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Yesterday we used the term baby Christian to describe somebody who is new in the faith and that is a term that has been used recently to describe Donald Trump. Are we to believe now that he is a brother in Christ?
Well, there's a reason to be skeptical when we understand the text.
This is when we understand the text studying God's Word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. Yesterday I mentioned the term baby Christians and we were all once there when we came into the faith. We didn't know much about the Word of God, didn't know much about theology. And there's always somebody who showed us a lot of grace and love and patience in training us and disciplining us in our understanding of the Word of God.
We have instructions in scripture that we need to grow up, no longer think like children, but become men and women of God. Do you think of 1 Corinthians 13? When I was a child, I thought like a child.
I acted like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things. And Paul is not just talking about a person's age here. He's talking about maturity in the faith. We also have it written down for us in Hebrews chapter 5.
About these things we have much to say, but they're hard to explain since you've become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.
You need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
So you see these constant encouragements in the scriptures to grow up, to mature in the faith. Now this term baby Christian is something that you've probably heard recently, maybe even as recently as yesterday or this past weekend.
Supposedly, Donald Trump recently gave his life to Christ. This was something that was said by Dr. James Dobson, who is part of this evangelical board of advisors that has been assembled by Donald Trump.
So Dr. Dobson has said that Donald Trump's a new Christian, he's a baby Christian is the way that Dr. Dobson put it. He's very new at this, very immature in the faith, so we need to be showing him a lot of grace and patience.
Here's my problem with this. I'm going to list three complications for you here as to why you shouldn't buy it. You should not buy some of the things that these evangelical leaders are saying and calling Trump a new Christian or a baby Christian.
Number one is that we've been told for years that Donald Trump is a Christian and Donald Trump has claimed to be a Christian. Now we're being led to believe that he never was, but he is now. Okay, here's the second problem with this.
Exactly whose version of God does Donald Trump believe in? Because though there are men who are seemingly sound in the faith like Dr. Dobson or Ronnie Floyd who are part of this evangelical advisory board, there are also false teachers, in fact, heretics like Kenneth Copeland and Paula White.
So exactly whose version of Jesus did Donald Trump listen to? Did he listen to a sound teaching of Christ according to the word of God or did he hear the New Apostolic Reformation version of Christ like Samuel Rodriguez would preach?
Or did he hear the word of faith and prosperity gospel version of Jesus like Kenneth Copeland and Paula White would present? There are too many different opinions of Jesus on this advisory board for us to just automatically believe that Trump has called upon the right God.
Here is the third complication with this. Third reason why you should be skeptical. All of these evangelical leaders want you to vote for Donald Trump. They have given their endorsement of Trump. It's why they're on this advisory board.
So we can't really trust what they say about him because they're attempting to turn the narrative in a direction that makes him look favorable. We have yet to see Donald Trump appear as a man of good character.
He is very brash. He uses foul language. He is misogynistic. He is racist in some of the things that he says. He is a casino owner. He is a strip club owner. He has appeared in Playboy magazine. There was the cover of Playboy in that picture that he took with Jerry Falwell Jr., the Playboy that's been framed and is hanging on his wall, which is still there.
I mean, if this advisory board has any insight to Donald Trump to be able to tell him, for goodness sake, Donald, take that off your wall. You're a Christian now, if that's what it is that they truly believe about him.
He's been married multiple times. He just absolutely slanderizes people that don't agree with him. I mean, the list can go on and on about how this is not a guy of good character, and we should just automatically trust any good thing that is being said about him.
One of the things that I'm tired of hearing is that there are two Donald Trumps. There's what you see in the media, and then there's what you see behind the scenes. And the person behind the scenes is much more genuine than the person that's standing out there at the pulpit being his brash self.
Well, I mean, that's the version of the person, though, that's going to be presented to these nations all over the world. The guy that is out front is the man who would be that's that's the representation of the president of the United States that we would have, regardless of what it is that he looks like behind the scenes.
What we're seeing out front is very important in terms of how we would discern the man's character. And he is not a person that should be sitting in the White House, nor do I think that Hillary Clinton should be.
So don't think that that's where I'm going with the discussion. But just that the point that I'm trying to make here about what is being said related to Donald Trump being this new baby Christian, as we read in Romans 14, as for the one who is weak in the faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
So if Donald Trump is weak in the faith, shouldn't we be welcoming him? Well, we have no reason to believe that he is even in the faith. In fact, I would still say that the phase that we're at in terms of the people's relationship with Donald Trump should be that we're still praying for him that he would get saved.
But right now has no sort of a character as a man that should be the leader of the free world. As we read in First Timothy chapter two, that we need to lift up prayers for all people, especially kings and those who are in high positions.
Now, Donald Trump is no king, but definitely a person who is in a high position. He is a heartbeat away from being elected president of the United States. He's that close. And so we do need to lift this man up in prayer.
He is traveling the world, making appearances in different nations right now, even as he is running for president of the United States. So we need to pray that the Lord would soften his heart and turn him from his wicked and sinful ways to a sound understanding of the word of God and who Jesus really is.
And I hope that the right person is stepping forward to introduce him to Christ, not some of these crazy people that he has put on his evangelical advisory board. We have reason to be skeptical of Donald Trump, and we have reason to be skeptical of anybody that is on that board.
And I'm very disappointed that these evangelical leaders don't understand basic principles that we find in places like Proverbs 23. When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.
Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. Do not toil to acquire wealth. Be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings flying like an eagle toward heaven.
Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy. Do not desire his delicacies, for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. Eat and drink, he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
Okay, so when it comes to having patience with those who are weak in the faith, we come back now to Romans chapter 14. Let us read verses 1 through 4 again. As for the one who is weak in the faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
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.
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 Lord is able to make him stand. That was where we kind of finished off yesterday.
Let's keep going from there. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the 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 Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
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 Lord's. For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Okay, we'll start explaining these things a little bit here, and then I'll come back to it again tomorrow. So, so far at the start of Romans chapter 14, we've been given an example of food.
So, food is not something that we quarrel over. This is a tertiary issue. One person is going to think that they can or cannot eat certain things, while another person thinks all foods are the same. You know, going back to Mark chapter 7, which we read yesterday, talking about how Jesus declared all foods clean.
Well, now Paul brings in another tertiary example, or another example of a tertiary doctrine. That might be something that people will disagree over, but we should not quarrel or be divisive over. And that is, which day should we be worshiping on?
Well, there were, like I said yesterday, there were Jews that still held to certain dietary laws. So there were also Jews, Messianic Jews, they were Christians, but they still held to Jewish traditions.
And they believed that the day of worship should be on Saturday. That's the Sabbath. So that's the day that we are to worship God. Whereas those who were Gentiles believed it was Sunday. That's the Lord's day, because this is the day that Christ came back from the grave.
So, one person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
In other words, a person that would hold that Saturday is the Sabbath, and that's the day that we need to worship. Which, by the way, Saturday is the Sabbath. Sunday is not the Sabbath. Okay? Sunday is the Lord's day.
Saturday is the Sabbath. Sunday is the Lord's day. When you hear these arguments that come up about how Jesus' death and resurrection did not change the Sabbath to Sunday. I agree. It didn't. It did not change the Sabbath to Sunday.
The Sabbath day is still Saturday. Sunday became the Lord's day. We don't worship on the Sabbath. Most generally, our church assemblies are gathering on Sundays. The Lord's day. Saturday is still the Sabbath.
That didn't change. Okay? So, a Jew would think that the Sabbath is the day that we need to worship on. Whereas, a Gentile would think that a Sunday would be the day that we are supposed to worship on.
Well, the Jew who still worships on Saturday, observes it in honor of the Lord. And we have people today that will still worship on a Saturday. Believing that that is the day that we need to honor the Lord.
Great. Let them do that. Now, if what came to your mind was Seventh Day Adventist, hold on to that thought. We're going to talk about that tomorrow. Okay? So, the one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
If that's Saturday or Sunday, fantastic. Don't be divisive over it. Don't quarrel over these opinions. But rather, welcome one another. Okay? The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord. Paul comes back to the illustration of food again, since he gives thanks to God.
While the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. So, there are certain foods that a person won't eat because they think that it is honorable to the Lord to not eat it.
Fine. Let them believe that is the case. Maybe it is because of an immaturity in the faith. You can talk about that as those discussions come up. But there's no reason to quarrel or be divisive over these things.
In fact, the problem becomes, and we'll get to this as we get to the later portions of Chapter 14. If a person is convinced in their mind that eating a certain thing is sin and you try to tell them to do it anyway.
You say, dude, just eat this. It's fine. I'm telling you. There's nothing in the Bible that says that this is wrong. And so, that person takes your word for it and they eat it. But then they feel guilty about it later.
You've actually caused them to sin. Because they believe in their heart that eating that food is sin. And so, then when they've partaken in it, they've defiled their conscience and later believed that they have sinned against God.
Which is true. They have. Because in their heart, they had believed that that was wrong. And then they went ahead and did it anyway. Regardless of whether or not the Bible says it's wrong. In their heart, they have sinned against God.
So, this is another reason why we've got to be careful in these kinds of discussions. Because even if it's a tertiary matter. If a person is so sold on believing that, if I do this or if I don't do this, then it would be sin.
And you push them to it without having a sound, hermeneutical, doctrinal understanding of that thing that they did. Or didn't do. I hope this is making sense. Then you're actually encouraging your brother or sister to sin.
So, teaching is so very important. This is why teaching is so important in the church. That it's not just a, do this because I said so, sort of a declaration. But rather that we come to a hermeneutical understanding.
Understanding context. Using Scripture in light of Scripture. To understand the Word of God. So that our conscience is owned by the Spirit. And we know with confidence what is pleasing to the Lord and what is not.
So, let us be devoted to the Scriptures and to prayer. Lifting one another up in love. Being patient with one another. Those who are weak in the faith, we welcome them. And not to quarrel over opinions.
Our great God, we thank you for this text today. And we pray that as we are of various levels of maturity in the body of Christ. Some baby Christians. Some very mature Christians. May those who are young look toward those who are older and more mature.
To be able to be guided and trained according to these things. And may those who are mature have patience with those who are younger and weaker in the faith. Lord, we want to lift up Donald Trump. Since he's been part of this discussion today.
And I pray that he would be a man that seeks after the Lord. That he would repent of his sin. And that this repentance of sin would not just be something that happens behind closed doors. And we have to take the word of some evangelical leaders who have a certain agenda that they're trying to accomplish.
But rather we hear it from the man himself. He steps out and says, I was a sinner. I was a man that was carousing around in darkness. I was sleeping with all of these women. I was saying horrible things about people that I didn't like.
And I repent of those things. And Christ has cleansed me of those things. I pray that that is the example that we see from this man who is running for President of the United States. The Bible does say to us, open your mouth and judge righteously.
In Proverbs chapter 30. And Jesus said to his disciples that we should not judge by appearances. But judge with right judgment. And so Lord I pray that it is by your spirit that we are discerning these things in a way that is pleasing and honorable to you.
Giving all the glory to God. Through Jesus Christ our Savior, in his name we pray. Amen.
Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .utt .com.