Sunday Morning, June 14, 2020, AM

Good morning, everyone.

Hope everyone's doing well. We want to welcome you to Sunnyside Baptist Church this morning. We'll get started with a few announcements, a couple of opportunities this week.

Tonight, 5 .30, come back for the evening service. No nursery, though. And then

Wednesday at 6 .30, Bible study and prayer time, no meal and no nursery. And then next

Sunday is Father's Day. So look forward to that. Our fighter verse for this week comes from John chapter 6, verse 35.

Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

So meditate and memorize that this week together. Just a little bit of a reminder, just try not to linger around after service is dismissed.

Go ahead and go out, exit the building in the parking lot or on the porch. You can mingle there.

Offering plate, again, is still at the back of the auditorium. So be sure and leave your tithes and offerings in that today.

And then also, the nursery is available today, both during Sunday school and the morning worship.

Any more announcements that I'm missing? All right, it's good to be together to worship the

Lord today. We're going to prepare our hearts for worship now. And then after we do that, Michael will lead us in prayer.

Father, your word says, behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.

It is like the precious oil upon the head coming down upon the beard, even

Aaron's beard coming down upon the edge of his robes.

It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountain of Zion, for there the

Lord commanded the blessing life forever. So, Father, as we come before you today,

I pray that the amen of this word from heaven would resonate in our lives here on earth, that our unity would indeed be centered upon our high priest, a unity that is generous and overflowing and full, a unity that is centered on Zion where Christ reigns.

And that there, in honoring of Christ, our king and our high priest, we would know our unity and our love for one another.

Bless us in this way today. Amen. We're going to have a video to watch.

It's a hymn written after the theme and the words of Psalm 42 and 43, which originally were one psalm together.

And so we're going to watch the video about these two psalms and meditate on the words and rejoice in the

Lord. And hopefully one day soon we'll be able to sing this together as a congregation. Lord, from sorrows deep

I call, when my hope is shaken, torn and ruined from the fall.

Hear my desperation, for so long

I've pleaded and prayed, God come to my rescue.

Even so the thorn remains, still my heart will praise you.

Storms within my troubled soul, questions without answers, on my faith these bills roll.

God be not my shelter, why are you cast down my soul?

Hoping Him who saves you, when the fires have all grown cold.

Cause this heart to praise you. Should my life be torn from me, every worldly pleasure.

When all I possess is grief, God be then my treasure.

Be my vision in the night, be my hope and refuge.

Till my faith is turned to sight, Lord my heart will praise you.

And oh my soul, put your hope in God.

My help, my rock, I will praise Him. Sing, oh sing, through the raging storm.

You're still my God, my salvation.

And oh my soul, put your hope in God.

My help, my rock, I will praise Him. Sing, oh sing, through the raging storm.

You're still my God, my salvation.

Like Brother Michael said, we just recently finished Psalm chapter 42. We're going to start on Psalms chapter 43 this morning.

So we'll read verse 1. Read with me together. Also, the words are in your bulletin, if you don't have that.

Psalm 43 -1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against ungodly people.

From the deceitful and unjust man, deliver me. Our first song is in our little black hymnals,

Hymns Modern and Ancient, page 2, Across the Lands. See what the

Lord is doing in our hearts and in our nation. Hymns Modern and Ancient Passion by your hand, all creation holds together by the power of your voice.

Let the skies declare your glory, let the land and seas rejoice.

The rocker of creation, you're the moan of every man.

And your cry of love rings out across the lands.

The gates of angels came to seek and save the lost.

And exchange the joy of heaven for the anguish of a cross.

With a prayer you fed the hungry, with a word you calmed the sea.

Yet how silently you suffered that the guilty may go free.

You're the author of creation, you're the moan of every man.

And your cry of love rings out across the lands.

With a shout you rose victorious, wresting victory from the grave.

And ascended into heaven, leading captives in your way.

Now you stand before the Father, interceding for your home.

From each tribe and tongue and nation, you are leading sinners home.

You're the author of creation, you're the moan of every man.

And your cry of love rings out across the lands.

You're the author of creation, you're the moan of every man. You are all the descendants of the

Anakim, whom you know and of whom you heard it said. Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?

Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is he who goes over before you as a consuming fire.

He will destroy them and bring them down before you. So you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the

Lord has said to you. Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying,

Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land. But it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the

Lord is driving them out from before you. It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land.

But because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you.

And that he may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness.

For you are a stiff -necked people. Remember, do not forget how you provoked the

Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the

Lord. Also in Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath so that the Lord was angry enough with you to have destroyed you.

When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the

Lord made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

I neither ate bread nor drank water. Then the Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God.

And on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

Then the Lord said to me, Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly.

They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded image.

Furthermore, the Lord spoke to me saying, I have seen this people, and indeed they are stiff -necked people.

Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make you a nation mightier and greater than they.

Would you pray with me? Lord God, orient our hearts toward Christ Jesus this morning through your word and through the ministry of your

Holy Spirit. Lord, we are so thankful that you do not deal with us according to our righteousness, but in accordance with the righteousness of your beloved

Son in whom we trust. For if your loving kindness toward us depended at all upon our own merits, we would have nothing left but the fearful expectation of wrath.

Blessed be our mediator who stood in the gap for us at Calvary and who continues to serve as our advocate even now from his throne in resurrection glory.

It is his name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we exult in this morning, and it's in his name we pray.

Amen. You may be seated. Our next two songs are in our little blue hymnals.

If you would turn to page 274 and also page 172, and we'll sing together,

Break Thou the Bread of Life, and then also Tell Me the Story of Jesus. Break Thou the

Bread of Life, and Tell Me the

Story of Jesus.

There shall be peace, my hope, the story of Jesus.

Sing as they welcome his birth, peace and good tidings to all.

Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.

Fasting alone in the desert, tell of the days that have passed.

How for sins he was tempted, yet was triumphed.

He was despised and afflicted, homeless, rejected, and poor.

Tell me the story of Jesus, sweetest that ever was heard.

In 2 Corinthians 5 .21, Apostle Paul writes of God the

Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ, saying, He who knew no sin,

I'm sorry, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

And then also in Romans 5 .8, that God demonstrates his love, in that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us. Our last song is in your little black hymnals, page 112, the

Gospel Song. Holy is the

Lord God Almighty.

Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Unto them is dead.

I live again.

Let's pray together. Father, I thank you for your faithfulness.

I thank you for your unchanging character, for your unfailing word, for your unrivaled glory, for your undeterred purpose, your unstoppable power.

We thank you that you are our creator, your glory, all things have been created.

Lord, we ask that you would attune our hearts rightly, direct our thinking correctly, all according to you, who you are.

You have revealed yourself, your Son, Jesus Christ, through your word, by your

Holy Spirit. We owe everything to you, and we marvel at what kind of a love this is, that we would be called your children.

Help us today to worship you as we consider the words that you have so faithfully provided for us, words that you knew we would need for this moment now.

So we ask that you would feed us with his bread, nourish us, help us to trust you in all things.

We pray these things for the sake of Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well pleased. Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles and look with me in Romans chapter 14.

And I'll be reading beginning in verse 19 this morning, and we're going to read

Romans 14 beginning in verse 19 through chapter 15 and verse 7.

Romans chapter 14 beginning in verse 19, and we'll read through chapter 15 and verse 7.

And this is the seventh time we have come to this passage as we are considering how to accept one another.

And I invite you to stand with me now as I read the words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through his

Holy Spirit, by his Apostle. So then, we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food.

All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense.

It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.

The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.

Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good to his edification. For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who approached you fell on me.

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept one another as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. It's surprisingly difficult to walk a straight line through the woods.

Maybe you've tried that before. And the surprising part of it is not, you know, the red cedars hogging the ground and the spiderwebs clogging the air and the green thorny vines flowing like Niagara Falls.

Those aren't surprises for anybody who's grown up tramping through the woods of central Oklahoma. What's surprising is you think you're heading straight.

You think you're doing a good job. When in actuality, you're shifting and drifting and weaving like a texter on I -40.

And I tried to remedy my problem by using a compass with a map. But I get a bad reading off of the map because there's metal in the table beneath the map.

And then I think my compass is broken, so I, well, two compasses are better than one, right? No, they just find each other.

So it was only when I held the compass by itself away from all the other metal tools, move all the metal away, just this compass by itself, holding it level, finally, finally,

I get the reading magnetic north. I can get the reading, the degrees that I want to follow, and I can walk a straight line through the woods.

And in the series of sermons on how to accept one another in Christ, to love one another, we've been thinking a great deal about what would be right, what would be wrong, what is good, what's bad in our interactions with one another.

We've come to this section of the outline that says the ethics of the kingdom of Christ. But if we don't have any objective reading for our moral compass, we're going to get lost in a hurry.

If we put our moral compass too close to stuff that will move the needle, we're going to get a bad reading.

If we all gather together and try to get a reading by group compass consensus, we'll all be pointing at ourselves.

And the wild directions we're getting from well -funded, widely platform evangelicals today tells us there's a lot of interference fouling up the readings.

Emotional interferences, fear of man, latest news stories, changing what used to be right and wrong into something else.

The nearest crying person. So that the compass gets so turned around, it's not just off, it's just backwards.

And this is not a new problem for human beings. Isaiah chapter 5, verses 20 through 24, the prophet says,

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.

Who substitute darkness for light, and light for darkness.

Who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight.

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine. And valiant men in mixing strong drink.

Who justify the wicked for a bribe. And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right.

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame.

So their root will become like rot, and their blossom blow away as dust.

For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and they have despised the word of the

Holy One of Israel. See, if you reject the law of God, if you despise the word of God, you're wise in your own eyes.

And you end up having your moral compass completely messed around. And then what happens?

This confusion is really nothing new, because we see it in Isaiah's own time. And we certainly have been seeing it in our own nation for quite a long time.

I mean, our country's been killing babies and destroying families in the name of the good. While making prayer and ten commandments and chastity to be evil.

We've been doing that for quite some time, haven't we? So moral confusion is nothing new. I mean, we're seeing a new flavor of it today, but it's nothing new.

The broken windows and the scorched businesses and the defaced churches and the armed insurgents and the bloody corpses which litter our land is what?

Well, you see, when God lifts his restraining hand, devilry does the rest. That's all it takes.

I mean, all day long, he has held out his hands to a rebellious and perverse nation who protests and protests.

We don't want you. We don't want you. We don't want you. And so he just lifts his hand a little bit and then devilry does the rest.

There's good news. Biblically, reading through 1st Samuel on Sunday nights.

Come on Sunday nights, we'll hear another reading from 1st Samuel. But biblically, here's some good news.

Ichabod comes before Ebenezer. Ichabod comes before Ebenezer.

The glory has departed. Chaos. Ruin. Ichabod comes before Ebenezer.

Thus far, the Lord has helped us. Stone of help. It's good news. May God have mercy.

I say all that to bring our attention to influences which may be interfering with the way we think of right and wrong, good and bad, and our interactions with one another as the church, which, of course, matters for our interactions with people in society.

Culture is religion externalized. If we're not able to find clear lines of right and wrong, if we uncritically take our readings, then we're going to stay lost and confused.

But we've been saying time and again that we are to accept one another as those ruled and redeemed by Christ.

We have our magnetic north. We have the objective reality which determines right and wrong for us, good and bad.

That clarity comes for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

He is the light. He is the light for all men.

He's the light. He clarifies. He dispels darkness. He's the truth.

He's the way. He's the life. So we've been talking about the sovereignty of Christ, not only his absolute lordship, but also his accommodating liberty.

And we've come now to the ethics of the kingdom in verses 19 through 23.

And much of this we've already talked about, but I want to focus on the need for clarity in our definitions about what is good, what is bad, what is right, what is wrong.

What is it that we're actually supposed to be about? You see, much of the confusion in our day comes from the fact that we're all basically using the same vocabulary, but we're using different dictionaries.

We're all using basically the same vocabulary, but different dictionaries.

And so we need some clarification. Which again we have in the word of God. God is so kind to give us this.

In verse 19 we hear this. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

Verse 21 says, it is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.

We're told what is good. This is what we are to pursue and gives us a specific example of how we can do that.

What is good? Well, good involves both doing something and not doing something as we see here.

There are things that we're going to enact in our lives and things that we're going to change and restrain in our lives if we're going to pursue the good.

We must pursue the good. Notice the good is not the convenient. The good is not the default.

The good actually is not even the safe. And the good is therefore not the majority opinion.

Paul says pursue the good. Pursue what makes for peace.

Pursue that which builds up. It is good for us to act in these certain ways.

So we have to pursue it. The term we're using here for pursue that Paul uses is the idea of chasing after, hunting down, and securing something.

It was much the way that I used to hunt with some church members, some friends back in Tennessee.

They never felled a deer in the place they shot it. And so we were always chasing and pursuing for quite some time and the woods were filled with black powder and lead.

Never gave up. Never gave up. The word that Paul is using here is the same

Greek word for persecute. The same Greek word for persecute. Because it has the idea of a vigorous chasing after, a hounding if you will.

Do you remember how Paul, when he was better known as Saul of Tarsus, how he was breathing out threats against the followers of the way?

He hunted down Christians. He killed them. He threw them into prison.

He haunted their fleeing steps all the way to Damascus. And the earnestness, the strategy even, the tactics, the diligence, the follow through of persecuting

Christians, that same intensity and work ethic are compelled here toward the good.

Meaning that we're not in park. We're not in neutral. We're shifting into drive and we're gunning it.

We've got to pursue peace. We've got to pursue that which builds one another up.

We have to pursue that which is good. And so we have these terms.

But again, we need to be careful that we don't have a bad compass reading on these terms. Peace. We are to pursue that which, the things that make for peace.

The Greek word is Irenae. It means to join. It has the idea of setting at one, setting together.

By implication, this brings rest. It brings quietness. It even brings prosperity.

There's an element of wholeness here that we have also in the

Old Testament equivalent for the word shalom. Certainly the word shalom would be in the mind of the

Apostle Paul. As he's writing here about peace.

This peace is to be pursued. Now this word peace and its synonyms of reconciliation and so on are getting used a lot in our day.

But again, we're using vocabulary, the same vocabulary, but there's different dictionaries in use.

The dictionary Christians are to use is one that is tied to the unchanging character, the unchanging revelation of God and Jesus Christ.

So that we're not to update our dictionaries and change the meanings of our vocabularies based on the latest news cycle.

The peace here has everything to do, as we've already seen, has everything to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And our peace and our reconciliation are in his work, his gospel work, his dying on the cross for us.

His dying for all kinds of people, not just Jews, but also Gentiles. Dying for those who were brought up in religious homes and those who were not.

No matter what kind of classification we can come up with, Jesus Christ died for all kinds of people, all without distinction.

So there's peace in Christ as we join around his good news, his gospel of salvation.

But the peace that is being used today, a lot of the times the word peace has a different type of definition.

The word peace being used in this notion, used in paganism today, has to do with more of a material reconciliation rather than a relational or spiritual reconciliation.

Paganism is the cult of the day. It's a material kind of oneness.

Everything is basically one in paganism, which is why it's so easy for people to say abracadabra and turn boys into girls and so on.

Because it's all one anyway. And in paganism today, since everything is one, that if there's any disparity in material distribution, then that is by definition in paganism unjust.

Because if it's all one, then why isn't it equally apportioned? And so peace or reconciliation has more to do with a setting together of the material rather than the persons.

And it's interesting, the chaos of our day, you wonder what kind of oneness is possible, what kind of peace is possible, what kind of reconciliation really is possible, when everyone's intersectionals, their race or their genders or their class, whatever they identify as, is with special effects being enhanced in 4K 3D.

Everything has to be completely set at odds with everything else. So what do they talk about when they want there to be reconciliation?

What do they mean when they want oneness? It's not a coming together of peoples, it's an evening out of material, because it's the gospel of paganism.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is what defines the term that we're dealing with here as peace.

Pursuing peace with one another means pursuing it in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's what determines what it means to love one another, to forgive one another, to have a relationship with one another.

The things that make for peace are the things which honor Christ and model his glory.

Prime example is that little letter in the Bible, often forgot, called Philemon. Remember Philemon?

Very easy read, doesn't take you long. And Paul just models the gospel in his humility, in his standing in between the offended parties, in his calling both master and slave to find their love for one another and their reconciliation together in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

That's a blueprint and real -life example of pursuing peace.

And Paul went out of his way and went the extra mile to pursue peace, to even make peace between two offended brothers.

And we're going to have to go out of our way to make peace. It'll mean laying aside that which distinguishes and divides.

It means laying aside the things which we could use to continually make a separation between one another.

Things of the past, things of our preferences. Well, you know what it is to watch your friend or your loved one who is offended exit the room because they're upset.

You know what that's like. And if you pursue after them later on or right then to make amends, to try to set matters at one between yourselves, that's the idea of pursuing the peace.

But even if a husband and wife, for instance, are proactively pursuing from the outset the things which make for peace, then the repairs are far less frequently needed.

And so when Paul is saying pursue peace, he doesn't just mean when things get bad, oh, I guess we've got to pursue peace now.

But to be actively at peace with one another in Christ.

That we see one another as Christ sees us. That we know who has died for our sins, who has cleared away our guilt, who has removed our transgressions as far as the east is from the west, who has given us the gift of the

Holy Spirit, who has accorded to us many promises of hope and glory, that we have our unity, our coming together in Christ.

The way of the pagan is to demand a kind of peace in which all others must make the movement.

Centering around them. So Jesus was getting on with his disciples about, you know, arguing who's the greatest. Who's going to get the preferred seating and that everybody else must gather around.

The way of peace for the pagan is to force all others to center upon them.

And these demands are almost always hostage negotiations. Unless you meet my demands, I'll not let you have your streets, your calm, your economy, your safety, or your rest.

On the personal level, that's still the same. It can even happen in the church. As a paganized insurgent will only cease their smearing and jeering and complaining and maligning.

Only if folks will see and do things their way. That kind of setting at one is not peace.

That's called tyranny. Now in verse 21 we have a specific example. Notice what

Paul says here. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.

So in this sense, the pursuit is actually not doing something. And I think an interesting example has been the way in which we've been greeting one another with a holy kiss ever since COVID started.

You know, and we're not getting anywhere within the range of a holy kiss for a long time.

But we're still calling each other and emailing each other and trying to do our best to warmly fellowship as we have opportunity.

And then even when we come together, we're still trying to sign each other up by their body language. Whether we're fist bumping or nodding or actually shaking hands.

But trying to make sure we're not doing something which inadvertently stumbles our brother or sister in Christ.

That's a very simple thing, is it not? But that's good. That's glorifying to Christ.

We pursue peace by removing stumbling blocks. And if you've noticed, these levels of greeting are in flux weekly.

If we ever tried to write a policy on proper greeting during COVID -19 based on any given week, it'd be different the next week.

Have you ever noticed that? Because it's not as easy as just writing policy. It's about pursuing. It's about pursuing.

It's about pursuing what makes for peace with one another. And if we're not pursuing the things which set us together, the things which set us apart will predominate.

The lazy man is the brother to a destroyer, Proverbs says. Think about that. The lazy man is the brother of a destroyer.

Just let things go. Things break down. Let us not allow our peace to decay and rot.

Chase these matters down and do good. So not only are we pursuing the things which make for peace towards one another on this individual basis for the blessing of the whole church family, but also edification.

We're building one another up. And Paul uses here a term which invokes hope. We pursue the things which make for peace in the building up of one another.

Pursuing peace might be seen as repairs. Repairing the breach or some kind of problem.

We're repairing that. Pursuing peace may be looked at as maintenance. Keeping things at one with each other.

But this building up is something new. It's something to go after. It's making progress.

It's actually pursuing new construction. We're going to be building up one another.

Edifying one another. And again, let's make sure that we have this term dialed into our magnetic north.

When we talk about edifying one another and building one another up, we're not talking about a self -esteem enhancement campaign.

That's not what Paul is talking about here. In fact, this is a metaphor that Paul uses quite often throughout his writings, whether it's

Romans or Ephesians or Corinthians. And so, what does he mean when he talks about building up one another?

Edifying one another? Well, for instance, in 1

Corinthians, you can turn over there to 1 Corinthians 3 in verses 7 through 11.

Paul is dealing with an issue where there is division in the church. There are different factions vying for dominance or supremacy.

They're defined by several things. But one of the things that's dividing them is this group says, well, I'm of Peter.

This group says, I'm of Paul. This group says, I'm of Apollos. This group says, well, we're of Jesus. And they're trying to identify

Christ and his apostles as if they're distinct groups.

And they're trying to say, we're all going to identify by our group.

And guess what happened in the church? It was a mess. All kinds of destructive infighting began in the church.

And so Paul is writing to try to put that at rest. And so he's talking about these various personages, whether Peter or Apollos or himself.

He's trying to put those things in perspective. These are just slaves of Jesus, just servants of Christ.

They're no big deal. Christ is the big deal. And so he uses this analogy to try to help them understand what it looks like in unity, building up one another.

1 Corinthians 3, 7 through 11. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. So he moves from the agricultural to the architectural.

It's a very common way that he moves in his thinking. Jesus did himself in his parables.

He moves from the field to the house. Paul does the same thing. God's building.

Verse 10. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation.

And another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is it, which is

Christ Jesus. So in the more amply filled out metaphor that Paul is using about building up one another.

He's talking about, listen, we are to recognize that what we build matters.

He goes on to talk about there's a difference between building with wood, hay and stubble and gold and silver and precious stones.

That what we build with matters. How we build up one another. And where we build matters.

It has to be on the foundation of Jesus Christ. And so when

Paul is saying pursue the good. When he's saying that. He's saying not simply to do our best to make everybody else feel like they are really worthy of God's love.

Right? That's not at all what he's saying. He's saying building one another up.

Edifying one another. This is the good that we're pursuing. We're constructing things upon Christ.

According to Christ. For the glory of Christ. In Ephesians he says that we are investing and growing and building up the body of Christ into the full stature of maturity.

Who is Jesus Christ himself. Jesus Christ is envisioned not only as the foundation of the church but he's also the capstone of the church.

The alpha and the omega of the construction. And although we are involved and called to pursue these matters.

Jesus himself said I will build my church. He's going to do it his way by his grace.

According to his word. And anything that we end up building. That is not upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Or anything that we try to build upon the foundation of Christ. That's not of his word of his truth of his grace.

Is useless. And will be burned away. So as we pursue the good.

As we pursue the good. We must orient our moral compass.

To the gospel of Jesus Christ. To his person and his work. Otherwise we may be trying to build something that we think is good.

But it's not. Something that will be lasting. But it won't last. We have to build in this way.

These ethics matters. But what we. What we pursue. In our peace and building up.

But also what we. Believe. Verse 22. Not only what we pursue.

But also what we. Believe. The faith which you have.

Have is your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself.

In what he. Approves. Now his faith before God that he talks about here.

His faith before God. Is. Something he's already mentioned earlier on in the chapter.

This term. Conviction that I. Read in the New American Standard. Is. It's not actually there in the

Greek text. The faith which you have. Have is your own conviction. Before God. Terms not even in there in the

Greek text. It's there. Just to. Help clarify the meaning of. Of the author.

As the translator's intention in that. The point that here is the King James. I think follows a little bit more closely.

With what's there. Hast thou faith. Have it. To thyself before God. Now if this verse is taken out of context.

Well that's the end of all evangelism. Isn't it. Right. If it's taken out of context. But no.

When we're reading through the context. We. We should then understand. The interpretation. Paul's ought to use this expression.

In chapter four. End of. Fourteen verse two. He says. One person. Has faith. That he may eat.

All things. That he who is weak. Eats vegetables only. Right. He's already used this expression.

You have faith. I'm not. Determined. By. Some sort of.

Conviction here or there. But I have faith. I can eat all things. Paul says. Well later on.

He says. Well have that before God. Enjoy that. Before God.

Do you have faith. That you may eat all things. Drink wine. Discard certain customs. And so on. Does the strength of your faith.

Mean that you enjoy. Great. A great deal of liberty. Have that. Between yourself.

And God. What need is there. To broadcast that around. Paul is saying. He says. If you do.

You're going to end up. Missing out. On the beatitude. Of. Freedom.

He says. Happy. Happy is he. Who does not condemn himself.

In what he. Approves. That's the same. Word Jesus used.

In each of the beatitudes. Blessed are the. Poor in spirit. Blessed are. The peacemakers.

Same word here. Blessed are. You. Blessed is the one. Who does not.

Is that this beatitude. In our freedom in Christ. All. All these matters.

In which some may restrain themselves. Is a blessing to you. But only a blessing to you.

If you avoid the condemnation. What is the condemnation. Well. The blessing is undone.

By. Exercising your freedom. In such a way. That stumbles your brother. That tears him down.

The freedom you have. Is to be enjoyed. Before God. Not. In. Spite.

Of your brother. All right. Enjoy it before God. Not to spite your brother.

Paul. Further qualifies. This blessing of a believer. Enjoying a faith before God. By saying.

In what he. Approves. The faith which you have. Have as your own conviction. Before God. Happy is he.

Who does not condemn himself. In what he. Approves. Which is a reminder. Of what we've already talked about.

That we are to. Test. And examine. Our. Freedoms.

Not only our freedoms. But also our convictions. The freedoms. And convictions we have.

Are to be tested. And examined. According to the word of God. Through the course of our. Life of following Christ.

We are not to have. Loose convictions. And whimsical freedoms. When I was.

First starting off in seminary. I got a job as a. Aftercare. After school care.

Coordinator. At Presbyterian day school. And I met my supervisor. I like the

Baptist. But I didn't join him. I wanted to be a Methodist. So I could drink. It's like okay.

That's kind of a whimsical freedom. Right. It wasn't really well thought through. I appreciated her honesty.

But she needed a little bit more. Wrestling. With. That. Right. So. We may.

End up. Turning our. Blessing. Into. Something that. Hinders.

Us. And others. If we. Don't have it. Worked out before God. And enjoy it.

Before. God. Now. So we see what is good. Pursue what is good. But what is bad. What is bad.

Now. In the text. We see what is bad. It's about. Tearing down. The work of God.

For the. Sake of. Food. Or. If you. Doubt. But you go on. Through.

Doing something. In your doubt. Then you. Condemn. Yourself. Because whatever is not. From. Faith. Is. Sin.

So we. We are told. What is bad. In these situations. So we're trying to. Accept one another. In Christ.

I'm so glad. The Bible tells us. What is bad. I mean. That's a real. Blessing.

The Bible tells us. What is bad. That's such a. Blessing to us. In a pagan.

Culture. What is bad. Changes rapidly. According to the manic. Mood swings. Of capricious. Gods. I mean.

Have you noticed this. Late. 2019. Early. 2020. The goddess.

Gaia. Mother Earth. Had all the power. And sway. This was the news stories.

This was the focus. All humans. Must loathe themselves. As we defile her. With our carbon.

And then. From March to May. The goddess Athena. Almighty science. Fell in love. With the imperial cult.

And the academy. And the state. Were worshipped. Together as supreme. Fall on your face. Shelter in place.

But now. The goddess. Intersectionality. Has her time. In the sun. But nobody.

Can seem to hear. Mother Earth's. Complaints. Her anguished. Cries of pain. As riders. Cause. Massive.

Amounts. Of pollution. Burning. And destroying. And forcing. Police. To fire. Tear gas.

And so on. I mean. What would have been wrong. Six months ago. Must now. Be accepted.

Any speaking out against it. Or anathema. Three months ago. Science. And state.

Declared that. Gathering in the streets. To protest. And riot. Would have been deadly. And illegal. Now.

The ethics of the matter. Have changed. The gods. Are. Capricious. The gods are capricious.

Isn't it good to know. That the culture of capricious gods. Was the culture in which.

The gospel of Jesus Christ. Was preached. First preached.

And declared. And caught like wildfire. And people turned away.

From the. Folly. Of being let around. by their noses with a chain, and turn to that one true

God revealed in Jesus Christ. I'm glad that the Holy Scriptures tell us what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong, and that these categories are established from the very character of our immutable

Creator. He doesn't change from generation to generation or from month to month.

When it comes to Christ's kingdom and his economy of liberty and love, we are clearly told the ethics of the text and why.

So destroying others is bad. Destroying others is bad, verses 20 and 21.

Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense.

It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. Making food the principle of Christian relations, making the non -essential most essential, tears down the work of God.

It overthrows the righteousness and peace and joy that God is building up in his saints. And Paul writes this in the ongoing sense.

He's saying, do not go on tearing down the work of God for the sake of food.

That kind of graceless vandalism must cease and desist. Food, Paul says, food, drink, indeed all things that God has made are clean.

He says elsewhere to Timothy, they are made holy by the means of prayer and thanksgiving according to the

Word of God. But these gifts can be taken up and used to stumble others, which makes it into an evil.

And that's the essential work of the devil, to take what is good in God's creation and make it evil. Let's not do the devil's work.

Our Savior came to destroy the works of the devil, and on that we ought to be on board. The good, the use of God's good gifts to give offense and trip up our brother or sister in Christ, well that's not good at all.

The final word in verse 21 is of interest. The word stumbles, it's a little bit different than the other words for stumble in the text.

It actually envisions causing someone to run into an obstacle.

We have our modern phrases like brake -checking, cutting people off, running people off the road, all these things we say are bad driving.

While their spiritual equivalent in our relationships as brothers and sisters in Christ, that's bad as well, causing someone to run into something.

Destroying others is bad, and damning ourselves is also bad. Verse 23, but he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Now Paul is not saying everything except that which is positively of faith is sin, but that which is positively not of faith is sin.

In other words, if you doubt, don't. If you doubt, don't.

I don't know if it's right or not to go visit so -and -so who's lonely and needs encouragement without my mask.

I just don't know if it'd be right to go visit that person. I'm not sure if they're isolating because of the virus and they're concerned about these things.

I don't know if it'll be right or not. I mean, I feel fine going out, but I don't know which one is it right or wrong.

If you doubt, don't leave your mask at home. Take it with you. If you doubt, don't. I don't know if it'll be right or not to sip a little bit of wine socially with other people.

I don't know if that'd be right or not. If you doubt, don't. Paul says if it's not positively proceeding out of...

if it's positively not of faith, then it's sin, because you are already going against your conscience where you've not settled a matter.

And this is no excuse to leave things unsettled, to just constantly walk around in doubt and chains of doubt, and just say, well,

I don't know, and then just never, never work through the Scriptures, never pray for the matter, never grow up in Christ.

There's no reason to embrace doubt and make doubt your ethic. That's not what Paul is saying. He's told us time and again to work it out, to test it, and so on and so forth.

So that's helpful. I just greatly appreciate being told what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong in such basic terms that I can apply in my daily life.

We're given clarity from the Word of God as to the ethics of Christ's kingdom.

Good and bad are not relative to who can make the most noise. Good and bad are not relative to those who can burn the most buildings, or loot the most stuff, or brutalize the most bystanders.

That's the Darwinian bestial ethic survival of the fittest. Nature is red and tooth and claw.

Good and bad are determined according to the character of the man seated upon the throne above all thrones.

That's how we know good and bad, right and wrong. And while there is no forgiveness, none whatsoever, while there is no forgiveness in the social purgatory of critical race theory,

Christ has come to seek and save the lost, to forgive sinners, to cleanse the filthy, and to raise the dead.

And boy, do people need to hear that word of hope today. Jesus says the thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Praise God.

Father, I thank you for the time you've given us in your Word. Thank you for the hope that we have in Christ, for the clarity we have in His light.

I pray that you would help us to make full application of the things that we've been learning here.

Help us to accept one another and love one another, to pursue the things which make for peace and build up each other in Christ and for Christ.

It's in His name that we pray. Amen. I just want to say thank you to our pastor for preaching the

Word of God in truth and clarity. He gave the phrase that made me think of a song by Ron Hamilton.

It says, if you don't doubt it, if you doubt it, don't do it. So if you doubt it, don't do it.

Anyway, would you stand with me for our song of conviction? We're going to sing Knowing You, and it is good to know the

Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. I have counted all sins spent and worthless now compared to this.

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you, it is all great to me.

I enjoy thy righteousness, and I love you most.

My desire is to know you most, to possess by faith all

I would not earn. Knowing you,

Jesus, it is all gracious, and I love you.

And to know you in your sufferings, to become like you in your death, my

Lord, so with you to live and never to die.

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you, it is all great,

I think. You're my all, you're the best, you're my joy, my righteousness, and I love you.

Lord, Lord. Father, the grace of the