We welcome you to Trinity Bible Church. The mission of Trinity Bible Church is exalting Christ, encouraging those who know Christ, evangelizing those who need Christ. This is our mission. And regardless of what's going on health-wise, regardless of what's going on politically in our community, even when we can't come together, by God's grace, we still want to focus on our mission. I am very thankful that you would join me today And we have a wonderful opportunity to worship the Lord together. My name is Greg Mazak. I'm the pastor teacher here at Trinity, and I welcome you. Those of you from the Trinity family, I miss being with you. Now I'm thankful for the things we're able to do. I'm thankful for the 10 separate prayer meetings we have happening on video conference lines. And that's taking place every Wednesday night at seven o'clock. I'm thankful for you ladies. I don't remember the number. I think my wife said 30 plus some ladies getting together today, encouraging one another, praying with one another. If you want any information on how to participate in those, just email the office, contact your elder, let us know. We'd love to have you participate. But I am looking forward to us, hopefully in the near future, coming back together. I hope you'll pray with us as elders as we make decisions related to that. I know some of my brothers that are pastors, they're in auditoriums and they actually, you know, whatever, get dressed up, stand behind the pulpit, and they preach in that pulpit. And I just want you to know, I think that's awesome they do that. I have zero desire to do that, okay? I'm looking forward to being back in our building when you're there and until then I have no desire to be in an empty building. I would much rather be just sitting in front of my computer opening the Word of God with you. So one of the things the scripture teaches us is that we should be praying for one another. 1st Timothy chapter 2, one tooth says, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. exalting Christ, encouraging those who know Christ, evangelizing those who need Christ, and praying that our government would make decisions that would allow us to be free to do that. Certainly our country is in a special state of turmoil now. We need to pray now absolutely more than ever. Would you join me? Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ. We thank you that we live in a country where we are free to worship Christ and gather together and share the gospel. And Lord, we recognize that there are times where we can't physically come together in large groups, yet we thank you that we're free to use technology to gather together and to open up your word and to talk to people about Jesus and encourage one another. Please bless our President, our Vice President. Lord, please bless our Senate and our House. We pray that you would please bless our high court. We ask that you would give them all wisdom as they make decisions that impact us. We pray for our state government and our local government, that you would help them to make wise choices. We pray, Lord, for our doctors and our nurses, our first responders. Lord, as they're frequently in harm's way, that you would give them protection. We pray for those suffering illnesses of all types, people going through difficult times, that ultimately, Lord, people would look to you to find ultimate peace and help and hope. And as we come together this morning, this afternoon, this evening, opening up the scriptures, we pray that your hand of blessing would be with us in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, again, it's a privilege for me to have this opportunity to continue to preach through Romans I absolutely love preaching through books of the Bible, and I praise the Lord that he's given me this opportunity. You may have a worship guide nearby. I've never actually shown a picture before. You can find those online at sermonaudio.com. the link you're using even to access this, or we're emailing those out to our church family. You could see it there. Just have some ideas, the text of the scripture, a place on the back to take notes, and some practical applications. And that's what we do every Sunday, is we, in a small group, walk through those practical applications, and I've been encouraged by that. Well, here we go. welcome you to our sermon today. I hope you like that opening. Welcome one another Romans chapter 14 verses 1 through 4 and I thought what we'll do is we'll read the text beginning in verse 1 I read from an ESV. As for the one who is weak in faith welcome him but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything Well, the weak person eats only vegetables. And then Paul continues in verse 3. 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. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? 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." You say, okay, so what's going on in this text? Well, I want to do a preview because all of Romans chapter 14 and even into 15 is dealing with this same topic. Christians getting along with one another, some being strong Christians, that's what the word Paul uses says, and some being weak. So let's set the boundaries, let's go through real quick the context. Paul's talking beginning in chapter 12 of Gospel Application, that's the section we're in. Eleven rich chapters of doctrine, and yes I know there's exhortation, but just in a broad brush kind of way. Eleven rich chapters of doctrine, The end of chapter 11, rich doxology, praising God. And then there's duty, and that's what we're in now. How should we live as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? And many people would summarize chapters 12, 13, 14, 15 with one word. love. And maybe that's a better word even than duty because our duty is to love. Love is our duty. And this is how we love one another. You say, how do you know that? Well let me just read back in chapter 12 beginning at verse 9. We've covered this already. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love, giving preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. And you say, what do you see in there? We see the practical application of love. And I think that's what Paul is doing here in this text. That's something I just wanted to remind us of secondly. I think it's interesting that Paul spends no less than 30 verses on this topic. All the way from chapter 14, verse 1, where we begin today, to the next chapter, verse 7. That's a lot of scripture. It must have been important because the Apostle Paul is communicating something he's burdened about, and you say, what is it, Greg, that we would love one another even as we differ? You say, okay, I'm with you on that, but what's all of this strong versus weak? That's the third thing we need to preview. Paul is definitely talking about, I'm now in chapter 14, verse 1. those who are weak in faith. And then he ends verse 2 with, the one who is weak. And so here is Paul seemingly addressing primarily the strong, but not exclusively. Here is Paul who considers himself one of the strong. And if you say, how do you know Paul considers himself one of the strong? I just read chapter 15, verse 1. We who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength. So Paul is talking primarily to those who are strong, considering himself strong, on how to deal with the weak and love the weak. And yet it goes both ways. And you're still thinking, and I'm still thinking, What does strong and weak mean? I mean, if I just asked you, strong and weak, what comes to your mind? I know the first thing that comes to my mind is coffee. My wife and I, Nancy, we love strong coffee. And I thought that would be a great illustration. So I pulled this off the internet, right? A strong coffee bean and a weak coffee bean and then I found out that's not even true. And that you can take a coffee bean and you can roast it a separate way and it becomes darker and you could have a different coffee bean that you roast for a smaller amount of time and it could actually have more caffeine than the strong. I read all that and I just got confused. One thing I know, Nancy and I like strong, our coffee beans look dark like the one in the right. How that all takes place, I'm not even sure. I need a better illustration. So I googled strong versus weak and I guess there were a lot of hits on this. There's a strong golf swing and there's a weak golf swing. I started to read about that. I got bored. No offense. Some of you guys who I love very much love golf and I am happy for you. I just want you to know. I read the article. I couldn't even follow it. I need a better illustration. Maybe here's what I think of. Here's something even the children. Hey kids, here's your picture, okay? Let's say that those are two people arm wrestling. Let's think, the person with the big strong arm, that's Pastor Ward, okay? And the guy with the skinny arm, you know who that is, that's Pastor Greg. If we were to arm wrestle and that's what our arms look like, it is what mine looks like, okay? If that's a reality, a real wrestling match, children, who would win? I think you know, it's the man with the big arm in the black shirt. He's stronger. But what does that mean? Is a strong person more godly? Is he more spiritual? Is he a better Christian? Is a weak person a Christian at all? You know, as I went through the different commentaries on strong versus weak, there are at least seven leading theories on what this refers to. So here's what I want to do. Rather than work through them, I simply want to stay in the context of this passage, and I want to look at what is very clear. And I think that'll help us all. Are you ready? Let's do. Here we go. Number one, both the strong and the weak. believers. Notice Romans 14 verse 4, Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, notice, for the Lord is able to make him stand. We're talking about people who have a master. The master is the Lord. The Lord is able to make them stand. This is both strong and weak. They are both believers. Secondly, you say, well then what are they strong and weak in? They disagree on something. And what they disagree on is a matter of conscience. Let me show you that in verse one. Now accept or welcome the one who is weak in faith. Faith is a noun, believe is a verb. They differ in what they believe they can do to the glory of God. One is weak in faith, verse one. Now notice verse two. One person has faith, that he may. He believes that he may do something that other people don't have faith and they don't believe they can do. It doesn't mean they don't have faith in Jesus, but they don't have faith that they can do something that the first group can. There's a disagreement on what we would call matters of conscience. You say, okay, so we have people, they're believers, and they have this disagreement. That is correct. You say, are they disagreeing on sin? Like some are saying it's okay to murder someone and others are saying no, no. Guys, there's no disagreement on that. The Bible is very clear on moral issues. Number three, this is a disagreement on non-moral issues. Notice verse two. Again, one has faith he may eat all things, the other one eats vegetables only. So one guy says, you know, yeah, I can eat meat, not a problem. And the next guy says, no, no meat for me. Drop down to verse five, please. One person regards one day above another. Another regards another day alike. We'll talk more about that next week, Lord willing. But there's a disagreement on how to observe certain days. and how significant certain quote-unquote religious days are should you honor one day above another, an issue for next week. But my point is, it's not a moral issue. Number four, please get this point, and we'll come back to it in the sermon. Both groups are accepted by God. Can you see that in verse three? The text clearly says here in Romans 14, verse three, God has accepted him. So you should not be judging another person, you should not be regarding with contempt another person. God has accepted the other person, both groups. Not only are both groups accepted by God, I think this is interesting, and now we'll go to verse 6 and again we'll spend more time on this next time, but both groups desire in their hearts to bring God glory. He who observes the day observes it for the Lord, and he who eats does so for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God. And he who eats not for the Lord, he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. Guys, both groups want to glorify God. And I want to throw out a quick warning. If anyone comes to this passage and says, Greg, all I want to do is I want permission to do what I really want to do so no one can tell me what I'm doing is wrong, where do I find myself in this passage? And I would say, I have no clue. You're not in this passage. There are two groups of people, strong and weak. And both of them are coming and saying, Lord, we want to glorify you. In our hearts, we want to please you. God accepts them. And yet they come to different viewpoints. Finally, we know number six, neither group is a threat to the gospel. You say, how do I know that? When you have people like some of the early Jews at this time, that are adding to the gospel and Paul has to address them, for example, in the letter to the Galatians. He is not patient with them at all. When people add to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they dilute, they cheapen, they change the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is quite strong with them at one point saying, let them be anathema. Let them be accursed. Someone who's preaching a false gospel. And yet here, Paul is gentle. Paul is kind. Paul is saying don't judge one another, look down on one another. Why? Because what's going on here in Rome is people aren't changing the gospel. They're disagreeing on how to practically live and what it looks like to live a life that glorifies God. You say, do we know from the text exactly what the problem is? No, we really don't. The most common interpretation is that we're talking about people who are formally Jews and those who are formally Jews They're not adding to the gospel, but they believe now that they're followers of Jesus, it would be best for them to keep certain Jewish traditions related to food and days. We don't know that for sure, but that's the most common viewpoint. It makes a lot of sense. Either way, I know from the text, these six items are true. Let's keep these in mind, and now we're ready to begin. I appreciate your patience, but I hope that was helpful. Let's welcome one another. I read the first two verses, Romans 14. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Now, you notice I'm reading here from an ESV. And you say, why would I read from the ESV? It's because of the word welcome. Now, in the translation I have in front of me, Romans 14 verse 1, the Nazbe says, except the one who is weak. That word except, or welcome, the Greek term is not except in the sense of, okay, if that's the way you're going to be, I'm not going to argue. So what? Who cares? That's not the nuance of the term. It is a word of welcome. It is a word of yes. Even though we disagree on a matter of conscience, as a believer in Christ, you are welcome. I welcome you. That's why I called it the title of the message, Welcome One Another. That's the command. So Paul's making it very clear in this text what? Number one, we need to welcome those who differ. Now here in the text, verse two, the idea would be clear. One person has faith. Yep, he can eat anything. Another person who's weak eats vegetables only. Paul yet makes the point, regardless of what side you're in, I'm getting a little ahead of myself, you need to welcome other believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, why in the world would we do that? I mean, that can get complicated when we all don't agree. Why would I welcome somebody I have a disagreement with? It's a good question. Number one is because it's kind. Just in that term, welcome, it is a word of kindness. You say, what do you mean? That same word is used in Acts chapter 28. So that's the very end of the book of Acts. And the apostle Paul writes on his way to Rome, he's under arrest. And you know the big shipwreck takes place. And it seems like perhaps that they're going to perish in the storm. And yet what happens, they're washed up to an island, the island of Malta. I pick it up in Acts 28 too, the native people showed us unusual kindness for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all because it had begun to rain and was cold. Do you see the parallel there? There are people who are what? That they are showing a kindness. How did they show it? Well, in addition to the fire, they welcomed us all. We don't know you. We've never met you. You're no doubt different. yet we welcome you to our island. That's the sense of welcome. Notice how it's tied to kindness. Kind people are welcoming people. Christians are kind people, and we welcome people, right? Just a few days ago, I was downtown in Greenville, and I was down there, and I was sitting out front of a certain building, had my motorcycle parked there, and there's a truck that's unloading office equipment. And because they wanted to get as close to a certain door as they could, they were parked in the neighboring parking lot. And the gentleman, who I guess owns or manages the neighboring business, saw they were in his parking lot, put down his window, yelled, screamed, get out of my parking lot, and said very unkind things. And it didn't ruin my day. I thought, obviously, he doesn't know Jesus. Obviously, he's not a follower of Christ, right? Christians are kind people. And what's one way we show kindness? It's by welcoming people, even when they differ. Now, you might say, OK, Greg, I'll grant you that. But those aren't exactly identical situations, the Malta Island and a church. And that's not comparing apples to apples. It might be more like apples to oranges. Okay, I grant you that. So let me give you a second reason why we should welcome those who differ. Not because it's kind, but because it's what God does. It's godly. Would you look at Romans 14 verse 3? Notice Paul says, the one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not. The one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats. We'll come back to that. But please notice the end of verse 3, God has accepted him. God has accepted him. That's what God does. Who am I not to accept a believer that God accepts? Not to welcome a believer whom God welcomes. That must be important to Paul. He not only says it here in chapter 14, verse 3. In the next chapter, we'll see it again in chapter 15, verse 7. Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. This is the kind of heart that we should have towards other believers. I'm not talking about people preaching a false gospel. I'm talking about people whose faith is in Jesus Christ. They have been forgiven of their sin. They should be welcome. I think of an illustration. I don't know that this is accurate. I hope it's not. But I was actually told that back in the day, back in the, I guess this would have been in the 90s, that there was a church that was very strong on women should never wear slacks, women should never wear pants, women should never wear shorts, they should always be in a dress or a skirt. And they preached it hard. And for youth group activities, all the girls were required to wear dresses. And here's the point I remember, They actually were required to have a closet full of dresses, skirts, so if a visitor came, she could participate. Because if you were in jeans or shorts, you were not welcome. And that, to me, first of all, I hope it's just a story, and I hope it's not accurate. But that would be contrary to what this text says. Remember, regardless of what you believe in your conscience, if this is a person who's a believer of Christ, of course, they'd be welcome. And then there's the whole issue of maybe you're inviting people who don't know Christ for evangelistic reasons, which would also be an issue to discuss. Guys, my heart would be towards our church family. If you said to me, hey, Pastor Greg, I want you to know, that my wife and my girls always wear skirts, always wear dresses. I think that's best. What do you think? You know what I would say? I would say you are welcome at Trinity Bible Church. And if you said, well, Pastor Greg, my wife, my girls, actually they generally wear skirts and dresses for worship services, but most of the time you'd find them in jeans, whatever. What do you think now? I would say you are welcome at Trinity Bible Church. If you said, Pastor Greg, I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't think my wife owns a dress. I don't think she owns a skirt, unless maybe she's been in a wedding once or twice. And my kids, I mean, they never wear skirts, my girls. They never wear dresses. What do you think of me, Pastor Greg? You are welcome at Trinity Bible Church. This is what the Bible teaches that I must believe, and I want to believe, okay? I'll be personal in some of these things just because I just want to be honest and transparent and help you to know how I'm trying to prayerfully honor Christ as a dad, as a husband. Back in the day when my girls were all coming and worshiping with us, they were living in our home, and my wife Nancy, I asked her, honey, would it be all right if you wore a dress or a skirt, and my preference would be, that the girls on Sunday would wear a dress or a skirt because I really believe we should dress up for church. And by the way, I still believe it, okay? If I were coming to visit you in the hospital, I would dress up. It's just honoring. So if I'm out cutting the grass and I get a text that you're in the hospital, I'm covered with grass, sweaty, I wouldn't just jump all of a sudden in my truck or on my motorcycle and come visit you. I would at least clean up a little bit just to honor you. That's how I feel about worshiping the Lord. However, it's gotten back to me over the years that, you know, in Trinity they really expect all the women to wear skirts and dresses. Just look at Greg, his wife, that's what she always wears. So I've had to come back to my wife. Hey honey, if you're okay with this, would you stop wearing a dress or a skirt all the time? Because it's communicating the wrong thing. I just didn't think this through enough. And you know, sometimes she's in a skirt, sometimes she's in slacks. She always looks beautiful and I'm thankful for my wife. I don't want to miscommunicate. It's okay to believe any one of those three things, you are welcome at Trinity, because this is what Romans 14 is teaching us. And I hope this is clear. Romans 14, we're welcoming those who differ, not only because it's kind, and it is kind, but also because it's godly. And that's verses one and two. Let's go a little farther. Let's do verse three. 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. You say, OK, what's going on here? I think a nice summary here would be number two, don't argue about your differences. Again, notice it says back in verse one, welcome people not for the purpose of passing judgment or arguing. And then it says here, verse two, what? We wanna be very, very careful that we don't fall into a temptation of superiority, of pride, thinking that, you know, I believe it, I'm obviously right, you're obviously wrong, and then because of that, looking down on someone. Can I make a point here? Paul's gonna make it clear that whether you're weak or strong, It doesn't mean you're more spiritual than the next person. And you still have the same temptation, because he's going to deal with the temptation of both sides. First of all, notice what he says. Don't despise those who abstain. That would be the person on your right. That would be the person who's more conservative, right? One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he's weak, only eats vegetables only. OK, now verse three. The one who eats, so here's a person. he believes in his conscience. It's fine to eat meat offered to God. The Bible, excuse me, it's fine to eat meat. I'll just eat that far. It's fine to eat meat. It's not a problem. The Bible doesn't forbid it. He is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat. He's not to look at the person on his right and the person who's abstaining. He's not to despise him. He's not to say, you legalist, I can't believe you act that way. Now, it may be, we don't know this for sure, it may be that these are Jewish believers who have been taught it's very important to keep kosher. And because of that, you have to be careful about what kind of meat you eat. And it could be meat offered to an idol, perhaps, It could be meat that's considered unclean, maybe even for a different reason. So let's just abstain from meat altogether. That's the best way to please God. And you realize that that's not necessary. You know what Paul says to you? Don't despise the person who abstains. The person's more conservative than you. That's okay. You say, oh, I think they're such a legalist. You are not allowed to think that. The Bible says, no, don't despise the person who's on your right, flip the coin, and don't judge those who partake, those who are on your left. Again, notice what the text here says in verse 3, the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats. So here's a person who's saying, you know, I'm going to stay a little more conservative. I'm not going to eat the meat. In my conscience, I don't believe it would honor the Lord. But look at all these other Christians. They're eating the meat. Wow! They must be worldly people. They're so worldly. They don't love Jesus. You are not allowed to think that. Notice how Paul deals with both sides of the issue, regardless of the issue, as long as it's a non-gospel issue. We are allowed to come to conclusions, and we are allowed to differ in our conclusions. We are not allowed to argue about those differences, and we are commanded to welcome those even who differ with us. I was trying to think of another example to use here, realistic examples. I'm going to use a financial example. Some of you are followers of Dave Ramsey, and you understand well what he teaches, and I tend to be in that camp loosely, okay? So I am a person, ask my girls, I'm a person who really encourages don't go into debt. Don't go into debt for a car. Don't have a car payment. And my girls will tell you that. Nancy and I, that's how we live. We think that's best. Question, is it biblical? Is it sinful to have a car payment? No. Is it wrong to have a car payment? No. Do I look down upon you, those of you right now who are thinking, whoa, Greg, man, I'm glad he doesn't know that I have a car payment. In fact, I'm glad he doesn't know we have two car payments. Guys, I am not allowed to look down on you. I am not allowed to judge you. I am not allowed to despise you. And careful, you are not allowed to look down on me or judge me. I personally, just so you know this, I actually don't think I could go and get a new truck and finance it and have a payment. It would bother my conscience. I don't think it's a sin. I just, it would bother me. and I wouldn't believe that I was honoring the Lord. I fully am aware I'm probably in the minority. I don't believe it's good financial stewardship. You say, Greg, I'm with you, man. Those other people are worldly. No, that is not what you're allowed to say. Whether you agree or disagree, welcome me, and I welcome you. as long as our faith is in Jesus Christ. Maybe that's an illustration that maybe you thought of, maybe you wouldn't have thought of. I came across another one. This is a little more just of a fun one. I was actually just last night at my grandson's house and he has a map, a puzzle map, and we're trying to help him learn the states. So we put all the different states together, those that were there. We were missing some. So I took a picture of part of the map that was whole. And then I thought about this. And I thought, hey, I could use this for an illustration, right? Certain people are really excited about their home state. And they're happy for what their state is famous for. So there's the state of New York you could see, and there's the Statue of Liberty, and some people think that's important. Now some people would say less important. Either way is okay. There's the state of Pennsylvania and the Liberty Bell, and certainly Pennsylvania is famous for that. And there's the state of Ohio with football, obviously right from Ohio State. And there's the state of Michigan, and what are they famous for? For cars. And some people are excited about that, and that's fine. And some people are less excited, and that's fine. And regardless of how you see that, obviously, the people in New York aren't excited about college football. Obviously, the people in Ohio aren't as excited about cars. And obviously, the people in Michigan, I'll stop it right there. Now, for those of you who already know, wow, he's a football fan. I know what he's saying. In my heart, don't you realize it doesn't matter? We love each other because our faith is in Christ, even if we have different conclusions about whether sport's important or not, or what team we happen to like. Don't argue about your differences, okay? And if you say, but yeah, but that was a cheap shot, shoot me an email, okay? Talk to me about it, and I will reply with, I welcome you, I love you. You good? Let's keep going. Verse four. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? If 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." Third and final point, not only welcome those who differ, number one, don't argue about your differences, number two, remember whose master. Do you see that? Guys, we need to stay in our own lane. I've used that phrase before, but I think it applies here. Kind of just an everyday casual way of saying, you know, you better think about what you're saying. Stay in your own lane. I mean, who do you think you are to go around and judge the convictions of other people? Guys, we are all servants. Do you see that in the text? Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls. Who am I? I'm a servant. You say, who are you? You're a servant. I mean, who's our master if we're believers in Jesus? The Lord is our master. I don't go around judging another person's servant. It's just not polite, appropriate, however you want to say that. I'm a servant of Christ. If we were in our auditorium, I'd look right down on the right and there'd be Ward sitting there. Ward is a servant of Christ. You say, how do I live out my Christianity in practical ways? Maybe regarding sports, or maybe even dress, or maybe, you know, what other illustration did I use? A car loan? I don't know how Ward necessarily lives out those things. He doesn't answer to me. I don't answer to him. We both answer to Jesus Christ. We are all servants, not masters. You say, yeah, Greg, but it's dangerous if you don't try to help people. Hey, listen. Notice what the text says. To his own master, he stands or falls. I think this final portion of verse four is interesting. And he will stand. If I could change that slightly. He will persevere in his faith. Why? For the Lord is able to make him stand. You know what happens? What happens is sometimes people say, you know what, Greg, I'll tell you what, we have to deal with people that are caught up in legalism, because if they're caught up in legalism, they don't understand the glories of the gospel, and they'll never really be free, and they'll fall away from the faith, and then flip the coin. You know, Pastor Greg, we have to help people who are a little bit too much in their freedom because they're just too open to stuff the Bible doesn't forbid and they're going to get caught up in it. And the next thing you know, they're going to deny the Lord. And Paul says, don't think that way. We tend to think that way. Don't think that way. God is able to help us all. And on some issues, I'm on the right side of things, perhaps more conservative than you. And on other issues, I may be to the left of you, and you're more conservative than me. And either way, God is able to bring us safely, eternally, with him to be forever as followers of Jesus Christ. Just a simple illustration, again. There's a movie that came out a while ago, and it was kind of a pro-family movie. It was actually made by a Christian organization. And it had to do with me and teaching biblical counseling. So I asked a colleague of mine, who I respect very much, I said, hey, there's this movie in town. Would you want to go see it with me? And he said to me very kindly, You know, Greg, that probably wouldn't be best. And he went and explained his background. He explained the church he goes to. He's at a church where they would teach that would not be a good thing. OK. And so I listened to that. And I said to him, what? Man, I used to respect you. You are such a legalist. No, that would be in violation of this passage. And he did not look at me and say, Greg, we used to be friends. But man, you don't love Jesus. You go to movies. That would be a violation of this passage. If anything, I bent over backwards to say, hey, I hope asking you is OK. I didn't mean to offend you. I understand completely. I respect what you believe. No worries at all. and we just went on continuing being friends, and we occasionally get together, we pray for one another, we encourage one another. That's how it should be in Christianity. If I could put it this way, I think many of us have heard of that acronym, MYOB, Mind Your Own Business. That could be changed or modified, and this is not original with me, I came across this in a book. Mind Your Own Conscience. Now the only reason I hesitate maybe to say that is because that may sound like it has an edge to it and that's not how I mean it at all. When I say mind your own conscience, what you want to do is live your life in a way you're convinced brings glory to God, which will actually be the next message we have beginning in verse 5. But the things that you believe that bring honor to Christ, the things that you can do that would honor the Lord, and you do them with faith, believing that they bring glory to Christ, then as you do those, don't despise the people who don't. And, as you prayerfully come to conclusions, I tell you what, I just can't do that, then don't judge the people who do. Mind your own conscience. This is Christian love. And if we're going to understand how to live out the gospel practically, we all have to make sure that we are welcoming other believers in Christ, even those we may disagree with. Conclusion. in non-moral areas. And I just want to pause. We are not talking about stealing cars. We're not talking about robbing banks. We're not talking about committing adultery. We're not talking about gasping. Those are things that are wrong, okay? There's no discussion. in non-moral areas. You know, maybe your wife dresses differently than mine. Maybe you finance vehicles differently than me. Maybe you live out your faith in entertainment venues differently than I do. For whatever reason, we need to come to a conclusion in those areas. Don't judge those on your left. Man, you guys are so loose that you're headed for trouble. I gotta stop you. You don't love Jesus. On the other hand, don't despise those on your right. You're such a legalist. You don't understand grace. I mean, come on, where do you go? You believe in a work salvation almost. Don't do that. But the Bible would, again, help us to understand. Mind your own conscience. is I'm reading through many different things on Romans and related application points. I came across kind of a funny story. It was more than a generation ago. Here's a devout believer from the southern part of the United States and a devout Christian from the northern part of the United States, and they're having a discussion. And the gentleman, the believer in the South says, you know, we love Christ, we want to be very modest, we want to be very careful, and we don't have mixed swimming, meaning males and females swimming together. And the believer from the North found that incredible. I mean, why would you think that? That you would just be that way, and it's incredible. And here's a guy from the South looking down on a person who disagrees with him on that. And the conversation went on. It was interesting that the person from the South, who was convinced in his mind that it was not good to engage in mixed bathing, mixed swimming, male and female. While he was talking about that, he was smoking a cigarette. And he had no problem with that, because in the South, that was much more acceptable than in the North. And so here are different issues that people are going to disagree on. And as long as they're not gospel issues, we want to be very, very careful that we welcome those. Even when we disagree with them, we welcome them. Even when in our hearts we're convinced that our position is better than theirs, and maybe right, still we welcome them. That is the teaching of the scriptures. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to close in prayer, and then after that, if you have a worship guide, there's some study application questions I think that you may find helpful. And you may have questions, please feel free. If you have questions, you are welcome to email me, contact me, and also remember we have at least three more sermons coming out of this chapter, and maybe we'll get to your question soon. Let's pray. Father, we pray that as believers in Jesus, as followers of Christ, people who Realize, Lord, that we are sinners. There's nothing good in us. And we have come to Jesus in repentance and faith, trusting in his finished work on the cross, nothing we have done. And we believe he not only came into this world, lived a sinless life, but suffered, died, and was buried, rose again, ascended into heaven. And because of that, as we have turned from our sin, put faith in Jesus Christ, we have experienced forgiveness. As people who understand that you accept us because of Christ, help us to accept brothers and sisters, even when they disagree with us, on these non-gospel issues. Lord, that's hard at times, but by Your grace, we pray that You would give us the love to do that. In Jesus' name, Amen. Again, thanks for listening. I greatly appreciate the opportunity we've had to come together this day. I look forward to seeing you next time. God bless you.