

50:39

Christian liberty. May the Lord help us to understand these principles and apply them in our relationships with one another.

50:47

Amen? Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word, and thank you for the instruction that we have.

50:55

We pray that you'd help us as a church body to take these matters to heart and apply them. Forgive us perhaps, our

51:02

Lord, when we have not been mindful of those with convictions about us that we have ignored or set aside.

51:10

On the other hand, help us, our Lord, not to be judgmental of those that do not seem to conform to what we think they ought to be doing, but help us, our

51:21

Lord, to love and accept one another in Christ and seek to encourage and train up one another in the way of Christ.

51:30

pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.