Romans Chapter 14 Verse 5

•So Paul moves from diets to days. Two things that were a real problem for the early church, especially converted Jews. Judaism had very strict diet restrictions as well as day restrictions such as the Sabbath but even the pagan religions followed strict rules concerning days of worship depending on whatever god you were bowing to on that day.

•What’s crazy is that we still have this controversy over days today. Never fails, once a month or so, someone will call into Pastor’s Perspective or Calvary Live and talk about how they’re confused as to which day to worship on. Saturday or Sunday? What a ridiculous question anyway! Worship every day! You don’t come to church here once or twice a week! The church gathers!

•These walls, this place, this carpet, these chairs…are not the church! You are! And the function of the church is to glorify, exalt and reveal Jesus man…so get to it! Everyday! But there are specifically 17.2 million people in the world that belong to a church that has a significant problem with any church that would meet for corporate worship on Sunday.

•They are vehement in their belief that Saturday is the only day to worship and if you worship on Sunday then that is paramount to taking the mark of the Beast because Sunday was named after the Sun god. Well, it’s too bad that Saturday was named after the god Saturn!!

•Interestingly enough, the Seventh Day Adventist Church who we’re talking about also prohibits the ingestion of pork or any other unclean food as listed in the Book of Leviticus. I wonder if they’ve ripped Romans 14 out of their Bibles. I mean what do they do when they come to this scripture? How do they remain rigid? Especially when you look at this in the Greek and literally what Paul says is, “one guy prefers one day over the other, let them do their thing man!”

•Boggles your mind doesn’t it? It shouldn’t. We do it too. We read “love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…love others as yourself…even above yourself! Respect your husband, love your wife, submit to your boss, serve those who offend you…hate evil and cling to what is good!”

•Luke 10:27, Romans 12:9-10, Ephesians 5:33, 1 Peter 2:18. Almost every hardship and controversy that I meet on a regular basis is because folks have ripped those scriptures out of their Bibles! So it doesn’t surprise me that a group of folks get all upset that we’re here on a Sunday, that we eat steak and shellfish…Actually doesn’t surprise me at all. I give them grace.

•They need the same thing that the discouraged employee needs. They need the same thing that the frustrated wife needs, the love starved husband, the offended brother…they need to hear that God’s love prevails man…and that God loves them! That He desires to provide all for them and that with one ounce of effort towards God, He will fill you up with what you really desire! Peace man…

•They need to simply be pointed back to Jesus man…the focus and object of our hope and faith. Precisely what Paul goes on to here…

Romans Chapter 14 Verses 6 – 13

•15 Times in those verses we just read Paul points the Romans, the readers, he points us to the Lord! Why? Because those that are offended at diets and days…man they are defective in their discerning! Why focus so much on me man…focus on Jesus! All of these self help schemes, these ploys that say go and find yourself…don’t do that! Wanna know why? You’ll find just that…self! The Lord says find Me! Place your focus on Me! And move out man!

•Quit trying to persuade the person next to you to see it your way concerning days, diets, desires, dispositions and man just walk it out! Verse 12 says let each one give an account of himself. Verse 5 says let each individual be fully convinced in his own mind! So what are we to do when God speaks to us concerning days, concerning diets, concerning desires? Walk it out man!

•This is leadership. This is discipleship. This is ministry. What is? To simply run after Jesus! Hear from Him. Learn of Him. Let Him tell you what it is He’d have you to do and then do it. What a novel idea! Show that it is from the Lord. Bear some fruit and let others come and see man. This is a tenant of not only ministry but this is practical leadership man.

•Think of it this way. Maybe there is a better day, maybe there is a better diet…how are we to know if it is from the Lord? Well, John tells us in his first epistle. He says don’t readily go after it but test it to see if it is of God. And how do we know…How do we know if it is of God? How do we know what kind of tree it is? The fruit man! So walk in it and see if it bears fruit!

•What do you mean “bear fruit?” Does that mean grow a church? Attract hundreds of people and have all sorts of programs? Does that mean advertise and build a ministry? Let me tell you, you don’t build any ministry. Only the Lord does. You may build a business, you may build a pyramid and place yourself on top, but the only ministry that is built, it’s brick and mortar is purely fruit!!

•“Purely fruit?” Hold up. Why are even talking about ministry? Well because as you read through verses 1 – 13, does it occur to you that the person that has the problem with the meat, the person that has the problem with the days, what they’re actually trying to do is minister? What? Yea, but here’s the thing. Ministry is not about someone seeing it your way. It’s about someone seeing Jesus man…and so ministry, every ministry, any ministry…if it is real and led by the Holy Spirit, will have its foundation constructed completely of the fruit of the Spirit!

•Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…but where there is accusation, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, divisions and envy…man that’s not ministry, that’s the flesh…all of this laid out for us in Galatians Chapter 5.

•Precisely what’s happened here in these scriptures. What Paul has observed as scores of Jews and pagan Romans have come to believe in Jesus Christ…they’ve carried false ministry from their false religions into the presence of grace and truth and so Paul gives great practical direction.

•You feel so strongly about it…you do it. Let’s see it bear fruit. Live unto the Lord but don’t lay your trip on others man…just go on the trip yourself. Let love be the rule of your life and ministry will simply flow man…

•Now the flip side. Paul will say to us next, “look, that dude that’s laying that trip on you to not eat meat, don’t chew with your mouth open in front of him when you have a mouth full of sheep jerky! Don’t take your maturity and turn it into immaturity!” Look at the next couple of verses…

Romans Chapter 14 Verses 14 – 18

•You know what I love about Paul writing this? Paul, the Pharisee of Pharisees, hangs out with Jesus and now is the champion for peace, joy and liberty! That’s what hanging with Jesus will do man…fruit just falling down off the branches all over the place!

•And what he says here is interesting. How that nothing of itself is unclean. So interesting. Things aren’t able to sin are they? Days, diets, objects…No! They’re sin neutral, right? This tree was just a tree before it became a tool of righteousness by having the Word of God printed onto it by what? A man! See what I’m saying? Stuff by itself is just stuff but add sinball men into the mix then we have an issue and so Paul is saying, “look, if what you do (not overtly sinful by the way) is stumbling your brother, then how are you walking in love? For he who serves Christ, indeed at the same time, with the same purity will indeed serve his fellow man…”

•I read something so crazy this week on this subject. Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, was a cigar smoker. Joseph Parker, a contemporary of Spurgeon’s, who was also a powerful Bible teacher, enjoyed going to the theatre and watching plays with his wife. They publically bashed one another for these things. Spurgeon couldn’t believe that Parker called himself an all-in believer and yet would attend theatre! And Parker was appalled that Spurgeon would smoke cigars. Literally these two, openly, in public renounced one another! Both powerful preachers, greatly used by the Lord and yet in a public fight!

•That’s craziness!!! Interestingly enough, Spurgeon finally gave up smoking in his later years when one day he opened the London Times and saw a full-page cigar ad under the headline, “The Cigar that Charles Spurgeon Smokes!” HA!

Romans Chapter 14 Verse 19

•Therefore, the sum of the matter, it all boils down to this, this is it man…it if doesn’t lead to peace in the brethren, get up off of it man and go after what will edify. Edify, such a churchy word. It simply means serve, to build up…and we already covered the bricks and the bolts of that building…fruit man…Go back to Galatians 5. Go on a daily basis and learn what to look for in yourself.

•Look for the fruit man. It’s like your Godly GPS. God, am I in Your will? God am I going to win, because if I’m being led by you then 2 Corinthians 2:14 says that you always lead us into triumph? Well, is there fruit, or is there flesh? That answer will answer the others.

Romans Chapter 14 Verse 20

•Wow, pretty powerful. Paul clearly states that if I exercise my liberty in such a way as to offend a weaker brother in Christ then I am in fact working evil.

Romans Chapter 14 Verse 21

•Whoa! You know what that means? That means that my life lived in the law of love is entirely, eternally more stringent than the laws set forth in Judaism. The law we find in Exodus 20! “Oh man, I’m no longer under the law, I’m under grace. I can do this and do that and whatever.” Not so, Paul says. That attitude is actually evil. The law of love does no harm man…makes no accusation. Endures all things, hopes all things, bears all things. Is not puffed up, is not provoked, does not seek its own…and grace, love…never fails…that attitude will lead you right to failure man…

Romans Chapter 14 Verses 22 – 23

•Anything that is not of faith, is sin Paul says. What is faith then? Simple, placing Jesus first man. Humility, sacrifice, love…all acts of pure worship unto the Lord. Why? Because those things honor Him man. They show forth His wonder. Faith brings forth fruit man…and if the fruit ain’t there, then you are no fruit tree. You’re something else.

•I met with Pastor Sam Park this week. A wonderfully wise man and friend of mine. And he said something that impacted me. He said the strongest of oaks grow very slowly. Quietly and solemnly and yet they endure. They bear lots of what? Acorns!! They bring forth acorns which by the way take between 6 months and 24 months to mature. And the acorn is such a wondrous thing. They nourish many creatures. Birds, deer, bears, chipmunks (Alvin, Simon…Theodore)…even ponies! But weeds, spring up almost overnight…just shoot up man and immediately they’re center stage but before long, they die out man…

•And Sam encouraged me to stay the course. Keep it simple. Jesus, the Word, serving the Lord and serving others…and just let the fruit come man…a by product of my own intimate walk with the Lord and many creatures will be nourished…and the strength of the oak will sustain in the storms…

•May the Lord give you and I, and this church the wisdom to walk in both liberty and love. Precisely what Jesus showed us on the cross…as He took our captivity and His love and they collided…and we were set free!