Transcription
Today. Uh Romans, uh chapter 14. We get back in church. It's been a long time. Uh we've been away from this. Actually, it's been a month since we've been in Romans. Uh and so we're going to get back in right now. And uh it is this message titled uh getting real with God and man. This is quite uh with with all that exuberance and joy that you heard a moment ago uh regarding all of that. Now, it's time for me to bring you down uh as we go through a very deep challenging portion of scripture that I I trust will speak to all of us. And I got to tell you, um we're going to teach the Bible here right now like we always do. And uh there's going to be stuff that that we're going to be talking about from the word of God that I'm not even sure uh if I agree with because it's it's not that it's not true. It's 100% true. It's that I need to come to the agreement of it. It's like this cannot mean that Lord, you don't mean that, do you? And he comes right back and says, "Oh yes, I do." And so I'll read the uh odd-numbered verses if you would join nice and loud in the even-numbered verses.
Paul speaks to the believers from Corinth, Greece. By the way, he's writing to the believers uh in Italy and uh in Rome predominantly. Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.
>> For one, he believed he eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. And let not him who eats despise him who does not eat. And let not him who does not eat judge him who does or who eats. For God has received him.
>> Who are you to judge another servant's? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed he will be made to stand. For God is able to make him stand.
>> Powerful verse. One person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
>> He observes the day observes it to the Lord. And he who does not deserve the day or does not observe it.
>> He who eats eats to the Lord, but he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat, God.
Verse seven, for none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
>> For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
>> For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
>> But why do you judge your brother? Why do you show contempt for your brother?
>> For we also stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
>> For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God."
>> So then each of us will give an account to God.
Father, we pray for the possession of your Holy Spirit to seize us, to lay hold of us, Lord God, and to emboss upon us, Lord. Stamp within us the truth of your word. Not our opinions, not our feelings, and not our experiences, but the word of God alone, sovereign, perfect, holy. Lord, please we pray that you would do a great work in our lives. We ask now in Jesus name. And all God's people said, "Amen." You may be seated. You may be seated.
And you well know that in the Christian experience, there are those in life who say things. For example, "Don't judge me, brother." We've all heard that. And um, that, listen, that may or may not be true, believe it or not. When when uh someone says, "Well, you're judging me." Uh, does that apply or does that not apply? Is it appropriate or inappropriate? Well, frankly, in your notetaking, you need to write this down right from the start. Romans chapter 14, even out into Romans chapter 15, it's all about interrelationships of the church. It's brother to brother, sister to sister in the family of God. And when we talk about judging one another, why is it in some scriptures does the Bible say that we ought to judge to determine if somebody is actually a real brother or sister or not? Does the Bible contradict itself? The answer is absolutely not. What do we know? What do we mean? Well, first of all, we are uh victims of the English language. It's very limited in its description. Just know this, and in the next several weeks, we'll be getting this down in detail, that when the Bible tells us that we are to examine one another's fruit in their lives, what are we producing as believers? Are we really believers and followers of the Lord Jesus? If we are, it will be seen by how we live our lives. And we are commanded as brothers and sisters in Christ to not only judge ourselves according to the Bible, but we are to examine one another as well to see if, in fact, we are of the household of faith. And the word judgment in that case is not condemnation. It means, in fact, Jesus put it this way: You'll know one another, or you'll know them by their fruit.
>> We are called to be fruit inspectors in the family of God. When somebody says, "I'm a Christian," verbally, and then lives a life in opposition to the statement, we know that they're not for real. But the Bible does say, "Thou shalt not judge." And when the Bible says that, the word is, "You shall not condemn." The word "judge" is also translated in English that way. Unfortunately, in the Greek and in the Hebrew language, which the Bible was written in, we have no authority whatsoever to condemn another person just because we think they're out of line. We do not have that authority. Are you to judge me based upon my life's statements, based upon my lifestyle? The answer is yes. And I, the same to you. But not with the spirit of condemnation. Always remember this: As believers and followers of Christ, we are to always be making our evaluation, our assessment with an outstretched arm of love and of hope. If you know somebody who claims to know Jesus, or in fact, they know Jesus, but they're not walking right with the Lord, what are you supposed to do? Stone them?
>> No. You're supposed to reach out and pull them up out of the pit. The Bible tells us this in Galatians that we are to rescue our brothers and sisters in a spirit of grace with humility, lest we find ourselves becoming guilty of the same very, very strong things. And so I've got to tell you upfront, if you have the notes that have been scanned into your device, um, that this uh this section of scripture is not easy to teach. As I said in the opening, we're going to hear things that I'm going to tell you truth. But I'm struggling with it, and you'll see. And I'll let you know when I'll let you know when I'm struggling with it. And uh, but it's very, very important. And again, I'll point it out. Uh, but we do need to address these things. Thank God. As we go through the Bible, because why? Because there's a great move of uh fakeness going on in what is called the church today. There's a lot of things that are not real. And the world looks at us, justifiably right, and they mock us, and they think we're insane. And most of the time, I agree with the world's assessment of the modern-day church. And that's unfortunate. But can you write this down at the top of your notes, please? It's Psalm 133. Psalm 133:1 says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garment." In other words, he was Aaron. When he was called to be the priest of Israel by Moses, he was covered in the anointing oil, as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descends upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. How pleasant it is that the brethren should dwell together in unity. And that's what we're going to be talking about over the course of these next several weeks. Unity in the body of Christ. Listen, look at the screen. Must be based upon the word of God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Okay, think about that. How did we, or are we, brothers and sisters in Christ? Secondly, if that's true, what brought us together? Answer: The word of God did.
>> Amen. You see, listen. We never sacrifice truth for unity.
>> "Oh, our church is a church of unity." What does that mean? Wait, you're making me nervous. What does that mean? We just allow everything and anything? Everybody just comes together. We're just one big mess. There's people who are members of our church and they don't believe in God, or they don't believe in Jesus. They don't believe in the Bible. But we're just one united family. No, you're not. You're living, listen. You're living a nightmare. You think it's a dream. It's a nightmare. You've got to be unified upon the truth.
>> And it's the truth that will prevail. To us today, church, in our last time together, we just scratched this. And um, I got to tell you, uh, today I feel bad for some of the services today because uh, I, I, I ended this message in part one at various locations. So some of you might remember some things. Some of you, they're all new. It's because I ended first, second, and third all on different pages of my notes. So that's never happened before like that. So I'm praying that after a month, that you all forget that this didn't happen. Mark it down. Number one, getting real with God and man is this. It means that you and I have a grounded faith. What does it mean to have a grounded faith? And uh, asking that question, the first great danger is you immediately, and I immediately, assume I've got a grounded faith. You might say, "Well, I've got a grounded faith. I don't know about you, pastor, but my faith is grounded." Well, let's see. Let's just see. Every single one of us. By the way, somebody may be here today, or you're watching right now, and you're thinking, "Oh, you silly people, you Christians about your faith." Faith. Yeah. Hey, listen. Faith is the most important thing that we possess. There's no doubt about it.
>> 100%. More than gold, more than life itself, it's faith. Here's the thing. Everybody exercises faith. Everybody. The atheist exercises faith. Say, "I never heard that before." Well, you ought to get used to it. Listen, if you're an atheist, you are exercising faith that God doesn't exist.
>> That's risky business, man. You're better off going to Vegas and throwing the dice on that one. You are hoping and trusting that there is no God. You have a profound level of faith. I disagree with your faith, but you probably have more faith than I do. For you to not believe in God in light of all the evidence of God's good existence, what's your problem?
>> Is seriously strange. You say, "Well, there's so much evil in the world." Agreed.
>> But how do you know it's evil? You can only judge evil if you know what's good.
>> So, I will come right back at you and say, "Then explain all the good that's in the world."
>> All that bears witness of the fact that you and I live in a fallen world, and that we need Christ. But for the believer, our faith is to be grounded. We do not check our brains out at the door when we walk into a church. In fact, if anything, we should drink an extra cup of coffee or whatever you need to be super alert, because when we come into church, we should engage ourselves into the word of God and be thinking. We need to be a thinking people, a reasoning people, a logical people. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance." The word in Greek means the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence. The word "evidence" is the word "proof." That's no stretch. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And what I love about that statement, it defines what faith is. And uh, what is also awesome, if you want to stretch it a little bit uh, and apply it to the scientific realm, that our faith in this world is based upon the operation of scientific laws that we physically cannot see but are invisible.
>> You think about that for a moment. Do you see gravity?
>> You don't see gravity, but all you have to do is look at your body and you can see that gravity is a fact. It's real. When you jump, when you jump off a cliff, you do not go up. Wouldn't that be something? You jump off a cliff and go up into a cloud.
>> If I were God, I'd like to try that for a day or two.
>> Just to play with some people's minds. God just changes the laws of science, and they think they're going to jump into the river and they go up into a cloud. That'd be fun, I think. No, you go down. You don't. You cannot see gravity, but you can see the effects of gravity. And the same is true about faith. You do not see the air that you're breathing, but you're very glad for it. Why? Because these things dwell in a realm that are beyond our ability to see with the naked human eye. But faith is real. And we see in verse one that as we mature in Christ, it is this that we produce a practical faith. He says there in verse one, "Receive one another." He's speaking to brothers and sisters in Christ. "Receive one who is weak in the faith." Please circle these words. Circle the word "reserve" or "receive." Excuse me. Receive. Circle the word "weak." And then he says, "But not don't receive them with disputes over doubtful things." What does this mean? It means that those who appear or seem to be, or in fact are, weak in the faith, they are your brother and your sister. Church family, I'm going to be hard on this today. They're not sub-brothers and sisters.
>> They're not. They're not less than you. When the Bible says that they are weak, let's first of all understand what the Bible means by saying we are to receive them. Receive is this: to bring in or to make or to take, excuse me, alongside. In other words, to incorporate them, to draw them near, to open up your arms toward them as a brother or sister in Christ. It is to welcome them in. Cart blanche right there. Brother and sister in Christ. Welcome them in is a very, very important truth. And the, the amazing thing about this uh great truth is that we, if we have a grounded faith, when we are with other brothers and sisters and we begin to perceive we think that they're they're not as mature as we are. Boy, we better be careful with that assessment instantly. Folks, listen. You think in the reading of this that it's like, "Oh yes, I know some weak believers." What you do not know is, listen, that weak believer may actually be stronger than you in many things. Notice what we read today. It was regarding food. It was regarding the Sabbath. It was regarding drink. Paul mentions three things. We're going to talk about these things today. But that weak brother may be extremely strong in areas that you, the strong brother, are very weak in. And the greatest manifestation of our weakness is for us who think we're strong to look down at a brother and sister and say, "Oh, look how weak. Someday they'll be grown up like me, spiritually grounded." And the moment you have that thought or that admission, you are far from being mature, and you just might be weaker than the weakest. Quite remarkable. It's a very practical faith. A great uh level. Uh, think about a gigant, think about a gigantic level. I don't know what you call it. I'm sorry. But uh, you know, a level with a bubble in the middle.
>> It's not a transit, is it? That's something else. Is that just a level?
>> Okay. So, think of a gigantic level. And when you move it, you know what's what's top center is when that little ball goes within that zone. And you know it's level. And that's that's the judgment. It's it's it's level. And so, listen to this. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he or she has done, whether good or bad." He's talking about the Bema seat of Christ. And in that day, listen, the great level will take place. All of our human judgment uh will be proven uh to be either true or false based upon the great judgment of Christ Jesus. And for those of you who don't know, let me clarify real quick, though it's not in our notes. God the Father will judge the world in righteousness. And when he judges the world in righteousness, Revelation chapter 20, all those who he judges from that judgment go straight to hell. This is the judgment of God the Father. There's no Jesus involved. The world is an unbelieving world. God the Father judges them. And notice their demise is hell. That's the judgment of God. And then there's the judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ that we just read a moment ago. Jesus will judge his own church. And it has nothing to do with hell. It has everything to do with heaven.
>> Amen. >> And you and I will be judged by Jesus regarding our faithfulness. Were we faithful to do what he called us to do? And to give of our lives to him as he called upon us to give. You will not answer to a person. You're not going to answer to the Pope. You're not going to answer to Billy Graham. You're not going to answer to him, me, or anybody else. You're not going to, listen. You're not going to answer to your husband.
>> And you're not going to answer to your wife. The Bible makes it clear that we will stand before God. The Bible explains it this way: We will stand before the Lord naked. It doesn't mean you're naked, naked. It means you'll have nobody with you.
>> But that's okay. You'll have Christ. He is your great advocate. He's your great defense. And and then he'll, and then I think we're going to see all the things that we, we, he invited us to do. You know those things in life where he said, "Do this," and we didn't do it. I think he's going to show us the opportunities he provided and we missed them, and we're going to weep over that. No wonder why I think after the judgment, it says he wipes away every tear. I think those are our tears. Oh man, he was telling me to go tell that person, and I thought I would be like a fool or look silly, and I went home that day wrestling in my mind. I should have spoke to them. Those kinds of things. I think uh, I'll be very grieved on that day when the things that God has told me to do or prompted me to do, and I didn't do.
In Romans chapter 16, verse 17, I'm going to give you a lot of reading here in a moment. Romans 16:17, the Bible says, "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses." This is within the church. Note them. You know people who cause division, they split people up. Listen, in a church family, you need to mark them. I'll keep reading and then come back and comment on this. It says, "Contrary to the doctrine which you have learned," and avoid them. Man, can you imagine going to church and there's somebody that causes division, and the Bible says you need to avoid that person? What are you doing? You're making a discernment, a judgment based upon the Bible, not your feeling. So, if somebody's always uh gossiping about others, you need to mark them. You need to mark them. See them coming, you put on garlic and a big crucifix and sprinkle some holy water on them or something. I don't know. But listen, if you're a gossip, you need to be marked according to the Bible. The Bible says that a talebearer divides friends. God hates that, by the way. Well, you know, "Hey, Betty, did you hear what what Karen did?" "No. What happened?" "Well, I'm just calling you so we can pray for her." Yeah, right. How about this response? "Do I need to know?" And they go, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, you really, you really ought to know." Okay, just know this. Once you get done telling me, I'm going to quote you having told me this. "Oh, well, maybe I, maybe I, maybe I left the oven on." You know what I'm saying? Got to watch out. And um, so watch out for that because he says in verse 18, Romans 16:18, "For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple."
Matthew 15:1, here's a big one. Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus saying, "Why do your disciples transgress," notice, "the traditions of the elders?" Not Bible, just the tradition of the elders. "For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." He answered and said to them, Jesus answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?" Isn't that awesome? Come back. You guys all excited about my my disciples not washing their hands because your your traditions say that that's not good. Then how do you answer the fact that you've put the traditions of man greater than the word of God?
>> Wow. Verse four. For God commanded, saying, "Honor your father and mother," and "He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death." But I say to you, whoever says to his father or his mother, "Whatever profit you might have," in other words, "Whatever I was going to give Mom and Dad um has been given as a gift to God. Sorry, Mom and Dad. Uh, you're out." Then then he need not honor his father or mother. Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Jesus is so mild. He says, "Hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, 'These people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain they worship me.'" What a horrible thing to hear from the heart of God. You have vainly worshiped me. In other words, your worship was false. Why? Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men, rules, and regulations. And when he had called the multitude to himself, he said to them, "Hear and understand that not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." Then his disciples came and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard uh heard this saying?" But he answered and said to them, "Every plant which," watch this everyone, "every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch." Can you imagine Jesus saying, "Everything that's not from my Father will be plucked out. It's going to be removed."
Church family, I've said this for several times over these last few months. The church is going through this right now.
>> And all over the world, the church right now is is the Lord is is pulling out the false. He's he's the Lord is pruning.
>> And plucking and cleansing his church.
>> And listen, I warned you before, don't look at somebody's face and assume.
>> God looks at the heart. Well, they're that famous Christian. Famous to who? Famous to God? No. Famous to you, not to God. It's the, it's the heart of the matter. It's what's inside of them. And friends, listen, it's what's inside of you that matters. And before that, we should walk before God humbly. Jesus Christ came to save us and to give us a whole new identity. And that identity is not wrapped up in dos and don'ts. We are to receive a brother and sister in Christ and not get into unnecessary silly disputes and arguments over things that do not matter.
>> Amen.
>> What does this mean? It means agree on biblical doctrine.
>> And when we do not agree on things of opinions, we are big enough to let those opinions go. And I, I, I, I'm hesitant to think that the church in America has even matured to that place. We've got this thing, this spirit of arrogance that, well, if they don't, if they don't go to church wearing flip-flops and board shorts, then they must be losers. And then those who wear three-piece suits are saying, you know what? If those people go to church with flip-flops, then they're, you know, they're all going to hell. You can tell.
>> This is terrible. Yes.
>> Is it okay with you that there are people on the shores of the Hawaiian Islands who go to church with flip-flops and board shorts and worship God? You say, "How can they possibly do that?" They do. If you go to the jungles of South America, if you go to Brazil, you're going to see Christians worshiping God, and they have a gourd on. Do you know what a gourd is? They have underwear covering their private parts, and that's it. And they're praising God in the jungle where Christ has come to them. And we think because we're from New York City that if they don't put a suit on, they cannot be worshiping God. What's wrong with us? Might I remind you that the Bible says in heaven, God will gather together every kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation of the world. He will bring them together. Why? Because it's what God sees in the heart. It's not what you're wearing.
>> That makes you a Christian. You know the old saying, uh, "Going to Winchell's does not make you a donut." Just like going to church doesn't make you a Christian. Now, of course, it's Krispy Kreme instead of Winchell's. But John 1:12-13 says, "But as many as received Him," see that? That's the qualifier. "To them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." Church, is that enough? Think about it. They believe in His name. They trust Him. They love Him. They obey Him. It's not what they're wearing. It's not what they're doing. It's not what they're dressed like or the way they comb their hair. It's not what color their skin is. It's not how short or how long they worship. This is a, listen, this challenges us. Look, we're in a Calvary Chapel right now. I don't usually talk about the name. I don't really care about the name, to be honest with you. I was born in, spiritually raised at a Calvary Chapel, but do you think there's a section in heaven saying, "Calvary Chapel, turn left. Calvary Chapel, 100 ft ahead"? No. And there are those, listen, there are those who look down at Calvary Chapel because they say, "Well, there are people who show up there. It's like, it's like a, a big mess. There are people who show up and they have three-piece suits on, and they sit right down next to a person that is clearly on their way to the beach after service. There are people who pull up in Rolls-Royces and people who come up right up in their bicycles." Sounds like heaven to me.
>> It sounds like God, God is at work to me.
>> Yes.
>> But the moment we begin to look at others and say, "Oh my goodness, look at that person. What's wrong with them? They don't have any tattoos." We are in Southern California. You know, people ask, I'm not kidding. People ask, "Why do you always wear long sleeves?"
>> Frankly, I feel, I feel kind of naked in short sleeves. It's just my feeling.
>> No, tell us the truth. You're tatted up, aren't you? A friend of mine bought me some fake tattoos. It was actually this nylon thing you roll on.
>> Have you seen them?
>> They're pretty cool, actually. And I was going to, I was going to fake you guys out one day, but uh, maybe it's a, maybe it's a late-life crisis, but I have no tattoos. I don't have any. But I see everybody who does. Well, look, you clap. So what? What does the clap mean? You have no tattoos. Listen, if, if you have no tattoos, uh, what does it matter? Because some people have and some people don't have. And uh, are you holier if you have them or if you...
>> It's irrelevant.
>> It doesn't matter. The Bible says it doesn't matter.
>> And so it's, it's, it's quite remarkable. You worship the Lord. Listen, thank God it's Sunday. We get to worship the Lord.
>> Wait a minute. I got to tell you right now, today's your day to worship. Today's my day to work.
>> Yeah.
>> Yesterday was your Sabbath. Tomorrow's my day of Sabbath.
>> What's the point? The point is this: Every day to me is a day to worship God.
>> Exactly the same. I love Sundays, don't get me wrong, because I get to see all of your faces. Remarkable. Did you know that in the, get, getting back to the tattoo thing, did you know that in the book of Revelation, Jesus says, "I'm going to write on my children my name."
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>> With ink. What is he going to? How's that going to happen? I don't know. He just said he's going to do it. No, the thing is this. Listen, in and out of this place. I, I, I hesitate to say this uh because I'm going to lose your attention and you're going to start looking around, but uh, there's people like uh Kat Von D. She'll come in and out of this church. Uh, three times we've seen back in this area. He can't hide. He can't hide. Uh, Snoop Dogg has been over here several times in a service. Um, there's been others from the Hollywood world that have come. And you know what I have loved about that is when I get a chance to talk to them, I ask them, "How did the people treat you?" "They treated me like everybody else."
>> Good for you.
>> Praise the Lord.
>> But we've got to be careful that we don't have, watch. We have some things set up in our minds that if this person is not meeting my standard,
>> That's right.
>> They are somehow less. That is the definition of a Pharisee. And we need to be careful. We need to be wise. Yes, we need to be careful. We need to walk in love always. But do keep this in mind. The word "disputes" means passing judgment upon them, holding someone in a lesser light or a lesser view. And "doubtful things" are things to be reasoned about like arguments and speculations, opinions. We would say avoid them. Avoid them. Colossians, listen to this, chapter 2:16. Colossians 2:16. "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come. But the substance is of Christ."
>> You guys still awake?
>> This is a big deal. Remember I told you I'm going to say some things that I don't even know if I agree with yet.
>> Here we go. So let no one judge you in food. What's food?
>> Food.
>> Food.
>> Steak. She says steak's food. I have friends. I, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I even have a friend who thinks sushi is food. And I, I'll throw him under the bus in a moment every chance I get. You know, my friend Amir Sarate,
>> He thinks he thinks there's going to be sushi and only sushi served in heaven. Maybe where he's sitting. Food. Your opinion of food is exactly that. It's your opinion of food. I mean, just for the record, everyone knows that Jesus eats at In-N-Out Burger. Everybody knows this. Drink. We're not talking water here.
>> Oh, how quiet it has become. We're not talking Pepsi. Oh, that'll kill you. We're talking about wine or intoxicating drink. So, oh, don't, don't mention that. I told you this is a, this is something I have a hard time with. I do not come from a history of drunks. Alcohol lifestyle was not in my family. I got drunk a couple times in high school and found out that's not for me.
>> I mean, it scared me to death. Uh, but that may not be true for you. But here's the deal. I know that it affects some people who've come out of that world, and they can't get near it. They won't even, they won't even order a bottle of Martinelli's at the store or get it from the store because it looks like a wine bottle or Perrier. Think about it. I, I don't drink. I don't have that. I don't have that uh need. But listen to me. If you, if you think that having wine at spaghetti, now remember this, bottom, everybody listen up. You're like, "I can't believe I came to this church." Listen. Uh, we are, we know for a fact from the Bible. You can, you can never get drunk. The Bible says you can't get drunk unless you're dying. The Bible says, "If a man is dying, give him strong drink."
>> That's an act of mercy. Think of it. We don't do that anymore. We just dope people up out of their minds in the hospital bed.
>> But um, here's the thing. Here's the reality. Can a Christian be at a restaurant and have a glass of wine with their spaghetti? The answer is yes, they can.
>> Would I do it? This is where I'm weak. It's not my strength. Watch this. Are you listening? This is tricky.
>> Oh no, Pastor Jack. You see, you're so strong, you won't order it. No, I can't order it because I'm so weak about my conviction that you can do it, and I have no problem with you doing it. I can sit down. A couple took us out. It was so sweet. They came to the church. They're brand new. They said, "Can we go out to dinner? Can we take you and Lisa out to dinner?" Yes. We went to a restaurant, and he said, "Hey, preacher, what, what do you have? Bourbon, beer, what, what would you like?" It was so sweet though. They had come from a certain church where they do all that stuff. They were so excited to be here that he wanted to celebrate by starting our evening out with a bourbon, a beer, or whatever. And I said, "Oh, that's okay. I'll just have some tea." And then he went, "Oh, did I just cross a line?" You got to understand something. I loved that. He didn't know. There was no pretense.
>> But we know that we cannot get drunk.
>> But we can't stumble a brother or sister either.
>> So if you think your Christian liberty is so great that you can go to Joe's uh, you know, bar and grill and order your spaghetti and your beers or whatever it is because you're strong. I have the liberty in Christ. You're so silly. You're actually broadcasting how incredibly weak you are. You're so weak that you have to deal with that under the guise of Christian liberty. Or the flip side would be, look, that guy was at church, and there he is over there having that wine at the restaurant. Clearly, he's going to hell. You can't do that. Notice how our opinions now are before our face because I'm thinking, man, how can you be a Christian and go out to a public restaurant and people recognize who you are and you drink like that? You're going to offend the witness of Christ. And Jesus says to me, "Excuse me, I didn't call you to judge other people. That person will either stand or fall before me, Jack. You need to stop being so weak and understand this. You walk before me with your conscience clear, and you do what I tell you to do, and that's it. But you don't go around and tell other people what they're to do based upon your opinion of this thing." You see why I told you I'm going to be saying things that I don't know if I agree with. You might turn around and say, "Yeah, you are a big hypocrite, pastor. Because you tell us all the time about how you like, you love to drive fast. It doesn't matter if I'm on a tricycle. I'm going to go as fast as I can on that tricycle. Downhill, feet off the pedals." It is a weakness of mine. Some of you have, you never go over the speed limit. And you see, you say, um, "See, pastor, I'm stronger." You are stronger until you say, "I'm better than you because I always drive 54 miles an hour." You see what I'm saying? This is like, it's either an absolute winnable war or it's not a winnable war at all. It all depends on what's inside of you.
>> There are things that we should, according to the Bible, be very, very wise about. If a woman walks in uh to the church, and she's not dressed according to your standard or our standards, whatever those standards might be, you don't go up to her and say, "Excuse me, can you like, next week, can you like, put more on?" You don't know. Listen, did, did a, did a pimp just drop her off and throw her out at the curb?
>> You don't know this.
>> And by the way, it would be an insult for you to go over to them and say, "Here, you can, you can put this on for you can. It's my jacket, but you can wear it." You need to say, "Lord Jesus, whatever story this person's wearing, a story.
>> Meet them where they're at. God, call me. Search my heart so that I can go speak to her or to what are, look, just as offensive. I'm sorry, boy. Am I going to get hate mail for this next one? So, she's not scantily dressed, but what if he comes in and he clearly works out, but he's got his t-shirt spray-painted on? Which one's worse? They're the same. And then you say, "Hey, you know, buddy, can you kind of tone it down a little bit because you're making those fat guys look bad?" That's carnal. Can you let God speak to them? Can you let God talk to them? Get your eyes off others and get your eyes back on yourself between you and Jesus.
>> That's what we must do. The Bible tells us in Mark 7:14, "And when he, Jesus, had called the multitudes to himself, he said to them, 'Hear me, everyone, and understand. There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him, but things which come out of him. Those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear,' said Jesus." Very wise. Secondly, a mature faith, everybody. Grounded faith is a faith that is compassionate. It's a compassionate faith. Can you and I get along with others who are not like us, but we're in the family of Christ together? We should do a field trip someday. If I could, if I could logistically pull pull it off, I would do it. And I would just hope you would come. And that would be, wouldn't it be amazing to switch contact a pastor in the inner city of Los Angeles, and him and I agree to switch pulpits?
>> Or no, better than that, better than switching pulpits, switching congregations. We would all drive to downtown LA. They would all come here. And you know, we think, well, that would never happen. But it should. But it should. And while I'm on a roll offending everybody I possibly can, I'm not a big fan. This is my opinion. I'm not a big fan of all Japanese churches or all American churches or all Korean churches or all Arabic churches or all fill-in-the-blank churches.
>> Think about that. Why? Why are we divided?
>> Why are we divided? Now, now entering heaven, all those from the Asian nations, welcome them all. Welcome them. They're here. Here they come. We're not entering the stadium like the Olympic Games for the flag. Little hats on. And a compassionate faith.
>> He says in verse two, "For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables." And you remember we talked last time that the reason why this is even in the Bible here is because the issue of it's not that they're vegetarians. Don't go make fun of your vegetarian friends. Well, what's funny about your vegetarian friends is if you make fun of them, the funny thing is you'll drop dead of a heart attack statistically before your vegetarian friend. So go easy. But it's not an issue of vegetarianism. This is an issue of in Rome, meat being sacrificed to an idol. And so the Christians were so terrified about that that they were going to cross a line with God, that they wouldn't eat the Roman meat because it was dedicated to all the gods before it went out, or yes, before it went out to the agora, to the meat market. So they, they were eating vegetables. They were terrified of sinning against God. And so the Bible says their conscience is weak. They don't understand yet that those idols, that all of this, the food was offered to, they don't exist. That's what God is saying. They're all concerned. They don't understand that the gods of the Roman Empire, they're not really gods. So if you eat meat, bless God for eating the meat. If you're going to eat vegetables, bless God for the vegetables. But the moment all of us meat-eaters over here, look at those vegetarian guys over there, we've broken the heart of God. It's not an issue. It's a beautiful thing if you think about it. For time's sake, I'm going to have you uh read 1 Corinthians chapter 8 on your own regarding that. It's very, very powerful. But we need to have a compassionate faith. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10:23, the Bible says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful." "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are not all things edify." Church family, look at this verse, everybody. Paul the Apostle is saying, "I can do anything I want to do. Only very few people can handle what I'm about to say. I'm not even sure if I can handle it." Paul the Apostle is saying, "I can do whatever I want to do. I'm I'm a Christian now. I'm going to heaven. My name is written down. God's spirit lives in my life. I've been justified by faith. I'm a real Christian. I can live any, I can do whatever I want to do. That's a fact. But just because you can do anything you want to do, should you do it?"
>> It's like getting back to the car thing again. So, I have a '63 Ford pickup truck that can't even go 55 miles an hour. Serious. It's geared in such a way it just won't go. But guess what? There's a guy at the stoplight in a McLaren. He can go 280 miles an hour. In his mind, he could do it, but how much would that cost him? Are you hearing what I'm saying? The guy in the McLaren can do anything he wants. But should he do anything he wants? Of course not. See the difference? The Christian says, like Billy Graham said, "I can choose to live any kind of life I choose. But now, as a Christian, I choose to live for Christ."
>> That's it. That's it. So when somebody says, "I've got liberty to do whatever. Oh, I'm I've got Christian liberty." Like these bonehead pastors on the internet that have this podcast where they sit around and smoke cigars and drink bourbon and they try to equate themselves to Charles Spurgeon. First of all, there's no, there's, there's two things that's wrong with that dumb analogy. Number one, there's no relationship to Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher of yesteryear, and bourbon. He did smoke cigars, and so they think, "Well, you know, we're like Spurgeon." Dude, if you can preach a sermon like Spurgeon, then maybe we'll tolerate your cigar. But you can't do any of that. But they have this podcast that imposes that upon other people as though you've not matured like they have. The moment you cross that line, you are actually weaker than those who you're claiming to be weak over. Does it make sense? Am I messing you all up? Verse 24. "Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. Eat whatever is sold in the market, in the meat place or the meat market. Ask no questions for the sake of conscience." That's great. So, where are...
You gonna go today after church? You're gonna go somewhere to eat and then they come up. What would you like? Oh, I'd like to have the steak and eggs, but before I order, were the chickens offered to Ishtar? And was the steak, was the steak offered to Newsome? In some... Don't ask. Right. Don't ask. See, I'm here to take your order. Yes. Extra eggs, extra t-bone, extra. Don't ask. Isn't that wise? When you go to the meat market in in in Rome or Corinth or wherever, don't ask. Here's why. You're going to redeem it. Here's what's cool about this. Watch.
So verse 26, "For the earth is the Lord's and everything in it." If any of those who do not believe invite you to eat a feast, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for the sake of conscience. You don't want to sin against your own conscience. But if anyone says to you, "This was offered and sacrificed to idols." Can you imagine? They're you're starving. And they they go, "Hey, look at that. Here you go. Here's your thing and it's on, you know, a bed of rice and and all this. Hope you enjoy it." and just and it was offered to Zeus and it's like, "Thanks, great. Take it up. Take it away." No, listen. Even if they say, "Hey, this is the best meat. It was offered up to Zeus." As a Christian, you should say, "Well, I don't believe in Zeus, but the God I worship just sanctifies this meat, so I can eat it. Glory be to God." And you eat it unto the Lord, not unto Zeus.
We get to redeem all that stuff. Think about that. It's very important. It's very, it's very liberating. But at the same time, my Christian liberty doesn't allow. Listen, I don't use my liberty to satisfy myself. My liberty, I actually keep my own Christian liberty in check. I don't exercise it to what I could. I keep it. You want to know something personal? It's really a bummer. I love mowing my lawn.
Here's the thing. Because of you coming by and saying, "Hi, Pastor Tech." In the summer, I would not have a shirt on. It's I'm sweating. It's hot. Now I can't do that anymore. It's true. Because you come by and go, "Me!" And I'm like, [Applause] Do I have the liberty to mow my lawn with my shirt off? Should I? Did you? That was so 50-50 right down the aisle. Wow. I'm going to go home today with some of you. Wow.
Verse 31. "Therefore, whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God." Give no offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. Brilliant. I've got all freedom, but I'm going to choose to live my life regulated. So, I advance the opportunities to preach Christ to everybody I come in contact with. And, uh, it's a beautiful way to live, folks. The beauty is this. God's grace is so extravagant that we hold it so, so dearly.
And we end in verse three. Maturity produces a unifying faith. Getting back to that verse three, "Let no or let not him who eats despise him who does not eat. And let not him who does not eat judge him who eats. For God has received him." Oh my goodness. Please mark that down. These are the words that are most important. For, for God has received him. If God has received your brother and your sister in Christ, that is how do I know who they are? Well, you know one another. Ask them. Ask them the tenants of Christianity. The tenants, not opinions. This is not an opinion. These are must believables. Okay? These are musts. Jesus, the incarnate word of God. That's non-negotiable. In fact, if you do not believe that, you're not a Christian. I'm not judging you. The Bible says so. You must believe that Jesus is the incarnate word of God, the word made flesh that dwelt among us. He's God come to earth in human skin to redeem us. That that he alone is salvation plus what? Nothing. Good works, right? Nope. Eating the right stuff? Nope. Worshiping on the right days? Nope. His faith and his atoning sacrifice alone.
There are, we don't have the time to go through the list. It's not all that, uh, lengthy, but they're Christian tenants. These are things that are musts to be a believer. And then there are external things where it's a matter of interpretation of scripture. We can talk about those things. And then out in the further universe is our opinions or our convictions about things. And that's a very sacred area as well. God says, God does not want us to violate our convictions. Your conscience. If your conscience tells you that you watch, your conscience tells you that you can have a glass of wine at the restaurant, just make sure that you've got that from God and figure out how number one, you don't get buzzed because you can't. And the second thing is that nobody around you is offended by that.
I heard a pastor say that at his Baptist church in in Dallas. He said that over the years, he discovered that at his Baptist church, he said Baptists when they get when they get saved, they give up drinking and they start smoking. And when I heard that, I just like, I like I thought, to honestly, I'm telling you, I thought to myself, I'd rather have the guys drink than smoke. At least I can't get drunk off of their drink. But secondhand smoke, I started going down that road and lung damage and I don't want their cancer. But isn't it funny? How is it that you could go to a church in Dallas and the elders smoke? Does the Bible say, "Thou shalt not smoke?" It doesn't. Should you smoke? Well, look at the health data. It'd be great if you all stopped, too, by the way, because our insurance premiums would go down. You ever think, you ever see the data on that kind of stuff? It's not healthy for you. But guess what? You're my brother. You're my sister. Now, if somebody says, "Well, does do you clump in hallucinogenic drugs with that?" You mean pharmarmacay. The Bible calls it. No. Anything that alters your ability to judge and to reason and to think, it's not good.
So we'll pick this up in part three next time together, church. But I mean, this is down home. This is like down home country kind of wisdom. And I was most convicted thinking when I started this study in preparing for this study that I was somehow I assumed that I was the one that had a grounded faith. Why, Jack, did you think that? Well, in context of our study, I don't drink. I don't wear spray-painted on t-shirts. I don't have a tattoo. My truck can't even go 55 miles an hour. Look at me. And God says, "Yes, look at you. Aren't you strong?" And as soon as I, you know what I mean? I heard the Lord, felt the Lord. It's in here. Aren't you strong? I just felt like a mouse. I realized, oh, am I weak? I could be textbook perfect. And in my heart, if I look at any of you and I think in my mind, well, he's just a little young in the Lord, a little weak in this area. When he grows up, he'll get it. That wretchedness of the inside breaks the heart of God.
I'm gonna end this message right now because I can't take any more of this. Father, we ask you, Lord, in Jesus name. Oh my. If you were to walk into this room like you walked onto the shores of Galilee and you were in the crowd and you came and you went to the Roman toll gate, the seat of toll taxes on the path and you looked at Peter and you and you or Matthew and you said, "Come follow me." That was your word to him. Come and follow me. You didn't look at him and you didn't say that you had to think about his wealth and how it was ill-gotten gain, pillaging the people of Galilee on behalf of the Roman Empire and his own pocket. You didn't say that. And you didn't say, "Well, you know, I'd love to invite you, Matthew, to follow me, but you got these vices that just really, frankly, just make me sick and keep you out of my presence." You never did that. What an awesome thing that the opposite was true. Common people, even prostitutes and tax collectors, flocked to be nearer you. They argued and pushed to get closer to you. Lord, make us like you. Make us like you. And Lord, set us truly free. For your Bible tells us that whoever has the Son is free indeed. [Music] Lord, I pray if there's any man, woman, boy, or girl right now who's being convicted by your Holy Spirit that they are right now waking up to the realization that the word of God is simply saying to me, I died for you. I died for your sins to remove them, to separate them from your life forever. Come to me. Come to me. My arms are wide open. Come to me and let the past be washed away in my sacrificial blood. My Father will forgive and forget your past. And from this moment forward, you will walk with me. Friend, if that's you today, you just need to tell him right now that's what you want. We love you, God. And may we exhibit that love starting right now by how we love each other in Jesus name. And all God's people said, "Amen." Amen. Church, let's stand. God bless you guys. We'll see you Wednesday night. Book of Hebrews. God bless you.