 Romans chapter 14 we're going to look at verses one through four as once again as we continue our series verse by verse study of the book of Romans and so let's begin reading here in Romans 14 at verse one we'll read the verse four and get into our study Romans chapter 14 beginning at verse one reading to verse four Paul writes receive one who is weak in the faith but not to disputes over doubtful things for one believes he may eat all things but he who is weak eats only vegetables let not him who eats despise him who does not eat and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats for God has received him who are you to judge another servant to his own master he stands or falls indeed he will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand how do you deal with somebody who is weak in the faith how do you deal with somebody who has ideas of Christianity that may not be maturely developed yet well that's what we're looking at here in Romans chapter 14 see the Apostle Paul is teaching us how to deal with how to treat someone who has yet to develop their faith who are still tender and undeveloped or immature in their understanding of what the Bible faith is what it means to follow Christ and and the things that pertain to to us serving him and so that's what Paul is dealing with here in this particular chapter so how do you deal with this how do you deal when somebody has some problems well Paul begins to speak concerning that now notice as we begin in verse one he he begins by simply saying we receive one who is weak in the faith but not to disputes over doubtful things now when he speaks concerning this one who is weak in the faith who is he speaking now well what we need to know that he is speaking to Gentiles in this church in the book of Romans because Rome is a Gentile city and so when he's speaking concerning those who are weak in the faith we know that he would be speaking obviously of Gentiles in some context but he's more than likely addressing new converts to the faith who are from the Jewish background he's more than likely speaking to somebody who is Jewish in their religious heritage who has come to faith in Christ because as a Jew that person would have dietary laws as well as observance of ceremonies and Jewish festivals and holidays that would have been ingrained in them and they would have believed beyond a shadow of doubt that in the observance of these things dietary laws and and holidays and all that that these things were essential to his salvation and so this person who is coming out of a Jewish religious system of observation of festivals and kosher foods is now fellowshiping with Gentile Christians and they're being stumbled by it you see the Gentiles didn't have dietary laws they didn't celebrate the various festivals they didn't follow the kosher law they'd eat things that were forbidden to a Jew they didn't celebrate Passover or the Feast of Unleavened Bread or First Fruits or Pentecost or or the Feast of Trumpets John Kapoor Tabernacles of any sort they didn't do that so when a Jew would be around these Gentile believers the freedoms that that they were enjoying became foreign to those Jews and it was an incredible cultural and religious shock for them to be around these people who had liberties that they themselves did not possess they were caught up with the dietary laws the ceremonial laws the festivals and all of that they were essential for the salvation and now they're around these Gentiles and they don't observe any of that and it stumbles them you can fast forward if you'd like to the 21st century there's somebody who gets saved and they come from a religious background that may be a lot more rigid and fundamental in certain things and has traditions and certain things like that and now they're going to a church like this that doesn't seem to have that kind of ambiance and it may bother them as a matter of fact it does there are people who get upset because of what they would consider to be a lax form of pursuit of God they look in and say that perhaps we are shallow and insensitive even carnal because we don't do the things that they're familiar with or we don't act in the way that they're used to because of the background they came from yeah I've had people here in this fellowship who are who really have been stumbled because because I I don't wear a suit when I when I teach and all and and they really believe that I I should be wearing a suit every time I stand up here and teach and all and and they've been stumbled by that and sometimes they get upset or they can get upset because somebody may be sharing from a pulpit but they're wearing a baseball hat or one of those other little hats that are worn today and and they get stumbled by that you know I normally don't like to wear shoes I wear sandals a lot and when we first began this church I I would teach barefoot I didn't start out barefoot what I did is I sat down I had my sandals on and I kick them off you know and as I kick off my sandals you know I didn't even think about it I used to be seated as I taught and it was in a front room I didn't have a pulpit or anything like that so our Sunday morning was in a front room and I would be seated there in this small chair and I would kick off my sandals and cross my feet but finally my mom told me something she said I don't want to look at your feet when I'm in church she said you need to put on some shoes you know and so I did and the reason I the reason I began teaching wearing shoes is it stumbled my mom my mom just couldn't handle the fact that I was teaching barefoot I never thought about that but there are people who have some real problems with those kinds of things and so they they'll think that that you're a shallow person or you're insensitive and maybe even a bit carnal well what are you supposed to do when a church has people within it who are stumbled by the liberties that others possess in Jesus Christ well Paul begins to give us insight concerning that notice in verse one of chapter 14 here in the book of Romans how he begins by simply saying there to receive he says receive these people receive one whom he says is weak in the faith that word receive is not a suggestion it's a command he says you're to receive them you're to accept and receive this person at the fellowship and you're to avoid any carnal arguments you see love for people demands that allowances be made on their behalf so instead of flaunting our perceived liberties our concerns should be not to stumble them especially when they're new believers in Jesus Christ you see some Christians are yet immature in their spiritual growth they're tender in the consciences they haven't understood liberties in Jesus yet and so Paul is dealing with that and speaking about that now notice what he says receive one who is weak in the faith so he says first week these people are weak that word weak simply means without strength it can be feeble in any area powerless it speaks of infirm it would be speaking in context of a person who's uh who's understanding of doctrine is yet undeveloped they're new in their faith they're still young and so he's saying one he says this person is without strength they haven't developed yet but two he speaks not of faith itself but he noticed with me he says we can the faith when he speaks of the faith that's not the same as the as a faith the the kind of faith that I have placed into God to receive something from him or to obey him or whatever this is more in in line with the entire body of Christian doctrine that's revealed in the New Testament because when you study your Bibles you'll discover that there are times when the writer will refer to the faith he's not speaking concerning faith in a subjective sense he's speaking in terms of the faith or the revealed doctrine you find in the New Testament I'll give you a couple of examples of this in first Timothy for example chapter four verse one Paul says the spirit speaks expressly that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith giving he disseducing spirits and doctrines of devils in the book of Jude verse three it says beloved when I gave all diligence to write into you of the common salvation it was needful for me to write to you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints and so the faith that is being referred to here is not my subjective faith that I place in God but it's speaking of the entire body of Christian doctrine and so he's saying that this person who is weak in the faith well that's simply another way of saying this is an immature believer who has yet to develop an understanding of what the Bible teaches and so they come in with presuppositions what am I to do well he says do not reject them because of sentiments on things that are non-essential he's saying do not pass judgment on their sincerely held but undeveloped opinions that's what he means when he refers to disputing over doubtful things so what is the proper response of a mature believer to the moral reservations of new believers well we're to lovingly receive them we're to welcome them esteem them we're to have affection for them these new believers are having a great bit of trouble with the eating habits of Gentile believers they're not having problems over doctrine the word doctrine means teaching they're not having problems with theology per se what they're having problems with is the the eating habits the fact that they're eating in a certain way eating certain foods and all so it's not an issue with a sin and it's not an issue over doctrine you see Paul was one if it was an issue of sin or if an issue of doctrine Paul was one who would correct that Paul didn't let those things get by you know even in our day if somebody has an issue with something related to sin or somebody has an issue related to a teaching in scripture and they begin to to share certain things in the congregation all that causes people to be stumbled and it comes to my attention or one of the guys attention who serve here at the church then obviously what we would do is we would have to address it we'd have to approach them and and sit down with them and say listen I understand you're teaching this or sharing this and that that individual might say yes I am or no I'm not or whatever and we'll have a conversation about it and if they're teaching bad doctrine then obviously I have as a pastor's responsibility I have that responsibility to to say listen that isn't something the scripture teaches and I have to confront that and Paul did that he did it several times he did it through the New Testament many of his letters are actually dealing with issues that were doctrinal and and he never avoided them a couple of examples would be found in in Galatians for example chapter one verse eight when Paul says but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you then what we have preached to you he said let them be accursed and so doctrine was extremely important because these individuals were infiltrating the Galatian church and as they were doing so they were teaching them that in order to know Christ you needed to come under the bondage of the law and Paul is saying that isn't the gospel of Jesus Christ and even if an angel came and gave to you something that is new and fresh but different than what you've received you said that person should be accursed so he never avoided it even here in the book of Romans in chapter 16 Paul will deal with something at verse 17 when he says I urge you brother and note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them so Paul is not dealing with sin here guys and he's not dealing with doctrine you see sins and doctrinal errors are never to be ignored they're to be confronted and they're to be corrected this issue relates to perceived liberties and the response of new believers to what they are seeing and it's so disturbing to some that they're beginning to openly complain about it gentiles are eating meats that are strictly forbidden to Jews and it stumbles them it's something that's not to be ignored why so that the unity of the Christian faith might be preserved you know today some believers are stumbled over the liberties of other believers and there are those who perhaps stretch out their liberties a point to a point in the name of grace they may extend their perceptions to include all manner of things but believers have freedoms in Christ liberties in Jesus Christ that we enjoy and there are those who enjoy their freedom in Christ and they mature in their faith so to them going to a movie or enjoying various kinds of music is great to eat various kinds of foods no problem they enjoy dressing casually at church they love contemporary Christian worship they enjoy various hobbies they enjoy life but there are others who are more inclined to what we would call legalism legalism is more caught up with the outward show of religious behavior and that seems to matter most to the legalists what does it look like on the outside and for them there are all kinds of things that aren't good to do and and they're really stumbled by those they have liberty to do the things that I just mentioned for them they'll never go to a movie any sort they wouldn't even go watch Bambi they don't dance they don't listen to any form of secular music and they think that you are a real carnal person if you do they don't drink alcohol they don't believe in some things like when you go to church they don't believe that women should be in church wearing pants you know and and they they think that women shouldn't wear jewelry and that women shouldn't wear makeup I thank god for makeup it's a good thing the barn needs paint you paint it but they have problems with that they think it's just absolutely wrong they won't eat certain foods and all like that and they have a problem with with kids who who go out and get themselves pierced or or they wear their tattoos and all of that they get all worked up over that oh that kid can't be saved why because he got all those piercings really really you know that person can't be saved because they have tattoos is that right yes and you know the law says you can't have tattoos really yeah you know I you just need to remember you know the scripture doesn't prohibit that the bottom line is listen when you get a tattoo remember this it's permanent it's permanent and it may be cute right now you might have that lower back tattoo you put that hummingbird on lady but remember this it one day will be a condor there's no doubt about it and it may look cute now but one of these days when you're walking it's going to look like it's flying and I'm telling you you got to be aware of those things because it's permanent but they get all worked up all over these things and it's just it's just this sense of legalism you ought not to have this and you should not have to be that way and this and that and so this person comes to a church like this perhaps gets saved or whatever and starts attending and and they look up there and the pastor doesn't wear a suit and and there are people who have piercings and tattoos and this and that and so they get stumbled over that and so the problem is really within the heart of the younger believer when the things that are being done fit within the pale of legitimate christian behavior sometimes it's true they they see some apparently mature believers pushing their freedoms in Jesus to what would be called the limits and sometimes it seems that they live on the edge of what is right seeing how much they can do before they end up in sin and that's always unwise you don't want to camp out on the edge of hell you certainly don't want to do that you don't want to walk close to the edge you want to live in such a way that's responsible and blessed by God but Paul is speaking concerning this he's speaking about the attitudes of the mature and the immature and he begins by speaking first to the stronger or to the one who is mature in the things of the Lord you see because they're stronger they have a responsibility the responsibility is to help the younger in 1st Thessalonians 514 Paul said it like this he said we exhort you brethren warn those who are unruly comfort the faint-hearted uphold the weak be patient with all so our responsibility if we're mature in the faith is to uphold people not to destroy them so he's saying don't reject any from your christian fellowship because of their feelings on things which are in themselves not important to salvation instead of impatiently dismissing them from fellowship receive them encourage them because a truly mature believer will love them and not cause them to stumble and then he goes into this in verses two and three and clearly begins to speak about it he says in verse two one believes he may eat all things but he who is weak eats only vegetables well let not him who eats despise him who does not eat and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats God has received him so that would include Gentile and Jew they were restricted in their diets some Gentile believers would not eat meat sold in a marketplace because that meat was dedicated to idols when you look in the New Testament book of 1st Corinthians chapters eight and chapter 10 especially chapter eight but in both of those chapters Paul deals with this kind of thing concerning the things being lawful to me but not all things being edifying and he's speaking concerning in chapter eight the fact that there are those who are being stumbled these Corinthian believers are being stumbled because they go to a friend's house who's a believer and this friend is serving up a meal and so they're offering them some steak or whatever it's a meat and as they're beginning to offer him the meat well the one with the weak conscience asks the one who is serving up the meal where did you get this where did you buy this meat well see during that time in Corinth if you went to the meat market was called the shambles if you went there and purchased meat very often the the meat that had been offered to idols was sold portion of that meat was sold by the priests of the temple and so the people there in the city would go to buy their their meats and often would be getting this meat it would even had a certification it was certified demon free and so basically what would happen is you would go and you would get the meat and you take it home and cook it up and invite your friends over but you have somebody with a weak conscience who shows up and they say where did you buy this well Paul says you know you have to be careful not to stumble this brother or sister because they have a conscience towards these kinds of things and by dismissing them and and not being loving to them you actually encourage them to being stumbled and so the Gentiles wouldn't eat certain meats and some Jewish believers would avoid eating certain meats because they weren't kosher but the mature believer knew that they were free in Christ to eat whatever foods they desired there are still people to this day who have real problems with you eating pork and I've had conversations with people who think that it's just it's just violating God's law if you eat some pork those who don't eat it because of health issues are concerned about it I understand that but when you make it a religious thing then you're overstepping your bounds when I was in the army I was going through the chow line and I had my tray and as I was going through the line they have guys who are stationed who will put a potato or put some whatever vegetable and they'll put the meat product or whatever the chicken and they'll just put it on your on your plate and all and and I saw this one guy who is serving up the meat and as I as I saw him he was saying something to every person that he dropped this meat on their plate and as I was watching that I could see the guys who he was talking to they're all we're doing basically the same thing they had a real puzzled look in their face and they kind of respond and so I thought I wonder what he's saying and so I finally got up close enough to hear what he was saying and then he finally I stood in front of him and what he was saying and he took this pork chop and he dropped it on my plate and he said this if you eat this you're going to hell that's what he said to me now if you eat it anybody who's eating army chow knows you'll feel like you went to hell but it's not the same thing but he says if you eat this you're going to go to hell and I stopped and the line had to stop because I wasn't about I would get that let that get by I said what he said if you eat that you're going to go to hell and I said why why am I going to go to hell he said because it's pork and God forbids you from eating pork and you'll go to hell I said is that right he said yeah now I was a Christian of a year I was about a year old in the Lord I hadn't heard that so I thought there's something wrong with this so I went to my to my uh my rack and I I got my bible out of my my wall uh locker and and I open it up and and I had a study type bible so I looked up certain things I said do I go to hell basically I'm saying am I going to hell for eating a pork chop and so what I did is I looked up scripture and lo and behold uh mark chapter seven verse 15 Jesus said there's nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile the things which come out of him these are the things that defile a man it's your nature it's a sin that's resonant within you that you are judged by and your outer behavior is only symptomatic of what's going on inside of you that's why we speak about being born again that's why we say we need a new nature because the old nature only produces sinful behavior right and so Jesus said that and he said it's not what goes in it's not your food it's what comes out of you then first Corinthians chapter eight verse eight says food does not commend us to God for neither if we eat are we the better nor if we do not eat are we the worse and so the next day I went in you know it's lunch time again and there he is doing his thing and I stopped and I said you're wrong you're wrong about what I eat that pork chop and I'm still going to heaven oh I said the bible teaches meat does not commend us to God for neither if we eat or we the better neither if we eat not are we the less I said so the bible makes it very clear that I'm not saved by what I eat or do not eat I'm saved by faith in Jesus Christ see so that's what you need to do and when somebody has a weak conscience when somebody has a lesser understanding of what scripture says that's what paul is talking about is you bring a word of correction through scripture so somebody says you have to do this I'll look to see whether the scripture says that is a pertinent to salvation if I do or do not do that am I going to go to heaven or not and that's what he's speaking about what is our attitude to be well notice verse three how he speaks to us and he says let not him who eats despise him who does not eat and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats God has received him and so the strong are not to look down on the weak and the weak are not to judge the strong the fact is liberty and legalism are always modified by one thing love the key to resolving these kinds of issues is to love one another and love them enough to tell the truth and to receive one another if you look at the chapter 15 for a moment here in Romans I'll illustrate it with scripture Romans 15 verses one through three paul's actually continuing in that chapter when he says Romans 15 one we then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak and not to please ourselves let each of us please his neighbor for his good leading to edification for even christ did not please himself but as it is written the reproaches of those who reproach do fell on me my attitude should not be to the weaker believer you know that's your problem man grow up who are you to put a yoke of bondage upon me instead of arguing my freedoms with people and saying oh I have liberty in christ to do this with some people unfortunately take that tact that's not what my responsibility is to be I'm not to do that to people I'm not to argue my freedoms with them I'm to respect and love them and listen to them if they have a concern the strong don't look down on the weak but the weak are not to judge the strong in 1st Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 paul said it like this he said beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak and so out of love we encourage one another listen sometimes people will approach me and they'll ask a question there's always a difference between a sincere question and something that is trying to to rope me into an argument and there are those who want to argue it's part of their nature they enjoy it and bible says that a man of god is not to be somebody who's engaged constantly in quarrels and so I'm not going to argue with somebody if you want to believe certain thing whatever as long as it's not doctrinally incorrect I'm not going to make an issue over it I'm not going to argue with them I most certainly I'm not going to argue with them if they're coming just to provoke an argument and unfortunately sometimes people want to they want to argue with you they want to argue over things with you and so I've grown long enough in ministry I've grown over the years to know when somebody has a sincere question and when somebody just wants to provoke an argument and so if somebody comes with a sincere question of course I'm going to spend the time with them share with them because they really care they really are interested but there are those who just want to come up and argue I'm not going to argue with them and especially if it's non-essential if it's something that really doesn't matter and I'll reason with them I was doing a retreat years ago now in another state I I went to teach in the morning and it was another state now I was a little tired and I didn't oversleep but I got too close to the time of starting and I got up and instead of combing my hair I put a baseball hat on and I went to teach and I taught a Bible study and then this fellow who is chronologically older than me approached me afterwards and said I want you to know you stumbled me today and I'm thinking what did I teach that stumbled you and I said in what way he said the fact that you taught were in a baseball hat stumbles me and so we had a conversation about it and I said you know and to be honest with you I apologize if it's caused you some grief that I'm wearing a hat I understand your sentiment and all I said it can appear that I'm disrespectful to the things of the Lord and I understand your background I said but the fact is is I had to get here and and I didn't have time to comb my hair I put a hat on and that's what I did I said but you need to also understand the Bible doesn't prohibit me from teaching the word of God wearing a hat there's no Bible verse that you can give to me that declares that you need to understand that that I have liberty in Christ to be able to present the word of God in such a way I said with that said the bottom line is I do respect your concerns but you need to look what the scripture solidly says so we had a conversation he remained he didn't leave he didn't get mad you know he listened and he understood and that's what you do your reason now if somebody comes up and they want to just argue well that's a different thing I mean you're not to quarrel there's no reason to argue if somebody wants to hold fast to something I have a tendency of saying well that's something that the Lord will have to reveal to you and you need to get into scripture and see what he says and then we'll talk about this some other time and so what we do is we receive one another and love one another and that's the that's how we should be now notice what he says in verse four who are you to judge another servant to his own master he stands or falls indeed he will make him to stand for God is able to make him stand and so God's responsibility is to make him stand when he says God will make him stand that means to stand in maturity God is going to sustain him and strengthen him that over time that person can mature in their faith and God is responsible to do that he makes him stand my responsibility is to receive and love him to encourage him or her to pursue the things that the Lord would have for him that's my job not to judge them not to have this attitude which is common unfortunately for someone to say well if you have this belief and you and you think that I'm doing something that that is wrong well that's your problem deal with it we can't have that attitude that divides the body of Christ and it wounds a weaker brother or sister you can't have that attitude well it's your fault it's your problem you get over it I mean I hear people say that that's kind of common as in today get over it get over it well the fact is that sometimes people are being stumbled by me and I have to be aware of that I don't want them to be stumbled by me Jesus said that I'm not to offend the little one who believes in him he said it's better than a millstone be tied around your neck and you dropped into the deeper part of the ocean than to offend one of these little ones who believe in me so you don't want to stumble people you don't want to have this arrogant well I am free in Christ to do what I want we can't have that attitude Paul is simply saying this you have brothers and sisters in your fellowship who are stumbled over the foods that you have freedom to eat receive and love them because they're not mature yet in their faith do not have an attitude of judgmentalism towards them simply because you have liberties that they don't have yet so rather than making them feel unwelcome and unwanted receive them into your fellowship love them encourage them and if the liberties that you're exercising are aligned with scripture you're doing the right thing then they can grow to have freedom in Christ the way you do and be matured do not do things that stumble them and then think it's their fault because they're being stumbled because you're offending a brother or a sister and in doing so you're actually causing them not to grow and actually be harmed in the things of Christ so love them enough to encourage them to grow in Christ and in doing so they over time will have the liberties and freedoms that Jesus gave to them and who knows one day they might have a pork chop with you some caritas or whatever and it'll be great that's all you need