Sunday, December 1, 2019 - Romans 14:14-23 - Freedom Community Church - Pastor Rob Lloyd, Battle Ground, Washington, US

Sunday, December 1, 2019 - Romans 14:14-23 - Freedom Community Church - Pastor Rob Lloyd, Battle Ground, Washington, US

Sunday Service Time: 10 AM
Sunday Service Location: 1919 SW 25th Ave, Battle Ground, WA 98604
Phone: (360) 975-9356
Email: info@freedomcommunity.church
Prayer Request: wepray@freedomcommunity.church
Mailing Address: 1400 NE 136th Ave. Ste 201, Vancouver, WA 98684

Sermon Notes:
Romans 14:14-23

When I was preparing todays study it made me think of a scene in a movie where two people were fighting over who is the greatest superhero. And as they battled this out, they kept listing the abilities of their pick to try and display why their hero was the one.
• And although that’s just fiction, there are certainly real-world people who have displayed incredible bravery and acts of valor. And some of those individuals are simply warriors at heart.
• But when those acts of valor are performed for love, there is something even more spectacular. It’s as though they have an extra super hero gift.
o This reminded me of the true account of Hacksaw Ridge where Desmond Doss saved 75 men during the Battle of Okinawa, unarmed and alone.
• And this brought me back to the words of Jesus in John 15:13; “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”. And obviously for us, we all realize the greatest act of love ever performed was God sending Jesus to lay down His life for us.

But does laying down one’s life always mean having to physically die? What if one of the greatest acts of love meant laying down your right to do something so that another isn’t enticed into something that might destroy them. Choosing to love over exercising certain liberties? Well, as we continue into the second half of Ch. 14 today, we will deal with this very thing, and the focus it takes to make this a way of life!
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

This is not saying there is no activity that is unclean for even starting in Ch. 1 of this book he began dealing with things the Lord has clearly declared as unacceptable
• What it is saying is there is no longer any unclean food from Gods perspective. And Gods perspective matters, for though in Acts 10:15 and 11:9 God is speaking to the Jew about not calling the gentile unclean anymore, He uses food to make His point.
• And in both cases, He emphatically says, what God has declared clean you must not call common (or unclean).
• But the point here is even after God has declared all foods as clean, some people will still struggle with what they can eat for sake of conscience.
o And as long as they don’t make it about the dietary law (because then they are depending on keeping the law for their salvation Gal. 5:1-6), then it’s good for them to follow their conscience.

And as we discussed last week, conscience in areas not specifically addressed by the bible, leaves us with freedom to choose. But if, for whatever reason, we feel like something is wrong to do (in these areas of liberty), then it is wrong for us to do it.
• Now, at this point we need to be clear, because many people say, “let your conscience be your guide”
• And again, this can be correct, if it does not violate 1) what the Lord has clearly told us is sin (and therefore what we should not do), or 2) is something He has told us we are to do, such as loving our neighbors as ourselves (13:9, Mark 12:31).
• So, we can let our conscience be our guide in certain areas, in what Paul described as doubtful things in verse 1, but these things can never violate the clearly stated will of God, and should still be lifted up in prayer so we can receive direction from God (we covered this more in-depth last week).

But now comes a very important consideration in regard to our Christian liberty, and our having a clear conscience in what we choose;
15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

I’m still brought back to a husband and wife I knew that both professed Jesus as their savior. The husband was an alcoholic, and trying to keep their marriage and beat the addiction, but the wife very emphatically said it was his problem, and that she had no intension of removing the wine from the house or to stop drinking
• And she had the liberty to have her glass of wine without getting drunk (because getting drunk is prohibited but having a glass of wine is not), so we must recognize that is a liberty she has.
o But I hope I don’t have to tell you what a self-centered and callus attitude she displayed toward the one she committed to be her life-long partner.
• In essence she said, my ability to have my glass of wine is more important than you. Granted there was a lot of hurt, and she too could say that he was saying the alcohol was more important than her.
• But there’s more, for not only did this destroy their marriage, it also has a much bigger ramification, for that man is Gods child. And regardless of what he would do with her act of love if she had chosen to suspend her liberty for him, in her not choosing to do so, she was willing to sacrifice him for her liberty.
o That’s a miss on every level because it’s not Jesus style at all.

Folk’s this is just one area I used for an example because it comes to my mind, but there are so many others. In the picture of the meat offered to idols and then sold in the meat markets (last week’s study), neither eating it or not eating it was a sin.
• So, if you had invited someone over and noticed them getting squeamish around the BBQ ribs, you might ask if they like ribs, and if they brought up issue regarding eating meat, you would simply put them back in the fridge, grab the salad, and maybe even through some corn on the BBQ.
• This is a triple win situation, for 1) you get to have those ribs all to yourself when they leave (but not because your stingy), 2) they were loved by you when you suspended your liberty for them, and 3) Jesus is glorified by your loving your neighbor as yourself, thus fulfilling all of the law.
o If you change the subject and keep the response, and you already have this down.
• And someone might say, “but what if in the end I don’t get what I want by suspending my liberty for that person in that moment?” Even better, for God is the one who rewards us in heaven (Matt. 6:1-4), which is a far greater prize than ever eating another BBQ anything, getting to do or own this or that…
o And this is exactly what Paul said he would do in 1 Cor. 8:13, saying; Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble

And as always, I think this is another great area to check our hearts in. Is there a liberty you would not give up in order to protect the conscience of a weaker brother or sister, or even for fellowship? This could also be speaking of just a weak area they wrestle with. And in truth, with exception to those we live with, there are few things that are permissible by God that we would have to give up entirely. We simply have to choose to suspend them around those who struggle with them, as we will be told when we get to verse 22.

16 Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

I am afraid there are far too many who have redefined the victorious Christian life as simply living in prosperity and with position here on earth. And in doing so, it becomes about 1) luxury instead of needs, 2) about ease rather than service, 3) about fine meals rather eating without offense. 4) It becomes the “all about me and my entitlement” attitude.
• And again, I really like food and am confident that God has nothing against us having great meals, followed by coffee and a great desert.
• But if that is the goal, or if that draws my focus away from the eternal and the holiness God has called us to, so that we might bring glory to Him, then we should switch to bread and water, because folks, that’s setting our minds on things below instead of setting our minds and hearts on the real treasure (Col. 3:2).

And again, we are not just speaking about food, but truly about the difference of letting our old nature rule and reign or our new nature, which is empowered by the Holy Spirt. It’s what we call the Spirit filled life
• And Jesus makes the distinction between the two when after praising Peter, He then has to rebuke Peter, saying in Matt. 16:23 …He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, (and now He lists the offense) for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
• Peter, hearing what Jesus would go though in order to pay our sin debt, must have said in his heart something like; “we can’t lose Him this way, He cannot be treated this way, and this will not bring the kingdom to earth right now, if he dies we then we have no hope now”.
o These are all thoughts regarding the flesh and this current life only, and for this Jesus strongly rebuked Peter, because this old way of thinking is to be behind us, not in front of us (Rom: 12:2)
• And we are to be mindful, or set our minds on the things of the eternal, because these are the everlasting things God has in store for us (1 Cor. 15:20-28).
Interestingly enough, there is a big push on the practice of being mindful, or what is termed mindfulness, in order to reduce the stress in life and even to deal with severe trauma. And I agree with the premise.
• But the real question is what are we to be focusing on? For those who don’t have Jesus, its going to be the things of the world, because that’s all they have. Yet as the bible tells us, our physical lives are but a vapor (James 4:14) and even the world and the things of it are passing away (John 2:17)
• But as a follower of Jesus, our explicit instruction is to be mindful of the things of God; the eternal things that will never pass away (2 Cor. 4:18), that are eternal in the heavens because He is eternal in the heavens and we shall be forever with Him (John 14:3)
• What a shame it is when the church makes the things of the flesh focal, over the things which have been given to us in the kingdom of God. I don’t know about you, but each time I have had my attention drawn back to the world, I don’t find anything resembling Jesus righteousness, His peace, or the joy that can only be manifested from communing with the Holy Spirit.

19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

What’s being spoken of here is still addressing our pursuing peace with other believers in the debatable areas.
• And what that means is if you cannot discuss or engage in a debatable matter without offending one another or causing further division, switch subjects, movies, activities, locations…that will edify instead.
• Sometimes I think we believe it’s our place to press another believer into a view we think they must have, because if we don’t do it, who will? And the answer is quite easy. If necessary, the Holy Spirit.
• Hear how Paul explains this in Phil. 3:15, saying; Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Folks, when we are worried about someone’s choices or views in the areas of liberty God has given them, we too can be confident that God is doing a much better job than we are at working this out with them.
o So in these areas we are to back out and simply pursue peace and encourage one another in our walks with the Lord, because there are more than enough discouragements from other sources.

So now we see again this is not a “one side is right and the other is wrong” type of issue, for he will give us two examples of both the weaker and stronger believer and the way they can sin from their side.
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. 22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. (1 Cor. 8:7)

For the stronger believer, their instruction is to not destroy the weaker believer, but rather in areas of liberty that could be a stumbling block to others, to exercise those things in their own home so they don’t condemn themselves by causing a weaker believer to fall.
• And for the weaker believer, who tends to be more rule bound or even legalistic (because they need those boundaries firmly in place to keep themselves from stumbling, or have a weaker conscience), their instruction is remember it would be evil for them to participate in what they believe is against God,
• But that its wrong for them to condemn other believers for participating in what God has given them liberty to do.
• It’s actually pretty straight forward and yet it clearly needed to be said then and now because both sides were offending and finding offense with one another then, and the same is true today.

So, how did you do? You know what I mean. Just a few days ago was Thanksgiving, and there were places where you had liberty. Did you exercise those liberties at the cost of another?
• Or on the other hand, there were areas in which you do not yet have faith that participating in certain things is ok for you.
• Did you stick to your guns without putting a trip on everyone else in these disputable areas where God has not clearly told us what we are to do or not to do?
• If your able to find the areas of liberty that you had and were willing to suspend so that the focus stayed on Jesus and not a heated debate or squabble, you’re probably basking in the joy of the Lord, even if it cost you something.