THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2000
Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law [is] within my heart.
John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Roma 15:1-7 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please [his] neighbour for [his] good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind [and] one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
We are going to study Romans 14.
The point of emphasis in listing all of these scriptures should be clear that it is not our own wills that we ought to be most concerned with.
Jesus did not do His own human will, but the will of the Father.
And we are told to be likeminded when it comes to one another.
Our personal wills are naturally concerned with ourselves and benefiting ourselves.
Making ourselves enjoy what we can enjoy and as comfortable as we can be.
It is thinking of what would benefit ourselves.
Satisfying our desires and interests.
In itself, this is fine.
But our wills should not be above everybody else's wills.
It is even a great concern of ours to get to heaven one day.
But God has a more important will.
A greater concern.
He wants everyone to get to Heaven one day.
We want comfort for ourselves, while God wants Heaven for everyone forever.
So the Bible teaches that we must sacrifice our own wills for the will of God.
This lesson is for mature believers.
It is for those who are growing and want to know what it is to be mature.
I am going to teach from a book chapter in the bible that is not a popular chapter.
It is not known to many people.
But to people who do know its information and teachings, it is often disliked by many.
But its part of the Bible and I am sure you all want to live by all of the Bible's teachings and purposes and not just a part of them.
This chapter explains that in some instances you will not believe nor agree with certain things you are requested to do or live by, but it is still necessary for you, as a true Christian (thinking the same way Jesus is said to have thought in 15:3) to sacrifice your disagreements for the purpose of other people and the overall work of God.
God cannot use us to affect other people for His kingdom as much as He would like to use us, if we refuse to ever vanquish our personal wills and desires and comforts for the sake of others with whom we absolutely disagree in some areas.
Let me begin by showing you something that God has promised to us if we seek God's will above even our own wills..
We have individual wills that seek to meet our personal needs, and we will to see our needs met.
But God has promised to us that if we will put our personal wills aside for concern ourselves over His will, then He will make sure our needs are taken care of.
Matt 6:25-33 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
He said that He'd make sure that our needs are met, if we would only put His will first in our lives and realize that His concerns are truly far more important
than our own.
Now that's what I call a good deal!
Our vital needs will be taken care of and supplied.
He promised it.
You might say you have needs that are not being met.
Perhaps the reason some people can say that they are in need of things and are not receiving them is because they are not fulfilling this scripture.
They are not seeking God's will first and therefore do not have God taking care of their needs.
When you truly put His will ahead of your own, you will have this promise fulfilled.
Some people refuse to pay tithes for this very reason.
They say they have needs that they must meet.
But they forget that Jesus will take care of our needs if we will put His needs first.
So if we are supposed to seek God's kingdom first, then let us see what that is talking about.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
This verse is just before the verses we opened with from Romans 15.
So we really see a confirmation that as Jesus suffered His own human benefit in order to see us saved, we ought to suffer, and how that is seeking first God's
kingdom.
Let us study this entire chapter and see just exactly what seeking first God's kingdom, (which is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Spirit), is all about.
Romans 14:1-3 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, [but] not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
There are minor things that people fuss over and disagree over, that many people make into mountains.
The true mountain to be concerned with is the KINGDOM OF GOD.
The first three verses deal with what foods we are allowed to eat as Christians.
Romans 14 Verse 5 says that KEEPING HOLY DAYS can be one such mole hill that becomes a mountain.
Romans 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Verse 6 reminds us that each person in either of the two opposing camps of opinion, is sincere.
Romans 14:6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth [it] unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [it]. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Each does what one does in true sincerity thinking the Lor dis pleased with them doing or not doing.
Roma 14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
We are all serving God.
We're not living for ourselves if we are Christians.
We're not supposed to.
So, rather than criticize others for disagreeing with you, and judging them, be persuaded in yoru own mind.
There are some things the Bible says nothing about.
Now, we all ought to be obedient to the things the Bible explicitly refers to.
But the holy days and eating which meats is not included in one of the commandments of Jesus Christ.
Some may think so, but they are considered weak.
You are not God's policeman.
Romans 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Judges are not judged, so that means none of us are each other's judges.
Romans 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
God can do His job as God quite well.
Romans 14:11-12 For it is written, [As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
If we are going to judge anything, this is what we should judge.
Roma 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in [his] brother's way.
Ahhhh..... Quite opposite from judging each other, isn't it?
Now we come to where Paul begins to get to his point.
This is where Romans 15:1-3, telling us to suffer each other's true beliefs, and sacrificing our own freedoms, as Christ sacrificed His comfort for us.
Romans 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that [there is] nothing unclean of itself:...
Paul said that he has no question in his mind about what God feels about the things he does.
Speaking of meat, he said that nothing is unclean.
His conviction was that he could eat any meat.
Replace that example with something that you totally believe is innocent and sinless, that other people disagree with.
People thought eating certain meats was evil in God's eyes.
Think of something that is evil in people's eyes that you see as okay.
...but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him [it is] unclean.
Paul said that something might be totally innocent, but to the person who thinks its evil, to that person, in his world, in his mind, it is evil, no matter what it
truly is.
To him, it truly is evil.
It doesn't matter what the reality is.
It makes no difference to someone convinced they are right.
So how do we handle that?
Do we say, "So what?"
They're wrong, so who cares what they think?
What did Jesus do?
Romans 15:3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Jesus did not seek to please Himself and do His own will.
We read that it was certainly not his human will that wanted to suffer on that cross, and take our filthy, rotten sins into His holy life.
But He pleased not himself.
He saw a greater purpose.
He did not think of doing His own will despite the greater will.
Romans 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
When Paul called God the God of patience and consolation, He did that because if we are going to be minded like Jesus, and suffer for the sake of others, and
their situations, then we are going to have to have a lot patience and consolation.
God is filled with the supply of it for you.
And He can grant these to you to be like Jesus.
Think the way Jesus did and apply it to each other.
The greatest sacrifice of all was Jesus' death on the cross.
He sacrificed all for our benefits.
Instead of us reproaching God with our reproaches, He let our reproaches fall upon himself, to take the penalty.
The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
It takes a stronger person to receive the discomfort that another will be taking unless we take it instead.
The stronger can take it, while the weaker cannot take it.
None of us could take the judgment that would fall on us for reproaching God.
We'd be lost and gone to hell forever away from God if we took it.
We could not recover from that.
Jesus could!
John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
So when weaker brethren in the church cannot take something that you are doing, and are being destroyed for it, the stronger brethren can sacrifice that something, and instead of pleasing themselves and doing their own wills, they sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom of God and the others in the church... for the church as a whole.
You are doing something that is hurting another or others.
It is destroying their faith in God somehow.
They are thinking that you could not even be saved if you do such things.
You are convinced they are wrong, and you may be right!
But Paul is going to teach us that if your action is truly killing another, and you could stop doing that action and not be destroyed, it would be like you taking
the suffering instead of the other.
And Christ would take the suffering if it would save the other.
That is what Christ would do.
You will survive if you sacrifice that thing, but the other won't if you don't.
You can take suffering without something but the other cannot take suffering if you keep doing it.
The stronger can take doing without something if it takes that, to keep the weaker saved, and keep serving God, while the weaker would backslide and stop
serving God if the stronger did not stop doing whatever was really offending the weaker.
so....
Romans 15:1-2 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Please others.
It is putting your will above God's wil, when you seek to please yourself instead of seeking to please others.
This is not the men-pleaser foolishness that Paul preached against elsewhere.
Men-pleasers are people who are hypocrites and cannot stand on their own feet.
They a re people who refuse to obey God and instead want approval of people.
But this is not wanting approval of people alone, but rather wanting to keep people saved and going to heaven.
This is for mature saints.
That is why this is not milk.
Paul was writing to strong saints.
God just doesn't want you to go to heaven.
He wants everyone to make it through the troubles of temptation and still hold on to God and make it.
The ones who are going to drop away are the weak ones.
But we can help many of them stay saved if we simply give in to their weakness and do or don't do something that will keep them saved.
They cannot last like that forever, for they must grow up and be strong enough to stand on their own.
But we need to realize that the world is not centred upon us.
There is a greater purpose.
Broaden your horizons and realize there is a bigger deal here than your personal pleasure.
Leaders in the church understand that.
And if you want to be more effective in influencing others for God,, through involvement in leadership, then you must learn that also.
The world is encouraging everyone to do what THEY want to do, despite anybody else.
You are encouraged to say, "But what about my feelings?"
"What about my thoughts?"
"What about somebody sacrificing something for me?"
If you are strong enough to sacrifice, then that is what you need to do.
Do not try to think that you will forever be weak and immature, giving you an excuse to never have to sacrifice, always pleasing yourself and never seeking to
please others to help them and edify them.
Don't always soak up and never give forth to others.
Come to church for years receiving and never getting involved to give out to others.
Not only are we to keep ourselves saved, but we are also expected to do something to win others! (TALENTS PARABLE).
IT IS ANTICHRIST TO NEVER SEEK TO PLEASE OTHERS.
Antichrist is exalting self.
Back to verse 14.
Paul was convinced no meat is unclean of itself.
But yet look at this....
Roma 14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh,...
WHAT????
You would think if someone felt there was nothing wrong in eating any meat at all, and that God didn't mind it, that it would be FOOLISH to not eat any
meat, let alone not eat meat that is thought by others to be unclean.
But Paul said ITS GOOD!!!
"Brother Blume, you think its GOOD for you to do without this when you think there is nothing wrong with it? Just because someone thinks its wrong? You don't think that's foolish, and too bad for the other one?"
YOU ARE RIGHT!
ITS GOOD.
Why?
Paul even said its good to not eat anything. ...whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Back to verse 14
Romans 14:14-15 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that [there is] nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him [it is] unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with [thy] meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
I do not walk in LOVE... charitably.. When I do not care what my brother sincerely feels about something.
If something that I am doing will destroy my brother because he thinks its genuinely wrong to do, even if its not, I will stop doing it.
He cannot take being destroyed but I can take sacrificing that little thing.
Because it is little.
To the strong, a heavy weight to some is only a little weight.
The weak cannot take it, but the strong can.
When I care less about what he thinks, I am not using love, but inconsideration and that is immature.
Immature children say, "I don't care!"
Immature children do not stop and think about what is happening biut are only concerned with themselves enjoying something.
The broader concern above mine is that my brother will not make it to heaven, no matter how silly I think it is, if I keep doing something.
I will destroy his salvation if I keep doing what he thinks believers should not do.
It may be okay for me to do it in God's eyes, but its not okay in His eyes that I don't care about my brother enough to sacrifice what I am doing.
We can be technically correct and spiritually and unlovingly wrong!
You can actually preach the doctrine truthfully, but unlovingly.
Correct in your facts, but as cold as ice.
Incorrect about how to be there for our brothers.
Roma 14:16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
My good understanding can be made to look evil by the lack of consideration I have for the weakness of others.
You might believe it is legalism to do something, and in some people's eyes it might be.
But so what?
Give in for the sake of peace, and know that it is not your job to straighten the world out.
It won't be legalism in God's eyes when YOU do it, if you do it for the sake of love and concern for others.
Legalism is a weakness in some people's lives.
They are incorrect.
But keep in mind, that what you might think is legalism may not be so.
Study to make sure what you understand.
Maybe you missed a perspective of something, that would shed a whole new light on it and show you that it is not legalism at all.
Legalism is only when you do something to get you to heaven.
It is not legalism if its done for OTHER REASONS.
Some things God requires of us that have nothing to do with our own salvation.
And when we believe in standards, for example, but not for salvation, that is not legalism.
Legalism is when standards are done to save us and chalk up marks on God's chalkboard to tally up to a certain number of marks to earn us a place in heaven.
IT MAY BE A SALVATION ISSUE THOUGH IF WE TAKE THE ATTITUDE THAT WE WILL NOT DO IT NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE THINKS.
That falls under the verse 15 contrast to verse 14.
Perhaps we are right, but our outright refusal to submit and put our wills beneath God's will, or at least to not be willing to suffer for the sake of others, is a
HEART PROBLEM.
Romans 14:17-19 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
Here is the verse that we spoke about.
The kingdom of God is not based upon little things like whether or not outward things please God.
Your brother might make a big deal out of what you are doing, but if you get upset to the extent that you are going to quit church, and find a place where it is
allowed by everyone, then you have made it into just as big a deal as your brother, although you are on opposite poles.
You cannot take the pressure of suffering without something, making you weak yourself.
The strong would say, "If its that big a deal to you, brother, then I can do without it. Its not that important to me."
The Kingdom is made of BIGGER THINGS like RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Being right in your heart and not self-centred and selfish, is righteous.
Its more important than fussing over what your brother is offended with.
Righteousness deals with ATTITUDE.
You know what Christ would do.
He'd suffer, in order to keep people in the Kingdom.
It made of bigger things like PEACE.
Peace means getting along instead of being at war.
I cannot minister to someone with whom I am at war.
Romans 15:2 Let every one of us please [his] neighbour for [his] good to edification.
I cannot edify another if I am at war with them.
If it takes sacrificing some things a certain person cannot stand to see christians do, then I will sacrifice it so that that person will always be open to me so I
can minister to them.
Romans 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
That is the PEACE from Romans 14:17.
Be more concerned with doing your best to encourage people rather than prove you are right about something that is not even the basis of the kingdom of God.
When we get right down to it, the basis is seeing souls saved.
All else is never as important.
He is more concerned with the inward than the outward.
And many people take that and say there is no need for the outward.
He did not say that.
He said don't have the inside of the cup filthy and the outside clean.
But He then said clean the inside and the outside will be clean.
DON'T BE LOP-SIDED EITHER WAY.
HAVE BOTH CLEAN.
It is an inward quality to be willing to sacrifice to be able to edify others, by keeping a loving heart that is receptive by others.
You can make the outward just as much a big deal as the weaker brother who would lose out if you did not sacrifice something, by saying you are not going to budge an inch.
If all we think is how foolish something is, and never how charitable it would be to sacrifice and please our brother to keep an open line to him, then we are
most self-centred.
If you a re willing to sacrifice for your brother, Paul said you are minded like Christ.
He would sacrifice to save us, and HE DID!
The kingdom of God is also JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST.
I could have started an argument time and again with brothers, but I let it ride, and a disagreement that was not heaven or hell was left, and we continued to
have joy.
But I saw people who were so self-centred that they could not lose an argument or let a point go that they did not agree with.
Their self centredness got the best of them and they refused to give in to anything.
They earned a reputation of Mr. Know-it-all.
People cringed when they saw him come.
People closed up to them.
They had so many good thoughts and understandings, but their attitudes were juvenile.
They would act as though they picked up their bag of marbles, and bat and ball and went elsewhere where they could have their own ways.
Roma 14:22-23 Hast thou faith? have [it] to thyself before God. Happy [is] he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith: for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin.
If there is an activity you engage in that is frowned upon by others, simply do not engage in it around others.
Some things you have to cut out altogether because they are things you do in public where those believers might find you.
But... so what?
Give them up.
God's Kingdom is more important.
Be a person that everyone can open up to and receive edification from, and not one who refuses to budge, who some people simply cannot go to due to your
attitude that turns them off.
Many sinners also feel it is wrong to chop wood on a Sunday.
So don't chop wood on a Sunday.
Leaders in our churches are requested to abide by certain standards, not to be saved, but to simply manifest what the pastors genuinely feel is conducive to
Christian living and our example of the world of what Christians ought to live like.
One simply has to abide by these and support the pastor's convictions, because it is more important we work with a church that preaches the true doctrine of
salvation, than it is for us to give in to our pride and not be able to minister.
Even if these leaders do not see the understanding the pastor sees, give the pastor the benefit of the doubt, due to their understanding, and submit.
Maybe they see something you need to see, though you may not have yet seen it.
You trust the pastor to give you God's word. Trust the pastor to understand some of these shady areas, too, better than you presently do.
Every church has people who have left due to disagreement with beliefs of the church.
They believe the doctrine and believe there is no other way.
But they sacrificed supporting a church that preaches the truth for a church that doesn't, simply because in their minds doing what THEY wanted to do was
more important to them than the overall church work and true doctrine.
Let us make sure that no antichrist spirit invades our hearts, to do what SELF wants to do more than sacrifice self.