Romans Series: Lessons in Living and Loving August 2, 2015 Message Four: Differences without Division Romans 15:1-13 Pages 867-868 in Pew Bible Intro: Illustration?- Everyone on platform wears exactly the same color except one person wearing something different that stands out? Draw attention to that as I begin the message In this section of the letter, Paul is continuing along the same lines of thought from the last passage. In the first major section of the letter he dealt with the divisions over Jewish Old Covenant ways and how much they should be required to be a part of the life of the Church in the New Covenant. Now, he is dealing with some lifestyle issues from the Gentile believers past way of life that may or may not be sin and how to deal with these differences without allowing division to come into the body. Again, the overriding theme is that we are made right with God by our faith in the work of Christ. However, there are a lot of issues concerning the question of what constitutes sin what can one do or not do and still be living by faith in Christ and be an example to others? If we don t want division in the Church Big Question: What can we do to strengthen one another and strengthen unity in spite of our differences? T.S.: We can see four attitudes Paul encourages us to take: 1. We must be considerate Romans 15:1 - We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this What is he talking about? This is a letter, written without chapter and verse numbers what he is writing about here is a carry-over from the last chapter it is just another paragraph of the letter. To understand this, we must remind ourselves of what he has been talking about Romans 14:1-4 - Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. For instance,
one person believes it s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don t. And those who don t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him judge whether they are right or wrong. And with the Lord s help, they will do what is right and will receive his approval. He also talked about whether or not one day is more holy than another Paul said, No, but if someone is convinced that one is more holy than another, let them have their special day and let them worship the Lord with more intensity on that day! Romans 14:10 - So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. We are going to have differences of opinion with one another if it does not relate to the issue of what it takes to be made right with God (Paul spent ample time on that in the first eight chapters of the letter), then we have to live with one another and get along in spite of different opinions on various issues! Obviously, the big issue in the first century church was whether or not meat that had been offered to an idol should be eaten or not. The Jewish belief forbade this. The Jewish leaders of the Early Church asked the new Gentile believers to refrain from eating meat that had been offered to idols. Why? It could be misconstrued that one was worshipping the idol by eating the meat, they were participating in the sacrifice and thus, in the worship to a demon god. But there were complications with this the meat was not always eaten at the time it was sacrificed! Some of the left-over barbecue was saved for later. What were they to do if they were at a friend s house the friend had some leftover meat meat that had been offered in sacrifice to a foreign god? If the believer ate the meat would they go to hell? What if some of the leftover meat was sold in the marketplace and they bought it and ate it not knowing that it had been offered in sacrifice? Would they go to hell? Some of the early believers were becoming very strict about this and were condemning others. Some believers felt strongly that there was no
sin in eating any meat at any time, as long as they were not praying to or worshipping an idol or a demon god. This made for the biggest argument in the first century church a lot of arguments a lot of condemnation a lot of you re going to hell if you do this! This issue caused a horrible division in the church that caused believers to treat one another very badly. It took their focus off of the main goal and hindered them from bringing others into a relationship with Christ. We know this was a huge issue because it is addressed so often - Read carefully 1 st Corinthians 8 Page 874 in Pew Bible - Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that all of us possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him. Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that no idol in the world really exists, and that there is no God but one. Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth as in fact there are many gods and many lords yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not bring us close to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall. 1 st Corinthians 10:6-8 - Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play. We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 1 st Corinthians 10:12-15 - So if you think you are standing, watch out that
you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 1 st Corinthians 10:19-33 Page 876 in Pew Bible - What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, for the earth and its fullness are the Lord s. If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, This has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience I mean the other s conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved. 1 st Corinthians 11:1 - Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Modern examples: - Attending a homosexual wedding - Attending the reception - Ever eating dinner with them - Religious Freedom Bill People should be able to DECIDE businesses should be able to DECIDE whether or not they want to participate - One believer can go into a bar another cannot - One believer may have difficulty going to a football or basketball game (have you seen the cheerleaders ) another may not In the letters to the churches of Revelation we find that there were those
who slipped over the line and actually went beyond eating the meat to participating in worship of demon gods and this so-called worship involved sexual sin and perversion. To the church in Ephesus Revelation 2:6 - But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do. The Nicolaitans were a group of people who considered themselves Christians. However, they not only ate the meat that had been offered to the idols, but they participated in the worship. They still thought they were OK and they encouraged others to do what they were doing. What they thought was the freedom Paul wrote about was licentiousness. They thought they had freedom to do more than just eat meat, but to worship other gods and commit blatant sins with their bodies! To the church at Pergamum Revelation 2:14-15 - But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. Elab on the story of Balaam from Numbers To the church at Thyatira Revelation 2:20 - But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. What does all this mean for us? Paul is saying, I have freedom to do certain things certain things are not sin. If I do them, they won t send me to hell. However, there are believers who believe that doing such things is sin or at least, if they do them, they could be led back into sin. Paul says, When I am around those who are weaker who don t have the strength to get to close to the line then I will avoid doing the thing that I think is all right for me to do! I don t want to cause them to fall into sin or even create division in the church by starting an argument over whether something is right or wrong.
When we put Paul s writing together with the letters to the churches of Revelation, we can see that there were believers who could get so close to the line that they could step over and end up sinning, advocating sin and leading others into sin. How does all of this apply to us? Food and idols are not the issue what is? The answers are as different as our experiences When my brother practiced law, he could go to a hotel lounge after work with his fellow lawyers and drink tea while they drank alcohol. Some might think going into the bar was a sin. For him, it was no sin, and there was never any temptation to drink. For him, it was just about the only place where he could consistently connect with his fellow workers in a social situation with the goal of being a witness. He could go on their turf without sin. However, for someone who has a history of alcoholism that may be walking too dangerously close to a line that would cause them to fall into the sin of drunkenness again. Their lives and the lives of others could be destroyed as a result. Paul would probably say, No problem unless your freedom to go into the bar would cause a weaker brother or sister to fall into sin. 2. We have to think about others Romans 15:1-2 - We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. For even Christ didn t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me. Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God s promises to be fulfilled. Christ is our example of not living to please Himself. The decisions we make in these areas are not always whether or not we are free to do them or whether or not it is sin for us we must be thinking about whether or not what we do might cause someone else to sin. 3. We need God s help Romans 15:5-6 - May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must have the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in order to get along when we may have differences of opinions on issues that may not
be directly labeled in the Scriptures as sin. We will have differences. But God does not want those differences to divide us. He wants us joining together in unity! We are to be united in our praise to God! 4. We need to accept one another as Christ has accepted us Romans 15:7-13 - Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name ; and again he says, Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people ; and again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him ; and again Isaiah says, The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Believing Jews accept believing Gentiles! Believing Gentiles accept believing Jews! We all come from different backgrounds different families different lifestyles different habits. We cannot be offended by our differences! We must accept one another because Christ has accepted us! How many of us were perfect when Christ accepted us? How many of us come from the same background as Christ? None of us! Yet, He accepted us that is our example! The goal is that we will praise the Lord that the world will see us praising that Lord that we will have hope, and joy, and peace and overflow with the Holy Spirit! All of that is good! Concl: Let s not let differences of opinion destroy the unity of Christ s Spirit in us. Let s not walk so close to the line between freedom and sin that we fall over the line or cause others to fall over the line but let s not judge one another, condemn one another or argue with one another based upon where one is walking in relationship to the line! If we say anything to each other, let it be out of concern not condemnation! Let us maintain the unity so that we can have this hope, joy, peace and presence of the Holy Spirit among us!
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