SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: October 29, 2012
Date Preached: October 28, 2012
Church: Oak Park BC (AM)
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Series: A Series In Romans
Title: Living and Serving in Unity
Text: Romans 14:1-10 [NLT]
ETS: Paul taught there were some truths that could NOT be compromised but here emphasizes that there are things that are not as dogmatic and his point was that unity & love were more important than winning an argument.
ESS: There are truths in which we cannot compromise, but there also are many things that we must simply agree to disagree upon, this is why Paul stresses here that unity is more important than winning an argument.
Introduction:
A couple of weeks ago we looked at ch13 and saw how to flesh out a plan for godly living and how Paul taught the church in Rome!
This morning we are going to look at the 1st 10 verses of ch14 where Paul addresses a problem that seems to be prevalent within the church.
Now there is no direct mention of the problem by Paul NOR is there any mention by Paul on how any of their leaders had inquired about help for such a problem…
We still have to remember that Paul did NOT start the church in Rome, but this letter was actually a letter of introduction for Paul TO the church… but it is evident here that some of the leaders had expressed an issue to Paul that he felt he needed to address…
So let’s READ these 10 verses and then we are going to jump in and see what the problem was, what the issues were, the principle Paul presents to change the situation there in Rome…so take your Bible and turn to Rom 14:1-10
I will be reading this morning out of the New Living Translation and it will be on the screen as well…Let’s read:
[FOLLOW ME AS I READ v1-10]
1Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval. 5In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead. 10So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
[FOLLOW ME AS I READ v1-3]
The Problem Presented – v1-3:
1Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.
Now what we learned a couple of weeks ago is that in ch12 Paul went from teaching doctrine to explaining practical action and living for the believer.
Here Paul is addressing the congregation about a matter that is NOT very godly and NOT a good witness to the world around them…
We see Paul mention 2 sets of people here, he calls one “the weak” and then Paul implies a 2nd group to which we attribute the opposite character… let’s call them “the strong”.
Paul speaks to BOTH groups and I want us to understand that Paul is NOT judging either body at this point, but he is merely setting the stage to explain the godly path in this situation…
The ‘weak’ as Paul called them… Paul uses the Greek word as-theh-neh-oh which literally means powerless and feeble. Paul is drawing a picture here for us about these people because the powerless and feeble are usually the victims of bondage…
The ‘weak’ mentioned here were most likely new Jewish believers still clinging to the traditions and ritual of Judaism, but they were NOT the Judaizers Paul had encountered on many occasions.
The Judaizers were a sect of Jews who believed that Jesus was the completion of Judaism and that to be fully saved one must adhere to ALL of the Jewish practices, observe all the holy days AND be faithful to the Jewish dietary laws…If these people had been Judaizers, Paul would have rebuked them!
They were NOT Judaizers NOR were they quasi Christians, they had genuinely accepted Christ but they failed to grasp the power of Christ to free them from their bondage to ritual or ceremony.
THUS Paul calls them ‘weak’…
Now the ‘strong’ Paul alludes to in this passage were just the opposite of the ‘weak’… they were unencumbered by any trappings of ritual or ceremony.
They believed that Christ had set them free from ALL bondage… free to worship Christ as THEY saw fit… meaning that they were not limited to a particular ceremony or ritual… they were not limited to a certain day… and they certainly were not limited in what they could eat or not eat…
Here in v2 Paul gives us an example of the tension between these two groups. [show v2 here]
2For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.
The ‘strong’ who felt liberated by Christ and freed from all the bondage and trappings of ceremony and ritual believed they could eat ANYTHING…
This could mean one of 2 things: First it could be a reference to the vision of Peter where God had instructed him to ‘rise and eat’ and when Peter refused God told him to eat.. that what HE deemed as good was good… thus it was God removing the dietary restrictions he had given to the ancient Hebrews!
OR this could be referring to the issue of eating any sort of food that had been offered to an idol, and if that is the case this would be a parallel passage of sorts to 1 Cor 8…
Either way these believers would have been ‘freed’ from this bondage and thus deemed by Paul as having the power of Christ in their lives and so the implication here is that they are ‘strong’ in their faith and conviction.
But getting back to the situation Paul was dealing with we see that the ‘weak’ in this situation looked to the ‘strong’ and saw loosey-goosey actions of either eating things God had forbidden OR eating things that had been offered as sacrifices to idols and false gods. The ‘weak’ saw this and they judged the believers doing this as being to liberal…
The ‘strong’ in this situation saw legalistic tendencies and judgmental words…so we have a congregation at odds with one another…
Paul steps in here and in v3 offers some godly counsel and admonishes BOTH groups! Look what he says:
[show v3 here]
3Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.
Paul was telling them, “Look people, your purpose within the body is NOT to judge” BUT when we go back to v1 we find Paul expounding on what the purpose of the body of Christ WAS about…
[show highlighted v1 here]
1Accept other believers…and don’t argue...
Paul says to ‘accept’ other believers. The Greek word he uses here is pross-lam-bano which means to take on as a companion, to take into your home with the idea of kindness or love…
Paul was teaching here that to ‘accept’ someone into the fellowship meant:
- to welcome them in (with love)
- to welcome their company in fellowship
- to welcome their FULL participation in the fellowship
- to welcome their personality, no matter how different it may be from your own
Now Paul understood that accepting believers into the fellowship did not always mean that you would AGREE with them on every single thing…
I believe that is where we fall short in our fellowships today. We have this false sense of unity that somehow believes that we have to ALWAYS agree on things…
There are points where we MUST agree, but there are also MANY, MANY places where we can agree to NOT agree… but what Paul is saying here is that even tho’ you may NOT agree, you MUST accept them in love!
We do this in our lives outside the church…
We do it at work where co-workers come together for a singular cause. They may not even LIKE each other, but they learn to accept each other for their strengths to get the job done.
We do it with our friend/acquaintances where we come together because we actually DO like each other! But just because we like and accept each other doesn’t mean we will always agree… Ben and I get along great and we like and accept each other as ministers of the Gospel, but we have agreed to DISAGREE on football!
He is a Georgia Bulldog fan… I am a Miss St Bulldog fan! He is an Atlanta Falcon fan (that one almost got him fired… ) and I am a fierce Saints fan!
Ben likes RAP music… I like Southern Gospel… Ben and I have many differences and we don’t agree on a lot of things, but as friends we have learned to accept each other WITH their differences… and we do it out of respect for one another!
But we also do this in our families don’t we… we come together out of love for one another and we may even have shared interests and YET… as close as that bond of family MAY be, we don’t always agree… DO WE MICHELLE?
But the point here is that we have learned to accept one another!!! IN LOVE!
Paul is telling us that as believers our purpose toward other believers is that we are called to accept them in love. We may not always agree with them but we CAN accept them out of love for them and respect for our Savior! Paul is stressing a theme of unity here within this fellowship! But Paul goes onto…
[Show v4-6 here, follow me as I read]
Paul CHALLENGES these Groups – v4-6
4Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval. 5In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.
Here lays out the teaching… He shocks both groups here with the same statement that God used on Job… Paul says, “Who are YOU… to condemn someone else’s servant?”
By this Paul was stating that as Christians we ALL now belong to God! Paul constantly referred to himself as God’s bond-servant… When Christ saves us we become servants of God!
SO…Paul is saying that since we are God’s servants who is ANYONE to judge a servant of God… we are the servant… God is the master… JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Paul goes on to say that we will be judged, but it will be by God… by our Master so we should NEVER step in and try to assume that role!
It is the Master who will judge us, but Paul encourages these believers when he says that they will also be able to stand because of the Master and his help! We are NOT on our own, but we are we are under the careful watch care of our Master and Savior! He is our judge, but He is also our Savior!
Paul uses this statement for shock value… he literally slaps them in the face to wake them out of their judgmental stupors… BOTH GROUPS! Who do you think you are to be judging one another?
Then Paul returns to more examples of this situation:
[Show v5 here, follow me as I read]
5In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable.
Paul is expanding his teaching here. He is going beyond just the food issue. He understands that there were probably MANY areas of disagreement between these 2 groups and had possibly been told of these specific areas of discord… so Paul wants to address them in a specific manner!
In v5 he addresses the discord they were having over the DAY OF WORSHIP! Some believed ONE day was more holy than others… specifically the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was set aside by God FOR worship at the dawn of Creation, but in Christ this had been expanded. God did not want us to simply set aside ONE day, but that in Christ our entire lives would be a time of worship!
The ‘weak’ held to the tradition of ONE day being more holy where the ‘strong’ were not confined to such a notion… now I want us to understand something here. Paul is NOT judging either party, but he is drawing a picture of how discord can strike within a fellowship…
[Show v6 here, follow me as I read]
6Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.
In v6 Paul lets each group know that the OTHER group is NOT doing this out of rebellion or ignorance but that they are doing it FOR THE LORD!
He says that those who worship on a particular day, do so to glorify God…
He says that those who feel free to eat anything do so because they want to glorify the God who has freed them from bondage…
He also says that those who refrain from eating certain foods also are doing so in honor of the God they serve…
So Paul is telling them, HEY WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE? You are ALL believers here… You all have the same goal in mind and that is to glorify Christ…
The implication of Paul’s words are, “WHY ARE YOU ACTING like this toward one another?” Then Paul continues teaching by laying out a principle that they have to learn to live their lives by…
[Show v7-10 here, follow me as I read]
Paul Lays Out a Principle – v7-10
7For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead. 10So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “No man is an island!” or the phrase “we don’t live in a vacuum!”
Both of these phrases represent what Paul is saying here in v7 [Show v7 here]
7For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves.
… we are not in this Christian life alone! What we do and say affects other believers and we must learn to live in unity with one another!
Paul then goes onto stress what the focus of believers MUST be in v8 where he says: [Show v8 here]
8If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
It is our duty to honor God thru our lives… and even in death we should honor God… this is because we have been bought by a price and we belong to the Lord!
We are all HIS servants and He is our master and our lives are to please and honor Him… This is why Paul told the church in Colossae to ‘walk worthy of the Lord’! We are to live a life that brings honor to God!
The implication here is that in-fighting and arguing among the believers does NOT bring honor to God… and our duty is to honor God!
Then Paul wraps up his teaching as to WHY we should live a life that honors God… [Show v9 here]
9Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.
You see this is why Christ came… so that He could become our Lord and Savior… so that we would live in unity with one another and honor him in our lives!
What Paul is telling the believers in Rome… and US today is that when we argue and there is discord within the body, we are going against the very purpose of Christ coming to this world!
We are going against the grain… we are fighting against the Lord we profess as our Master! How can this be? How can the servant fight against His master?
The master has a larger picture of things and understands infinitely more than the servant and it is the duty of the servant to listen to and serve the master…
Can you imagine an army where the private stands up and challenges the general? Where the privates and sergeants are bickering and fighting and there is no camaraderie? How effective will that army be?
This is what Paul is getting at in this passage… he is saying “brothers and sisters why are you fighting against the purpose of our Savior… he came to unite us in Him in victory over sin… so why do you choose to battle one another when our enemies are NOT each other, but they are the powers of darkness holding the world in bondage!
We know the deliverer… and how can we share Him with others if we are fighting among ourselves? Paul concludes by saying: [Show v10 here]
10So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Basically what Paul is saying here in this verse is, “You have heard my argument… you have seen my logic… so why are you acting like this!”
Scripture teaches us that there is NO distinction within the body of Christ, we are all saved servants of the Most High. We have different functions within the body, but there is NONE that is more important than another…
So WHY is it that we continue to condemn and look down upon other believers? This just hurts our cause and endangers our purpose in bringing Christ to the WORLD!
Then Paul tells us that our actions will be judged… in other words, if you continue to act like this, you will one day stand before God and you will have to answer for your actions!
This does not mean that you will lose your salvation, but it does mean that God is NOT pleased with this sort of behavior and HE WILL JUDGE IT!
CONCLUSION:
So why is it that we look down and condemn or fellow believers? We have ALL been guilty of this… and we ALL need to repent of this act of rebellion against the purpose of our Savior!
This morning I want to give the opportunity to pray for God’s forgiveness… I know you can pray where you stand and you don’t HAVE to come forward, but here is why I believe you should!!
Coming forward shows a humility in Christ… it shows full submission to His calling and it reveals that you have set aside all pride so that you can live for Him as He has called you to live…
Coming forward shows that you know you are sinful and that God is good and faithful to forgive that sin and repair your relationship with Him!
So this morning if you have found yourself looking down upon or condemning another believer… I call on you to come in confession and seek God’s forgiveness!
GIVE EVANGELISTIC INVITATION HERE!
