Back to Romans 14 1982

I'd like to read a passage from the Book of Romans, the first 13 verses, chapter 14, the first 13 verses of chapter 14. And that's all I'm going to look at all morning, all during this time. We'll quote other passages of Scripture, but we'll be looking at this particularly, and would recommend it for our thoughts and prayers during the coming days.

So just soak it up. It has a word for us. This seems a little long.

Just try to bear with me and concentrate and think along with me on this, okay? Romans 14, 1. As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes that he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats, for God has welcomed him.

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the master is able to make him stand. One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let everyone be fully convinced in his own mind.

He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.

If we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue give praise to God.

So each of us shall give an account of himself to God. Then, let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother or sister. Most of you would agree, I'm sure, that some very, very good things are going on in this flock these days.

Plenty of evidence that the Spirit of the Lord is moving among us. Changes are taking place in our lives. Healing and quickening and cleansing are going on in individuals and in families.

There's no way we can look into the deep parts of another person's heart. Only God can do that. But from what we can see, it certainly seems evident that there has never been a time, ever, in most of our memories at least, when more prayer has been rising to the throne of God from people of the flock here than these days.

And it's also pretty obvious that there has probably never been a time when more of us are laboring out there in the harvest field one way or another than now. Many of us have been renewing our commitment to the Lord and to the work that he's called us to perform in unity with each other. But whenever there is a time of quickening and life and growth, this is also a season of temptation.

Take our Lord, for example. He came up out of the waters of his baptism and he was anointed with the Spirit. Immediately after his anointing by the Spirit, he's driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And he is at that point exposed to attacks from Satan he never experienced in all his 30 years. On the day of Pentecost, the same Spirit now, by the blood of the Lamb, by Jesus' resurrection and his ascension to the right hand of the Father, the Spirit is now poured out upon the church. They're baptized in the Spirit.

Exactly the same thing happens to them. Immediately, these people, these brothers and sisters in the Lord, become the target of trial and attacks from Satan such as they had never experienced before. And we can see this as we just read the book of Acts.

Pentecost comes in chapter 2. Chapters 3 and 4, already persecution. Peter and John are arrested. Chapter 5, the temptation to compromise.

Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit over money. Chapter 6, division between the Hebrews and the Greeks. In the same way, whenever the Spirit begins to move upon the body of Christ, these trials begin to appear.

And it's not only logical, but it's wisdom from God to know that as the Spirit of God stirs among us to the extent we allow him to do this his way, there will be persecution and there will be temptations to compromise. And already we see among us signs of division. Division which has not come from God.

There were people who walked out of here last Sunday, happy as bugs, praising God for everything that went on in here. And there were people who walked out of here last Sunday, mad as hornets. Now both the bugs and the hornets love Jesus.

There are people who really are committed to the Lord on both sides of the issue. And when division of this kind begins to make its appearance in a flock of believers, we really have to ask ourselves, is this of God, this division? There's only one kind of division that God ever brings to an assembly of believers. And that's division over whether or not we're going to get on with the business of following Jesus and obey his commands, even to the death.

The sword of division from the Lord will operate on this earth and especially in the body of Christ until the Lord comes back. But every other kind of division that visits the body of Christ is the work of Satan. And it has to be recognized and dealt with as such.

A little bit over 20 years ago, signs of division appeared in this flock over the issue of race. Some of us here still remember. God dealt with that division in awesome ways, frightening ways.

After his judgment on this division among us, there was tremendous light. A little over 10 years ago, again, signs of division appeared in this flock. This time over the influx of street people.

There should be a lot of people in here with their fair feet or whatever it was. And again, the Lord dealt with this division. And after his judgment, tremendous life.

Now we see another form of division taking shape among us. Division over what's the right way to praise God. Now, there would be no division if those who feel that they are to praise God with their hands folded and their voices quiet would just go ahead and do that.

And if those who feel that they are to praise God with their hands uplifted and their voices praising him would go ahead and do that. No problem. But when either group or both groups who don't even know who they are, maybe.

But when both sides of this begin in subtle and not so subtle ways to try to influence the others to do it their way, then we have division. See, when the people who have their hands uplifted, brothers and sisters begin to conclude in their hearts that the brothers and sisters with their hands down like this can't be praising God, especially when the only time they ever praise God is when you announce the hymn. And when the brothers and sisters who have their hands folded like this begin to become impatient and resentful in their hearts toward these holy rollies who make a spectacle of themselves, then we've got problems.

What we've done then is Satan has found a wide door and we've given it to him to come in and win himself a victory. The result of this kind of division is that very quickly all worship, whether it's this way or this way or standing on your head, becomes self-conscious. Unity is broken.

Our vision of Jesus begins to fade. His glory in our midst now becomes hidden by a cloud, not a heavenly cloud, which is glory itself, but a fleshly cloud. Excuse me.

A fleshly cloud of our own self-righteousness and arrogance and unforgiveness. Pretty soon, if this thing isn't dealt with, we get so preoccupied by our war over the right way to worship that the harvest field out there begins to rot for lack of laborers and the spirit withdraws in search of people, men and women who will get on with the business of living and proclaiming the gospel out there in the world. Now, the spirit will never withdraw from us over whether we praise God with our hands up or down, whether we're standing or kneeling, whether we burn with a silent flame or explode like firecrackers.

Fine. He'll never leave us over these things. But if we allow Satan to divide us over these things, and if we allow ourselves to begin to grieve the spirit himself by our own self-righteousness and attitudes and arrogance, and by our failure to get out there with the job we've been sent to do of proclaiming the gospel out there in the world, then he will indeed withdraw.

So, if we want the spirit to have his way among us, it's very important that we nip this division in the bud. Before it gets rolling, it causes serious problems. So how do you do that? Very simply.

We do it by repenting. All of us. Even the ones who are here for the first time today.

Repent. Oh, but I don't have anything to repent of. I haven't done anything wrong.

I'm on God's side of the issue. God is calling us all. All of us.

For our attitude toward those on the other side, whatever that is. If I'm a hands-upper, I have to repent of my attitude toward the hands-downers. And if I'm a hands-downer, I have to repent of my attitude toward the hands-uppers.

As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats.

For God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the master is able to make him stand.

One man esteems one day is better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let everyone be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.

He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. While he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord, and gives thanks to God. None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.

If we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue give praise to God.

So, each of us shall give a count of himself to God. Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. What a beautiful thing.

Then in the apostolic church, they had variety. Not only variety of culture, not only ethnic variety, but variety in the way these people live and express their faith in Jesus. And Paul is telling us, and surely through Paul the Spirit is telling us, that this variety is of God.

It's holy. Don't mess with it. Don't be trying to make your brothers and sisters do it your way.

Don't try to make it uniform. Let it be. Ah, but wait a minute, wait a minute.

The Spirit's been telling us to praise God. Agree. Nobody can deny that.

But has the Spirit been telling us exactly how to praise God, that we all have to praise Him in exactly the same way? Listen to this again. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains.

Let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats. For God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the master is able to make him stand.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall give praise to God. So each of us shall give an account of himself to God.

Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. So, each of us shall give an account of himself to God. Then let us no more pass judgment on one another.

What we hear in this passage is a call to repentance. Each of us is called to repent. Notice that we are called not to make our brother repent, or our sister.

Just, I have to repent. You have to repent. And if to repent means that you have to get on your knees, get on your knees, by all means.

But don't become impatient with your brother who still sits on his pew. Maybe he's repenting in his heart. And don't be impatient with your brother or sister who gets on their knees if you're on the pew.

As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow. And every tongue shall confess. Every tongue shall give praise to God.

Meaning, that before the tongue can confess and give praise to God, the knee has to bend. Meaning, that before we can be a people of praise, we first must be a people of repentance. So what we need to do is get our eye off our brother and our sister and start giving an account of ourself to God.

Now I don't see how any of us can give an account of himself or herself to God today and not repent. There are two and only two ways we can give an account of ourselves to God today. One.

God, this is an account of myself. God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are. Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector, this nutty tax collector.

I give tithes of all that I get. I fast twice a week. God, I thank Thee that I praise You with my hands up.

God, I thank You that I praise You with my hands folded. The only other way we can give an account of ourselves to God is. God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

I'm a sinner. I'm saved by grace. I'm washed in the blood.

I'm anointed in the spirit. But I'm still a sinner. In the sense that every good thing that flows from my life comes from my Lord, not from me.

In me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. So Lord, my attitude, my arrogance, my impatience, my covetousness, my unforgiveness, my sick imagination, my vanity. Lord, God, forgive.

The Lord is asking, and I'm sure we all sense this and know it, for one thing in this place today. Repentance from each of us. When we together offer repentance of heart to Him, He will lead us on to victories we've never seen.

And with all our differences, we will experience a unity we've never known. So let's just take some time now. And in whatever way is meaningful to each of us, let's just repent before God.