back to index2018-05-20 In Essential Unity (Part 1) - Romans 14:1-4
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If you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans Chapter 14, 1-4. 00:00:08.040 |
We're jumping back into the series in Romans. 00:00:18.360 |
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 00:00:23.740 |
One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 00:00:28.720 |
Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains 00:00:32.640 |
pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 00:00:37.280 |
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? 00:00:39.820 |
It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld for the Lord 00:00:51.680 |
Gracious and loving Father, we thank you so much for today. 00:00:56.520 |
We thank you for your living word, we thank you for your patience. 00:01:00.680 |
We thank you for the fellowship that we have with brothers and sisters, Lord God in Christ. 00:01:05.600 |
And we know what a blessing it is, Lord, to be a part of your body. 00:01:10.400 |
Help us to hear from you, not from man, not from man's thinking, not from man's study, 00:01:16.960 |
but you, Father God, that you would ordain your words and that your sheep will hear your 00:01:24.080 |
May our time, Lord God, would be an encouragement. 00:01:34.360 |
You know, as you guys know, yesterday we had our annual softball tournament. 00:01:37.360 |
I'm not sure if it was our 12th year or 13th year, and congratulations to our Brian Sisters 00:01:52.600 |
So this is their third year winning the championship, and some of the ladies were limping around 00:01:58.160 |
the church, you know, that they played yesterday. 00:02:00.520 |
And so, again, it's always fun watching them and spending the whole Saturday, you know, 00:02:05.440 |
just yelling and screaming and cheering on our sisters. 00:02:09.520 |
And in particular, I had a lot of fun with our B-Team. 00:02:13.640 |
You know, when we say B-Team, we normally say it's the fun team, so there's absolutely 00:02:19.120 |
And so we went in there, again, with no expectation, but I would say the B-Team this year was probably 00:02:27.280 |
And this is objective science, this is not just my opinion. 00:02:31.680 |
They played their hearts out, and especially this year, we had, you know, intergenerational 00:02:38.240 |
We had two mothers with two daughters playing on the same team, and it was really heartwarming 00:02:44.200 |
And we could tell every game they were actually improving. 00:02:47.680 |
And so by the time we got to the third game, they were actually hitting and running bases 00:02:53.080 |
And in my mind, if we did this another couple years, we might be able to win a game, maybe 00:03:04.800 |
I spent the whole Saturday, came back, and again, every year I look forward to it because 00:03:10.280 |
not simply because of the softball, win or lose, it's an opportunity to spend time with 00:03:17.680 |
And let me read a passage from you in Psalm chapter 133. 00:03:21.360 |
It says, "Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. 00:03:26.520 |
It is like the precious oil on the head running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron running 00:03:32.360 |
It is like the dew of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord 00:03:36.320 |
has commanded the blessing, life forevermore." 00:03:39.520 |
And so in Psalm 33 is a description of God's community and how God gives it to his people 00:03:46.240 |
as a blessing, not only for themselves but to share it with one another. 00:03:51.040 |
And what a blessing it is that we have to be able to run this race together with fellow 00:03:57.320 |
And so, you know, during softball, we get to spend a lot of time just getting to know 00:04:03.160 |
A lot of people are a certain way outside of the softball, but you can really see their 00:04:08.240 |
personalities when they get into competition. 00:04:10.720 |
And so you feel like it's kind of a good way to break ice and to get to know people. 00:04:17.320 |
Why I share all of this is, you know, probably one of the greatest gifts that God has given 00:04:27.320 |
That we have a community of people that we can run this race together with, share our 00:04:30.720 |
suffering, celebrate our weddings, to pray together in our difficulties. 00:04:36.200 |
And so it's an awesome gift that God has given the church. 00:04:41.200 |
But when the church turns sour, it's also the greatest source of stumbling. 00:04:48.800 |
It's the greatest source of agony, oftentimes, it's also within the church. 00:04:54.800 |
So typically what happens, if we're not careful, is the greatest excitement of the church happens 00:04:59.920 |
early part of the church, when the church is planted. 00:05:03.120 |
And there's excitement, there's this vision, and everybody's sacrificing for one another. 00:05:07.960 |
And it's kind of like taking a short-term trip out to Mission Field, and that's what 00:05:12.080 |
the church feels like early on in the church. 00:05:14.640 |
But after about two, three, four, five, six, seven years have passed, and all the different 00:05:18.840 |
personalities begin to arise, and the pressures of the church, and all these things, and after 00:05:24.120 |
a while what happens is that the fellowship of the church just becomes a place where you 00:05:30.520 |
You're not going to abandon it, because it's clearly stated in Scripture for us to be together, 00:05:38.680 |
But it no longer has that feel like, "I want to be there because I want to get to know 00:05:42.480 |
people and I want to share my life with people." 00:05:45.040 |
It's more of, "I have these three people over here, but I don't like these four people here, 00:05:49.120 |
and these people I want to spend my life with, and those people I hope I don't get put into 00:05:54.920 |
And we have all of these things happen, and after a while, the longer you've been at a 00:05:58.280 |
church, the more we have to fight through tolerating certain people in the church. 00:06:05.240 |
And sad to say, that's the state that once you get to, you remain for the rest of your 00:06:11.960 |
And then so, you remember, you talk about what it was like at one point a long time 00:06:20.000 |
There's a reason why Paul says, "In view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies a living 00:06:25.520 |
And again, the application of that in chapter 12 and 13, he was describing what biblical 00:06:32.000 |
Because the primary application of what God has done for us is to practice this love. 00:06:37.600 |
As much as he loved us, he said, "Now practice this love with God and with one another." 00:06:42.000 |
So that's what he's been expositing in chapter 12, chapter 12, 13. 00:06:46.840 |
And in chapter 14 and 15, Paul's going to deal with something very specific. 00:06:52.440 |
Because love is easy to talk about when it's in theory, when we're singing about it, when 00:06:59.680 |
we're expositing and talking and memorizing scripture. 00:07:03.200 |
But where the rubber meets the road, we're actually rubbing shoulders with people and 00:07:11.440 |
You know, eventually, you're going to rub people the wrong way and things begin to come 00:07:17.600 |
And so Paul is going to take us to a very practical issue that came up in the early 00:07:28.000 |
If you look at scripture, you'll find out that this is splattered all throughout the 00:07:33.160 |
In fact, one of the greatest things that is dealt with in the New Testament is about the 00:07:40.220 |
unity in the early church, how to practice this love. 00:07:43.640 |
So Paul is going to take us to a particular problem that the early church had that was, 00:07:49.120 |
again, universal in almost all the early churches. 00:07:52.800 |
And we're going to look at some principles that he's going to teach us through this. 00:07:56.200 |
So the four things that we're going to look at this morning is, what specifically was 00:08:02.040 |
Secondly, who were involved with this problem? 00:08:08.400 |
The third one, how were they to deal with this problem? 00:08:11.920 |
And then the fourth, why was it necessary to deal with this problem? 00:08:17.720 |
So that's the outline for today's message in verses one through four. 00:08:21.800 |
What was the specific problem that Paul is dealing with? 00:08:26.300 |
In verses, chapter 14, two to five, he describes it this way. 00:08:29.920 |
He says, "One person believes that he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only 00:08:34.880 |
And then verse five, "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another 00:08:42.600 |
So you had this tension between, are they allowed to eat this, eat meat, or not? 00:08:48.400 |
Is the Sabbath going to be on Saturday or on Sunday? 00:08:51.920 |
Now, we may look at that and say, you know, we're 2,000 years removed from this problem. 00:08:56.440 |
It's not a practical problem that we have today. 00:08:59.360 |
We don't sit around talking about, like, should we eat meat or not eat meat? 00:09:03.760 |
You know, universally, we accept that Sunday's a time that we worship. 00:09:08.160 |
But if you look beyond what's happening, I think you'll see how practical this issue 00:09:14.520 |
really is, and how it could have easily torn the church apart in the early church if they 00:09:19.080 |
didn't deal with it in a manner that Paul is calling them to. 00:09:23.760 |
Think about what the early church was made of. 00:09:27.400 |
You had former tax collectors with former fishermen, and by nature, they would have 00:09:36.560 |
You had former slave owners and slaves, runaway slaves in the same church. 00:09:41.500 |
You had the Pharisees, and then you had the sinners and the prostitutes, all in the same 00:09:50.720 |
I mean, humanly speaking, there's no way that this group, this early church, should have 00:09:56.120 |
made it, because outside of Christ, they had absolutely no reason to be together. 00:10:03.360 |
The beauty of the church, even in this room, you know, even in this room, there's enough 00:10:08.720 |
diversity in this room that there's probably people who are sitting around you that you 00:10:13.820 |
may think to yourself that even if I wasn't a Christian, I could see myself being friends 00:10:19.360 |
And then there's people sitting next to you that you never said that to them, but you 00:10:23.320 |
probably think to yourself, "If I wasn't a Christian, there's no way that our lives would 00:10:31.020 |
We have people in various ages, various races, various economic backgrounds, personalities, 00:10:39.160 |
How can you possibly get anything done in the church with a church that is volunteering? 00:10:44.200 |
I can understand in a work environment where you're paying people and they're forced to 00:10:47.960 |
do it whether they like it or not, but how do you get a church of hundreds of people 00:10:52.980 |
with different personalities, different perspective, to all agree on anything? 00:10:59.060 |
But the beauty of the church is that God has placed the diversity together in the church 00:11:03.200 |
to worship and to supplement, to encourage one another. 00:11:08.280 |
If we do not handle, if we do not behave, if we do not practice the practical things 00:11:14.360 |
that are taught in this text, the very nature of the church, humanly speaking, will eventually 00:11:22.540 |
So we're surprised, you know, when a church gets together and then after 10 years or 20 00:11:26.560 |
years, they split up and they go their own ways. 00:11:30.560 |
Humanly speaking, why didn't that happen earlier considering the makeup of the church? 00:11:36.400 |
How can these people who are so diverse, so different, in every aspect, stay together 00:11:43.440 |
for that long doing something that is important as spreading the gospel? 00:11:54.760 |
You know, up to high school, you're forced to be around all different kinds of people. 00:12:01.160 |
Whether you are a computer guy or you're a jock, whether you are a scientist or you're 00:12:06.480 |
an entrepreneur, you know, we're all together and you have all kinds of diversity in high 00:12:11.640 |
But by the time you get to college, depending on your major, you get separated into different 00:12:17.080 |
But even within the schools, you have different majors. 00:12:19.960 |
You have art majors and you have science majors. 00:12:23.100 |
And so you have friends, but in your major, you spend bulk of your time with people who 00:12:29.000 |
And then by the time you graduate and you get a job, all the salesmen are on this side 00:12:33.520 |
of the world and all the, you know, all the engineers on this side of the world and all 00:12:40.000 |
And so you end up spending majority of your time with people who are just like you. 00:12:47.800 |
And the older you get, the more you live in this world, the more segregated you become 00:12:56.560 |
You know, when you're younger, you spend a lot of time because you're connected to your 00:13:00.640 |
parents, but as you get older, if you have different opinions, different views, different 00:13:04.680 |
jobs, you don't get to spend a lot of time with them. 00:13:08.600 |
So how does a church with all this diversity, with all different opinions, come together 00:13:20.680 |
You have different thoughts of what is important and what is not important. 00:13:24.280 |
If we had $100 and asked all of you, "How should we spend the $100?" 00:13:30.600 |
How does a church with this much diversity stay together? 00:13:35.320 |
In fact, this was probably one of the biggest concerns of the early church. 00:13:39.360 |
And that's why in 1 Corinthians 1, 10 through 11, it says, "I appeal to you, brothers, by 00:13:43.000 |
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions 00:13:47.160 |
among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment." 00:13:53.680 |
He's saying this to the Corinthians church because he was concerned about the division 00:13:57.560 |
in the church, how they value one person over another, and that was causing all kinds of 00:14:03.600 |
And this division was the epicenter of why sexual immorality, why there's chaos in worship, 00:14:11.000 |
why even in communion, even the use of spiritual gifts, all was practice in chaos, was causing 00:14:18.840 |
But the root of it was division in the church. 00:14:24.480 |
In Ephesians 4, 3-6, it says, "Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, 00:14:29.360 |
there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs 00:14:33.920 |
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, the Father of all, who is over all and through 00:14:39.560 |
And the reason why he keeps saying all, all, one God, one baptism, one Spirit, is because 00:14:45.000 |
the Jews and the Gentiles were in the same church. 00:14:49.080 |
They spent hundreds of years hating each other, accusing each other of being arrogant, accusing 00:15:00.560 |
And so there was this concern that because we're brought together because of the love 00:15:03.860 |
of Christ, but there's this constant friction. 00:15:06.600 |
In fact, the first problem that the church had was this conflict between the Hellenist 00:15:12.200 |
Greeks, Hellenist Jews, Hellenist widows versus the Jews. 00:15:20.320 |
And they were being neglected in the daily distribution of food, so these widows weren't 00:15:24.800 |
And if they didn't handle this correctly, it could have completely divided the church. 00:15:28.560 |
And this was a constant concern of the early church. 00:15:31.920 |
In fact, in Jesus's prayer in John 17, 20-21, the priestly prayer, the core part of his 00:15:40.320 |
He says, "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through 00:15:47.160 |
their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that 00:15:52.920 |
they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." 00:15:57.760 |
So at the core of Jesus's prayer for his people is unity. 00:16:03.360 |
And again, in chapter 12, verse 16, it says, "Live in harmony with one another. 00:16:07.160 |
Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. 00:16:15.240 |
I mean, just humanly thinking, if you have that kind of diversity in the church, you 00:16:22.640 |
would automatically assume there was going to be all kinds of conflict. 00:16:28.000 |
And that's exactly what they were concerned about. 00:16:32.760 |
But the beauty of the church is often like the marriage. 00:16:37.840 |
After doing marriage counseling and officiating weddings, and I don't know exactly how many, 00:16:43.040 |
it's close to 100 different weddings that I've participated in, and I can honestly say 00:16:47.880 |
I can only think about maybe two or three couples that I say, "Wow, these people are 00:16:57.080 |
I would say 98%, right, or more than 90% of the people that I counsel, these two people 00:17:08.160 |
One person is an introvert, the other person is an extrovert. 00:17:12.040 |
One person is tedious in planning, the other person just kind of is spontaneous. 00:17:17.280 |
And so there's natural reasons why there would be conflict. 00:17:20.600 |
And where it first shows is in the preparation for the marriage, the wedding itself. 00:17:26.920 |
Because they're planning, they're spending money, they're making big decisions, and all 00:17:31.240 |
of a sudden they're realizing, it's like, "Wow, we're very different." 00:17:35.120 |
But the beauty of the marriage is that these two people were very different, and I believe 00:17:39.880 |
that it may be God-designed, because God intended husband and wife to be a complement to each 00:17:46.800 |
That the wife is good at things that the husband is not, and the husband is good at things 00:17:50.140 |
that the wife is not, and them coming together makes them better. 00:17:58.960 |
If we look at the cross, I have my view of what the cross looks like, but the beauty 00:18:03.200 |
of the church is, all of you have different perspective, because of your life experience, 00:18:10.680 |
So you're able to see the cross in a different light. 00:18:13.560 |
I see it this way, you see it from this point. 00:18:16.000 |
It's kind of like having different spotlights on the cross. 00:18:19.560 |
Every time you hear a testimony of a believer, they're giving you their angle. 00:18:24.280 |
I've been showing you this, and then another person's testimony is showing you this, another 00:18:28.120 |
person is spotting the light from the top, another from the side. 00:18:31.720 |
And all of this adds to the beauty of the cross. 00:18:36.960 |
But the headache that also comes along about being married is that a lot of times, after 00:18:43.960 |
you've been married, the very things that you are attracted to, the very things that 00:18:47.800 |
cause you to want to be with that other person, when something goes wrong in the marriage, 00:19:00.480 |
A lot of times, ladies are attracted to strong, silent types. 00:19:06.800 |
Then after the honeymoon period is over, the main complaint is, this guy never talks. 00:19:14.160 |
I thought he was strong and silent, I realized he's just silent. 00:19:20.920 |
You're attracted to somebody who's outgoing personality, and they like to do things spontaneously. 00:19:27.240 |
I love that about this person because they kind of make me want to do things that I didn't 00:19:33.520 |
Then after the honeymoon is over, it's like, man, this person is so reckless. 00:19:42.680 |
So the very things that attracted you in the beginning, once the honeymoon period is over, 00:19:48.520 |
and you forget why you got together, the very things that made your relationship beautiful, 00:19:58.560 |
The glue that holds all of this together is the love of Christ. 00:20:04.600 |
And when the love of Christ, when the shining upon the cross becomes a side issue, and anything 00:20:10.280 |
else takes center stage, all of a sudden, all these people that I would have never, 00:20:14.880 |
ever spent time with becomes the main source of stumbling in the church. 00:20:22.120 |
You had people from various backgrounds trying to come together, and if they didn't practice 00:20:27.320 |
love the way scripture teaches, all of a sudden it's like, Gentile. 00:20:37.040 |
I'm giving my offering and that's what, they're going to go and help those people? 00:20:47.720 |
Maybe the application may look different, but humanly speaking, this is not supposed 00:20:59.960 |
So if we're not careful, we're always in the area, we're one problem or one frustration 00:21:05.120 |
away from just packing it up and saying, "I'm done with this." 00:21:09.560 |
That was a problem, but I think it'll help us to understand the real issue, and again, 00:21:14.160 |
for application, when we realize who these people were, that's number two. 00:21:19.560 |
Paul calls these two groups of people that were having conflict as one being weak and 00:21:28.400 |
Now by saying that, we can already tell where Paul stands. 00:21:31.720 |
Paul himself in chapter 15, one says, "We who are strong." 00:21:34.720 |
So he relates himself with the people who are able to eat, who's not making a big deal 00:21:40.080 |
about the Sabbath, and he calls the other group the weak brother. 00:21:43.760 |
So by saying that, we can automatically think, "Then why didn't Paul just step in and say, 00:21:52.000 |
Why does he even try to reconcile and saying, "Do not judge them and get along." 00:21:55.880 |
You have to understand, Paul is not, when he's calling these people weak, he's not saying 00:22:05.320 |
He's not saying that they weren't strong Christians. 00:22:08.120 |
He is simply stating that they were in the period of transitioning from the old and the 00:22:12.800 |
new covenant, and they need to be patient with them in that period of transition. 00:22:19.840 |
Now there's two groups of people who would have had issue, in particular with the eating 00:22:25.960 |
1 Corinthians chapter 8 deals with a group of people who used to be idol worshippers. 00:22:33.880 |
And so they converted and they became Christians. 00:22:36.040 |
They were in the church, but all the meat that they were eating was coming from the 00:22:41.120 |
temple where it was offered up to their idol, and then afterwards it was being sold in the 00:22:47.660 |
So what happened was, when they were eating meat, they were relating the meat eating with 00:22:53.080 |
So it wasn't simply that you had a group of people who were just going, "You know what? 00:23:09.960 |
I think the best way for me to describe this in modern terms is, there are some people, 00:23:15.560 |
even in this room, who came from a family background where either a father or mother 00:23:26.000 |
And as a result of that, your conscience is a lot more sensitive than other people. 00:23:30.680 |
So just a mention of alcohol causes you to say, "That's wrong." 00:23:36.520 |
And anybody even brings up the subject, it's like, "I'm never going to go to a church where 00:23:41.720 |
Because they came from a background where it was being abused. 00:23:46.400 |
Understandably, for that person, because of their experience and their background, they're 00:23:56.760 |
And then we have some people who grew up in homes where they had godly parents, and they 00:24:01.400 |
would have meals, and wine was a part of their meal. 00:24:06.200 |
So they come to a church, and even the issue of alcohol is strange to them. 00:24:12.520 |
And they probably never heard of this issue until they came to church, and other people 00:24:17.320 |
See, these people who were having this issue with meat, at least the first group of people, 00:24:22.720 |
it was just bothering their conscience because that was their background. 00:24:26.280 |
And they related meat-eating with idol worship. 00:24:31.280 |
So in the church, he's not talking about just people who are just going out, "You know what? 00:24:35.480 |
I just want to drink and do whatever I want," and just completely insensitive to the conscience 00:24:44.400 |
You know, a lot of people misuse this text and other texts to think, "Well, if you're 00:24:50.520 |
strong, you can drink whatever we want, whenever we want, in front of whoever we want because 00:25:02.360 |
To me, that's immaturity because that's a revelation of selfishness. 00:25:10.440 |
See, that's what Paul is referring to in this text, the first group of people who are having 00:25:14.640 |
issues because of their conscience, of their background. 00:25:18.200 |
But the second group of people is probably more prevalent in the early church, who were 00:25:27.040 |
Who were the people who probably had the hardest time making that transition into the Old and 00:25:34.080 |
Think carefully about who do you think would have had the hardest time transitioning from 00:25:41.640 |
Probably the ones who were the most faithful to the Old Covenant. 00:25:46.200 |
You know, we've been studying through the book of Leviticus and how meticulous God was 00:25:55.840 |
And so if you were a faithful Jew, you kept that tediously, every part of it. 00:26:02.000 |
So the ones who were the most faithful to the law, they were the ones who were probably 00:26:06.800 |
having the hardest time because Paul says all of that is fulfilled in Christ. 00:26:11.040 |
Now this thing that they couldn't touch for hundreds of years, all of a sudden now they're 00:26:18.480 |
They're breaking bread with other people, sitting with other Gentiles. 00:26:22.400 |
All this time they thought they were unclean, so they were having a hard time transitioning. 00:26:27.280 |
He's not talking about a group of people who are just going out and just having fun doing 00:26:32.440 |
You want to know who would have had the easiest time accepting the New Covenant? 00:26:44.080 |
You know, they were probably traveling and going to Gentile worlds and there's no accountability, 00:26:56.480 |
You know, and then all of a sudden Paul says all of that is fulfilled in Christ. 00:27:02.360 |
Those weak brothers, they should have some pork and become strong, right? 00:27:08.000 |
They would have maybe, superficially, had the easiest time transitioning into the New 00:27:11.520 |
Covenant, but that's not who he's referring to. 00:27:13.960 |
And sometimes that happens a lot even in the church. 00:27:16.320 |
They misinterpret Scripture and they say, "Well, we're going to drink, you know, because 00:27:22.880 |
We're going to do whatever we want because we're strong. 00:27:27.720 |
And all it is is a revelation of your licentiousness." 00:27:33.080 |
He's not dealing with people who are trying to live ungodly lives and making excuses. 00:27:39.880 |
In fact, Romans chapter 14, 6, it says, "The one who observes the day observes it in honor 00:27:45.960 |
The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord since he gives thanks to God, while the one 00:27:49.800 |
who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God." 00:27:54.480 |
He's saying in both parties, their intent is to honor God. 00:27:59.380 |
Their intent is to glorify God, not to make excuses. 00:28:02.440 |
"Oh, Christian liberty, we're going to do whatever we want." 00:28:07.720 |
That's a clear problem of mature and immature, but that's not what we're dealing with here. 00:28:13.520 |
In fact, the hardest thing to reconcile in the church are two groups of people who are 00:28:19.840 |
trying to live righteously, but they're not on the same page. 00:28:25.040 |
That's who he's dealing with, the weak and the strong. 00:28:27.360 |
So the weak he's referring to is not talking about somebody who is just living in idolatry, 00:28:32.560 |
the strong are not the people who've been living for so long and disciplined and know 00:28:37.640 |
He's just talking about strong as in somebody who's transitioned from the old covenant to 00:28:43.000 |
Weak brothers are taking a bit longer to get there. 00:28:48.760 |
Knowing that's the problem, knowing that these are the people who are involved in this conflict, 00:28:52.960 |
and if they didn't deal with this well, can you imagine? 00:28:56.120 |
If they didn't handle this well, it would have easily just split the church between 00:29:00.560 |
those who are going to eat, those who aren't going to eat. 00:29:04.480 |
And they would have been justified, at least in their mind, because they're biblical. 00:29:08.400 |
One side wants to honor and glorify God, and they can't touch the meat. 00:29:11.680 |
The other side is saying, "We're going to honor God, so we're going to touch the meat." 00:29:14.840 |
And so they would have easily had to separate. 00:29:18.120 |
So it is in that context he writes this, and he says, "This is what you ought to do." 00:29:23.580 |
So number three, how are they to deal with this problem? 00:29:27.660 |
First of all, he says, "We are not to despise or pass judgment on disputable matters and 00:29:36.400 |
In the NIV, it says, "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable 00:29:44.200 |
He's not saying, "Don't make judgments of any kind." 00:29:47.920 |
The scripture clearly says, 1 Corinthians 5, 12, 13, "For what have I to do with judging 00:29:53.520 |
Do I have those inside the church whom we are to judge? 00:29:59.840 |
John 7, 23, "Do not judge by appearance, but judge with right judgment." 00:30:04.800 |
Don't misunderstand and think, "Therefore," what he is saying is, "We should never say 00:30:10.640 |
We should never determine anything good or bad. 00:30:12.560 |
We should never have any opinions about anything." 00:30:16.920 |
He says, "When it comes to matters that are not essential, do not raise the bar." 00:30:24.920 |
If we're not careful, especially when we're younger, if we're not careful, every issue 00:30:31.840 |
becomes Martin Luther standing before the Catholic Church. 00:30:41.240 |
So when you have two people who are, "Here we stand, we can do no other," and they can't 00:30:45.360 |
reconcile, and it's almost like there's a Reformation every two months. 00:30:56.200 |
So he's talking about there are appropriate times when Reformation may need to take place, 00:31:01.120 |
but he says, "When it comes to non-essentials, on disputable matters, on the things of opinion," 00:31:15.960 |
It doesn't mean that we don't have opinions on non-essentials. 00:31:20.760 |
If I ask you what your thoughts on drinking is, I'll probably get all different kinds 00:31:27.440 |
On what you should do on Sunday, what you can and cannot do on Sunday, how you should 00:31:30.960 |
spend your life, where you spend your money, what kind of house you buy. 00:31:43.960 |
He's saying don't be divided over these opinions. 00:31:48.880 |
Don't make every opinion into a Martin Luther King moment. 00:32:00.360 |
But secondly, he says we are called to accept and welcome one another. 00:32:08.640 |
When we read that in English, it just sounds like, "Welcome them," or "Accept them," 00:32:15.240 |
That word for accepting the Greek is far beyond that word just to tolerate. 00:32:20.080 |
Because, again, if we're not careful, initially we get together as a church, and that honeymoon 00:32:26.280 |
period of, "Yeah, we're going to do this, and we're sacrificing, and we just love the 00:32:33.600 |
I remember earlier part of our church, we were known as the loiterers. 00:32:38.360 |
Some of you guys know what I'm talking about. 00:32:41.360 |
We were known as the loiterers because whenever we got together, nobody went home, ever. 00:32:46.320 |
Almost to the point where their parents probably would have gotten concerned. 00:32:49.520 |
We actually went to another church to prep for mission work, and then their church locked 00:32:55.720 |
up and went home, and we were still at their church. 00:32:59.160 |
They asked us, "Can you lock up when you go home?" 00:33:01.920 |
Those of you guys who've been here a long time, you know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:33:04.880 |
Our church was Berean loitering church because we would get together, and we would never 00:33:09.960 |
Part of the reason why is because everybody just loved each other's company. 00:33:15.680 |
It had nothing to do with being extrovert or introvert. 00:33:22.400 |
But again, the danger, and if we're not careful, we get to a point where all we're doing is 00:33:31.480 |
We're tolerating ... At a church our size, you can avoid certain people if you want. 00:33:37.880 |
I don't mind having Sunday worship together, but don't put me in their small group. 00:33:49.800 |
People who aren't laughing are the ones who sent it. 00:33:58.160 |
We can get into a church, and it's not just a few. 00:34:03.160 |
All of us can get to a point, once the honeymoon is over, and say, "You know what? 00:34:11.760 |
And they'll say, "Well, these people I hate." 00:34:13.880 |
You're not going to say that because you're Christian. 00:34:18.640 |
The word for accept here is a much deeper and broader word than what we would think 00:34:23.760 |
John Stott, I'm just going to read this to you, he explains about this word. 00:34:28.120 |
He says, "Accept means more than to accept people in the sense of acquiescing in their 00:34:32.920 |
existence, even in their right to belong, more even than to receive or accept in one's 00:34:38.680 |
society, in one's home or circle of acquaintance. 00:34:42.840 |
It means to welcome into one's fellowship and into one's heart. 00:34:46.720 |
It implies the warmth and kindness of genuine love. 00:34:49.480 |
Thus it is used in the New Testament of Philemon giving to Onesimus the same welcome that he 00:35:02.440 |
Like, "I'll tolerate these people because I'm a Christian." 00:35:07.720 |
The scripture says that we are identified as Christians because we practice the love 00:35:14.480 |
Not simply, he didn't just tolerate us, he didn't just allow us to come to church. 00:35:20.160 |
He sacrificed his only begotten son and he adopted us. 00:35:24.440 |
And now he calls us to enter his gates with thanksgiving. 00:35:28.200 |
"Well, you don't know what I've done this week." 00:35:32.260 |
We have the communion table to remind us that it's not by your righteousness but by his 00:35:41.040 |
He covered us, washed us with his blood to make us his own children. 00:35:48.480 |
He calls us, again, on the non-essentials to learn to be gracious with one another and 00:35:56.120 |
to actually go further than that and to pursue love with one another. 00:36:05.640 |
Why does he tell us that this is something that we must do? 00:36:14.040 |
In Romans 15, he makes it clear, "Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed 00:36:22.320 |
That word "welcome" here is the same word "welcome" here, "accept," because he loved 00:36:28.760 |
In fact, again, as John Stott mentions this word, Philemon 12.17, Paul says to the former 00:36:37.720 |
slave owner, "I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart." 00:36:43.480 |
He says he's not just saying, "You know what? 00:36:50.840 |
Paul is writing this letter as an apostle with the full authority that he has. 00:36:54.560 |
He says, "I can easily command you to do this. 00:36:59.640 |
Your salvation came because I preached the gospel to you, so I can command this to you. 00:37:04.480 |
But I'm not going to command this to you because I want you to practice the grace that God 00:37:10.480 |
And I'm going to give you an opportunity to love him as we've been loved by the blood 00:37:14.840 |
And so he says, "What I'm sending to you, he's not just an ex-slave. 00:37:21.040 |
And he says, "So if you consider me your partner, receive him." 00:37:35.480 |
That when you receive him, you're receiving Paul. 00:37:42.440 |
Welcome him and love him as you would love Christ. 00:37:48.680 |
When Jesus was being rebuked by the Pharisees, "Why are you hanging around? 00:37:53.400 |
Jesus turns the table on them and he gives these three parables. 00:37:57.280 |
Parable of the sheep, parable of the lost coin, parable of the lost son. 00:38:00.720 |
And each one of these parables highlighting the preciousness of each one of these lost 00:38:10.160 |
You're asking me why I'm tolerating them, but I'm asking you, why do you not join me 00:38:21.760 |
God has made it very plain that he does not rejoice in the judgment of the wicked. 00:38:27.960 |
And his whole purpose of everything that he did in the Old Testament was to prepare for 00:38:36.240 |
So why do you not understand what I am doing? 00:38:41.320 |
Zechariah chapter 2 verse 8, it says, "For thus said the Lord of hosts, 'After this glory 00:38:45.600 |
sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of 00:38:52.720 |
You know, I've done so much research on this, on the history of this word and where it came 00:38:58.960 |
Ultimately, basically the apple of his eye is just simple. 00:39:02.920 |
You know, the black part of your eye, in the Hebrew it doesn't actually use the word apple, 00:39:10.160 |
It basically means like, God loves his children like we would all love the apple of our eyes. 00:39:16.480 |
So basically the imagery is, if you were standing close to me and I just poked my hand, you're 00:39:25.120 |
Your natural instinct is going to be flinching, right? 00:39:28.080 |
If you play softball, a ball comes near you, your immediate reaction is to have the glove 00:39:33.940 |
So that's the imagery that God is using, that he protects his children like the apple of 00:39:40.480 |
In other words, he's talking about the depth of his love for his children. 00:39:46.760 |
Now what I think you and I need to understand is when we talk about the love of Christ, 00:39:51.280 |
we kind of love of it, talk about it in a generic sense, in love for the world, and 00:39:58.520 |
When's the last time you really understood that he loves you? 00:40:06.920 |
Not your family, not this church, not this generation, but you. 00:40:11.880 |
And I always heard, you know, ever since I became a Christian, you know, God loves you, 00:40:16.800 |
he counts the hairs on your head, and it's all great in theology. 00:40:22.840 |
But when you come to that conviction that God has his eyes on you, to that extent, you, 00:40:50.200 |
And he doesn't just care about the church in general, he cares about you. 00:40:53.840 |
We are a collection of people who are the apple of his eyes. 00:40:58.840 |
And so basically what he's saying is, see each other as people that he loves. 00:41:04.960 |
So we act very differently with people that we care about. 00:41:08.720 |
We are a lot more gracious to people that we care about. 00:41:12.480 |
We're a lot less eager to expose each other's sins if we care about them. 00:41:17.320 |
And so that's what Paul is saying, these are God's servants. 00:41:20.880 |
God's going to, if there's anything to deal with them, God's going to deal with them. 00:41:25.840 |
But as far as we're concerned, we are sinners who've been saved by the grace of God. 00:41:32.040 |
Isaiah chapter 49, verse 15 and 16, it says, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that 00:41:36.920 |
she would have no compassion on the son of her womb? 00:41:39.760 |
Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 00:41:43.160 |
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. 00:41:51.160 |
When you want to make sure that you don't forget something, oftentimes you write it 00:41:57.240 |
Because you don't want to forget, it's too important. 00:42:14.000 |
You put it on your hands so that while you're doing things, you forget and you're doing 00:42:19.860 |
You don't write important things on the back of your neck, right? 00:42:24.400 |
You don't put it on the heel of your foot, right? 00:42:29.120 |
If it's important enough, you want to be able to see it all the time. 00:42:32.000 |
That's exactly how he's describing his people. 00:42:36.960 |
He's an apple of his eyes and he hasn't written on the palm of his hands. 00:42:43.400 |
You think the God who sent his only begotten son, that even for a moment would forget the 00:42:53.080 |
Even for a second, they would slip his mind and say, "Oh, I forgot. 00:43:00.520 |
See, he says the motivation behind why we ought to be gracious is because God loves 00:43:16.960 |
Because once that is restored, we act different. 00:43:30.400 |
You remember the early part of the church when somebody got married? 00:43:34.360 |
The whole church acted like they were getting married. 00:43:38.560 |
We had so many problems in the early church when they were getting married because everybody 00:43:46.300 |
They all had opinions about what flowers to get and what you should eat. 00:43:50.880 |
I had to sit down and say, "Hey, knock it off. 00:44:17.200 |
It is such a gift that God has given us when we recognize what we have. 00:44:34.080 |
That all of these things that God has given us as a gift that we may enjoy each other's 00:44:38.400 |
company, but once we take our eyes off of Christ and the glue that keeps us together 00:44:44.600 |
is no longer taking center stage of our fellowship, then the very things that God has given us 00:44:56.840 |
Tolerate the fellowship, tolerate the diversity, tolerate the gathering, and we just bear through 00:45:02.080 |
it and something that is a source of joy becomes a source of agony and annoyance. 00:45:13.500 |
And that's why he keeps pounding over and over again. 00:45:16.040 |
Do not forget what it is that you have in Christ. 00:45:23.800 |
He's the author and the perfect of our faith. 00:45:26.900 |
See if when you fall in love with Christ and what he has done for you, take center stage 00:45:30.980 |
in all your motivation, all your thoughts, and all your dreams, and all your hopes, see 00:45:34.880 |
if that doesn't change your perspective on how you see other people because it does. 00:45:41.720 |
When our hearts begin to stray toward things that aren't essential and our hearts are celebrating 00:45:48.280 |
the things that we sing about and that's the center thing that we're pursuing, see if that 00:45:56.280 |
See if that doesn't change the people that you see around you because it does. 00:46:03.560 |
If the core of the fall of man resulted in a strain in relationship between husband and 00:46:08.640 |
wife and any other relationship, then the core of restoration is to restore that in 00:46:16.720 |
Would you take some time to pray with me as our worship team comes up? 00:46:20.960 |
And again, as we take some time to pray and to worship before God, and I know in this 00:46:29.120 |
room there's all kinds of different wrestlings and struggles and you have family members 00:46:34.640 |
who are in dire situations, you have relational strains, you have all kinds of things that 00:46:39.880 |
you have background in, but let this, for this moment, let's put that aside for today 00:46:47.760 |
and to really fix our eyes upon Christ and what he means to me. 00:46:54.320 |
Remember the preciousness of the gift that you've been given, that you are a precious 00:46:57.540 |
child of God and the people that you are sitting with are also precious children of God that 00:47:05.600 |
That God would give us that perspective, that we're not talking about strangers, we're not 00:47:09.680 |
talking about just people, we're talking about our brothers and our sisters in Christ, that 00:47:14.480 |
God would give us the love that is necessary to build a church that honors him. 00:47:20.240 |
So let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.