Church infighting creates victims. for the devil. He loves that. He loves those kinds of fights going on in churches.
Now, as Christians, we never. Wink at sin, no matter how great or small. It's a sin. One sin will damn the soul. Very serious stuff.
However, we can say, Is there a solution in the midst of Sin. Matthew chapter 7, Jesus said, Judge not. That you be not judged, for with the same judgment you judge, you will be judged. Hmm. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston.
Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Romans. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Romans chapter 14 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Romans chapter 14.
Verse 12 and 13.
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore Let us not judge one another any more, but rather resolve this. not to put a stumbling block or cause to fall in our brothers' way. Stepping stones and stumbling blocks, that's what we're considering.
Now I had to tie in for context what we're going to look at from verses 13 through the end of chapter fourteen with the last verse that we considered, verse twelve.
So then, each of us shall give account of himself to God.
Now, I've left that in because if there are any unbelievers present or watching online. I would be remiss. To not let you know that there is a judgment, there is accountability, and it's to an almighty God. And we'll cover that as we move through. At death, man enters the hereafter.
that he himself has chosen. Man gets the eternity he chooses. He can choose an eternity with Jesus Christ or one without him. That one without Christ is the judgment of Christ, and that's not the one you want. Paul wrote to another church, he said, Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade all men.
Paul said, We know what the judgment's about. We're not going to be silent on this. We want you to know. That no one should go to hell who hears the gospel. And of course, in any Bible teaching church, you're going to get the gospel.
There's only agnostics and atheists in this life. There are no atheists or agnostics after this life. There are no atheists in hell. There are no agnostic. No one is in hell saying, well, gee, I wonder if God exists or not.
But by then it's too late. And if we make any light of this, it's because we're trying to get you to understand. that you have to make a decision. Before it's too late, Job. A saint in the Old Testament, in the midst of extreme suffering, said, And after my skin is destroyed, this I know That in my flesh I shall see God.
Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. how my heart yearns within me Well, that's the introduction to what we're going to cover, mainly for our unbelievers. And hopefully, by the time the service is over, the Lord would have ministered to your heart and you would ask Him into your life. Yeah. For those of you not familiar with what's going on in chapter 14, there's a big food fight.
going on in Christianity in the days of Paul? And not so much, it seems, in the church that was in Rome, certainly in Corinth, but it was going on elsewhere, and he does not want to leave this out. God had promised Israel. a new priesthood. after the order of Melchizedek.
He also promised them a new law, Jeremiah 31, 31. We call it the New Testament. In Hebrews, Paul writing to the Jewish people, trying to get them to understand this. In that seventh chapter, he lays out Melchizedek, he lays out new covenant to them. I'll just take some excerpts from Hebrews seven.
For the priesthood being changed of necessity, There is also a change of the law. That has everything to do with what's covering in chapter 7. Hebrews 7. Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. And then Hebrews 7:24, but he, that is Christ, because he continues forever.
has an unchangeable priesthood.
Well, again, a quick review. What's going on in chapter 14 is there were those Christians. In the ancient world. who were Jewish, who were raised Jewish, And they believed Jesus was the Messiah. But they could not understand this transition from the law of Moses to the freedom in this Messiah.
And they would not eat meat in Gentile territories because they felt the meat was corrupted, it was defiled. And so they became vegetarians. And it didn't stop there. Where the food fight came in, where the breakdown began, was that they charged others who were eating meat. As Sinners or less than stellar Christians.
And this was a big problem. Yeah. Uh so that's what we're we're coming back to in this Verse 13. Therefore, let us not judge one another any more, but rather resolve this. Not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.
Well, because the food fighters were doing just that. Those who ate meat From the Gentile markets versus those who not only refused to eat that meat, but accused those who were eating it. Church infighting creates victims. for the devil. He loves that.
He loves those kinds of fights going on in churches.
Now, as Christians, we never. Wink at sin, no matter how great or small. It's a sin. One sin will damn the soul. Very serious stuff.
However, we can say, Is there a solution in the midst of Sin. Matthew chapter 7, Jesus said, Judge not. That you be not judged, for with the same judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
Or how can you say To your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye. And look, a plank is in your own eye, hypocrite. First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. None of this prohibits Proper judgment or proper criticism. None of what he said there, because he follows that commandment.
With a second commandment. that calls for us. Two. judge to use our critical faculties, they're necessary when he says, do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast pearls before swine.
Well, how could we obey that command unless we make some judgments as to who's swinish? And who's not?
So Christ is always challenging us. To pursue purity in our behavior and our thoughts and how we conduct ourselves.
So Jesus said, Judge not. He was not forbidding. proper judgment but he was forbidding improper fault finding, nitpicking, and trouble making. He was forbidding us to look for the worst in each other.
So that he could encourage us instead to look for the best. And you get more done for the kingdom when you take that approach.
Now, metaphorically, some have planks sticking in their eyes, giant problems. Like the elephant in the room. They won't ignore their problem. But they noticed a speck in someone else's eye. comparatively.
And hopefully, we don't we're mindful of that, of our potential to be this way, and so we will avoid doing this. That speck, that small thing, yes, something there, but compared to what's sticking out of your own eye, it is minuscule. And ignoring your own wrong condition while picking on others is hypocrisy, and that's why Jesus said: if you're doing that, hypocrite, first remove the plank from your own eye. You say, what does this have to do with Romans chapter 14?
Well, there were those judging others. And they were wrong. He made that clear. The ones that weren't eating meat, their doctrine was wrong. And later on, I get to chapter 15, he's going to say, but we've got to be patient with them.
The wrong ones. They have a short-sighted theology. But that doesn't give us right. to attack them. And so he's trying to break up fights within Christianity.
Because of the Judaizers. Again, it didn't work. It was impractical. Here's an example: the Judaizers were big on the Sabbath day, on circumcision, and on not eating unclean foods according to Moses' law. None of that works in the Gentile world.
Here you come to church, maybe you're a slave owner. Or maybe you're a slave. Let's just say you're a slave. You can't go back to your master and say, hey, I'm getting circumcised, I won't be in for a week. You can't say, Saturday, I can't work going to church.
You can't say, I'm not eating the rabbit stew anymore. I'm a Christian now. It wouldn't work. Paul knew that, and he knew it was already in the Old Testament. He said, we have a new covenant now.
We don't roll that way anymore. But it was very difficult for many of the Jews to transition. Even the brother of the Lord James was slow to get this. But again, to his credit, no one else was. Fit.
To lead the church in Jerusalem as James led it, even though he and Paul bumped heads. Anyway, Opinions do not overrule scripture. And this is part of what he's talking about. Those sins got to be dealt with. But opinions, we don't have to criticize them.
We don't have to agree with them. There are exceptions. An employer may be critical of something you at or work as inappropriate.
Well, that's fair. That's his privilege. And if we get uptight about these things, we end up becoming less than Christ-like, and it causes a problem, and Satan knows it, and he pulls it off all the time. You know, in over thirty years of ministry, I don't recall one time. Telling someone how to do their job.
Maybe you're an electrician, or maybe you're a mechanic, or a truck driver. I don't recall ever saying, hey, you need to do it this way, change this, you'll get better results. But that hasn't stopped people from telling me how to do my job as a pastor. And the only thing you can do with that is sue them.
Well, it's good we chuckle at that, but it's very important that you learn and you hear it. Because it shouldn't be happening. Hopefully, you have a man that is anointed and appointed by God, and he's going to make mistakes. I hear they make mistakes. It'll be okay.
If he is true to the Lord, you will survive. I can't believe they put that color carpet in there. I'm out of there. That's. Ridiculous.
Anyway, he says, but rather resolve this. There's the big part right there.
So if you're reading this, that's the kind of thing that should be sticking out. Resolve it. What's the solution? What's the alternative? Find righteous solutions.
Knowing that you too are accountable.
Now, the believer is accountable, not eternal condemnation, but he's still going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The unbeliever will stand before the great white throne, two different judgments. They have nothing to do with each other. Except the believer has escaped that great white throne judgment. You can have truth, but it's a short-sighted truth.
As I mentioned, with the slave owners and putting on them Moses' law, it's short-sighted, it's not going to work. Paul got it. You can have a short-sighted love where you love those who you like. Only. And these things happen like that, and they continue on, and if you're not careful, they turn into, you begin to justify them.
You can have a superficial humility. That works so long as you're not put under pressure. You can routinely condemn people for things that Christ is not condemning them for. And so Be careful of misapplying truth. Misapplying love.
being short-sighted with the Christian virtues. You know, you'll know if you lack grace, if in your Christian field kit. You have ten rolls of crime scene tape. and one bandaid. You have no intention of fixing anything that's wrong.
You have every intention of turning something into a crime scene that ends up with prosecution and judgment, and what is the end result? The band-aid doesn't suggest that you're going to dismiss sin. You know, you're going to deal with the sin. Let's stop the bleeding. Let's fix this.
You who are spiritual, restore such a one, not rope off the crime scene. It's hard to learn these lessons. It's hard to even hear them if you're guilty of it. If you receive grace faster than you give it, Maybe there's a problem. Just think of your maps.
You know, maps in the scripture, we don't think they're anointed. But if you think of the map of Israel, you have the Sea of Galilee, and there's water going in, and there's water coming out, and all around it is life, and in it is life fish, and it's a prolific Environment. And that water goes down to the Dead Sea. Not much gets out of that. No life there.
It just takes water in. And it changes that water. And it's not. Creating Ideal conditions for life. Am I the Dead Sea as a Christian?
Or am I the Sea of Galilee? Am I the sea that Christ would float on, that he would walk on, that the disciples would be around? Of course, I'm being metaphoric here. I don't get to be poetic much, and this is the best I can do. Jesus gave a parable about a religious man.
who boasted about how religious he was. He said, I fast twice a week. And he was still a bum spiritually. He says, I give tithes of all I possess. Woo, well let's just make you the boss.
All I can say about him is what Jesus said about him: that he wasn't justified. And so, to us, we say, remember that guy? Quick to judge, the tax collector. who went down to the temple and to his house justified. because of his contrite heart.
Versus the arrogant one. who had a short-sighted religion. who thought his religion was only for good people. Then there was another one. This one borrowed money, a lot of money, and couldn't pay it back.
He bit off more than he could chew in life. But he also loaned a little bit of money to somebody else, because that's the kind of guy he was. borrow big, loan little.
Well, he couldn't pay his debt. And he was... He was uh pardoned. from paying the debt. But then he goes to the guy that he loaned a little bit to, and the scripture says he laid hands on him, took him by the throat.
Saying, pay me what you owe me. All I can say about that one is remember that guy? Christ was not giving these stories about those two characters for us to emulate them. but to not be like them. To have A heart That is in tune with the Lord, in rhythm.
with the overall picture of what God wants. The value of the cross, the value of the Holy Spirit.
Some Christians are afraid of the Holy Spirit. You see the abuses of the Holy Spirit.
Some people, you know, oh, I got the Spirit Brother and many times they do not. And then others become afraid of the Holy Spirit. Don't let that happen to you. Jesus said, It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Receive you the Spirit.
Some Christians need to be inspired all the time by something external. Learn to be. Inspired by that which is internal, the spirit living in you. And you won't be so dependent on others to get you into the spiritual mood. You'll have it.
That's one of the blessings of memorizing scripture. Not only does memorizing scripture help you understand the verse better. But it becomes something that becomes part of you. not to put a stumbling block or cause to fall In our brothers' way.
So he's encouraging them to not trip each other up with this. You know, you're just weak because you don't eat meat. Or the other one, you know, you're just sinning because you do eat the meat. And you keep getting in their heads, and now that some of the weaker ones are going to have to wrestle with this. The strong will put stepping stones before others.
They will help them get to the next level, to the next destination. The weak will put stumbling blocks there, and they'll do it without trying. It just is how they begin to do conduct business. To cause someone to stumble is to cause someone to harm their faith. A stumble leads to a fall.
Calvary Chapel close to Mesa when It was Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, when Chuck Smith was pastor there. He told a story about he was watching the news and they were interviewing. This I looked for a stand in uh uh Synonym for this, and I can't. This is going to be the way it is. They were interviewing a stripper.
I don't mean someone that works with paint. But Anyway. And she was telling them about her, you know, whatever it was. And then she said, and I attend Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. To which he said, Oh no, you can't do anything with that.
That's the way it is. Yeah. She was getting paid. to stumble people. into sin.
And it would be nice to send one of the women to correct her. That's an old joke. He missed it. Don't send one of the guys. All right.
I know it's still early. Hafnai and Phineas, they stumbled the people. And so did their dad, Eli. He tried to, he had a half-hearted approach to correcting his children. If you tell your child once not to do something and they do it again, Don't walk out the room.
Take care of business.
Well, anyway, Eli, 1 Samuel 2:24. Know my sons, for it is not a good report that I hear, you make the Lord's people transgress. And they were committing heavy-duty sins there, those two men, Phineas and Holland. Half nine. And so they caused people to stumble in their faith.
to harm the people this way. Verse 14 now of Romans 14: I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. He's back to the Judaistic churchgoers, the ones that are trying to serve the Messiah. Under Moses law. Which again, Galatians, Romans, Hebrews really go heavy at it.
I think Paul's thorn in the flesh. were these folks. They challenged his apostolic authority. They went behind him to undo his teaching. They ruined everything that he worked on, or they tried to ruin everything that he worked on.
So much, the Galatian letter says, Who's bewitched you? Having begun in the spirit, you're now perfect in the flesh, you're now earning your salvation. by following Moses' law. I thought you understood grace. And so he really lays on the Galatian church.
Many Christians have had a problem with their identity too, not knowing that, hey, we're new covenant believers. We don't throw the Old Testament away, not at all. The Apostles, Christ, the Bible that they used was the Old Testament and only the Old Testament. New Testament had not yet been developed.
Well, the New Testament church is under the new covenant, a hard transition for many.
So Paul wrote to these Galatians who struggled with this, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. That doesn't mean lawlessness. He's talking about the ceremonial L-evidence. It's not the moral code. We shall not kill.
We shall not lie. Those things are still in place. In the context of the church. Where the Holy Spirit does a lot of work. principles Paul is addressing are about food on the surface, but they go much deeper.
Because these dietary rules are born out of wrong doctrine, which means a wrong understanding of God's work. of his revelation. Again, he is trying to be patient with them. He's going to encourage believers to be patient with them. Just as.
We do as new as when you come across a new Christian. You are you worried that they they're going to drift into bad doctrine?
So you got your eye on that. And then there are things that they do and say that you say, well, you know, you have to give them time to develop. Just be careful. As a pastor, because of the role of a pastor, I can't give as many. Passes because if they say something that really needs to be addressed, and I don't say something about it.
Then later on, they'll look back and say, you know, I said that to a pastor, he didn't even correct me. But someone in the church may be able to get away with that, understanding that they are still immature. And I'm saying this to tell you that. To be short sighted is to miss these facts. We're working with people, we're working with defective people, and we're defective as people.
And yet, Uh if we abide in Christ, we get a lot done and hell hates it.
So the devil targets Christians first. The New Testament. Rendered Moses' law obsolete and impractical. But I want to give you another scripture verse with this because when you come to Christ, your ethnicity is secondary. If important at all, or if you're Jewish and you give your, you say Christ Jesus is the Messiah.
Ethnically you remain a Jew. But spiritually you're now a Christian. You're not a Jew spiritually. Colossians 3. And that these things show up so much in Paul's writing is telling you That he's not letting it go because he can't let it go.
He should not let it go. And he's constantly dealing with this. And so, Colossians, he says, there's neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, nor free, but Christ is all and in all. And to that church, he's not dealing so much with the Judaizers. It's another brand of Satan's f Sin coming into the church.
the Gnostics. Gnosticism was creeping into colossee. But still there was also Judaism to be dealt with also. 1 Corinthians 5 and 6. Ephesians 5.
We uphold moral law. There are things that we're not to do. Grace is never lawlessness. It's just not Moses. ritual code of law.
Let me Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Virginia. We're currently going through the book of Romans. If you're in need of hearing this message again or want to listen to others like it, head over to crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast too, so you'll never miss another edition.
Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. On our website, you'll be able to learn a little more about the ministry of Cross-Reference Radio, so make a note of it, crossreferenceradio.com. That's all we have time for today, but thanks so much for listening. Pastor Rick will be back next time in the book of Romans here on Cross-Reference Radio. Uh
