Love Trumps Liberty 11-12-23

Transcription and Summary are computer generated and may vary slightly from the spoken text. Overview: Paul is discussing the concept of freedom in Christ in Romans chapter 14. He explains that salvation is through faith alone and that there is freedom from certain things in our lives. He addresses the issues of different viewpoints and preferences within the church and emphasizes that secondary issues should not divide believers. He urges them to prioritize love over personal liberties and not to cause others to stumble. Paul reminds them that the kingdom of God is not about external practices, but about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. He encourages believers to pursue peace and edify one another, putting others' needs before their own. Love trumps liberty. ----- Transcription: Amen. I invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14 as we will pick up, really, Paul's teaching on the freedom in Christ as he gives us some more instruction about that. But I do want to spend a very brief moment in time bringing us back up to speed to how we got to where we are in a very brief summary of the book of Romans. You see, Paul is preaching to the church at Rome that is made up of believers of both the Jewish and the Gentile background. He spent the first three chapters, or the bulk of the first three chapters at least, explaining to us and diving into the need for salvation, for all have sinned and comes short of the glory of God, both Jew and Gentile. And then he explained to us in 3 and 4 the way of salvation. We get saved by faith alone. And then he explains in chapters 5-8 that there is freedom from salvation. That because we have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, there is some freedom from the law. There is some freedom from certain things in our life. And then in chapters 9-11 there is the acceptance of this salvation. He knew that there would come some problems, some complaints. Now wait a minute, Paul. We believe salvation. Nope, this is how it is. Well, wait a minute, Paul. What about this? Nope. Salvation comes through Christ alone. And we need to accept that. That is the only way of salvation. Good works can't save us. Church membership can't save us. Bloodline can't save us. Only faith in Christ can save us. And we need to accept that. And then beginning in chapter 12 where he starts off, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God. This is your reasonable service. With that phrase, he begins to launch on this teaching about the results of salvation. Because we are saved, because we are forgiven, because we are cleansed from all unrighteousness, how then shall we live? Which brings us to where we are today. Again, I want to remind you of the church that presents the context for our Scripture for today. The Roman church with Jewish and Gentile believers. So the background is you had the Jewish believers that really believed that you were saved by keeping the law. And you had the Gentile believers that had no law. And they would come together. And you can understand how the different upbringings and the different viewpoints and the different standards and the different rules would cause a little bit of friction. I mean, within this congregation today, I see faces that represent many different upbringings. Listen, in my own household, I have a diversity of upbringings, a difference of viewpoints, a difference of sets of standards and sets of rules. And so even in this congregation, we can understand that. And certainly in a church the size of the church in Rome, we can understand. There were all these different viewpoints that would sometimes cause friction. Now, I spoke last week, and I'm not going to spend any time here this week, on primary versus secondary issues. On primary issues, the character of God, the nature of God, the way of salvation, who Christ is, the fact that He was 100% God and 100% man, the fact that we are saved by faith. There are certain things, the fact that the authority of God's Word, we don't move on those things. Those are hills that we should die on. But the secondary issues, the methods, the music, the decorations, and a whole list of other things are secondary issues. And if I'm honest with you, and if we are honest with ourselves, it's these secondary issues that often cause the most chaos. It's these secondary issues that often cause the most problems, because it's these secondary issues that often show up by way of preferences. Well, I just like it this way. And I'm not saying you're right or you're wrong for liking it the way you like it. I'm not saying that I'm right and I'm wrong for liking it the way I like it. What I'm saying is, we need to recognize and realize that those are preferences and secondary issues, not primary issues. But it's really these secondary issues that oftentimes decide who we are, isn't it? What makes us Southern Baptists? Because we believe and do things a certain way. Now, we're not saying that the church down the road is necessarily wrong. They just do it different than us, right? And we need to recognize that. We need to recognize when we go into somewhere else, or if you come into... We do things the way we do things. You come in here and you notice we don't have a light show and smoke machines, and we don't dim the lights for the music, and we don't do all these different things, right? I'm not sitting up here with a stool and a table in my cargo pants and t-shirt and all of that stuff, right? I'm not saying any of that's wrong. I'm just saying that's not how we do things. We need to recognize and realize those are secondary issues. But beloved, I want to present to you, and this is what Paul is presenting to you in 14 and 15 of the book of Romans, that the secondary is where we have freedom. The secondary is where we have freedom. And so all of us just go, whew, man, that's a relief. Because what that means is, you don't have to look like me, and act like me, and talk like me, and do the things that I do, right? You don't have to prefer the things that I prefer. But we realize that those are secondary issues. Because here's where the problem comes in, and this is what Paul is speaking against. Well, Brother Doug, you know what? You don't think the way I think on a lot of things. Therefore, we can't be friends. We can't get along. We can't be in the same church family. We just can't do nothing. And what's worse is when we look at people like that and say, you know what? You're wrong. Because you don't think the same way I think. Beloved, this world is a lot better place because not everybody thinks the way I think. I only heard my family say amen on that one. Because they know. They know. But this world is a lot better place because not everybody thinks and acts the same way you think and act either. Because there is freedom in Christ. There's freedom in the secondary issues. And so Paul presents in the first part of chapter 14, this idea of freedom in Christ. But then he follows that up, because again, Paul knows that some people are going to say, you know what? I have freedom. I can do whatever I want to. Or I have freedom. And anybody that tries to keep me to a standard that I don't like is wrong. And they can just go somewhere else. And there's this judgmental attitude that we will have within our freedom. And so Paul follows that up with the second half of chapter 14 and the first part of 15. So let's read together Romans chapter 14, beginning in verse 14. And we'll go down through chapter 15, verse 6. So again, he's just finished up where there's freedom in Christ. My Bible titles the first 13 verses of chapter 14 as the law of liberty. But he follows that up with this idea that I've titled, that love trumps liberty. 14, verse 14, I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself. But to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let your good 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 serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats because he does not eat from faith. For whatever is not from faith is sin. We then who are strong are to bear with the scruples of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproach you fell on me. For whatever things were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus. That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Love trumps liberty. Now again, Paul teaches a lot of freedom, a lot of liberty within that section of Scripture. But over and over and over again he tells us, do not let this freedom cause your brother to stumble. Do not let this freedom hurt your brother. Do not let this freedom destroy the person or the work of God. I want to say on the onset something that was very crucial to this section of Scripture. As he is talking to the church, and we've known that since the beginning of the book of Romans. But here he is talking to those who are seeking and striving to pursue a relationship with God. He is not talking about, and I don't mean this in any way, the back row Baptists. That want to sit back there in their comfort and do the minimal requirement to be a Christian. Right? Well, I just want to get my hell insurance. So I'm just going to, let me say a prayer. Let me fill my place in the pew. Let me do my checklist. But he is speaking to the ones who are diving into, pressing into, trying to mature in their faith. Because here's the reality of it. If we want to be offended, we're going to be. If we want to get our feelings hurt, we're going to get our feelings hurt. If we want to look for something wrong, we're going to find something wrong. But Paul says, I'm not talking to that person. And those who are strong in their faith don't need to worry about that one who's always complaining against them. Because there is nothing you can do to please them. However, that one that's weak in the faith, that is genuinely trying to seek and to understand and mature in their faith. That comes to you and says, but I thought we couldn't do this or shouldn't do this. That's the one that the one stronger in the faith should maybe do without the freedom so that they're not hurt. That's the one that they should be pushing into disciple. He says that love trumps liberty by refocusing us, by refocusing us on other spiritual maturity. In 14 verses 14 and the first part of 15, he says, I know and I am convinced by the Lord Jesus, there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet, if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. You see that? He's saying you have freedom in Christ. All things are permissible to me, but not all things are profitable. Everything is unclean. However, if you eating meat, and he's specifically speaking to this idea of meat and wine that has been sacrificed and offered as an offering to false gods and idols. There's again within this church two groups. One, the Jewish background, you can't touch it, you can't eat it. It's been sacrificed to false idols. And then there's the Gentile that said, you know what? Those are fake gods anyway. They're not real gods. And so therefore, they can't become unclean by something that's not real so we can partake of it. And there were both of these groups that came to the same church and sat beside each other in the pews, if you will. And they didn't agree on this thing. And so Paul said, look, it's fine to eat it. However, if what you're doing causes your brother to stumble, then what should win over your freedom of eating and drinking is that brother or sister in Christ. What's going to help them? What's going to lift them up? What's going to teach them and train them and disciple them and not cause them to be a stumbling block? That's the focus. We need to refocus. Listen, it's not about me. It's not about you. It's about Jesus. And if what I'm doing is keeping somebody else from seeing that, then I need to not do it in the presence of that person. And that's why he says later, hey, if you can do it and you have the freedom to do it, then you can do that between you and God while you're on your own. But when you're in front of somebody who struggles, then we need to not do it. Listen, I choose not to drink. I don't have it at my household. I don't order it at restaurants. I don't have it anywhere near me. I don't want it. Right? But if I did, and I was going to have lunch with somebody who just came out of alcoholism and struggled with addiction, do you think that I would order a drink in front of them? Absolutely not. Why? Because it may cause them to stumble. It may cause them to falter. It may cause them to go back into a lifestyle that they fought so hard to get out of. And so I'm not going to even bring it near them. That's the mindset. That we need to be concerned about the spiritual maturity of those around us. And how do we get concerned about that? That requires closeness. That requires closeness. I have to be close enough to that person to understand how spiritually mature they are. I don't know the spiritual maturity of people going to Six Mile Baptist down there. Why? Because I'm not close to them. Matter of fact, I don't think that I could call one person that goes down there. Because God's called me to be here. It's not my place to do so, but I can guarantee that I could point to several men and women in this congregation whose faith is outstanding. Their spiritual maturity is well above anything that I am at right now. Their faith is so strong that I look at them and I say, Wow, how do I know that? Because I've spent time with them. I've talked with them. They've invested in me and I've invested in them. There's a relationship that is close there. The time of us coming and sitting in a pew and not caring about the person sitting next to us or across the sanctuary from us is over, church. It's done. We are a church family and we should care about the ones around us to the point of we know their spiritual maturity. We know what they can handle. And we know whether or not I should be laying down some liberties that I may have in front of them, because I love them enough to do that. It requires closeness. It requires caring. And we live in a culture that has evaporated that. We don't care. We just don't care enough about our brothers and sisters in Christ to lay down our liberties, to lay down our preferences, to lay down our schedules, to lay down our personalities even. I've shared this with you and I get y'all laugh at me every time I share this with you, but I'm really a shy person. I'm not I'm not an extrovert. I mean, well, I say that getting to definitions and all that later. But I'm not one that's going to start a conversation. I'm not one that's just going to put myself out there for everybody to see. You say, yeah, right. I'm really not. Now, my family laughs because everywhere we go, I talk to somebody. I find somebody. But what they don't realize is I don't ever start it. I won't say ever start it. Most of the time I don't start it. It's usually just a smile and a nod. Don't I know you? I don't know. James Williams, Pastor Kingsgrove Baptist Church. But because I care about people enough to lay that down and have the opportunity to say, didn't I told you today that Jesus loves you? I'm willing to lay that down because I care. That's where we got to get to church. Now, that's only my first sub point under my first main point. But I'm going to leave it right there this morning. Because here's my question for you. Do you care? Do you care about your neighbor? Do you care about your co-workers? Do you care enough about Jesus to get invested into the lives of those around you? We prayed about these shoeboxes. These shoeboxes are going to go through several sets of hand before they get their destination. And we pray because we care enough about the people that will touch them. We pray that their greatest need is Jesus. You know what your greatest need is? Jesus. You know what your neighbor's greatest need is? Jesus. You know what your co-worker's greatest need is? Jesus. It's amazing. We all have all that in common, isn't it? You say, well, I can't tell them. I don't have nothing in common. Yes, you do. The greatest need is Jesus. So the question comes down to, do we really care? Paul says, you have freedom in Christ. But what's greater than freedom is love. Someone in here this morning, they've heard that for the first time, or realized it for the first time, that your greatest need is Jesus. I'm not saying Jesus will solve all your problems. You're going through a storm. Guess what? If you put your faith and trust in Christ, you still may be in that storm. But now you have a Savior to walk with you in that storm. You've been dealing with some guilt and shame for a lot of years. Jesus says, come unto Me, you who are weak and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Put your faith and trust in Him, and the Bible says He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He'll forgive you. Adopt you into the family of God. Make you His child and be that loving Father. But you don't know what I've done. It doesn't matter what you've done. Jesus' love, His grace and His mercy is more powerful than anything that you've done. Someone in here needs to acknowledge Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Many of us in here need to admit that we just haven't cared like we should. We haven't cared for our neighbors. We haven't cared for our communities. There's a name, a person on your heart and in your mind right now that you need to come and pray that God will use you to be that salt and that light to. That He will give you the opportunity to share the Gospel with Him this week. Thanksgiving's a great time, isn't it? What are you thankful for? I'm thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because of what He's done for me. This altar's open. You come. As always, I'd love to pray with you, pray for you. I'll be down front. Come and pray as the Lord has led you this morning.