Romans 14_1-12 Solidarity Forver

Secular:

Many of us learned our alphabet and our numbers… simple adding and subtracting from our furry friends on Sesame Street. (slide#1)
A simple introduction into what would become a world of words and numbers used for communication and other applications beyond our initial understanding…
We never thought at three or four… with our parents clapping encouragement…. That the question were going to get harder than 1+1
But all too quickly came high school… (Slide #2)
And the introduction of the Quadratic formula…
It freaks me out now… let alone when I was three!
The fact is both the simple equation and the more complex quadratic formula are true….
And we can not move (slide # 3) from one to the other in a single move…
From truth to truth takes some 10-11 years of education!
We don’t write off a three year old or four year old or five year old…. Cause they struggle with simple math… we encourage and grow them… neither do we let them make up their own answers…
Jimmy is new at math so 1+1=3 is okay for him?
(No slide…)
A è B model

Biblical:

Romans 14:1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD." 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

Personal:

Monopoly…

Friend’s house
Friend’s game
Friend as banker…
10% levy… ?
Tax on property…hey!
That’s not the game….

Hockey

Referee… no calls
Things get crazy
Things start happening that shouldn’t
That’s not the game

Bridge:

Liberty è Licence
Exhortation è Condemnation

NAU Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Just don’t leave them… take action… restore them…

NAU 1 Corinthians 5:7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Don’t stay in sin… CHANGE

NAU 2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Be holy for your God is holy
… never forgetting to grow together
… no one gets left behind

NAU Ephesians 4:3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Sin out… Christ In… Christ focus

NAU Colossians 3:14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

Exhortation, Liberty

NAU Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

Freedom to serve Christ, build the body, Love Neighbour
Exhortation, Encouragement and Liberty
VS.
Condemnation, Pride and Legalism
Application to us… not for us…
In Romans 14:2-12, Paul gives four reasons why all believers (both strong and weak) should receive all other believers. They should receive each other because God receives them, because the Lord Sustains each believer, because the Lord is sovereign to each believer, and because the Lord will judge each believer!

Body:

God Receives Them

Romans 14:1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.

… God accepts them
Hung up… what’s with the vegetables?
Dietary restrictions

Gentile… pagan gods and idols
Jewish… food laws

Even Peter struggled…

Acts 11:5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came right down to me, 6 and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air. 7 "I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' 8 "But I said, 'By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 "But a voice from heaven answered a second time, 'What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.'

What about us…

Sabbath
Movies
Dancing
Music
In Ministry…

Not the same… unique gifts…
No one more “spiritual or valuable”

Remember

We are to confront sin… (exhort, admonish, encourage)
The move to personal holiness is the work of Christ

Converting to Christianity isn’t to our personal brand…

Old style missionaries…
Residential schools… sponsored by churches

Accept them… accept their liberty
We don’t transform

The Lord Sustains Each Believer

4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Remember we are to confront sin
But it is God who brings about personal holiness
Legalism… takes the joy from “the weak”
Antinomians… pursue happiness “the strong”

BOTH Need God…

The believer is sustains by Christ!

Sanctified by Christ…. Made holy
1 John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Don’t assume we can judge the servant of another
1 Corinthians 4:3 But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. 4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. 5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.
Do right in God’s eyes
Jude 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy… God sustains

Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. Psalm 91:11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways.
God receives them and
The Lord sustains each believer
We must accept them!

The Lord is Sovereign to Each Believer

5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Strong / Weak…. Isn’t spiritual / carnal
Talking about believers
Those who God has dominion…
Strong… saw all days as important…
Weak… held onto old practices (feasts, etc…)
Be fully convinced… conscience… Spirit within…
NAU Colossians 2:16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--
In liberty… choose according to conscience… be fully convinced (wholly… accountability)
Indwelt by the Spirit… Filled with the Word… Being in Prayer
All of our liberties are (Colossians 2:17) things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Don’t make these issues divisive
God is sovereign not our desires
NAU Galatians 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years.
God is sovereign… not rituals, not formula, not observances
Sinful to impose personal convictions…

That would be lording….
God makes us unique
Not Scriptural to bring our personal convictions
God rules our life

NAU 1 Corinthians 8:9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 11 For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. 12 And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
Liberty is given over to “Love thy neighbour”
Liberty isn’t sovereign… God’s will… God’s desire…
To God we must be faithful!
NAU Acts 23:1 Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, "Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day."
Not our will, preference or plan… but God’s
NAU Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
God is Lord over every believer
NAU Romans 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
We belong to Christ… He is our Master
NAU 1 Corinthians 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
We accept all believers… because God is Lord of their life (no disowning the family)
Lord of life

Constancy in belief
Diversity in Liberty

Hard on body to be pulled in so many directions…
Qualifications for leaders…
Admonition to followers…

God sustains….
Transforms
Keeps
Not imposed preferences / stumble causing

John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
V. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
God receives, God sustains, the Lord is Sovereign to Each Believer

The Lord Alone Will Judge Each Believer

10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD." 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

It’s pride – to judge things against self

So called strong and weak

We are to call to live according to Christ

Not the liberties… the commands
The relationship
Measure ourselves… not against ourselves

Exhort, admonish, encourage, love, support…..
Versus negative… judge… have contempt
The heart is the domain of God
Everyone will come before God
Each will give an account!

Conclusion:

God Receives Them

Love and Accept believers
We need to be safe and encouraging

The Lord Sustains Each Believer

Not rituals
Not legalism
Not stylistic
Spirit of God
Don’t imagine we can take God’s role

The Lord is Sovereign to Each Believer

No forcing our liberty
Spirit, Word, Prayer…. Conviction
Allow liberty
Give in Liberty (for unity)

The Lord Alone Will Judge Each Believer

Exhort, Encourage, Love, Support
It is for God to judge the heart