well we're looking together at Romans Paul's letter to the Romans and actually we've come to the beating heart of Paul's letter to the Romans chapter fourteen and Rome if you remember there's no city-wide church nor even a network of churches what we find are groups of Jewish believers, groups of Gentile believers meeting across the city but they're meeting either as Jews, they're meeting either as Gentiles, they're not meeting together and so to all appearances the ancient divisions between Jew and Gentile remain they don't meet together to worship as a functioning church so Paul is writing to unite believing Jews and Gentiles together into one church into one worshiping community to the glory of God and what will unite them? a true understanding of the gospel, a gospel with a Jewish root, a Jewish Messiah, for good news for condemned sinners everywhere. Believing Jews and Gentiles have been welcomed equally by the same God, loved with the same love, saved by the same Lord, washed in the same blood, indwelt by the same spirit, called to live the same life, in confident expectation of the same glory. God has bound them together. They bow to Israel's King and therefore they are together the true Israel. Branches of the same olive tree. So says Paul, if you've been saved by God's wonderful grace, what are you doing standing apart? Welcome each other it's time you lived as one a single church at the heart of the empire to the glory of God chapter 15 verse 5 may the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. You couldn't put it more strongly, could you? What could be more straightforward? Only as we've seen, it's not. The problems are very real getting believing Jews and Gentiles together. The problems of, well, just eating together. Because some, mostly Jews, won't eat meat. Actually just getting them together to worship. Because some, mostly Jews, keep other days, the Jewish feasts. and high days and holidays and it's a minefield it's not just an organizational problem of sort of getting them together because those who don't eat meat condemn those who do and those who eat meat despise those who don't and both think they're right and it really does matter it's not good enough to leave things as they are with the old divisions festering away you know what does that look like so much for the gospel of love and reconciliation and forgiveness but if at the heart of the empire there is one church where former enemies in love embrace each other where the old suspicions have given way to unity and harmony that here is a new people a new nation we've never seen anything like it before under Jesus Christ think of the impact in Rome and because Rome is the capital of the empire the ripples would go out across the empire that's Paul's goal so this really does matter now last time we looked at chapter 14 verses 1 to 6 if you missed it please do catch up because a lot of things I said there I'm not saying today and hopefully it's all part of a bigger picture so do catch up with 1 to 6 if you missed it but today we're going to look at verses 7 to 12 of Romans chapter 14. Now what does Romans 14 tell us? Well it tells us something really big, massive, important that all of us as God's people have got to get. It tells us that godly, Christ-honoring Christians can come to opposite convictions. That sincere thankful believers with open Bibles can come to opposing views views as different as black and white and each fully convinced that they're right so how do we handle such things without ending up opposing each other without there being suspicions and bitterness without it undermining the unity of the church now remember we're not talking about clear Bible commands we're talking about those things which God has left open we may long for certainty in some areas but sometimes God hasn't given us that certainty though verse five he tells that we need to be fully convinced of our viewpoint so we're not talking about things which God has forbidden or things that God has commanded we're talking about things which are matters of conscience we may come to different convictions how are we to handle ourselves when we come to different but sincerely held convictions really important got three things to say point number one weak and strong chapter fourteen verse one as for the one who is weak in faith welcome him but not to quarrel over opinions here is someone who is weak, weak in faith but then chapter 15 verse 1 we who are strong, so Paul puts himself in the strong camp have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, so there are weak and there are strong what does it all mean? well Mr Smith I know it's first century Rome but I don't know any Roman names so we'll call him Mr Smith because that's easy to remember Mr Smith is weak in faith it doesn't mean he has a shaky grasp of the gospel and it doesn't mean that he's backsliding on the contrary he's a man of strong convictions and he lives to please the Lord so why is he called weak? why is he weak in faith? well he's out shopping and he's in the marketplace and he passes the butchers and he sees all that lovely meat only it's not lovely meat, not in Mr. Smith's eyes because Mr. Smith knows that like all the meat that's sold by the pagan butchers that meat started the day as a sacrifice in the pagan temple that that meat was offered to a pagan god and what's more, it definitely wouldn't have been prepared according to the strict Jewish meat laws as far as Mr Smith's concerned this meat is untouchable in fact it's contaminated and somehow to eat this meat would be to defile himself with that pagan worship because it's been part of that pagan worship service it's unclean and if I ate it it would make me unclean, that's how his conscience feels about it so I can't buy any meat in the market, I don't know what's happened to it, how it's been prepared which idols it's been offered to it's best if I stick to vegetables but as he looks in disgust at this meat out of the corner of his eye he sees Mrs Jones now Mrs Jones is a believer as well so she claims but to Mr Smith's horror Mrs Jones buys a joint of pork from this pagan idolatrous butcher How can she do it? How can she buy that meat when she knows it's played a part in the worship of demons? Doesn't she know what she's buying? Doesn't she know what she's got? Doesn't she know that it's gonna make her unclean? Oh, Mrs. Jones, how worldly you are! You compromise her! You're dirting yourself with these unclean associations! and although he actually says nothing to her in his heart he condemns her verse 10 he passes judgment so we'll call Mr. Smith the judge well Mrs. Jones is what Paul would call strong she knows there's no God called Zeus and she knows that a piece of meat has been offered to a block of stone is still a good piece of meat and she knows that God made the pig and God has given us all things richly to enjoy and she knows just how delicious pulled pork is or pork crackling she knows those things, what's more she knows Mark 7 that it's not what you eat that makes you unclean is it? It's not what goes into you that makes you unclean it's what comes out of you, it's your sin and she knows that Christ has washed her clean and in Peter's words her heart has been cleansed by faith and maybe quoting Paul's words in Colossians she knows that the gospel is not do not handle, do not taste, do not touch referring to things that all perish as they are used according to human precepts and teachings these have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body but they have no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh she knows it's Christ who makes her holy not these things you can touch and handle and that are going to perish it's a meat it's not by avoiding certain meats that she's going to be made holy and so with a clear conscience Mrs. Jones buys the pork joint but then you see she sees Mr. Smith the judge there he is again presiding over us finding fault and she raises her eyes to heaven and in her heart she despises him so Mrs. Jones the despiser verse 10, why do you pass judgment on your brother or you, now to Mrs. Jones, why do you despise your brother? So Mr. Smith is weak in faith because his understanding, his knowledge, it falls short he doesn't doesn't recognize just how free God has made him his conscience has scruples where God's Word does not have scruples so his faith is very real but his faith is not strong enough if you like to stretch to eating meat that's been offered to an idol Mrs. Jones she's strong in faith her understanding is much more complete she has a much bigger view in that sense of the freedom which she has in Christ And yes, her conscience also has scruples, but those scruples are where God's Word would place her scruples. She doesn't go beyond his commands, but her conscience doesn't pull back less than the commands. If Mr. Smith has scruples where God's Word does not have scruples, then Mrs. Jones, her conscience has scruples only where God's Word has or commands her to have scruples. so faith therefore does stretch, it is strong enough to eat meat that's taken part in pagan worship so there we are, Mr. Smith the judge and Mrs. Jones the despiser how are we going to get them together? how are we going to do it? without them being in the same room and Mrs. Smith judging, passing judgment on on Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Jones despising Mr. Smith I'm going to get Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones mixed up in a minute, I know it but Christian friends, in this church we have judges who preside verse 10 who pass judgment on their brothers and in this church we have despisers who roll their eyes and despise their brother they'd get a life stop sniping because in this church we have weak and we have strong worldly small-minded compromiser fault finder thin end of the wedge oh just shut up what happens if we get pushed apart don't we? and there's mistrust and suspicions and they can grow to become bitter thoughts of them and us weak and strong and maybe therefore when we're with people who are weak or strong we don't join in in the same way we don't embrace each other in the same way I don't love my brother and sister as Christ has loved me and we can do all of that and there's not a clear command in sight amazing isn't it and yet we're all convinced that we're in the right so alcohol or teetotal Christmas! Oh Christmas! Dancing! No dancing! Home education, state education Netflix or no flicks! Card playing! Christian music! Fashion! We can go on and on and on, amazing isn't it? Neither are sinning neither disobeying a clear command of God's both exercising faith both seeking to honor the Lord everyone fully convinced and yet we come down on opposite sides different convictions what are we to do how is Mr. Smith to stop judging how is Mrs. Jones to stop despising How are we to stop walking away from each other knowing that I'm in the right? Well, point number two. Everest or Snowdon? What's the highest mountain in England and Wales? It's Snowdon. In old money it's 3,560 feet. It's the highest mountain in the world. It's Everest. 29,002 feet now when we judge a brother or sister or despise a brother or sister what are we doing? We're getting up on a high mountain we're setting ourselves up and we're looking down on them well says Paul, if you're standing on top of Snowdon this morning looking down judging, despising your brother your sister Paul wants you to get up to a higher mountain to see things from a higher mountain still to see things from Everest so you feel very small and very silly and very humble in fact in verses seven to twelve there are two Everest's so Everest number one Jesus death and resurrection verses seven to 9. Now what we do is take it from verses 5 and 6 because it's all really one seamless argument. Verse 5, one person esteems one day as better than another, another person esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind the one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord and the one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord since he gives thanks to God while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. So as Paul what matters is this, whatever viewpoint you take come to a conviction on it be fully convinced do it for the Lord observe it for His glory so even if you come down on different sides even if you arrive at opposing positions and yes it might look like compromise and yes it might look like scruples over nothing for the sake of unity can we not agree that each of us is acting out of good faith real faith and acting out of a good conscience that each of us although on different sides we're all seeking to honor the Lord and that being so though we're on different sides actually there's common ground and the ground that we're standing on is that we're all doing it for Him and if we're all doing it for Him that's our conviction we're seeking to bring pleasure and honor and glory to the Lord can we therefore not heartily welcome each other as we together serve the Lord says Paul so he goes on verse 7 for none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself for if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord so then whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord's for to this end Christ died and lived again that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living now four times Paul says there Lord do you think he's making a point? Lord so whether you're weak or strong who do you belong to? you belong to the Lord and therefore verse 7 none of us serves himself and therefore verse 8 if we live if we die it's for the Lord it's for his glory from life's first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny I'm no longer my own says the Apostle if I wasn't that what the gospel was all about verse 9 for to this end Christ died and lived again that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living Christ saved me for himself and so now I belong to him I'm no longer my own so whether it's meat or vegetables high days or holidays or for that matter anything in life or death I'm under Christ's Lordship everything I do I do for Him and so these matters of conscience whether you're Mr. Smith or Mrs. Jones it's not up to you what your brother does or doesn't do it's up to the Lord You're not his Lord, Christ is his Lord. So it's not up to you what he does and doesn't do, is it? It's up to Christ. Did you die to save him? No! So don't stick your nose in. Did you rise to give him life? No! So it's not up to you to put him right, to pass judgment, or to despise. Remember we're talking about things which are matters of conscience, we're not talking about clear commands. In other words, what Paul says, he doesn't have to agree with you, does he? Because the important thing is, he's living to please the Lord. He doesn't have to observe your rules, does he? Because the important thing is, he's obeying his commands. He doesn't have to follow your preferences, does he? Because his conscience is not bound to you, his conscience is bound to his Lord. You're not his Lord, Christ is his Lord. there's only one Lord and it's not you and an aside here to parents Paul says in verse 5 each one should be fully convinced in his own mind if my child is converted as he comes to adulthood I want my child to be fully convinced in his own mind as to what pleases the Lord and his mind is not my mind, it's his mind so in matters of conscience my child may come to a different conviction than me as long as he's convinced before the Lord as long as he's seeking to honor the Lord that's okay because he's following the Lord he's not following me so we bring up our children with an open Bible and we bring up our children to develop their own convictions now of course where God has forbidden something or God has commanded something it's black and white there is no discussion in that sense but so much of living is in the area of conscience so we bring up our children with an open Bible to develop their own convictions and if we don't bring them up to develop their own convictions then as parents we have failed because we've not equipped them to go into this world and to live for his glory and I want my children to bring far more glory to God than ever I have done in my life and fundamental to that it means they're not just following what I think is best but they're following what Christ what convictions they have are from Him their mind is not my mind, it's their mind and I want to have convictions that they're pleasing and honoring Him each one should be fully convinced in his own mind we want our children whether they live or whether they die we want them to know what they do is for the Lord now as parents it's very difficult isn't it because obviously I have my convictions and my convictions I'm convinced but I can't stamp those convictions on my children because it's their mind not my mind and it requires real wisdom and discernment and care and gentleness so we don't crush them and break them you want them to be fully convinced before the Lord if they're believing so they live to please Him and bring Him glory okay so the first Everest is seen from the Lordship of Christ what matters is not that they agree with me but whether they live whether in life and death they're doing it for the Lord well Everest number two was removed from Christ's death and resurrection to Christ's return and the judgment look at verses 10 to 12 why do you pass judgment on your brother or you looking at Mrs. Jones now, why do you despise your brother? for we will all stand before the judgment seat of God for it is written as I live says the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God so then each of us will give an account of himself to God so says Paul, you weak stop judging you strong stop despising why? well because you're just fellow servants verse 4 aren't you? you're not answerable to each other in that way, you're answerable to the Lord for we will all stand before the judgment seat of God for it is written as I live says the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God are you the sovereign Lord? have you yourself nothing to give account for? are they going to stand before you? so then each of us will give an account of himself to God So it says, Paul, don't pass judgment. Don't pass comment. Don't find fault. Don't roll your eyes. It's not your place. In matters of conscience, not of command, we're not accountable to each other. In matters where God has given us liberty we're not to take that liberty away it matters that God neither commands nor forbids we're not to tread on each other's convictions there's only one we bow the knee to there's only one who sees into the heart there's only one who is competent to pass judgment or to weigh our lives and that's the one to whom we give account and that's the Lord and anyway do you see the danger of passing judgment on your brother the danger of despising your brother what are you doing? but when you pass judgment when you despise a brother then you really are doing something that God has forbidden you really are stepping over a command and breaking the command of love you really will be called to account for such an attitude we're not to wear the mantle of deity we're simply fellow servants only one judge only one lord and we bow to him so then each of us will give an account of himself to God it's very nuanced isn't it? it's quite sort of I guess even more nuance as we go on but you see how Paul is drawing these two groups together it's interesting he calls them weak and strong so he doesn't say look you weak are mainly the Jews I mean there will be some Gentiles among them as well or that you strong are mainly the Gentiles although there are some Jews among them including Paul himself he doesn't talk about Jews and Gentiles because he doesn't want to raise the fence any higher than it already is but what he's saying is that even if we can't agree we can agree because love believes all things we can agree that we're all serving the Lord that's common ground isn't it? and even if we can't agree we can agree not to pass judgment in matters of conscience not to despise in matters of conscience because you won't answer for me and I won't answer for you with merely servants each of us will give an account of himself to God maybe think of it like this if it's your default to be the judge you find it very easy to preside and very easy to judge have you ever been mistaken? have you ever got it wrong? are you always right? then be very careful and if you're a despiser you find yourself raising your eyes again at some attitude that you know how did you come by this fuller understanding? who gave it to you? you see brothers and sisters despising judging comes out of a what? out of a proud heart it's pride, isn't it? and what Paul is doing with these two mountains, these two Everest is saying humble yourself humble yourself who do you think you are? you're not Lord you're not judge humble yourself and that's the real key that begins to unlock the divisions well Paul's laid out the principles in verses one to twelve next week God willing we'll get down to some of the practicalities we've eventually got at some point get down and sit at the same table with Mr. Smith and Mrs. Jones what are we going to serve up? how are they going to meet each other around the table so we've got to get down to that haven't we? and we'll see what Paul does at that point okay but as we close number three just some food for thought at Amien Park just come with me for a moment to John chapter 12 and the first seven verses this is what it says six days before the Passover so we're coming up to the death of Christ Jesus therefore came to Bethany where Lazarus was whom Jesus had raised from the dead so they gave a dinner for him there Martha served and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume but Judas Iscariot one of the disciples he who was about to betray him said why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor he said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it Jesus said leave her alone so she may keep it for the day of my burial for the poor you always have with you but you do not always have me now you know the account don't you just for a moment, suspend what you know and forget you know the account, alright? let's suppose you don't know anything about this, you're just standing in the room okay, you're at the meal this has not happened yet you're simply standing there watching now Martha has been serving good old Martha well done but now, verse three, Mary steals the limelight and in front of these men she lets down her hair in that society that is outrageous, it's immodest, it's like hitching up a skirt and then with some theatrical gesture she pours out this ointment on Jesus' feet and then wipes them with her hair it's the first time you've seen it, you're just witnessing it as it's happening I mean, who is this woman? and she wastes a year's money on Jesus' feet at Bethany and Bethany means house of the poor so the place where poverty is so evident and obvious everyone can see it there's a year's wages, a year's money wasted so who do you think you're with as you watch this? I think I'll be with Judas think I'll be looking at this and thinking what a waste what a waste why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor why was it not sold for a year's money so forget what you know who are you with maybe with Martha who's done all the hard work only to then see Mary steal the limelight oh Mary maybe with Judas oh Mary I think we could make a really good strong case against Mary I think we can look at Mary and all of us either pass judgment on her or despise her for what she's done after all there's no command that I know of that she's obeying it's purely off her own bat this is Mary's show, it's what Mary wants to do Are you with Martha? Are you with Judas? or are you a Jesus who actually sees into her heart and he alone sees why she's done it and what she's done has been for him and it's beautiful and the fragrance of her loving action just fills the whole house Christian friends, the Lord and the Lord only sees our hearts. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you? Why do you despise your brother? Let's pray. Father God we we find all this very hard we we find ourselves Lord caught out Lord because we have our convictions and we believe that we're obeying you and serving you and we're sure Lord we're in the right in many of these things and yet Lord we we have to appeal to a sense of the scriptures teaching rather than explicit commands and Lord we find it therefore difficult to know what is well Lord how we should react to our differences and how we should deal with our differences but Lord we thank you that you are the one who sees into our hearts and we thank you that the Holy Spirit is the one who comes and teaches us and Lord we therefore pray that you would bring your word to bear upon our hearts and upon our lives and upon our situations and indeed our Father we pray upon those situations Lord maybe even in this church where there are divisions and there has been a breakdown in relationships and Lord nothing may have actually passed our lips but Lord in our hearts we judge or we despise and Lord we pray that you would as it were need this teaching into the into the life of our church and into our own lives that there might be no hindrances to our unity and that love might prevail and that we would be a united church for your glory and for your pleasure. Father, take us by the hand, lead us through these things. Lord, we humble ourselves before you. We look to you to teach us. Help us indeed, Lord, to bear the easy yoke and to learn of you. because we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.