Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / Romans 14:1-13

Transcript

Romans 14:1-13 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
The reasonable act of worship, the thing we ought to do in response to this, is offer ourselves completely, wholly, as a living sacrifice.
0:09
! All of us given to his service. It's the obvious response to such a thing. The fact that he died and spent his life for us. We ought to also then turn and spend our lives for him.
0:21
And he then begins to expound through chapter 12. The way this looks is that our love is genuine. We abhor evil. We hold fast to what is good.
0:32
That's verse 9. And he goes on to talk about how then this works out in our living.
0:37
And he comes back around in chapter 13, verse 8, to say that this is a continuing debt of love. We don't ever fulfill it in the loving of others, but we continually love.
0:46
It's what that sacrifice looks like, that living sacrifice. We love, and we love, and we love, and we love.
0:54
Besides this, verse 11, we know the time. We live between these two times, right?
0:59
And we're meant to be those who walk in the light, because we are light. We're children of light. We're meant to be those who love.
1:07
And he gives us some more specific example, beginning in verse 14. And I'll ask that you read along with me Romans chapter 14.
1:16
We're going to read the first 12 verses, and look at those today.
1:24
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
1:29
One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
1:35
Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
1:45
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?
1:48
It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
1:55
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.
2:01
Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
2:04
The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
2:07
The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God.
2:11
While the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
2:16
For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
2:19
For if we live, we live to the Lord.
2:22
And if we die, we die to the Lord.
2:24
So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
2:29
For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
2:35
Why do you pass judgment on your brother?
2:37
Or you, why do you despise your brother?
2:40
For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
2:43
For it is written,
2:44
As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
2:49
So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
2:53
Let's pray.
2:54
God, we thank you this morning for your word.
3:00
It is the bread of life for us.
3:03
It is our sustenance.
3:05
It gives us all direction necessary for godly living.
3:09
And we come to a text like this that I think is so applicable to the church today.
3:15
A work that must be done amongst us to maintain unity.
3:21
And Father, I pray that you will show all of us how we fail in this regard.
3:26
How we are not welcoming.
3:28
How we pass judgment on others.
3:31
That we might be better knit together to honor and glorify you in greater and greater ways.
3:38
We pray this in Christ's name.
3:40
Amen.
3:41
Amen.
3:42
So we see in this text, and we work typically on a real verse by verse.
3:47
We're going to work through things today.
3:48
Because we're covering 12, there's going to be a few phrases I'm going to have to jump over
3:52
that lend themselves to the argument.
3:54
But they do just that.
3:56
So note that I'm going to do that a bit today.
3:58
And we're going to hop around just a tad to help us wrap our minds around these 12 verses together.
4:04
But notice first that there are three exhortations, which can be summed up.
4:09
And they are, welcome one another, do not despise one another, and do not pass judgment on one another.
4:17
You see that in verses 1 through 3, the first part of 3, and then the first part of verse 5.
4:23
Right?
4:23
Welcome one another, do not despise one another, and do not pass judgment on one another.
4:30
Now remember that Paul has already been making an argument up to this point.
4:34
Right?
4:34
So to remind you of where he's brought us, that's why we started off by saying,
4:39
here we are in the book of Romans, and here's what he has said so far.
4:43
But we left out some details, right?
4:44
He's also talked about how we have life by the Spirit, and how we've been set free from the law.
4:50
So we could sum up these three exhortations with another word that Paul gave in Ephesians 4, verse 3.
4:58
When he says, be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
5:05
So you see, as Christians, we already have unity.
5:08
It's not something that we have to fabricate, that we have to create unity,
5:13
but it's something that we already have, because we have the Spirit.
5:16
It's been given to us.
5:17
So our work, then, is to maintain the unity that we already have.
5:24
So as we think about these three exhortations, we could think about it as maintaining the unity,
5:30
a maintenance of the unity that we already possess.
5:33
But note here what he's directing these exhortations to, right?
5:40
In verse 1, he says,
5:42
Welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
5:46
Not to quarrel over opinions.
5:49
He's not talking about doctrine.
5:52
He's not talking about the Scriptures themselves.
5:54
There are certainly reasons to draw lines between us and others.
5:58
We are Baptists.
6:01
Credo Baptism.
6:03
Baptism of the believer is a line I'm willing to draw.
6:07
There are some that we can't fellowship in this way with,
6:11
because they just don't see eye to eye with us on this clear scriptural teaching.
6:16
He's not talking about that kind of stuff, though.
6:19
What are the examples that he uses?
6:21
He's talking about eating.
6:23
And later we can see in verse 17, he says,
6:26
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking.
6:29
So eating and drinking is what he's talking about here.
6:33
And culturally, there were a number of things going on.
6:36
Recognize that the Jewish believers
6:38
had very clear restrictions on food as Jews.
6:43
You recall that this was very culturally ingrained.
6:47
Peter had to have three visions before he finally said,
6:50
Okay, I get it. I get it.
6:51
Things are permissible to me now.
6:52
I understand that I've been set free from the law,
6:55
and I now can live to Christ.
6:58
I can now eat hooved animals and such.
7:01
That's been permissible now to me.
7:04
But some Jews still didn't feel comfortable with that.
7:07
The gospel hadn't quite worked all the culture out of them.
7:12
It wasn't blatant sin to abstain from food.
7:15
You see here he says that some are eating only vegetables.
7:20
But they just hadn't quite grasped hold yet
7:23
of what the gospel meant for them.
7:26
That it set them free from the law.
7:28
Also, lots of food was sacrificed in these days to pagan idols.
7:35
And the Jews didn't eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols.
7:39
And the Gentiles that were then being converted
7:41
also didn't want to do so.
7:43
Many of them became vegetarians.
7:46
Right?
7:46
So, I think it's kind of funny that he calls the wheat people
7:48
vegetarians in this case.
7:50
But that's not what he's driving at.
7:52
Right?
7:52
But they were so abstaining.
7:54
They were so afraid that they might eat something
7:57
that had been sacrificed to an idol,
7:59
to a pagan idol,
8:00
that they just didn't eat meat at all.
8:03
Right?
8:03
And here, Paul calls them the weak brother.
8:06
But says,
8:06
don't quarrel with them.
8:08
Don't pass judgment over them.
8:10
Right?
8:11
Maintain the unity.
8:12
It's their opinion on the matter.
8:14
Right?
8:14
We're all growing in grace.
8:17
The other one he uses is an observance of particular days.
8:21
Right?
8:22
Things like the Sabbath.
8:24
Right?
8:25
Was given as a commandment to the Jewish people.
8:27
And many of them still held it at this time.
8:29
Our Saturday would have been their day of rest.
8:32
They would have done no work on that day.
8:34
And there were other traditional days.
8:37
Right?
8:37
There were pagan festivals that were observed as well.
8:40
And many Gentile believers would still have set those days aside as special days.
8:44
Days for family, for example.
8:46
We do that.
8:47
Do we not?
8:49
We take the kids trick-or-treating.
8:51
Not because we're dishonoring God.
8:53
But because it's just fun to do those types of things.
8:56
Right?
8:56
So this is the kind of stuff that was going on that he's speaking to.
8:59
He kind of sums that up in Colossians chapter 2.
9:03
It says,
9:03
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink.
9:06
Or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
9:11
So we see the same kind of language being used.
9:13
These are the types of things he's speaking of.
9:17
Now there are certainly things though that we ought to be working on together.
9:22
So again, Matthew chapter 7.
9:25
Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount.
9:26
He gives us that parable of taking the log out of our own eye that we may see clearly to remove the speck from a brother's eye.
9:33
Right before that, he says,
9:34
Do not judge lest you be judged.
9:36
And so many Christians stop at that point.
9:39
Right?
9:40
Got it.
9:41
Do not judge lest I be judged.
9:42
I'm there with you.
9:44
Everybody's fine.
9:45
Right?
9:46
I'm going to look to myself.
9:46
I'm never going to look to my neighbor.
9:48
Never going to look to my brothers in Christ.
9:50
I'm never going to try to hold them to a holy standard.
9:52
Because if I do, I might be held to a holy standard.
9:57
Right?
9:58
You already are.
9:59
That's not what he's saying in this case.
10:03
He's saying be careful in the way that you bring correction.
10:07
Right?
10:07
Be sure that you're living a holy life that you might clearly be able to expose others' sin.
10:13
That's the driving point of what he's saying there.
10:15
He's not saying never hold people accountable.
10:19
He's just saying be cautious about how you do it.
10:23
And what we end up with in a lot of our churches is a false unity.
10:27
Right?
10:27
It looks.
10:28
There's a veneer of happiness and joy.
10:32
And you may have been there before or experienced somebody who tolerates situations.
10:37
Until the breaking point.
10:38
And then what do they do at that point?
10:39
They disappear.
10:41
Right?
10:41
It's time to go look for a new church family.
10:43
Because I can't meet this person anymore.
10:45
This person who's sinned against me.
10:47
This person who lives in blatant sin.
10:49
This person who says one thing and does another.
10:51
I just can no longer tolerate it.
10:53
So I'm just going to slip away.
10:56
Right?
10:56
That's false unity.
10:58
Right?
10:58
We're to be eager.
11:00
We're to work at the unity that we already have.
11:06
Right?
11:06
Firstly, to maintain the purity of the church.
11:12
Beloved, we need one another.
11:15
I am often blind to my own sin.
11:18
It so captivates me at times that I do not see my own sinfulness.
11:23
And I need you to come alongside me and show me where I err.
11:29
Matthew 18, 15 through 17.
11:32
We're given a process for this.
11:33
Jesus himself says,
11:35
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
11:39
If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
11:42
But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you,
11:45
that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
11:49
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.
11:52
If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
11:58
This is the process for church discipline.
12:02
Some of you may not know this, but that's something we have done here before.
12:05
And it pains us to do it.
12:07
But the point is restoration.
12:09
The point is that we say to somebody,
12:11
You cannot call yourself Christian.
12:14
You cannot say that you're a disciple and follower of Christ
12:17
if you're willing to live in blatant and open, disregarded sin.
12:22
You can't do it.
12:24
And it's not healthy for us to go on telling you that you can.
12:27
If you're not willing to repent and return to Christ, you're not a Christian.
12:32
We can't associate with you in this way.
12:35
So we're intended to work this way together,
12:39
to hold each other accountable,
12:40
to press each other towards holiness,
12:42
to maintain the purity of the church.
12:45
We are the visible evidence of Christ on earth.
12:50
That should mean something.
12:51
Our purity matters.
12:55
Secondly, we're meant to maintain the purity of the gospel.
12:58
There were Galatians 1, 6-9.
13:02
Paul writes to the Galatian church,
13:04
I am astonished that you're so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ
13:08
and are turning to a different gospel.
13:11
Not that there is another one,
13:13
but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
13:16
But even if we or an angel from heaven
13:18
should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you,
13:21
let him be accursed.
13:23
As we have said before,
13:24
so now I say again,
13:26
if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received,
13:29
let him be accursed.
13:32
So in matters of doctrine,
13:35
we're meant to hold each other accountable as well.
13:38
We're not meant to let doctrine flit around.
13:41
We're meant to be growing up in Christ so that we're not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.
13:48
We're meant to press each other in this way.
13:51
You recall here,
13:53
he's referring particularly to the Judaizers,
13:55
those who said,
13:56
Christ is good.
13:57
We're on board with Christ,
13:58
but you still must observe the Old Testament law.
14:01
And what they wanted was for Gentiles to be circumcised.
14:04
That was the thing they were doing.
14:06
They were saying,
14:06
Christ plus something else is what brings you salvation.
14:10
And Paul was saying,
14:12
no,
14:12
in Christ alone are we saved.
14:15
These things are periphery things.
14:18
And those are the types of things he's now talking about.
14:20
The periphery things.
14:22
The opinions.
14:25
So we're to work at this maintaining by welcoming one another,
14:29
by not despising one another,
14:32
and by not passing judgment on one another in matters of opinion.
14:37
For four reasons.
14:40
For four reasons.
14:42
All of these are rooted in God's character.
14:46
In who he is.
14:48
As I would venture to say,
14:51
all things are.
14:52
Our proper living comes out of who God is,
14:55
and therefore who he's created us to be.
14:59
So we're to maintain the unity of the spirit,
15:01
because, number one,
15:04
God has welcomed us.
15:07
You see this in the second half of verse three.
15:10
God has welcomed us.
15:12
Both the strong and the weak.
15:15
Those who have grasped hold of the gospel.
15:18
This liberty that we have now in Christ.
15:21
And are taking advantage of those things.
15:23
Right?
15:24
Which doesn't necessarily mean you do all things.
15:27
Right?
15:29
Some people drink.
15:31
They say,
15:31
I'm practicing my liberty.
15:33
Good for you.
15:33
Some people don't.
15:36
And in that,
15:37
I also practice my liberty.
15:39
Right?
15:40
Because neither makes me holy before God.
15:42
Christ makes me holy before God.
15:44
Right?
15:46
And I am liberated to do either then,
15:49
in this case.
15:50
Because God has welcomed us.
15:53
And because God has accepted your brothers and your sisters,
15:57
it is sinful arrogance not to do the same.
15:59
You set yourself up as a God.
16:03
With your opinions.
16:05
And you say to your brothers and sisters,
16:07
when you don't welcome them,
16:08
when you disagree on matters of opinion,
16:12
I am my own God.
16:14
And I'm not going to accept you.
16:16
But God has accepted them.
16:21
Secondly,
16:22
God sustains us.
16:25
Verse four.
16:25
And he will be upheld.
16:29
The Lord is able to make him stand.
16:32
It is God who sustains us.
16:36
Previously,
16:36
in this letter,
16:37
Romans 8,
16:37
33,
16:39
Paul wrote,
16:40
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?
16:43
It is God who justifies.
16:45
John 10,
16:46
27,
16:47
28.
16:47
Jesus said,
16:48
My sheep hear my voice,
16:49
and I know them,
16:50
and they follow me.
16:51
I give them eternal life,
16:52
and they will never perish,
16:53
and no one will snatch them out of my head.
16:55
In the hand.
16:57
Jude's short letter,
16:58
verse 24,
17:00
the very end,
17:00
he says,
17:01
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
17:03
and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory,
17:06
with great joy,
17:08
namely,
17:08
Jesus Christ.
17:10
And Paul writes again in Philippians chapter 1,
17:12
verse 6,
17:13
And I am sure of this,
17:14
that he who began a good work in you,
17:16
will bring it to completion,
17:18
at the day of Jesus Christ.
17:21
God has welcomed us,
17:23
redeemed us in Christ,
17:24
and he sustains us,
17:26
and will sustain us,
17:27
to the end.
17:29
We don't see eye to eye,
17:31
on some matter of opinion.
17:32
Guess what?
17:33
Someday,
17:33
we're all going to get it right.
17:35
Right now,
17:37
we're all wrong.
17:38
God is right.
17:40
And in the end of all things,
17:41
when we're glorified,
17:42
we'll have it all figured out together.
17:44
But in the meantime,
17:46
recognize that it is our Lord,
17:48
that sustains us,
17:49
that is able to make us stand.
17:55
In these matters of opinion,
17:56
it's not up to you.
17:59
Encourage.
18:00
Come alongside.
18:02
But do not pass judgment.
18:05
Welcome.
18:06
Do not despise.
18:08
That's secondly.
18:11
Thirdly,
18:13
God is our Lord.
18:15
We see this in the second half of verse 5
18:18
through verse 8.
18:21
God is our Lord.
18:23
God has redeemed us and made us his own.
18:26
That's the point of what Paul is beginning to say
18:27
in the beginning of verse 12.
18:30
Brothers,
18:31
I appeal to you,
18:31
therefore,
18:31
by the mercies of God,
18:32
present your bodies as living sacrifices.
18:35
You are his now.
18:37
You belong to him.
18:38
He reigns over you.
18:41
And as such,
18:42
those of us who are truly regenerate,
18:45
those of us who are God's children,
18:48
will love him,
18:49
and we will serve him,
18:51
even in matters of opinion.
18:54
We ought to be convinced in our own mind.
18:57
Our conscience is clear before our God
18:59
because he is our Lord.
19:03
John Bunyan,
19:04
we this last Friday read
19:05
not quite all of the first half
19:07
of Bunyan's book together here.
19:10
And we talked a little bit about Bunyan.
19:11
What we didn't talk about,
19:12
when he wrote Pilgrim's Progress,
19:13
he was in a dungeon.
19:15
He had been put down
19:16
in the deep, dark part of a jail
19:18
because he was there originally
19:20
for preaching without a license to preach.
19:23
And he continued to preach in the courtyard
19:24
and people would come and gather
19:25
around the walls of the prison.
19:27
So they put him in a hole.
19:29
And he was down there
19:30
with some other believers
19:31
for the same reason,
19:33
for preaching without a license.
19:35
A group that were called the Anabaptists.
19:37
Some of our roots
19:38
are actually with the Anabaptists,
19:39
although not all of them in this case.
19:42
Bunyan would constantly preach
19:44
about God's love.
19:45
Constantly.
19:46
What a great thing to preach about, right?
19:48
If you're going to preach the scriptures,
19:49
you have to talk about God's love for people.
19:51
His grace,
19:52
His immeasurable grace
19:53
for those that are His.
19:54
And they said to him,
19:55
they said,
19:56
Bunyan,
19:56
if you keep telling people
19:57
how much God loves them,
19:58
they're going to do whatever they want.
20:02
They thought that He was giving them
20:03
a license to sin.
20:06
God's grace
20:07
is just going to cover those things, right?
20:09
God loves you that much.
20:11
He's forgiven all of your sin.
20:12
They thought that He was giving them
20:13
a license to just go out
20:15
and be crazy with their lives.
20:17
Bunyan's very poignant response was,
20:20
no.
20:21
If I teach God's people
20:23
about God's love for them,
20:25
they'll do whatever God wants.
20:29
God is our Lord.
20:30
If you are a Christian,
20:33
the Spirit of God abides within you.
20:37
You will serve Him as such.
20:40
Perfectly all the time?
20:41
No.
20:42
Will we get it wrong?
20:43
Absolutely.
20:44
Without a doubt.
20:46
But we ought to work at this unity together
20:48
and recognize that we all serve
20:51
our sovereign King.
20:55
Romans chapter 6, 17 through 18,
20:57
in verse 22,
20:58
Paul writes this,
20:59
But thanks be to God
21:00
that you were once slaves of sin,
21:02
have become obedient from the heart
21:04
to the standard of teaching
21:05
to which you are committed,
21:06
and having been set free from sin,
21:09
have become slaves of righteousness.
21:12
But now that you have been set free from sin
21:13
and become slaves of God,
21:15
the fruit you get leads to sanctification
21:17
and its end, eternal life.
21:20
Set free from the bondage of sin,
21:22
but we're now all enslaved
21:24
by the Spirit to serve Christ.
21:27
Fourthly,
21:31
we have to work to maintain
21:34
this unity of the Spirit
21:36
because God alone
21:38
will administer final judgment.
21:42
God alone will administer final judgment.
21:44
We see this here in verse 10 through 12,
21:47
a quotation from Isaiah on Paul's part.
21:50
The day will come
21:52
when all of us will stand before God.
21:56
And in this case,
21:57
Paul's particular reference
21:59
is that those of us who are found in Him
22:02
will also stand.
22:04
Our works are going to be sifted.
22:07
We will be found righteous in Christ,
22:10
but our works,
22:11
the things that we're doing now,
22:13
will also be judged.
22:16
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians chapter 3,
22:18
verse 13 through 15,
22:20
Each one's work will become manifest
22:21
for the day,
22:23
this day of judgment,
22:24
will disclose it
22:25
because it will be revealed by fire
22:26
and the fire will test
22:27
what sort of work each one has done.
22:30
If the work that anyone has built
22:31
on the foundation survives,
22:33
he will receive reward.
22:34
If anyone's work is burned up,
22:36
he will suffer loss,
22:37
though he himself will be saved.
22:42
Fully and finally,
22:43
one day,
22:44
God will judge all of those things.
22:48
I find it better to eat only vegetables,
22:51
you find it better to eat only meat.
22:52
One day,
22:53
God's going to sort it.
22:55
Because God alone
22:57
will administer
22:59
the final judgment.
23:03
Now there's a truth
23:04
on which
23:05
all of these exhortations hang.
23:08
It's the hinge.
23:09
It's the thing that it all
23:10
swings upon.
23:12
And it's found in verse 9.
23:14
Turn your attention to verse 9.
23:15
For to this end,
23:19
Christ died and lived again.
23:21
And recall that we've been talking
23:22
about the life of Christ.
23:24
So we could even say,
23:25
for to this end,
23:25
Christ lived and died
23:27
and lived again.
23:30
That he might be Lord,
23:32
both of the dead
23:33
and of the living.
23:37
Christ is our sovereign king.
23:40
Right?
23:41
At the end of all things,
23:43
when he finally stands up
23:44
from his place in heaven
23:45
and returns,
23:46
he will be universally acknowledged
23:48
as sovereign Lord.
23:50
Everyone will know
23:51
that Jesus Christ reigns
23:52
ultimately
23:53
over all things.
23:55
Right?
23:56
At that time,
23:57
every tongue will confess
23:58
that Jesus Christ is Lord.
24:00
Philippians 2, 11.
24:02
Right?
24:02
But he doesn't become Lord
24:04
at that time.
24:06
It's not that he becomes it.
24:07
It's just that everybody
24:08
universally acknowledges
24:09
that he is Lord.
24:11
Right?
24:11
He already is
24:13
the supreme
24:14
and sovereign Lord.
24:16
He already holds
24:17
everything
24:18
in the sway
24:19
of his power.
24:20
The very beginning
24:20
of Hebrews.
24:22
Providence
24:23
is by God's word.
24:25
Jesus Christ
24:26
speaks
24:26
and it happens.
24:28
Right?
24:29
This universe
24:30
spins on its axis
24:31
because Jesus Christ
24:33
holds it by his word
24:34
because he is
24:35
already Lord.
24:37
and he earned that
24:38
with his sinless life.
24:41
His death
24:42
and his resurrection.
24:44
Right?
24:45
So that he can be
24:46
Lord
24:47
over both
24:48
the dead
24:49
and
24:50
of the living.
24:53
This is the Christ
24:54
we serve.
24:56
This is the Christ
24:57
that holds the church
24:58
in his hands.
24:59
This church
25:00
that's supposed to be
25:00
this beautiful picture
25:02
of unity
25:02
by the Spirit.
25:03
Spirit.
25:06
This is the Christ
25:07
that has made
25:07
any of this possible.
25:09
Right?
25:10
You know that all of you
25:11
are insane
25:11
for being here
25:12
if you don't have
25:14
the Spirit of God
25:15
within you?
25:15
Like why would you
25:16
come here?
25:16
It's beautiful
25:17
outside right now.
25:19
Right?
25:19
Go camping
25:21
or canoeing.
25:21
Go rock climbing.
25:22
Do something
25:23
to get some adrenaline
25:24
pumping through your system
25:25
because this is a
25:25
huge waste of time
25:27
if you don't know
25:28
the living God.
25:29
God.
25:31
This Jesus Christ
25:32
that we serve.
25:34
Why do we
25:35
screw this up?
25:38
Why is our time
25:39
together as a church
25:40
not more precious
25:41
to us?
25:42
We get to come together
25:43
with those
25:43
who have been redeemed.
25:47
I think we've worked
25:48
church into our culture.
25:50
It's the thing you do.
25:51
You're going to feel
25:52
a little bit better
25:52
about yourself
25:53
because you did this
25:54
today.
25:54
It's a discipline
25:55
for you.
25:56
It's so much
25:57
more.
25:59
It's so much
26:00
more.
26:00
It's immensely
26:01
more.
26:02
We deserve so much
26:03
more credit
26:03
than we give it.
26:05
God has called
26:06
us out of darkness
26:08
into his marvelous
26:09
light.
26:09
When we come together
26:10
Sunday, pick another
26:12
day.
26:12
It doesn't really
26:12
matter, right?
26:13
Which day it is.
26:14
That's the point
26:15
being made here.
26:16
We do it on Sunday
26:17
morning to celebrate
26:20
that together.
26:22
Why do we tear it
26:24
apart in squabbles
26:25
out of stupid
26:27
opinions?
26:29
And that's what
26:30
they are.
26:31
I'll say to you,
26:33
as a Southern
26:34
Baptist pastor,
26:35
this is a major
26:37
indictment on
26:38
Southern Baptists.
26:40
None of us,
26:41
but there are
26:42
some that need
26:44
to read this
26:45
and let it soak
26:46
into them
26:46
that they might
26:48
work to
26:49
maintain
26:49
the unity
26:51
of the Spirit.
26:53
1 Timothy
26:54
6.15,
26:55
Paul says,
26:57
He being Christ
26:58
who is the blessed
26:59
and only sovereign,
27:00
the King of kings
27:02
and Lord of lords.
27:04
Revelation 17.14,
27:07
they will make war
27:08
on the Lamb
27:09
and the Lamb
27:09
will conquer them
27:11
for He is,
27:13
not will become,
27:14
but He is
27:15
Lord of lords
27:16
and King of kings
27:17
and those with Him
27:19
are called
27:20
and chosen
27:21
and faithful.
27:22
This is our
27:25
sovereign Lord
27:26
and we make
27:27
non-issues
27:28
into issues.
27:31
Rather than
27:31
celebrating
27:32
the goodness
27:32
of God
27:33
to us
27:33
in Christ,
27:34
we piss
27:36
and moan
27:37
over things
27:38
that are silly,
27:40
how the pastor
27:41
dresses,
27:42
what kind of music,
27:43
does the church
27:44
have a choir
27:45
or not,
27:47
what programs
27:48
are taking place,
27:49
your particular
27:51
view on drums.
27:54
Who cares?
27:57
The creator
27:58
of the universe
28:00
loves you,
28:02
came to earth,
28:04
suffered as a man,
28:07
ultimately to his death,
28:08
rose again
28:09
and reigns
28:10
over our lives.
28:11
Why do we make
28:12
non-issues
28:13
into issues?
28:14
Christ.
28:16
The great
28:17
high
28:18
calling
28:19
is Christ.
28:21
I read to you
28:21
before
28:22
from,
28:23
oh gosh,
28:23
I'm not going to be able
28:23
to find it now.
28:26
I'm going to find it.
28:27
Hang on.
28:28
Because it's too good
28:29
not to read the rest of it.
28:34
I really lost it.
28:35
Okay.
28:37
No,
28:37
I said I'm going to find it.
28:38
I have to find it.
28:40
Oh,
28:41
here we are.
28:41
Okay,
28:41
good.
28:42
From Colossians,
28:42
chapter 2.
28:43
Okay.
28:44
Remember I said,
28:44
therefore let no one
28:45
pass judgment on you
28:46
in questions of food
28:47
and drink
28:47
or with regard
28:48
to a festival
28:48
or a new moon
28:49
or a Sabbath.
28:51
I stopped there.
28:53
Verse 17.
28:55
Paul doesn't discredit
28:56
these things.
28:57
He doesn't say
28:57
they have no value.
28:58
Here's their value.
29:00
Verse 17.
29:01
These are a shadow
29:03
of the things to come.
29:05
They're a shadow.
29:07
Right?
29:07
Shadows have
29:08
very little,
29:09
little ability
29:10
to reflect the majesty,
29:12
the reality
29:12
of what's casting
29:13
the shadow.
29:14
These are just
29:15
a shadow
29:15
of the things
29:16
to come.
29:17
But the substance
29:18
belongs to Christ.
29:23
The great unifying factor
29:25
in all of our lives.
29:27
I've told this story
29:28
on a number of occasions,
29:30
but Clay and I now
29:31
have been friends
29:31
for a very long time,
29:32
and I think most of you
29:33
know Clay.
29:36
Clay's kind of a cowboy
29:37
at heart.
29:38
He has big belt buckles
29:40
and wears boots
29:41
most of the time.
29:44
And Clay,
29:45
when Clay first came
29:45
to North Georgia,
29:46
he came to the BSU,
29:48
it's now called BCM
29:49
at the time,
29:50
and he walked across
29:50
the front lawn,
29:51
and I say providentially,
29:53
I was standing at the edge
29:54
of the crowd,
29:54
and he walked straight up
29:55
to me,
29:56
and we met,
29:57
and we've been really,
29:58
really thick friends
29:59
ever since that day.
30:02
Clay and I have
30:03
very little in common
30:04
as far as activity
30:06
is concerned.
30:07
I just recently
30:08
started hunting
30:09
so we can connect
30:10
on that level now.
30:12
But we have always
30:14
been able to connect
30:16
in Christ.
30:18
This is why our churches
30:19
should be multicultural.
30:22
This is why we should
30:23
have people
30:23
from every ethnicity
30:25
in our congregations.
30:26
Why does it matter
30:27
what type of music we do?
30:29
It doesn't.
30:30
We have Christ.
30:33
Why do we make
30:34
non-issues
30:37
into issues?
30:38
Christ is the substance
30:40
of all these things.
30:43
And so I say to you,
30:45
beloved,
30:45
let us work,
30:46
let us strive together
30:48
for the sake of our Lord,
30:50
for His honor and glory,
30:52
to maintain
30:53
the unity
30:54
of the Spirit,
30:55
this unity
30:56
that we already have.
30:59
Let's pray together.