back to index2018-06-10 Proper use of Christian Liberty
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If you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 14, we're going to be reading from 00:00:09.680 |
verse 13 all the way down to the end of the chapter, verse 23. 00:00:13.720 |
Our main focus this morning is going to be on verse 20 to 23. 00:00:22.920 |
"Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never 00:00:27.400 |
to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 00:00:31.160 |
I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it 00:00:36.000 |
is unclean for anyone who thinks it is unclean. 00:00:39.120 |
For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. 00:00:43.680 |
By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 00:00:47.640 |
So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 00:00:52.000 |
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness 00:00:57.440 |
Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men, so then let us pursue 00:01:02.960 |
what makes for peace and for mutual building. 00:01:06.440 |
Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God. 00:01:09.360 |
Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what 00:01:14.480 |
It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 00:01:19.680 |
The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. 00:01:23.120 |
Christ is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 00:01:27.740 |
But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. 00:01:33.720 |
For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. 00:01:42.880 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the constant mercy, grace, forgiveness, Lord, 00:01:54.000 |
Help us to have a greater glimpse of who you are, not just understand the letter of the 00:01:58.040 |
law, but your very heart, Lord God, that is contained in these words. 00:02:01.440 |
I pray that your word that is truly living and active would judge the thoughts and intentions 00:02:06.800 |
of our heart, that we may see beyond the superficial and to search within our own hearts, Lord 00:02:12.720 |
God, that we may establish Christ inside and out. 00:02:18.880 |
May your church hear your voice and follow you. 00:02:23.520 |
Alright, so as we've been in Romans chapter 14, the practical application of what it means 00:02:30.600 |
And that's basically the theme of chapter 12 all the way to chapter 16. 00:02:34.960 |
Understanding the grace of God, the justification, what does that look like in the life of a 00:02:41.080 |
And so that's the overarching theme in the text that we're at. 00:02:45.680 |
And in that overarching theme, he's talking about how to practice love. 00:02:50.760 |
And again, you can talk about love in the workplace, you can talk about love in the 00:02:59.620 |
Any human being is going to teach their children to love their brother. 00:03:04.960 |
And if you're a good parent, you might teach people how to love people who are strangers, 00:03:12.560 |
But the love that the scripture teaches goes much beyond that. 00:03:19.280 |
That are things that are naturally that we may not practice, but we practice because 00:03:26.020 |
So he's not just teaching us just to practice any kind of love. 00:03:29.840 |
He's trying to teach us what it means to practice a love that is compelled by the love of Christ. 00:03:36.040 |
And this very specific context he's talking about is where you're in a context where you 00:03:42.380 |
feel that you are right, but you're in a context of other people who don't agree with you. 00:03:49.280 |
Throughout the years, I've had so many different conversations, and we would call these areas 00:04:01.440 |
Whether there's clear right or wrong, people have all kinds of opinions on it. 00:04:04.800 |
Some people have very strong opinions, some people are neutral, some people are negative. 00:04:09.360 |
The obvious one is drinking, and Paul actually talks about drinking in this text. 00:04:15.880 |
I don't know how many times I've had conversations throughout the years about is it okay, is 00:04:26.960 |
What kind of movies that Christians should be watching or not watching? 00:04:33.760 |
Well, one person considers modest, another person thinks it is not. 00:04:39.800 |
Using band in worship, I know today it's pretty much accepted all across the board, right? 00:04:46.300 |
Most churches you go to will use some sort of praise team. 00:04:51.680 |
The modern day praise team that you see here, this is not how worship looked like maybe 00:04:59.000 |
When I first became a Christian, it was really rare to see somebody up on the stage with 00:05:07.800 |
And it wasn't until the charismatic movement came in where the praise team started to pick 00:05:13.440 |
And I remember at that time there was a big debate, is that okay? 00:05:17.800 |
To have a praise team and a band and then a lot of the older generation were saying, 00:05:21.840 |
"Hey, it looks more like a rock concert than worship." 00:05:28.320 |
I remember when projectors started coming in. 00:05:32.280 |
Sometimes we don't remember, but when we used to use projector, we're talking about this 00:05:40.280 |
And then prior to that was just a piece of paper, right? 00:05:44.480 |
But I remember people had a problem with that paper because prior to that, we all sang hymn 00:05:51.520 |
You went to church, there was a hymn book sitting where you had to buy a hymn book to 00:05:56.680 |
And so when the contemporary music started coming in, they didn't have books to have, 00:06:02.300 |
so they would write it out on a large piece of paper and they would flip the page. 00:06:06.280 |
So we were singing songs and you're done with one sheet, you would just put it over and 00:06:12.560 |
Then if you want to go back and repeat, you got to go back and do this and repeat that 00:06:16.720 |
And then the Scantrons came on and then I don't remember the big debate over the Scantron, 00:06:22.960 |
but the projection when it came on, there was a lot of debate. 00:06:27.920 |
This is going to be distracting from God's word. 00:06:30.960 |
I mean, I don't know any church that doesn't use that now, but I remember having discussions 00:06:35.600 |
with other Christians at that time about is it right for the church to use projection? 00:06:42.480 |
Use of skits during services, family worship, should the children be joining the main service 00:06:49.640 |
I've had discussions about worship isn't true worship until we recite the Apostles' 00:07:00.000 |
Every Sunday, every other Sunday, once a month, once a year, only on special occasions. 00:07:05.680 |
How we dress on Sunday, should we be wearing a tie? 00:07:08.200 |
Should we make it a mandate that everybody dress a certain way? 00:07:12.720 |
What we do on Sunday, are you allowed to work on Sunday, not work on Sunday? 00:07:23.440 |
That was a big debate when the Seeker Friendly Movement came in. 00:07:28.240 |
More and more churches are having worships on Friday nights or Saturday. 00:07:35.120 |
Now there's a debate, you know, there's discussion as multi-sites where somebody preaches and 00:07:41.440 |
then they project the pastor on another screen in another campus in order to accommodate 00:07:50.800 |
Should we have membership, not have membership? 00:07:59.400 |
And sad to say, some churches, I mean, we're talking about the universal churches, divided 00:08:10.600 |
And again, I haven't been a Christian long, but I've been Christian long enough to see 00:08:14.560 |
different trends coming in and what Christianity, at least on the surface, looked like 34 years 00:08:19.640 |
ago, 35 years ago, is very different than Christianity today. 00:08:24.400 |
So if I was to take myself out from 1983 and pluck myself in today, Christianity looks 00:08:31.360 |
very different than when I first became a Christian. 00:08:35.520 |
And I had to go through some transitions to be okay with certain things that was coming 00:08:40.400 |
What things do I need to fight for and what things I just need to learn to change? 00:08:46.120 |
When I first went to Biola, I had to actually sign a statement saying that I will never 00:08:59.280 |
It's like, "Oh my gosh, they made you sign that?" 00:09:04.440 |
If you went to a Christian school, that was the requirement of many of the schools. 00:09:19.080 |
You guys would not have been accepted to Biola. 00:09:25.960 |
Certain things that would have shocked people 30 years ago is no longer the issue today, 00:09:31.000 |
and it may not be an issue of sin or compromise. 00:09:34.840 |
Some of the things in culture just don't have that same kind of stigma. 00:09:37.920 |
Paul is not talking about being loosey-goosey at church where there are no boundaries, there 00:09:43.280 |
are no teachings that if you feel right in your heart, just practice, don't judge anybody. 00:09:49.280 |
The scripture is very clear in its mandates about our relationships, about our marriage, 00:09:56.520 |
about use of spiritual gifts, money, stewardship, sexuality, social justice, raising children, 00:10:04.420 |
Even in the church, it talks about ordinances and how to choose leadership, disciplining 00:10:09.680 |
those who are hurting the church and hurting themselves, sending out missionaries, laying 00:10:15.400 |
The scripture is not just saying, "Well, if you feel right in your heart, you can do 00:10:24.120 |
Oftentimes we use this passage to talk about gray area, right? 00:10:34.640 |
It is the appropriate text to talk about that because the principles that he teaches apply 00:10:40.780 |
But is the issue of eating meat and celebrating special days, was that a confusing issue? 00:10:50.940 |
It was confusing because it was during a period of transition. 00:10:58.360 |
He said, "Well, God has nothing to say about this. 00:11:06.920 |
In fact, he talks about it quite a bit in all of his writings, that that covenant has 00:11:17.560 |
He actually wants the weaker brothers to eventually become strong. 00:11:21.680 |
So he's not talking about an issue that's debatable and it's right on both sides. 00:11:29.600 |
The strong brothers are the ones who are able to accept this truth and it has already transitioned. 00:11:33.760 |
So he's talking about an issue, in dealing with an issue where there is a clear right, 00:11:40.700 |
but being patient with those who have not come to terms with that yet. 00:11:47.120 |
The reason why this is so important is because the way we approach when we know it's a gray 00:12:01.100 |
The problem that we run into is when we are convinced we are right. 00:12:07.200 |
How do we deal with weaker brothers or people who may not agree with us, but it seems to 00:12:17.780 |
Because oftentimes it's the way that we deal with truth that causes the divisions and the 00:12:25.560 |
So what I want to look at today, and I'm going to work backwards, we're looking at verse 00:12:29.320 |
20 to verse 23, and I'm going to work with the second part of that, verse 22 and 23, 00:12:36.560 |
and then we're going to get to the beginning part of it, because I believe that this is 00:12:39.760 |
a conclusion of what he's been saying, or at least kind of beginning to wrap up, and 00:12:44.800 |
the main part of what he wants to say is really stated in the first part, verse 20 and 21. 00:12:50.920 |
So it's a two-point, and I'm going to get to, again, the main part in verse 20 and 21. 00:12:58.160 |
First part, let me read that passage, 22 to 23. 00:13:03.480 |
The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. 00:13:06.680 |
Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 00:13:12.480 |
But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith, 00:13:17.600 |
for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. 00:13:21.840 |
So the first part I want to convey to you is that Christian liberty can lead us to sin 00:13:31.440 |
Even if it is right, even if you're convinced that it's right, when truth is practiced selfishly, 00:13:39.720 |
self-righteously, without considering the conscience of others, it could literally lead 00:13:46.480 |
So in this passage, verse 22, it says, "In the faith that you have, keep between yourself 00:13:58.040 |
That's what we may first think that he is saying. 00:14:00.920 |
What he is saying is, you are blessed to be able to live with a clear conscience. 00:14:08.720 |
Before you pass judgment on other people, when he says, "Keep it to yourself," he says, 00:14:13.280 |
"Don't flaunt your freedom because you're right." 00:14:20.600 |
Don't flaunt your freedom because you're right. 00:14:25.480 |
Jesus declared very clearly that the food was clean. 00:14:30.120 |
In Mark chapter 7, 18-19, he says, "He said to them, 'Then you are also without understanding. 00:14:35.400 |
Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters 00:14:41.520 |
not his heart but his stomach and is expelled?' 00:14:50.480 |
We've been studying the book of Leviticus, and God made it very clear. 00:14:55.440 |
And Jesus Christ says all of that ultimately was part of God's redemptive plan to keep 00:15:06.020 |
Now that the kingdom of God is going to be open to the Gentiles, he's taken away the 00:15:10.180 |
barrier that separated the Gentiles and the Jews. 00:15:13.840 |
So Christ is about to bring in the new covenant, and to prepare them for that, he's getting 00:15:19.680 |
rid of the division that was caused because of this food, unclean and clean. 00:15:24.000 |
So Jesus says, "In and of itself, it never really made you unclean. 00:15:30.200 |
In and of itself, just because you ate pork, all of a sudden, did not cause you to be a 00:15:36.080 |
It was the rebellion against God, refusal to obey God. 00:15:41.220 |
But it wasn't independently, it's something innately evil about pork." 00:15:47.520 |
So Jesus made it very clear where he stands on this. 00:15:52.800 |
He's trying to get the weaker brother to become strong. 00:15:55.400 |
Jesus says it again in Acts 10, 9 through 16. 00:15:58.240 |
He's talking to Peter, who's about to bring the gospel to the Gentile world. 00:16:03.500 |
And this is what he says, "The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching 00:16:07.440 |
the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 00:16:10.920 |
And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, 00:16:14.880 |
he fell into a trance and saw the heavens open and something like a great sheet descending, 00:16:21.000 |
being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 00:16:23.920 |
In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles and birds of the air." 00:16:27.400 |
And all of these things are declared unclean in the book of Leviticus. 00:16:31.160 |
And there came a voice to him, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." 00:16:35.320 |
Which is something that Peter as a good Jew never did. 00:16:38.520 |
And Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or 00:16:45.160 |
Peter probably thought this was some kind of a test, right? 00:16:52.840 |
And the voice came to him and again, a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call 00:16:58.720 |
This happened three times and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 00:17:03.360 |
So he made it absolutely crystal clear as Peter, as the leader among the apostles, that 00:17:12.480 |
So as long as he says it clean, you don't declare it unclean. 00:17:15.720 |
And he says it three times for confirmation, right? 00:17:19.040 |
Then right after this, he is called to a Gentile home in order for him to pray for him and 00:17:25.840 |
So it was signaling that the kingdom is opening up to the Gentiles. 00:17:33.120 |
Because Paul is not dealing with something that was great that could be right or wrong. 00:17:38.560 |
Paul is declaring something that where he has a clear stance on. 00:17:44.120 |
God has moved from the old covenant to the new covenant, but he's dealing with the situation 00:17:51.080 |
where you know this is true, but you're dealing with people who are slow to come to that turn, 00:18:01.760 |
Because if we don't deal with truth in grace and love, what did we say last week? 00:18:07.080 |
My main point last week is the same point this week. 00:18:11.960 |
If you deal with truth without grace and love, it always leads to condemnation. 00:18:20.020 |
And that's what a church looks like that is high on truth and theology, but low on grace 00:18:29.000 |
And all it does is train a bunch of people to see who's doing wrong. 00:18:33.160 |
And we feel compelled to point out what's wrong because we have the word of God behind 00:18:40.280 |
That's the situation that Paul is dealing with, with this. 00:18:44.200 |
The stronger brothers acting in selfishness instead of helping the weaker brothers, just 00:18:54.560 |
So that's what he means when he says something good can easily turn to evil. 00:19:05.360 |
It is only by the grace of God that you're able to understand that and able to enjoy 00:19:14.520 |
But whoever doubts if he eats it because he is eating it not in faith, he is condemned. 00:19:22.680 |
Isaiah chapter 1, 11, God sends the prophet Isaiah to point out their sins. 00:19:32.000 |
And in their sin basically says, "What to me is a multitude of your sacrifices, says 00:19:38.120 |
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. 00:19:41.600 |
I do not delight in the blood of bulls or the lambs or the goats." 00:19:46.680 |
Which is every part of what he said here, they were doing in obedience to God. 00:19:52.720 |
Who told them to give burnt offerings and the rams and all these sacrifices? 00:20:04.520 |
Because they were practicing truth on the outside while their inside was full of corruption. 00:20:10.360 |
Again, it says in Isaiah 5, 20-22, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil." 00:20:20.880 |
He's not talking about those bad people in Assyria or Babylon because Isaiah was sent 00:20:26.560 |
to bring the message to Israelites who are very religious but inwardly they were calling 00:20:34.920 |
"Who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet 00:20:40.240 |
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and shrewd in their own sight. 00:20:44.560 |
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink." 00:20:50.640 |
They created for themselves, "Well, as long as I'm giving a lot of burnt offerings, as 00:20:54.080 |
long as I'm giving all of these things, and as long as I'm very active at the temple, 00:21:02.000 |
And because they were practicing truth without grace, it was leading to condemnation. 00:21:09.780 |
What does it mean when he says, "If your brother's conscience, if it bothers him and it's not 00:21:22.360 |
And I'm going to give you, I think the best way to share with you what he says here is 00:21:27.080 |
to give you a very specific story that I remember. 00:21:30.480 |
When I was a youth pastor, there was a, again, she was a young girl at that time, she's not 00:21:35.520 |
young now, but I remember when she was younger in youth group, she was so excited about her 00:21:42.600 |
She was the one who started the Christian club at Irvine High School, and this is years 00:21:50.200 |
And she was so active, she was, I think she was on the ASB, and so she was in honors. 00:21:56.040 |
And so she was very popular and had a lot of friends, had a lot of influence. 00:21:59.760 |
And so when we were having youth group, I was at Irvine Baptist, it was only about a 00:22:03.600 |
block away from Irvine High School, so we started afternoon Bible studies. 00:22:07.600 |
And because she was such a popular girl, during lunchtime, she would bring all her friends. 00:22:11.920 |
So every Wednesday, we would have Bible study at Irvine Baptist during lunchtime, and they 00:22:17.400 |
would come, about 30 of them would come, and I would share the gospel, give them pizza, 00:22:20.480 |
and then they would go back, and it was a great time. 00:22:23.480 |
And as she was graduating, she was sharing with me how she wanted to become a missionary 00:22:30.200 |
And then she got great grades and she got into Berkeley. 00:22:34.500 |
And then, this is before Facebook and all this stuff, and it's hard to keep in touch, 00:22:38.440 |
and she went up to Berkeley, and then she would come down only during the break. 00:22:42.360 |
But I could tell that each time she came down, she just was not the same person. 00:22:48.440 |
And after about a year, year and a half passed, I could tell she completely drifted away from 00:22:54.560 |
And so obviously, being her former youth pastor, I was concerned, and so I met up with her 00:23:02.920 |
She said she went to this particular church, and it was great. 00:23:07.720 |
All of her friends went there, and it was exciting as a freshman, and she said, "But 00:23:13.280 |
What happened was after the Bible study, the small group leader would invite all of the 00:23:20.440 |
So initially, obviously, coming from a conservative church, she thought it was weird, but everybody 00:23:28.040 |
This is our small group leader inviting her to go, and it bothered her conscience, but 00:23:36.440 |
And it was nothing to do in and of itself of drinking, but it bothered her conscience. 00:23:44.240 |
And she decided to give in, because that was the culture. 00:23:48.420 |
So the issue wasn't drinking in and of itself. 00:23:53.200 |
And I never said to her that Christians should never drink, because that's not my position. 00:24:00.520 |
I don't have a strong position one way or the other. 00:24:02.400 |
I think it's completely just, I know some people grew up drinking at home, and some 00:24:07.120 |
people have a very harsh disdain toward drinking. 00:24:11.200 |
So I don't have that strong position, so that's not what I said to her. 00:24:16.060 |
But once she crossed that line where it bothered her conscience, that set the pattern for her. 00:24:24.860 |
And so other things would happen, and she crossed that line, because she crossed the 00:24:29.740 |
line over here, and there was no clear reason why she crossed this line, other than other 00:24:34.260 |
So once she crossed that line, there was another line that was to be crossed, and then she 00:24:38.180 |
crossed that, and another line to be crossed that. 00:24:40.300 |
And then eventually, when it was very clear that it was wrong, because she set a pattern 00:24:46.720 |
of going against her conscience, it completely ruined her. 00:24:52.940 |
When Paul says here, "Not to go against your conscience, because whatever is not of faith, 00:25:05.800 |
The act in and of itself may not be sin, but the fact that we think that it might be, and 00:25:14.740 |
then we go ahead and do it anyway, that pattern is going to manifest in other areas of our 00:25:21.100 |
life, whether it is with purity, whether it is with relationship, whether it is use of 00:25:26.940 |
money, whatever seems to be convenient, that we will set a pattern of setting aside convictions 00:25:34.620 |
and truth for the purpose of belonging, and acceptance, and convenience, and safety. 00:25:45.580 |
So in practice of liberty, in the practice of truth, if we don't consider the context, 00:25:52.380 |
if we don't consider our conscience, it can easily lead to not only to condemnation of 00:26:05.020 |
Secondly, which is where I want to spend the rest of our time here, secondly, Christian 00:26:10.820 |
liberty, the liberty that God has given us to enjoy the things that we have been given. 00:26:17.900 |
Christian liberty was meant to build and not to destroy God's work. 00:26:22.220 |
Christian liberty was meant to build and not to destroy God's work. 00:26:25.740 |
Verse 20, "Do not for the sake of good destroy the work of God." 00:26:32.100 |
Do not for the sake of good destroy the work of God. 00:26:35.140 |
Because we would normally think, well, if it's good, if it's biblical, it's going to 00:26:39.860 |
But he says, no, do not for the sake of good. 00:26:41.820 |
What you think is good, what you are convicted is good. 00:26:49.680 |
Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what 00:26:56.620 |
It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 00:27:02.260 |
In other words, in and of itself, it may be good. 00:27:08.140 |
But when we are practicing it outside of the context of the people that we are around, 00:27:12.780 |
and we don't care about their conscience, we don't care about the unity, we are just 00:27:16.180 |
practicing truth because I am convinced this is true. 00:27:19.160 |
He says, in the end, you may cause someone else to stumble, and as a result of that, 00:27:27.300 |
So something that was good can easily be turned to something evil or destructive if we practice 00:27:37.340 |
So what does it mean to destroy the work of God? 00:27:39.620 |
Well, there are two specific things that he speaks about. 00:27:44.900 |
One is the specifics of the weaker brother, how it bothers his conscience. 00:27:51.220 |
We can destroy his conscience with our freedom, and as a result of that, be condemned ourselves. 00:27:56.900 |
In Romans 14, 15, he says, "For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer 00:28:05.940 |
You just practice your truth because this is what I believe, and he just does whatever. 00:28:13.380 |
And walking in love is the primary call, primary motive. 00:28:19.540 |
It is not one of many things that God has called us to do. 00:28:22.980 |
It is the primary thing that he calls us to do. 00:28:25.300 |
So he says, "In your practice of freedom, if it causes your brother to be grieved, you 00:28:32.540 |
may be strong in your theological position, but you are weak in practice." 00:28:40.180 |
You're immature in practice because you're not considering others. 00:28:43.940 |
He says, "By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died." 00:28:49.940 |
Paul goes so far as to say that it is wrong to practice your newfound freedom with food 00:28:56.660 |
without acknowledging the weaker brother's conscience. 00:29:00.820 |
Again, in 1 Corinthians 11, remember we talked about how the whole book of Corinthians is 00:29:07.260 |
about this disunity, this selfish, self-centered practice of truth which led them to be divided 00:29:17.440 |
And it divided between people who were loyal to Peter, to Apollos, to whoever, and he said 00:29:22.580 |
that caused all kinds of chaos in the church. 00:29:24.980 |
And even at the communion table, they were coming to communion. 00:29:29.220 |
And again, in the early church, it was kind of like a potluck. 00:29:32.380 |
Everybody got together and they shared their food, but the rich people obviously who had 00:29:35.980 |
more than abundance of food, they would come early to the church and they would just eat. 00:29:42.100 |
And then the people who didn't have money would come, and by the time they came, there 00:29:47.180 |
And by doing that, not only were the people not eating, it was highlighting the fact that 00:29:55.600 |
So it was causing this division between the rich and the poor. 00:29:59.420 |
It is in that context where Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, "He who eats and drinks without 00:30:10.820 |
So this sacred communion table, which God gave as a blessing to bring the church together 00:30:18.260 |
because of the way that they were practicing it in selfishness, was actually causing divisions 00:30:22.900 |
in the church because it was causing other people to stumble. 00:30:30.300 |
The practice of truth without grace and mercy always leads to condemnation. 00:30:38.420 |
And that's why he says in 1 Corinthians 14, 12, "So with yourself, since you are eager 00:30:42.700 |
for manifestation of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church." 00:30:49.060 |
Whatever opinions you have, whatever practices you have, does it build, does it destroy? 00:30:55.860 |
All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. 00:31:09.020 |
Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 00:31:15.180 |
Now I can say all this stuff and you may feel stressed. 00:31:21.180 |
Not only do I seek the truth, I have to seek truth in the context of what other people 00:31:24.620 |
are proposing, and I know where this discussion usually will end. 00:31:35.420 |
You know, somebody goes, "Somebody stumbled because he wore a tie." 00:31:47.780 |
And then there's people who are disturbed that I don't wear a tie. 00:31:55.700 |
I mean, anything that we do, right, is going to, "How come the children aren't in the 00:32:24.500 |
It could lead to, like, "Well, where do we draw the line?" 00:32:26.940 |
And then when you get to that point, it kind of bounces back. 00:32:33.940 |
Boom, we're back over here where nothing matters, right? 00:32:38.740 |
What Paul is saying here, if it is not compelled and ground in love, it can easily lead to 00:32:46.100 |
It can lead to frustration, feeling judged, or, you know, for doing one thing, or judged 00:32:52.220 |
if you don't do one thing, and everybody's watching you. 00:32:55.180 |
Even in practice of grace, right, we're looking at each other, "Who's more gracious? 00:33:04.620 |
But again, let me give you a life illustration where I think will help us understand this, 00:33:12.940 |
Esser and I love watching action movies, right? 00:33:23.260 |
So I don't go to movies to be like, "Oh, I want to be stimulated in my intellect." 00:33:28.940 |
I want to go there and just blow up stuff, right? 00:33:34.740 |
I want to be awake for a while, and then if it's not, you know, the other benefit is I 00:33:40.500 |
So either way, if it's boring, I get to sleep. 00:33:42.660 |
If it's exciting, you know, I get to entertain. 00:33:45.580 |
But ever since we've had kids, you know, we can't just go watch because, you know, a lot 00:33:50.500 |
of these action movies are, you know, even though it may be innocent, younger kids can't 00:33:59.500 |
We haven't been able to watch these like Avengers and all this stuff, but now that our kids 00:34:04.340 |
are a bit older, you know, we're starting to able to because now our little kid, he's 00:34:09.220 |
10, and we've desensitized him to certain things. 00:34:14.980 |
We built up tolerance for him so he can go in, okay? 00:34:22.500 |
So we went to watch Spider-Man not too long ago with everybody because, you know, somebody 00:34:37.260 |
So we took the whole family to watch it, and we were able to enjoy it. 00:34:41.740 |
You know, it came out and we talked about it, and it was kind of like a family bonding 00:34:49.420 |
We were able to enjoy it, but for all these years, we didn't go. 00:34:54.780 |
Even though Esther and I enjoy watching these movies, and before we had kids, I mean, that's 00:34:59.180 |
how we spent our time, watching action movies. 00:35:01.860 |
But there's a long period of I don't know how many years where we stopped watching it 00:35:11.580 |
Now during that period, it was like, "Oh my gosh. 00:35:19.960 |
And force them to watch and then be disturbed and have a nightmare. 00:35:38.740 |
Once you have a kid, you're looking out for the benefit of your children. 00:35:44.180 |
Certain things that you would do as an adult that you have clear conscience doing, you 00:35:48.100 |
would stop doing it because of the presence of your children in your life. 00:35:53.740 |
And the reason why you do it is because you love them. 00:36:04.580 |
See when you take love out of that relationship, then it just becomes like, "Where do we draw 00:36:12.340 |
And that's why he uses the context of walking in love, to walk in love. 00:36:17.900 |
So don't practice your freedom devoid of the context that you're in. 00:36:23.700 |
To practice the love that Christ has given us. 00:36:26.700 |
First Corinthians 18 to 13, "For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in idols 00:36:31.460 |
temple, will he not be encouraged if his conscience is weak to eat food offered to idols? 00:36:36.860 |
And so by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ 00:36:41.540 |
Thus sinning against your brother and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin 00:36:50.020 |
What would have been perfectly innocent, dragging my three-year-old to watch something because 00:36:53.980 |
I wanted to and then destroying him, causing him nightmares, is what he said he can easily 00:37:00.300 |
For if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble." 00:37:08.940 |
This is what it means by destroying your brother with what we consider to be good. 00:37:15.060 |
But there is a bigger part of what he's talking about. 00:37:18.220 |
When we destroy not just the individual, if we walk in truth and our actions are actually 00:37:26.340 |
destroying the brothers and sisters around us, it can actually ultimately destroy the 00:37:34.900 |
In First Corinthians 3, 16 and 17, it says, "Do you not know that you are God's temple 00:37:40.940 |
He's saying this because he's frustrated with this church who's practicing truth but dividing 00:37:48.900 |
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. 00:37:54.020 |
He's talking about division in the church, he's talking about practicing truth, but they 00:38:00.860 |
And it says God's will burn, God's anger will burn against him. 00:38:04.740 |
God's temple is holy and you are that temple. 00:38:09.520 |
A church divided and a church infighting is not concerned about the witness of reaching 00:38:25.060 |
All our energy is spent in just trying to put up with one another. 00:38:30.100 |
A church that's divided is no longer talking about the Great Commission or practicing the 00:38:39.060 |
That's why Paul says in First Corinthians 9, 19-23, "For though I am free from all, I have 00:38:43.580 |
made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 00:38:48.340 |
To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win the Jew. 00:38:51.260 |
To those under the law I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the 00:38:59.180 |
Apostle Paul lived this whole life being obedient to the law. 00:39:03.300 |
And he had a radical transformation, radical revelation when he met Christ on the road 00:39:09.020 |
And now that he's free, he can eat whatever, he can go wherever, he can wear whatever. 00:39:17.180 |
And all of a sudden he says he's willing to go back into that heavy burden of the law, 00:39:28.360 |
We don't have to live under this condemnation. 00:39:31.940 |
And so he's experienced this freedom, he's enjoying this freedom, but he says he's willing 00:39:35.840 |
to let go of that for the greater joy of spreading the gospel. 00:39:44.220 |
He was willing to become a Pharisee because he has a bigger picture in mind, God's glory, 00:39:49.460 |
because he knows that ultimate freedom for him is not here. 00:39:53.780 |
That ultimate experience of life is not here. 00:40:01.900 |
He's willing to draw the line way over here for the purpose of building and spreading 00:40:08.380 |
Verse 21, "To those outside the law I became as one outside the law, not being outside 00:40:12.220 |
the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law. 00:40:16.460 |
To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak. 00:40:18.820 |
I have become all things to all people that I by all means I might save some. 00:40:24.840 |
I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessing." 00:40:31.500 |
He took Timothy, who didn't need to be circumcised, and circumcised him. 00:40:41.360 |
He circumcised him just strictly for the purpose of spreading the gospel. 00:40:46.100 |
An immature person is only concerned about the practice of his freedom and how it affects 00:40:53.220 |
You know, we hear people say oftentimes, "Oh, I'm a girl. 00:41:00.280 |
I was raised this way, and I'm an Asian, or I'm not an Asian." 00:41:03.620 |
And so we all declare basically, "This is who I am, so don't expect me to change." 00:41:11.060 |
You have a husband and wife, and the wife says, "Well, this is just how I am," and 00:41:15.100 |
the husband says, "Well, this is the way I am." 00:41:19.220 |
And so you're looking for somebody who's going to accept you exactly the way you are, 00:41:24.020 |
and there is nobody, because at the core of it, it's selfishness. 00:41:31.060 |
This is who I am, so I want you to change for me. 00:41:38.780 |
A good marriage recognizes, "This is where I am. 00:41:41.740 |
This is where she is, and for her sake, I need to become different. 00:41:49.940 |
He says, "Mature to practice the truth for the sake of others." 00:41:56.540 |
Until we empty ourselves of ourselves, we will always be self-centered, and that's why 00:42:01.980 |
the call of Christ is, "He who finds his life," what? 00:42:09.820 |
If your whole purpose of truth is about you, you will lose it. 00:42:15.300 |
He who loses his life for my sake, he will find it. 00:42:26.200 |
Until we die to ourselves, the cross is not going to make any sense. 00:42:29.380 |
Not only did he die, he told us to die, because only in our death can we walk truly in love. 00:42:38.380 |
Even in the context of practicing truth, even when we are theologically correct, it could 00:42:47.020 |
We can easily win the battle, but lose the war. 00:42:53.340 |
Many people who have been compelled by this love of Christ, what changed you? 00:43:06.060 |
If it is not the love of Christ, this is not something you can do by just willpower, because 00:43:14.020 |
Only those who've been deeply affected will understand. 00:43:17.300 |
I'm going to read a short passage of a letter that was written by a young communist member 00:43:26.340 |
in the beginnings of communism, where he was breaking off with his girlfriend because he 00:43:34.060 |
In this letter, he's explaining to her why he's not coming home. 00:43:38.220 |
Let me read this letter to you, just a portion of it. 00:43:44.760 |
We are the ones who get shot and hung and ridiculed and fired from our jobs and in every 00:43:50.060 |
other way, made as uncomfortable as possible. 00:43:53.420 |
A certain percentage of us get killed or imprisoned. 00:43:57.060 |
We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep 00:44:04.220 |
We communists do not have the time or money or many movies or concerts or T-bone steaks 00:44:15.660 |
Our lives are dominated by one great overshadowing factor, the struggle for world communism. 00:44:22.780 |
We communists have a philosophy of life that no amount of money can buy. 00:44:26.980 |
We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. 00:44:30.500 |
We subordinate our petty personal selves to the great movement of humanity. 00:44:35.300 |
And if our personal lives seem hard or our egos appear to suffer through subordination 00:44:40.740 |
to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us, in a small 00:44:45.860 |
way, is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind. 00:44:52.580 |
We read that of communism and a young member who was committed and we may be disturbed. 00:45:00.740 |
It's clearly proven today, even in communist countries, that communism just doesn't work. 00:45:09.260 |
The communistic philosophy has been proven to be false. 00:45:12.780 |
In fact, more and more communist countries call themselves socialists because it's kind 00:45:16.460 |
of like a halfway compromise without admitting that they failed. 00:45:21.620 |
And yet it was this type of commitment, this type of ideology that causes, caused it to 00:45:37.060 |
Not only will it affect this life for eternity, how much of every decision that we make, every 00:45:43.100 |
penny that we spend, everything that we do, that we should consider how it affects eternity 00:45:52.700 |
And that's exactly what Paul is saying in chapter 14. 00:45:57.280 |
To pursue truth in grace and love, to build up the kingdom and not to destroy. 00:46:04.980 |
Let's take some time to pray as our worship team comes out.