Our text today is found in Romans chapter 14,
beginning with verse 13. Romans chapter 14, beginning
with verse 13. Therefore let us not judge one
another any more, but rather determine this,
not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in
a brother's way. I know and am convinced in the
Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself.
But to him who thinks anything to be unclean,
to him it is unclean. For if because of food
your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking
according to love. Do not destroy with your food
him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let
what is for you a good thing be spoken of as
evil. For the kingdom of God is not eating and
drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy
in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves
Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
So then let us pursue the things which make for
peace and the building up of one another. Do
not tear down the work of God for the sake of
food. All things indeed are clean, but they are
evil for the man who eats and gives offense.
It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or
to do anything by which your brother stumbles.
The faith which you have, have as your own conviction
before God. Happy is he who does not condemn
himself in what he approves. But he who doubts
is condemned if he eats, because his eating is
not from faith, and whatever is not from faith
is sin. Someone has said that there's nothing
sure in life except what? Death and taxes, and
they're usually in about the same category of
thought, aren't they? We often think of death
as just being a normal thing. But did you know
it's not? Death is abnormal. God did not create
mankind to die. He created mankind to live on
and on in innocence, fellowship, and obedience
to him. Death is an abnormality, and yet we face
it, and it is so. so present around us for the
soul that sins dies. It is appointed unto man
once to die. It is so prevalent that we think
of it as being normal when actually it's abnormal.
You know the same thing I think can be said about
disunity in a church. It is so prevalent. It
is so widely experienced that we often think
that division in a local church is the norm.
It is not. A church divided is an abnormality.
Furthermore, it's a disgrace to the testimony
of Jesus Christ. A united fellowship is the norm.
It's God's plan. And it's that which honors the
Lord. Unity is produced by the Holy Spirit, but
it is preserved, dear people, by us, the saints.
It is preserved by our obedience to the Word
of God. Often tension and potential disunity.
come not from disagreement over major doctrines
or essential issues, but rather non -essential
differences, regarding which there is no clear
biblical revelation of what is right or wrong.
In other words, that gray zone that we started
talking about last week. Now after last Sunday's
message, there was a common question in the congregation.
and one which I had myself. The question is,
how do we know what issues or matters properly
fall into the gray zone? What is one of the gray
issues? Well, the fact is, of course, that each
of us might differ to some degree in what is
in that gray zone. So how do we define? what
is properly in the gray zone. Certainly, whatever
is clearly stated in the Bible does not belong
in the gray zone. In other words, we cannot say
that cheating or dishonesty or lying or adultery
or gossip, dishonoring parents, that those things
are in the gray zone, the Bible clearly states
that those are wrong. Further, we should not
say that kindness or purity or honesty or self
-control or love are in the gray zone, for the
Bible says that those things are right. How do
we know what is in the gray zone then? Well,
I believe that we can say that anything not clearly
stated in a properly interpreted Bible passage
is at least potentially in the gray zone. So
a gray issue may be something that is not clearly
stated in a properly interpreted Bible passage.
Now it may be that there are... some issues beyond
that that should not be in the gray zone. Let
me take it for an example, just to illustrate
what I mean. Nowhere in the Bible does it say
thou shalt not smoke, for example. And therefore,
it has been thought for a long time that smoking
is a gray issue, that it's up to a person's individual
conviction about whether he should smoke or not
as a Christian. And it is true that the Bible
does not clearly state thou shalt not smoke.
But so many facts have been discovered regarding
smoking in the last 10 to 15 years that it is
very clear that smoking is a slow way to commit
suicide. Smoking kills a person. It destroys
the body. It's true the Bible does not say thou
shalt not take poison either. But we don't put
that in the gray zone and say, well, it's up
to a person if he wants to take it or not. He
shouldn't take poison because it'll kill him.
And that's wrong, to kill oneself. And I think
that smoking, while it may at one time have been
legitimately, intellectually at least, been a
gray issue. because of recent discoveries, is
moving more and more toward a definite no for
a Christian because of what it does to the body.
So therefore, although that's not clearly stated
in the Bible, I think that it's very difficult
to argue honestly that it is a gray issue. We
must recognize that there will always be some
differences among believers who love the Lord
over these matters. in the gray zone. There will
always be in the church the weak and the strong.
The weak being defined in the Bible now as those
who have a greater sensitivity of conscience,
who tend to be more legalistic, and for whom
rules are very important. Those are the weaker
brothers. The strong, as the Bible defines it,
refers to those who understand the liberty of
Christ's redemptive work and who live in freedom
in their lives without guilt with respect to
the disputed issues in the gray zone. Those are
the strong. And we will always have the weak
and the strong amongst us. It will never be different
until the day that we stand before Christ. and
all of us are perfectly conformed then to His
image. Now there are two extremes that we need
to avoid regarding this matter of the weak and
the strong. We need to avoid being the perpetual
weaker brother. What do I mean by that? I mean
being one who is immature and not maturing. It's
okay to be immature if one is growing and maturing,
but... I'm talking about one who should have
grown and has not, who's stagnated. The perpetual
weaker brother is one who is habitually legalistic
and expects everyone else to limit their options
to keep him happy. He wears his legalistic opinions
on his shoulder, just daring others to knock
him. And he usually has a tantrum when he doesn't
get his way. And his statement usually is something
like this. Oh, so he's supposed to be a Christian
the way he's acting? He ought to know better.
On the other hand, you have the presumptuous
stronger brother. First, the perpetual weaker
brother. That's an extreme to avoid. Don't be
like that. But don't be like the presumptuous
stronger brother either. He is one who has no
regard for the genuine sensitivity of the weaker.
He is arrogant and flaunts his liberty to make
a point and sometimes even to initiate an offense
or to intimidate others who are weaker and don't
share his same freedom. And his statement usually
is, well, why doesn't he grow up anyway if he
has a problem with this? Now folks, we need to
avoid both of those extremes. Recognize that
there are in this church those who are weaker
and those who are stronger, and I didn't point
to the sections just to illustrate that. The
weaker and the stronger, we'll reverse it. But
avoid becoming an extreme, perpetual weaker brother
who expects everybody to kowtow to your And avoid
being the presumptuous brother who despises those
who can't, for conscience sake, at this point
at least, have the same freedom as yourself.
Romans chapters 14 and 15 give us three principles
which enable us, all of us, spread across the
spectrum of opinions in the gray zone, to live
nonetheless in harmony. and to glorify God. And
you and I need to get a hold of these three principles
if we're going to preserve the unity of the Spirit
in this church. Principle number one we talked
about last week. It is accept one another. Chapter
14, verses 1 through 12. Today we come to principle
number two, build up one another. Verses 13 through
28. We build up one another by establishing four
habits in our own lives. And I want you to follow
these with me. Perhaps you have a copy of the
outline there in your worship folder. How do
we build up one another? How do we follow that
principle so as to preserve the unity of the
church? There are four habits that need to be
established. Number one. We build up one another
by giving no cause for hindrance. Verse 13. You
say, should that really be a concern? Do I really
need to be concerned about whether I hinder somebody
else and their spiritual progress? Absolutely
yes. For you are your brother's keeper in this
matter. May I refer you back to Matthew chapter
18 to look at some words of the Lord Jesus himself.
Now you better turn there and look at these verses.
These are serious. And besides that, if you don't,
a plague will come upon your house. Matthew chapter
18, verse 3. Jesus called a child to come into
the midst of the group that he was talking with.
He said, Truly I say to you, unless you are converted
and become like children, you shall not enter
the kingdom of heaven. He does not mean that
we become childish. There are some Christians
who seem to think that. He is saying we become
childlike. simple in our faith, in our trust,
in our love. He goes on to say, whoever then
humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives
one such child in my name receives me, but whoever
causes one of these little ones who believe in
me to stumble, It is better for him that a heavy
millstone be hung around his neck and that he
be drowned in the depth of the sea. Jesus says,
it is a very serious thing for me to cause another
in the family of God to be offended, to stumble
into sin. He says, it would be better for me
that I have a millstone. That's about a ton or
two. hanged around my neck and I be dropped into
the sea than to do something like that. That's
kind of serious, I think, don't you? You think
Jesus is trying to get a point across? So do
I. We are not to give cause for hindrance. Now
let's go back to chapter 14 of Romans. There
are three exhortations in verse 13. The first
is given to the weaker brother. the second and
third to the stronger. He says first to the weaker,
let us not judge one another anymore. Now if
you look earlier, you'll notice it's the weaker
ones who are doing the judging. The stronger
were despising. But the weaker were judging and
pointing their finger and saying, shame on you.
They were judging their brothers regarding some
of their activities. And Paul says, don't do
that anymore. In other words, it was going on,
just like it's going on in some lives here this
morning. If you want to not cause your brother
to stumble, then stop judging him, because that
will cause him to stumble. You see, that judging
kind of an attitude creates tension and ill feeling,
mistrust and suspicion. And so if you or me If
we are guilty of judging one another, let's stop
it right now and confess it as sin, for that's
what it is. Secondly, he says, and now to the
strong, don't put an obstacle in your brother's
way. Now the word obstacle in verse 13 is a noun
form of the word stumbles in verse 21. The word
to stumble in verse 21, has to do with striking
your foot against a stone along the pathway.
I talked to my mother in Kansas last week, and
she said that she had been out walking, which
is a morning exercise that she's been going through,
and as she was walking along at a very rapid
pace, she did not notice in the pavement that
it was broken, and there was a piece sticking
up, and she stubbed her toe, and before she knew
it, she fell face first right on the ground.
She stumbled in the very sense of what this word
means. Now, dear beloved people, can you imagine
someone deliberately doing that to someone else,
physically or spiritually? He says that we are
not to put an obstacle in our brother's way so
that he trips on it and falls. That, of course,
will give him a hindrance. He will not progress
and mature. Don't do that. Then he says, thirdly,
don't put a stumbling block in your brother's
way. Now you would think the word stumbling block
would mean what I've just said, but actually
the word stumbling block literally means the
trigger of a trap. Have you ever seen a little
boy out trying to catch a bird? Had a box. I
saw this several years ago. He had a box. He
had a stick up holding the box at one end. He
had some kernels of seed. underneath the box,
and he had a string. This little boy was over
behind a bush, and he was waiting for some bird
to come along. And he'd get underneath the box,
and whap, and he got him, see? Well, this word
here would be the word for that stick that held
up the box. It's the trigger of a trap. And it
has to do with the idea of enticing someone to
do something that they shouldn't, something that
will cause them to feel guilty. something that
will cause them to be hindered. That's what it
means. And so he says that we who are stronger
must be careful not to entice a weaker brother
into doing something that will cause him to sin
against his conscience. We are not to set an
example that will tempt him to do what we've
done and he ends up falling while we can take
it. That's the idea. And so we build up one another.
and thus preserve the unity in the church, when
we give no cause for hindrance, such as we've
suggested in verse 13. It is an unspeakable,
inexcusable, and shameful thing to hinder another
person in his spiritual progress, and thus being
edified. And that's a sin that we must confess
if we're guilty. We need to beware of being involved
in any activity that will create an offense with
someone else. We need to stop judging others
who may have more liberty than we do at this
particular point in a gray area of life. We build
up one another secondly by developing this habit,
walking in the law of love, verses 14 and 15.
Love here is agape love. It's God's kind of love.
It's the love that motivates us to action, to
seek a brother's welfare so as not to cause him
hurt. Again, this is primarily addressed to those
who are stronger in conscience. You see, the
one who is strong especially faces a tension
between two responsibilities in his life. It
is a healthy tension, actually, but tension nonetheless.
It is a tension between knowledge, what I know
to be true, and love, my concern for my brother.
And the more mature that one is, the better that
there is a balance in his life between knowledge
and love. Now, what does knowledge say? Well,
knowledge says what it says in verse 14. Nothing
is unclean in itself. Paul says, I know that.
He says, not only that, I have thought about
it, and I'm convinced after my thinking about
it. That there's nothing in itself unclean. Now,
he's talking here about ceremonial uncleanness,
not moral uncleanness. He says, food. Because
it's been offered to an idol, for example, as
still food, I know that the idols are nothing.
That's what knowledge says. But love, on the
other hand, says my brother needs to be built
up. And though I know that nothing is unclean,
he doesn't yet know that. And if I act on my
knowledge alone, my brother will be hurt. Therefore,
says the mature and stronger brother, I must
limit my own liberty in order to protect my brother
from being hindered. You see, love tempers our
actions, which knowledge may approve. Turn over
to 1 Corinthians chapter 8. I would commend this
whole chapter to your study. Because it is a
beautiful text dealing with what we're talking
about right now. He warns these carnal and immature
Corinthians that knowledge alone makes one arrogant
and puffed up. And he reminds them, because they
needed it, That love builds up. That's verse
1, the last part of the verse. You'll notice
in verse 4 he says, we know that there is no
such thing as an idol in the world and that there
is no God but one. He says idols really are nothing
and they don't represent true gods. They're all
false. We know that. He says God is the one who
made all things, verse 6. We exist for Him. We
exist by Him. We exist through Him. He says,
we know that there's only one true God, the Creator.
Verse 7, however, and now he begins to balance
it out. Here's love saying that not all men have
this knowledge. You see, love realizes that there
are some whose consciences are defiled. Because
they don't have the knowledge, the insight, the
understanding about idols that Paul might. Love
understands, it remembers that liberty must not
cause one to stumble. Verse 90 says, Take care
lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling
block to the weak. For if someone sees you who
have knowledge, Dining in an idol's temple, and
that was literally a possibility. There were
dining areas in those temples. That's how those
pagan temples got rid of some of the offerings
that were brought. He says, if someone sees you
there, will not his conscience, if he is weak,
be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?
He may come in and order a beefsteak too. And
then he says, through your knowledge, he who
is weak is ruined. The brother for whose sake
Christ died. The word ruined means that he suffers
loss. He gets away from what he's done. He begins
to think back and he says, what have I done in
eating that? I have really sinned against God,
he says. Actually, the sin is against his own
conscience. His conscience has been wounded.
Paul goes on to warn that the stronger who enticed
him to come into the temple by setting that example,
look what he does in verse 12. He sins against
Christ. The stronger brother sins against Jesus
Christ because he has caused his weaker brother
to do something regarding which he now feels
guilty. And so his conclusion in verse 13, Therefore,
if food causes my brother to stumble, I will
never eat meat again. He says, I will be a vegetarian
if necessary, that I might not cause my brother
to stumble. Now, my friend, there is the conclusion
of a man who's walking in the law of love. There
is a mature apostle. who is balancing in his
life what he knows to be true and yet what he
says love concludes. Love concludes. I will not
do what will cause my brother to stumble. I will
walk in the law of love toward him. Knowledge
alone leads to an independent attitude, but God's
plan is that we be interdependent. That we be
concerned about those around us. We be interdependent.
A healthy Christian is not one who's independent,
one who's off doing his own thing in his own
way. A healthy Christian is one who realizes
in a healthy way his dependence upon others and
seeks to have others helped and built up by the
law of love being active in his life. If we want
to build up one another, there's a third habit
we must establish. That is, seeking the kingdom's
priorities, verses 16 through 19. The kingdom
that he mentions here in verse 17 is not the
eschatological kingdom to come, the reign of
Christ on the earth. It is the contemporary kingdom
of God, which is real and present right now in
the heart of the believer and in the sphere of
the church. In a broad sense, we can say that
the kingdom of God is where God rules as sovereign.
And that should be your life and mine as well
as in our fellowship as a church. Now he says
that there are priorities in God's kingdom and
God's rule in our lives. These priorities are
not eating and drinking. Now these may be good
in themselves. As he says in verse 16, do not
let what is for you a good thing be blasphemed.
How is it blasphemed? When I take what is good
for myself, but yet cause my brother to stumble
in being active in that thing. So he says a priority
is not eating and drinking or those kinds of
things that are good. He says there are higher
priorities. I need to sometimes put aside the
good. and go for the best. And the highest priorities
are righteousness, peace, and joy. Righteousness
here meaning my proper actions, right actions
in my life, in my brother's life, ethical behavior,
kindness, honesty, purity, Christ -likeness.
That is a priority in God's kingdom. People living
like Jesus. reflecting him in the way that they
decide things and do things and say things. Righteousness.
Along with that comes peace. And here he's talking
about the peace, I think, among believers, that
harmony, that mutual accord in fellowship. We
are to seek that in our midst. We are to avoid
doing anything that's going to sow seeds of disunity
and disharmony. For God's priority is peace.
Peace. It doesn't mean that there's not a time
to confront, but we need to do it in a biblical
way. It doesn't mean peace at any cost. for there's
a time that one must take a stand to be right
with God. But we're talking in general that peace
is God's priority, especially when it comes to
inconsequential, non -essential matters such
as we're talking about here, peace. And then
he says joy, and joy is what follows when there's
righteousness and peace. It is that inner felicity.
that arises from the first two things we've talked
about. Jesus said these things, I have spoken
to you that my joy may be in you and that your
joy may be full. God wants us to be a joyful
people. Now I'll tell you one way to destroy
the joy of a church, and that's to begin to divide
it. If you walk into a fellowship of believers
and you sense there a real joy, then you're probably
going to find that that is a united group of
people. There is peace there, and there is righteousness
in the lives of the people. They're concerned
about one another, and it produces that joy.
And what is the point? It is to live so as to
provide for righteousness and peace and joy in
our church and in the lives of the family of
God. He says that when we serve the Lord this
way, Verse 18. Two things are accomplished. First,
we are well -pleasing to God, and that's most
important. That God be able to look at you, to
look at me, and say, I'm pleased with the way
that you're living and with the attitudes that
you have and for the righteousness of your life
and for the peace that you are encouraging among
my people. I am pleased with you. But there's
a second. and that is that we are approved by
men. Now, that should not be the highest priority
to us, but that's a byproduct. When we live seeking
God's priorities in His kingdom, it produces
our approval of other people. I mean, they will
look at us and they will pass us. They will see
that we are legitimate. That we're really what
we say we are. We're not hypocrites. We'll be
approved by men. And so he says that we ought
to pursue eagerly, verse 19, these things that
make for peace and the building up of one another.
In other words, you and I need to see to it that
what we do and say in this church establishes
an atmosphere for the building up of other people.
We ought to seek God's kingdom priorities, righteousness,
peace, and joy. And as we provide that kind of
an atmosphere in our fellowship, it is going
to be built up. Other believers will be built
up. Boy, I just can't help but talk about it.
We're heading into spring soon. It takes faith
to talk that way today. What happens in spring?
Well, there is, of course, the whole natural
bit that takes place and the result of all of
that tilting of the earth and so on is that the
weather begins to warm up, the soil thaws eventually
in Minnesota, and the atmosphere changes so that
things grow. Isn't it a sad thing that some churches
never get out of winter? Isn't it a sad thing
that some churches never know the meaning of
spring in their fellowship? You know, I hope
we always live in spring, where things are fresh
and new and the atmosphere is such that as a
church, we are building up one another and our
body is growing in love. That, my friend, is
how you keep the unity of a church. Then there
is a fourth habit that we're to establish in
our lives in order to build up one another. That
is the habit of living without self -condemnation,
verses 20 through 23. I think the last part of
verse 22 really is the key in this whole little
text we're looking at. He says, happy, that is
spiritually prosperous. Happy is he who does
not condemn himself. in what he approves. Whether
one is weak or strong, whichever end of the spectrum
one is on, he is spiritually prosperous if he
does not condemn himself in what he approves,
what he chooses to do. Now to the strong in verses
20 through 22, he essentially says this, you
who are strong, don't you tear down God's work
by abusing your rights. You remember your brother
who is weaker. You keep your convictions to yourself
without having to flaunt them or to practice
them to make some point. Or else you'll condemn
yourself, says Paul, and you won't be a happy
person. Your conscience will cry, guilty, guilty,
guilty. You've caused your brother to stumble.
And one who is guilty doesn't have any joy or
happiness. He's not spiritually prosperous. To
the weaker brother in verse 23, he essentially
says, now you weaker, don't do something regarding
which you are uncertain. If you don't feel good
about it, don't do it. For it's sin for you,
even if your brother has liberty. If you will
condemn yourself, don't get involved. Live without
self -condemnation. Because if you do get involved,
your conscience will also say, guilty, guilty,
guilty, and you won't be spiritually prosperous
or happy. A heart that is struggling under some
kind of self -condemnation is a heart that is
not going to mature or help other people to be
built up. So we need to establish in our lives
this principle. and practice this habit that
we live without self -condemnation, without causing
ourselves to feel guilty in our spirits because
of our action. Whether strong or weak, that is
the case. Now the question is, which of these
habits are already established as a pattern in
your own life? Let me look back down the list
right now. Which of these patterns can you honestly
say are already a part of your life? Which may
need to be added? What area do you need to work
on, whether strong or weak? And that brings to
mind the second question, are you strong or are
you weak? How do you know in your answer? We've
expressed what a strong person is, what a weak
person is. Are you being honest with yourself?
Are you weak or strong? Now, if you're strong,
are you being considerate or arrogant? If you
are weak, Are you growing and maturing or are
you critical and judgmental? God intends for
the weak and the strong to live together in the
same church and be happy about it. The way we
do that is by building up one another. God intends
for the strong to help those who are struggling.
Are you doing that? To the strong, Chuck Swindoll
has a good word. He says, if my liberty could
hurt my brother, I must limit myself. If my liberty
would hinder God's work, I must limit myself.
If my liberty creates unrest in my own conscience,
I must limit myself. Folks, every one of us here
today is either a stepping stone or we are a
stumbling stone. We are a blessing or we are
a blight to God's church. Now as you examine
your heart, rather as God examines your heart,
what does He expose and reveal to you? Let's
pray. Father, your word searches us and at times
makes us very uncomfortable. It reveals within
us attitudes that are not Christ -like and are
not in harmony with your word when we might have
thought everything was just fine. We want to
thank you for, in your faithfulness, exposing
in us that which hinders our own growth and hinders
the growth, the building up of our brothers and
sisters, and which potentially could bring hindrance
to your work in this church by dividing it. I
pray that you will today give us hearts of repentance,
change our lives too. Bring us into conformity
so that we are practicing these principles and
establishing the habits that we've talked about
this morning to build up one another. And Father,
if there be some friend here who's not saved
at all, who has never come to Jesus in faith
and trusted the Lord Jesus as his own Savior,
help him today to do that, to receive the one
into his life who... the one who died for him
and rose again. We pray this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.