Well, good morning, everyone. It's great to see you. Today I am going to attempt to share with you what I consider to be a difficult passage. And I'm hoping that you will bear with me as we go through Romans chapter 14.
The topic before me is issues of conscience. We as believers all make individual judgment calls. And this is a very practical topic. And I was thinking as I was preparing for this, I don't remember ever hearing anybody preach or teach specifically on this one passage before.
So I'm going to attempt to share with you what I feel is the Word of God and what it's teaching. We're going to read in Romans chapter 14. But before we do that, I'd like to introduce this subject to you by sharing with you that scene in the Gospel of John chapter 21. You'll remember that Peter has just denied the Lord.
And in his shame and guilt and a sense of unworthiness, Jesus calls him to come to the shore. Christ has been crucified and Jesus has risen again. And he says to Peter and the other disciples, why don't you come and die? And so as they were dining, Jesus said to Peter, Simon, do you love me?
And I'm sure that Peter's heart at that moment had a lot of mixed feelings. Jesus said three times. Peter, do you love me? And Jesus used a word of total commitment.
And Peter, in his brokenness, feels so unworthy. And he says, Lord, you know all things. You know that I'm fond of you. And Jesus says, Peter, feed my sheep.
There was a couple of lessons that I want to draw from that that directly relate to Romans chapter 14. Peter is feeling a sense of not measuring up. Peter is feeling a sense that he's really not what he should be. And yet in his heart of hearts, he loves the Lord and he wants to follow the Lord.
And the Lord begins to tell him about his life. And he turns and he says, well, what about this man? What about John? And Peter is distracted by someone else.
And Jesus brings him back and he says, Peter, what is that to you? Even if I will, that he remains until I come. You follow me. You personally, in your personal devotion, you follow me.
And don't get distracted with all these other issues in other people's lives. And there was two lessons that Jesus taught, Peter, that day. Number one, follow me in your own life with personal devotion and conviction. And number two, he really taught Peter to have a sense of tenderness for other believers.
Sometimes we lack that sense of tenderness for other believers. And Jesus said, Peter, if you're going to be a shepherd, if you are going to feed the flock of God, you need to be tender. And so with that in mind, I'd like to invite you to turn to Romans chapter 14. And we're going to get it up on the screen here.
Romans chapter 14, we're going to read at verse one. So think about personal devotion and tenderness for other believers. Romans 14 and one, as for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him. But not too quarreling over opinions.
One person believes he may eat anything while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains. And let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one 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 Lord is able to make him stand. One person steams one day better than another while another steams all days alike.
Each one should be fully convinced or persuaded in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it in honor to the Lord. The one who eats eats in honor to the Lord. Since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
For none of us lives to himself. And none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live unto the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord.
So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. To this end, Christ died and lives again that he may be both Lord of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or why do you despise your brother?
For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God for as it is written, as I live, sayeth the Lord, every knee shall bow to me. Every tongue shall confess to God so that each of us will give account of himself to God. Therefore do not pass judgment on one another any longer. But rather decide never to put a stumbling block or a hindrance in the way of a brother.
I know and I am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But it is unclean for anyone who thinks it's unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. But what you eat by what you eat do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.
So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and of joy in the Holy Spirit. Whosoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep it between yourself and God.
Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. What a great chapter.
We're going to deal today with issues of conscience and individual judgments. As we read this chapter, we learn that in the church, it has pleased God to bring together many believers from very different backgrounds. We see that right here in our church, in Northbrook. There is a diversity of culture.
There is difference of personal experiences and emotions that you have experienced in your life. And all of these shape our conscience. And so I really only have one slide today. And the reason I do this, I just want to take the very key topics, the key points that I want to highlight from this chapter.
I want to look today at what is conscience? What is our conscience? I want to talk about how the scripture really from this passage tells us, do not despise your brother. And then I want to look at the fact that a lot of these opinions and passing of judgments has really in history divided churches.
And we are exhorted today from this passage, do not divide the church. Do not pass judgment and do not stumble your brother. And then we are reminded a very key point that should really affect how we live and act and should govern our behavior is we are the Lords. We are the Lords and we will all stand individually before the judgment seat of Christ and we will give account for how we have ordered our life.
And so as we think about conscience, our conscience is really shaped by a number of things. First of all, our conscience is shaped by our upbringing. The parental guidance and the parental discipline that we experience as a child builds a framework initially in our mind of what is right and wrong. And then there are mentors in our life that affect us.
People that we look up to, people that we allow to influence our thinking. Our conscience is also shaped by the teaching that we've been exposed to. And also by personal experience. Maybe you have experienced pain or particular joy in your life that has really shaped how you make decisions.
And I think that is true. But there is ultimately one thing that should shape and mold our conscience and it is the Word of God. It is the holy, inspired truth of the scriptures that really should govern and shape our conscience by the power of the Holy Spirit when He takes the Word of God and illuminates our thinking. That is what should govern and guide our conscience.
In a very practical way, we all face challenges and choices in our life. Is it not true? And there are many things that we have to decide on that are not clearly explicit in the scriptures. And so we as individual believers, we make judgment calls every day.
I think there is a sense in which we can have a freedom to make choices, but it should be governed by principle. So when I make a decision in my life, I should first of all ask myself this question, is what I'm about to do clearly forbidden in the Word of God? And if it is, then I should not do it. Next question I should ask myself is, this decision or this choice that I'm going to make, is it going to hurt me or harm me in my walk with Christ?
Was it gonna build me up in my spiritual faith in my life with Christ? The next question that I think we really need to ask is does this stumble my brother? Am I about to do something that will hurt or harm someone else? I may even have the liberty and freedom to do it, but is it going to stumble my brother?
And is it going to affect others adversely? Those are three principles that we should look at when we try to decide whether or not we should make a certain decision. I'd like to define our conscience as this. Our conscience is that moral inner voice of reason that governs our ethics and our principles.
The judgment calls that we make that in our mind determine right from wrong. The scripture says really clearly, do not despise your brother. If we look at verse one of chapter 14, it says, as for the one who is weak in the faith, welcome, but not to quarrel over opinions. Do you know this happens in a church quite often?
My opinion is that you shouldn't do that. And your opinion is that she shouldn't do this or shouldn't do this. And then we get into these quarreling over opinions. I believe the first principle in chapter 14 is that we're to welcome one another.
And that word for welcome, if you look it up in the Greek word, it has a very strong sense of personal and willing acceptance of my brother. And it really directly relates to fellowship in a church. If my brother is a believer in the body of Christ, I should welcome him and I should accept him and I should try to be very personally accommodating so that he feels a sense of being part of the church. Now, the reason that Paul wrote this is very interesting.
There's a similar passage in 1 Corinthians 8, and it deals with the very same topics. So it's kind of a parallel passage, but in the early church, there were Jews and Gentiles. And some of the Jews struggled with the ceremonial laws. And some of the Gentiles, they struggled with pagan worship and meat that was offered to idols.
And some of the Christians would say, well, those laws are nothing. They're not binding on us anymore. And so we don't have to follow them. And other Christians that in this context were called weaker or more sensitive, they were still very cautious about trying to follow some of these ceremonial things.
And then there were mature Gentiles that knew, pagan gods, they didn't even exist. They meant nothing. So why should we even be worried about them because they don't exist? But there were other sensitive Gentile believers that had come out of some awful historic pasts that really were affected by the spirit of demons.
And they were very sensitive to that. Now, as I understand it, there was special premium meat that was offered to idols, but there were leftovers. And those leftovers, they went to the marketplace and the main portion went to the pagan worship temples. And on those leftovers, they were almost like discounted.
And so some believers thought, that's a really good meat. I could go to the marketplace and I should buy it. And other believers would say, you can't eat that. That was offered to idols.
That's gonna defile you. And so these are the background of the issues. Obviously, we don't face those issues today. So I thought in my mind, what are some of the examples of some of the issues that we face today in the church that fit into this context?
The first one that comes to mind is just what we've been through with the pandemic of COVID. Some Christians had a conscience about following all the government regulations about the vaccines and the masks. And other Christians had stronger convictions that they shouldn't follow these regulations, especially anything that was imposed in church that they should really obey God rather than men. And this difference of opinion was so sensitive and so polarizing that it has literally divided churches.
I have spoken in a church that used to have 70 or 80 people in it. And if you go there today, they have about 25. And it's very, very sad because that polarizing issue created conflict in the church and literally divided the church. And more than half the people left.
And so that's a very practical example of something in our day that is related to this principle. Some Christians have the opinion that there's certain things they should or should not do on the Lord's day on Sunday. Others feel that that day is really no different than other days other than the fact that that's a day that we gather to break bread. So that's a difference of opinion.
Some Christians feel pretty strongly that you should vote and that's your civil duty to vote. Other Christians would be horrified if they knew that you voted. They would think we are not to partake of the politics of this world and our citizenship is in heaven and we shouldn't vote. That could be a polarizing issue.
Right here in the passage, Paul talks about meat and whether or not to abstain and drinking wine and whether or not to abstain. Some Christians today have very strong convictions that they should not partake of alcohol. And other Christians feel that they can partake in moderation. So there are many issues that come to light in how we make these decisions and how these principles should be governed.
Well, Paul says very clearly in this passage, do not divide the church. Do not divide the church. You know, I believe that Satan often works on our flesh to create issues in the church. And I have seen in my short day, assemblies divided because of polarizing issues that Satan has gotten in and created strife and conflict.
And so when I go back to my introduction of when Simon Peter is there on the shore and Jesus is saying to him, Simon, do you love me? Feed my sheep, be tender to my flock. And I feel like that is a governing principle that we ought to out of devotion for Christ and out of tenderness for one another, be very, very careful in our interpersonal skills and the way that we communicate and deal with each other. One of the hardest things in life is to manage and deal with people.
I would say this, it's easy to build a business. It's hard to manage people. It's easy, in one sense, to go into the world and preach the gospel and build a church. But the longevity and the healthiness of that church has a lot to do with interpersonal skills and personalities and control and conflict.
And sometimes opinions can crowd into a church and they can adversely affect that church. And so we've been blessed here in Northbrook or church is growing. We have many people that are coming and we've been blessed in many, many ways. We want it to be sensitive to operate on biblical principles.
And one biblical principle is do not divide the church. Do not pass judgment on your brother. So every one of us would have personal practices and sometimes we would have differences of opinions, but we need to be sensitive of that. If there's something that is clearly forbidden in the word of God, then we have scripture to judge.
But if there are areas that are not really clearly specifically outlined, then there is a personal conviction that that individual should have. And I believe that's what this passage is stating. Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind. And so if you feel a personal conviction following the Lord to do something that you know is not crossing a clear boundary in scripture, then you are at liberty to make that decision.
And I would be wrong to judge you for that decision. And I think you would be wrong to judge me for that decision so long as I haven't crossed a clear scriptural boundary. Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind. Now here's another principle that I feel is very important.
Do not stumble your brother. We read that in chapter 14. You know, I might feel that I'm at perfect liberty if I'm in the early church. Now I might feel that I'm at perfect liberty to go to the marketplace and buy that premium filet mignon that has been offered to idols.
And I might feel at liberty to come home and put that on my barbecue and sit down and enjoy a great steak. But I might be inviting another brother or sister for my assembly to come over and have dinner with me. And they may be sitting there and they may look at this and they say, he got this in the marketplace. This meat has been offered to idols.
I can't touch that. It would be wrong for me in this case to impose or force on that brother's conscience to take that meat. But if me and my wife feel at liberty before God in her own house, to have that meat that's been offered to idols, knowing that an idol is nothing, then my conscience doesn't condemn me. I'm at liberty to do that in my own house.
But I need to be very, very sensitive. That if my actions or my behavior or something that I am doing is going to stumble my brother, then the overriding principle in this passage is do not do it if it's going to stumble your brother. Do not destroy the kingdom or the church for these physical principles of eating or drinking. Because the kingdom of God is not made up of eating and drinking, it's righteousness.
It's that higher level of principle that God wants me to govern my behavior by. Be careful not to grieve your brother by your behavior. And then it says, bear the infirmities of the weak, not to please yourself. What's the overriding principle principle?
When we get into chapter 15, it says, even Christ, please not himself. When I think of one who loved me and came from the glories of heaven down into this world and was crucified to take my sin upon himself, to bear my shame, to purchase me with his own blood, he humbled himself. And he did this for me. I ought to be willing to humble myself and to bear with the weaknesses of my brother.
So I think that that is an overriding principle. When we get to verse eight to 10, it says this. Verse eight of chapter 14, it says, if we live, we live unto the Lord. And if we die, we die unto the Lord.
So whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. That is a governing principle that should monitor my life. I am the Lord's. I've been bought with a price.
I've been purchased. I've been redeemed. I am no longer my own. I am the Lord's.
And that principle should govern everything in my life. And then it says this. It says, to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord, both of the dead and of the living. You know what this brings into my heart?
It brings in the gospel. This was the whole purpose that Jesus Christ came into the world. Do you remember when he stood before Pilate? And Pilate said, are you a king?
And he said, now say us that I am a king. To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should manifest or bear witness unto the truth. You know what should govern our behavior above everything else? Christ died for our sins.
He was buried and he rose again. He's purchased me. I am the Lord's. And because I am the Lord's, I need to live and walk worthy of that vocation that I have been called to.
I am the Lord's. Could I stop and ask everyone today in this church? Are you the Lord's? Are you the Lord's?
That's a simple, direct, critical question. You know that there are many people that are not the Lord's. There are many people that have never come to a point before God where they have seen their own sin and their own wretchedness and have bowed their knees before God and say, oh God, I am a sinner. Cleanse me from my sin.
Forgive me for the sins that I've committed and forgive me for what I am because it's not just the sins that I've committed. The sins that we commit show evidence to our sinful nature. We are born into this world separated from God. We are born into this world condemned already.
And we are born into this world with a sinful nature that drives us farther and farther away from God. But to this end, Christ came. For this purpose and for this cause, He came into the world to rescue me from my sins, to save you from your sins, to deliver you from this present evil age. That's why He came.
And the person who is genuinely understood, I am a guilty sinner. Jesus died for me. His blood has cleansed me. I am a new creation in Christ.
That person ought to be willing to devote the rest of their life to serving God as a bond slave of Jesus Christ. To this end was He born. To this end for this cause came Christ into the world to die on a cross for me. Have you ever discovered that personally, when Jesus died on that cross, it was for you, your sins, your habitual crossing of the boundaries of God's law, your guiltiness, your wretchedness.
You know, discovering that changes everything. Should change my attitude, should change my will, should change my life. I should be willing, like when Jesus said to Peter, John, do you love me? I should say yes Lord, I love you, because you have died for me, because you have purchased me, because you've redeemed me, and the rest of my life should be a willing sacrifice that I pour out to God.
You know what gets in the way? Our pride, our distractions, our material things, our day-to-day responsibilities, all the issues of life. But on the Lord's day, on Sunday, when we stand up here and preach the scriptures, it's a calling back to remembrance. Hang on a second.
Let me get back to the cross, where Christ died for my sins, where He shed His blood, where He redeemed me, where He made me a new creation in Christ Jesus, and I ought to live every day, the rest of my day, in perfect devotion and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know why that's also important? Because there will come a day when we will all stand before God. In verse 11, it says, as I live, says the Lord.
Every knee shall bow to me, every tongue shall confess to God. So each one of us will give account to Himself before God, as to how we've lived our life. There's three passages that I want to remind you of that really speak to this in the New Testament. Jesus told a parable in Matthew 25.
Now listen to this for a second. Jesus told a parable in Matthew 25 about a man who divided and delivered unto his servants, his goods. And he gave one, each one according to his ability. He gave him talents.
Some got five talents. Some got two talents, and some got one talent. But each one of them had a responsibility. You know what they had to do?
They had to make judgment calls. They had to make judgment calls with what they were going to do with their talents. God has given you talents. You may have five.
You may have two. You may have one. But what are you doing with those talents? You know, some of them traded, and they gained more talents.
Some of them were careful, a little bit more cautious, and got a little bit more. But there was one man who took that talent, and he buried it in the ground. You know this parable. He took the talent, and he buried it.
And there came a day when the good man of the house came back. And he said, what have you done with your talents? And one of them said, I was afraid. I knew that you were a austere man.
So I buried it, because I didn't want to lose it. There's a very practical principle. How are you living your life? Are you living your life in fear?
Scripture says, no fear. Don't be afraid. Are you living your life in developing your talents, or are you burying your talents? No fear, no regret, and no buried treasure.
That's the way we should live our life. We should live our life realizing we are the Lord's. God has saved us by His grace. I can serve in the church.
I can serve in the world. I can serve the people of God. I have talents and resources that God has given me. And I ought to use them to develop for God.
I want to encourage you to use your gifts, and your talents for God. No fear, no regret, and no buried treasure. That's the way we should live, because we're all going to stand before God. And we're all going to give an account.
Can I just project your thinking for a moment to what it will be like on that day? Now, follow this thinking for a minute. You've died, and your soul is with Christ. The rapture has taken place.
You've got your redeemed body, your glorified body. And the moment has come, and you're standing before God. And the Lord of glory is looking into your face, and He's saying, John Wells, what have you done for God? What have you done with your talents?
What have you done with your resources? You know that in 1 Corinthians 3, it says, every man's work will be tried by fire. Every man's work will be tried by fire. The day will reveal what your life has been.
And it will go through the furnace of God. And everything that was done in your life for Jesus Christ, that was done with the right motives, that was done with the right intent, that was done to serve others, that was done to serve the church. You will have reward in that day for what has been done for Christ. And what happens to everything else gets burnt up.
All the years, I feel like there's years in our lives that's just going to be burnt up. You have this day. You have your life while you are here to serve God. Because we are all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and the day will reveal what sort of work that we have built for God.
It says that every man's work will be tried. And every man will have reward for God in that day. If it is gold, silver, and precious stone, it will stand the test. And so there's one other passage that's related to the judgment seat of Christ.
It's in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 9 and 10. And it says, we labor that we may be accepted of him. Because we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account and to receive reward for the things done in the body. Whether they be good or bad.
I am the Lord's. I need to live my life with personal, deep conviction, and devotion to following Jesus Christ. He's redeemed my soul. And he says to me, John, do you love me?
Follow me. Fulfill what God has called you to do. I just want to encourage everyone today. You know, we're all in different stages of life.
Some of you are young mothers raising children. Praise God for every moment that you have. Pray for those children. You can worship God standing at the sink.
You can use your talent and resources by teaching your children the word of God. You can raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Some of you are in the workforce. How you live, you can be a testimony to Jesus Christ.
Your attitudes, your language that you use, your ways that you speak. Some of us are involved in leadership. We have a huge responsibility to follow God's principles. Some are evangelists.
And their desire is to go into the world and teach the gospel. Be faithful in whatever God has put in your hands to do. Be faithful. Be faithful in your marriage.
Be faithful in raising your children. Be faithful in your witness and your testimony to preach Christ. Be faithful when you stand up here and preach the word of God. Speak it like it is.
Be plain. Be clear. Speak truth. Walk with Jesus Christ.
And the day will come when either you will be raptured or you will go home to glory and you will stand before God. And you will look back on a life. Only one's life and it will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last in that day.
And so I just want to encourage us as a church. Don't despise your brother. He may think differently than you. That's okay.
I want to encourage you as a church. Don't divide the church. Don't let any root of bitterness or something that's bothering you. Creep in.
And eventually you're not with us anymore because something else offended you. Or maybe there's something that I've said. Or something that someone else has said. And I've offended you.
Go to me. Matthew 18 says, go to your brother. Tell him his fault. Win your brother.
Let's not let Satan divide the church. Let's make sure that we're not passing unrealistic or unjust judgment on our brother. And let's be careful in the way that we live our life. Not to stumble our brother.
Because we are the Lord's. And we will all stand before God. And we will give account for ourselves. Listen, I'm not going to be accountable for the decisions you made in your life.
I'm going to be accountable for the decisions I've made in my life. And we all live in effect each other. And we should all influence each other for good. And God's desire is that the church would be in harmony.
That we would recognize and respect diversity, diversity of culture, diversity of opinions. But we are following Jesus Christ with the core essential truths. And we are in love. We are united.
And we are building together until that day when we all stand before God. And we'll give account. I hope the Lord stirs your heart by maybe something that's been said today and encourages you to walk close with the Lord. Love Christ.
Follow him and don't stumble your brother. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the word of God. We thank you, Lord, for the truth of scripture.
It's very real. It's very practical. And each one of us have a short life to live. Lord, may we be faithful to you with the time and resources that you've given us.
May we walk with you in true devotion. May we love you. And may we serve one another. And may we be a bright, shiny testimony until our days on Earth are gone.
And so we ask you to protect this church. Guide and protect the leadership. Give us unity. Give us harmony.
Help us to love one another and walk in truth. And so we ask you to bless us as we part. And we give thanks for all your blessings and through the person of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In his worthy name, amen.