 Well today we're in chapter 14, we're going to be looking at a continuation of what we began last time when we looked at the first few verses of chapter 14 and is our manner of ministry here. We go verse by verse and we've arrived at Romans chapter 14 at verse 5. So we'll be looking at verses 5 to the conclusion of the chapter verse 23, but we'll begin by looking at verses 5 through 8, lay a foundation, get into our study. All is dealing with an issue that is very important not only at his time of writing, but for us today in the 21st century, and that is how we use our liberty that Jesus Christ gives to us, how we use our liberty to influence other people. Either I can be an individual who has freedom in Christ and use it in such a way as to encourage people to love and serve him, or I can have a liberty in Christ that I might extend to such a degree that I stumble people because I don't care about them. Because I'm more concerned with what I feel and what's done for me or what I feel free to do. And Paul is dealing with this here in the book of Romans in chapter 14, it's something that occurred during his day and it's something that continues to occur in ours. How do I use the liberty of Christ, the freedoms that Jesus gave to me, how do I use them and in what manner is it commanded, is it prescribed in scripture, in what manner should I be exercising these liberties. Paul gives to us insight as we look at that here in chapter 14 of the book of Romans. So let's begin reading at verse 5, I'll read to verse 8, introduce the subject by reminding you of some of the things he already has stated and then we'll move into our study. Romans chapter 14, beginning at verse 5, reading to verse 8, Paul writes, one person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike, that each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day observes it to the Lord. And he who does not observe the day to the Lord, he does not observe it. He who eats eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat to the Lord, he does not eat and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself and no one dies to himself for if we live, we live to the Lord and if we die, we die to the Lord. And therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lords or we belong to the Lord. Now Paul has been instructing the church concerning the unity of the body of Christ. A difficulty has arisen over the freedoms that some believers exercise in the response of some of the believers who had a problem with these liberties that had been exercised in their presence. There are some members of the church who are being stumbled. They're stumbled by the freedoms that are exercised by these other believers. And so he initially began to speak concerning that by referring to eating certain meats. Now as I mentioned to you last time we're together, he more than likely was speaking concerning the concerns of conscience that some of the Jewish believers who had come to faith in Christ might have had, because for them certain Jewish regulations would be of utmost importance for them to observe. These Jews had been raised under what is called the law of Moses. And the law of Moses had certain regulations. And so they had what would be called dietary regulations. There were certain things that a Jewish person could eat and it was called kosher. And there were certain things that a Jewish person was forbidden to eat. So they were called clean and they are called unclean. And so Paul had been speaking concerning this particular mentality as he had opened up this chapter. When you look into the Bible in the Old Testament you'll discover that there are certain chapters that are devoted to speaking concerning the meats that you can and cannot eat. Leviticus chapter 11 for example, Deuteronomy chapter 14, well both of these chapters contain lists of those things that are clean as well as those that are regarded as being unclean to the Jew. And so the things that are referred to as clean we refer to today as being kosher. So kosher food would include things like cattle and sheep, goats and deer and gazelles, fish with fins and scales. You could eat chickens and turkeys and pheasants and even locusts, crickets and grasshoppers. Those are all found to be clean but there were unclean animals. Those included camels, and I've been wanting camel for a long time, rabbits. Some people like rabbit, I don't know, pigs, moles, mice, lizards. You couldn't eat a cat, you couldn't eat a dog. After unclean animals you couldn't eat lions, tigers and bears, that's true. You can't eat catfish, lobsters, crab, shrimp, mussels, clams, oysters, squid, octopi. You couldn't eat ostriches, storks, herons. You couldn't eat bats and a variety of insects. There are quite a number of things you could and could not eat under kosher and un-kosher laws. So the Gentile believers had not been under the Jewish dietary law. And for them it was no problem, it was no problem at all eating certain foods. Well the Jewish believers on the other hand, well they had difficulty because they had been raised under Mosaic law and thus when they saw the others eating these foods it caused them to stumble and they had complained. And this is causing a division here in chapter 14 and so Paul is commanded, he's made a command to the mature believers and what he had said in verse 1 is that they are to receive the weaker one. You see, if God had received the weaker brother and is able to begin and finish a work in him, then so should the older. And so that's the context of what we're looking at here in chapter 14. So when we get to verse 5 Paul continuing says, one person esteems one day above another, but another esteems every day alike. So this is basically a continuation of the train of thought that he had begun. He had first started with kosher food but now he's speaking concerning certain days, certain holy days. Now the Jews once again had certain days that they considered to be holy. God had said that they are. And so there were feast days and days that were observed like Passover and unleavened bread, days like the Feast of Pentecost and trumpets of Yom Kippur and Tabernacles, the Feast of Dedication and Purim. There were certain, the Sabbath day was to be holy and there were certain other days that were regarded as Sabbath days. And so these feasts and days had a spiritual significance for Israel and obviously we were very important to the Jew but that was under the law and Paul is dealing now with the reality of the grace we have through Jesus Christ. Now some of us in this room grew up believing that certain times are holy days. I grew up in a religious teaching where there were holy days, we called them holy days of obligation. I wonder how many of you remember that phrase perhaps you also had a background in this kind of religious heritage. I was raised Catholic but it wasn't just the Catholic Church, the Lutherans, the Orthodox. There were a variety of other groups of people that have what they call certain holy days of obligation and for us in the Catholic Church we were obligated to attend church and we were to abstain from servile labor. We're not to do unnecessary work on the Sabbath day or the holy day of obligation and that was how I was raised and many of you were too. In the Catholic Church there were what they called 10 days in the calendar, the yearly calendar that were regarded as holy days of obligation and for those who celebrate such days November 1st, we just passed November 1st was a all saints day, it was a feast, it's a holy day of obligation and some of you were familiar with that and some of you realized that and so we grew up believing that certain times are holy days. We were taught that one day is more important than another but I believe that Paul would be actually saying that this kind of thinking undermines the sacredness of daily living for God. Every day for some are the same, for others there are special days and regulations that make that day a special day and all and Paul would say that that's not really a good thing when you begin to really think it through. When he was writing for example to the church in Galatia he had said to them you observe days and months and seasons and years and he went on to say I'm afraid for you lest I have labored for you in vain. You're getting hooked into the law and you're starting to make certain days more important than other days. In reality Paul is saying the one thinking such things is actually the one who is immature in their faith because they didn't fully realize that such days were actually what would be called a dim outline of things that were yet future. When he was writing to the Colossians for example he said in chapter 2 verses 16 and 17 that no man therefore judge you in meat or drink or in respect to a holy day or of a new moon or of the Sabbath days which he goes on to say are a shadow of things to come but the substance is Christ. Jesus is the one that these were pointing to and so he says in verse 6 the one who observes the day well he's going to observe it to the Lord and the one who doesn't observe the day to the Lord he does not observe it. So he's saying here in matters such as this we need to retain what is called the right of private judgment. No one is to be compelled to conform to somebody else's opinion of what he's supposed to do. You see the key thing is that freedoms or restrictions of behavior and this is important freedoms or restrictions of behavior are to be as unto the Lord. That's how it works. So a believer's behavior is not unrestricted but it's actually to be ordered in such a way that the result is going to be the glory of God. So what you perceive yourself to be free to do and we'll look at this in some more detail but what you perceive yourself in Christ to have the liberty to do is to be ordered not to take you further from him and that's a problem that many people have by the way when they use the liberties as they actually walk away from the Lord it doesn't help them but he says rather it's not unrestricted because it's to be restricted by one key thing and that is that whatever it is you're doing should glorify God. Now he says that in other places Colossians 317 whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him. He says that to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1031 therefore whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God and so the key thing is the freedoms or restrictions of behavior that we have are really as done as unto the Lord as an act of worship and service to him so whatever it is that I do my life ought to be as a living sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is that? Well in verse 7 he says none of us lives to himself no one dies to himself or if we live we live to the Lord if we die we die to the Lord therefore whether we live or die we are the Lord's and so no one belongs entirely to themselves and therefore should determine to live in harmony with others. The fact is is because when we were born again the Bible says when you got saved the Holy Spirit has baptized you into the body of Christ we though being many are now yet one in him and because we interrelate because we're interconnected then my life is going to have an influence in yours and therefore I should restrict the things that I perceive myself to have liberty to do if they cause stumbling for you so my freedoms are always going to be monitored by love for you and love for God and I need to remember that I belong entirely to him because I was bought by him and therefore I belong to him and I should serve him first it's like what he said to the Corinthians again in 1st Corinthians 6 20 when he said you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit which belong to God and so that's how it works so he's saying yes you have liberty but remember what you do ought to bring glory to the Lord for he says in verse 9 to this end Christ died and rose and lived again that he might be Lord of both of the dead and the living so through his resurrection he's able to be Lord of the living and dead and all that is or has been the resurrection established Jesus's claim to deity according to Romans 1 verse 4 Jesus was declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead so we belong to him and he owns us well he goes on in verse 10 to say this why do you judge your brother why do you show contempt for your brother for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ it is written as I live says the Lord every knee shall bow to me every tongue shall confess to God so then each of us shall give account of himself to God every knee shall bow every tongue shall confess Paul says to the Philippians to the glory of God through Jesus Christ every knee that's that's a difficult concept to grasp isn't it really is I mean when you start thinking about the billions of people who are alive right now on planet earth all those who have come before and those who will come after that's a huge amount of people and yet the Bible makes it very clear that every knee shall bow and confess to God every knee will bow before man that includes every human being who's ever lived it includes Abraham Isaac and Jacob it includes Daniel it includes David King David it includes Solomon it it includes all the apostles it includes Mary the mother of Jesus it includes every human being every human being is to regard Jesus Christ as Lord and will confess that he is so we either do that now or we will do it later but the Bible at least states but we will do it it will be done as some will confess him as Lord because they're familiar with him being Lord because we received Christ as Lord and Savior he his gospel spoke to our hearts and we confessed our sin and we asked for forgiveness and we were born again the spirit of God dwelt within us and and made us and transformed us and and we were made into new creations the old things were passed away all things became new we became the temple of the spirit of God the spirit of God dwelt in us and so when we see him face to face we will say he is indeed Lord because we have already practiced the reality of that as we have walked on planet earth there will be others who will have a different tone when they regard him as Lord and when they proclaim him as Lord and it's not going to be with the same love and joy that you will have and that I will have you know even as Peter said having yet not seen him yet we love him and so when we see him it's going to be like that glad reunion I I finally look into the eyes of the one who loves me Jesus Christ himself but there are others who are going to be saying he's Lord with a different tone because it's going to be regarded in a sense of like and I rejected you but they will proclaim him as being Lord that's what the Bible teaches and so then it says to us in verse 10 why do you judge your brother why do you show contempt for your brother we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ he's reminding us of what he said in verse four when he asked that question who are you to judge another servant to his own mastery stands or falls indeed he will be made to stand God is able to make him stand so he's just reiterating he's repeating what he's already said and he's saying listen we all stand before God God owns us therefore we're accountable to him and because that is true we will give an account now what's important to me and I want to note this with you and I'll say this very briefly but what is important to me as I look at this is it says why in verse 10 do you judge your brother why do you show contempt for your brother we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ there will be an account but I'm not going to give an account for the conduct of others each of us is going to give an account of ourselves as it says in verse 12 each of us shall give account of himself to God that's an important thing not to miss there's a propensity there is this thing within us that causes us I think as human beings to have a tendency to question God concerning the life of other people and we almost want God sometimes to give to us answers concerning why they seem to get away with the things that they get away with I remember a story found in the gospel of John where the apostle Peter is there and the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to him I'll paraphrase but as Jesus is speaking to him he says to the apostle Peter when you were young you would get up you dress yourself and you'd go where you want when you grow older there's others who are going to dress you and take you where you do not want to go and so when he says that to the apostle Peter John adds this he spoke concerning the death that he would glorify God with in other words it was it was speaking concerning the fact to Peter one of these days you who at one time had the freedom to take yourself where you wanted to go well the day is going to come when you're going to be taken in you're going to be giving up your life for me you are in other words you will one day be a martyr you will die now that's interesting I mean if the Lord says that to you say he were to say that to you I would think at least if you were speaking to me if he was saying David listen when you were young you dressed up you went where you want one of these days are going to take you and you're going to go where you don't want to go in other words Dave you're going to die and you're going to be a martyr for me well you would think that that would cause me to think for just a moment wow that's heavy are you kidding me but what's interesting to me is to look at that dialogue because it says that Peter then looking seeing the one whom Jesus loved seeing John asked the question of him well what about him you know how about a two for one kind of martyrdom sale I you know is he going to die too and and to me that is an amazing thing because that really shows human nature have you ever complained to God that you you got caught and somebody else didn't or that the Lord how come you treat me so harshly how come it seems like I can't do anything without your hand being upon me heavy and and causing me to feel conviction and yeah that person over there seems to get away with everything has a great day every day than me it seems like I'm living in misery half the time the other half the time I'm just mad I mean what's going on what about him Lord and what I find interesting is the response of Jesus what have you got to do with him you follow me your life and his life are two different lives and God is doing things in each of us that is unique to us so listen Peter if if you're going to die then why did you concentrate on living for me and if I have a plan for John why don't you let me fulfill that plan in his life you follow me who are you to judge another man's servant who are you he's saying all the same to judge someone else why don't you this is do you think this is good advice I think it's good advice why it doesn't matter if you think it is it is good advice why don't you concentrate on the field that God gave you why don't you take care of what God gave you to take care of and leave the rest in the hand of the Lord why do you have to fret about why other people get away with so many things and it seems that you never get away with anything and by the way why do you want to get away with things anyway and why can't you see God's hand on you is actually for good why do you always think it's for evil why do you always think that you're losing out on some happy day that other people are enjoying instead of just saying you know Lord thank you for the work you're doing in me we have a habit of judging our brothers because we're wondering why God doesn't do something in them when if I were God they'd be a crispy critter already I'd have dealt with them a long time ago we have a tendency of doing that don't we now listen believers will stand before God and those who don't believe in God through Jesus Christ will also stand before him those who do not know the Lord are going to stand before the Lord God in judgment because they have rejected the gospel of Jesus and rejected salvation that has been offered to them the bible makes that very clear in the book of acts chapter 17 verse 17 verse 31 that God has ordained a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man speaking of Jesus by the man whom he has ordained in John 12 48 we read there is a judge for the one who rejects me Jesus said and does not accept my words that very word which I spoke will condemn him at that day you hear the gospel message you reject that message and you stand before God Jesus himself is your judge and he will deal with you for rejecting him that's what the bible said and so all will stand before God there are those who stand before God to receive judgment but then there are those of us who are born again who will still stand before the Lord also you see because the bible teaches that according to 2nd Corinthians 5 10 we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad and so we will appear that word appear means to be openly and publicly publicly revealed in the full and true reality of our character we will stand before the Lord and everything's going to be clearly revealed like it says in Psalm 90 verse 8 you have said our iniquities before you are secret sins in the light of your presence so we're saved yes by grace but that doesn't remove from us responsibility of living right before the Lord because our daily walk reflects our new nature and our new life that's why Paul would say therefore the prisoner of the Lord be seat you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called so Christians will appear before the judgment seat of Christ but we receive reward and not punishment for Christians the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin it says in Romans 5 9 we have been justified by his blood how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him so when a believer is there before the judgment seat this judgment seat that will stand before him in is called the bema seat the bema seat of Christ is a place of reward not of eternal judgment it's a place where every word comes into judgment for a reward in 1st Corinthians 3 11 through 15 Paul said it like this he said no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid which is Jesus Christ if any man builds on this foundation using gold silver costly stones wood hay or straw his work will be shown for what it is because the day will bring it to light it will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work if what he has built survives he'll receive his reward if it's burned up he will suffer loss he himself will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames I was 19 I was working at this company company had drill bit parts and things that we used to have to clean and and do work on and and part of the process would be putting these parts into blast furnaces and the blast furnaces were small blast furnaces and there was a guy who had the job of monitoring that and loading and unloading these blast furnaces and and I don't remember what his name was but I do remember one day what happened he was standing next to the blast furnace and the blast furnace was probably about six feet tall and it was about four or five feet wide there were small blast furnaces but they were gas powered they they had a flame that was actually a gas flame and there was a tube and and there was a pilot light and he had to light the pilot light and so he was standing there and he had this a tube he had a rod actually and at the end of the rod was a match and he was talking to me and one of the guys as he was speaking he turned on the gas and as he turned on the gas he wanted to finish what he was saying and then he got caught up with what he was sharing with us and then he lights the match and then he slides it down the tube and you can imagine what happened because the gas had been building up for some time and as the gas had built up it exploded and the doors on these huge hinges were blown off and it actually popped that the the doors popped open and the flame came pouring out from the side as he was standing there and he was there with the rod like this when it exploded and now when the when it went off it was like a starter pistol I took off I went running I took off outside and I came walking back in and all of this took a few seconds I came walking back in and when I walked back in to see what was going on I'm looking around the door to see if it's safe to come in he's still standing there next to the blast furnace with his hand in the same position but he's smoking his hair his beard his clothes there was smoke billowing off of him like that and I thought a wily coyote for some reason when I got saved the Lord said that's how you can enter into heaven we don't want to be saved as by fire see the Lord wants to do a work in our lives and the things that don't have permanence they're going to be dissolved they're not going to last the only things that last are the things that he referred to when he used the illustration of gold silver or costly stones so we stand before the Lord to receive reward now because that's true and we give an account of ourselves verse 13 let us not judge one another anymore but rather resolve this not to put a stumbling block or cause to fall in our brother's way we'll look at that but there are some people who have perceived liberties in Christ who when somebody does not have the same liberty these people who perceive themselves to have that liberty try to convince that person who doesn't that they're free to do it if they want and sometimes it's causing them to actually sin because they don't have clean conscience in that and they can't do that you'll see this in a moment we'll look at it in a few seconds but goes on in verse 14 to say I know and I'm convinced by the Lord Jesus that there's nothing unclean of itself but to him who considers anything to be unclean to him it is unclean yet if your brother is grieved because of your food you're under you are no longer walking in love so don't destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil for the kingdom of God is not food and drink but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit and so when he says in verse 14 I know and I'm convinced by the Lord Jesus there's nothing in clean of itself we remember remember with me the context the context is in reference to food and all and so he's saying mature believers are not to stumble young believers love would take into consideration the weakness of a young believer's conscience and therefore should direct and inform our actions love for others is going to limit the freedom I claim for myself it's like what it says in 1st Corinthians 10 23 all things are lawful to me but not all things are helpful all things are lawful for me but not all things edify I might have the freedom to do something and I won't go to hell for doing it but does that mean I'm built up in Christ and that's why he says in verse 15 don't destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died do not cause damage to the faith of a young believer because you want to exercise your rights care about the faith and feelings of your brothers and your sisters when he says in verses 16 and 17 don't let your good be spoken of as evil it is good to walk in the freedom the spirit yes and it's great to walk in God's grace but be careful that these freedoms are not viewed as carnal liberties motivated by selfishness because when exercised to the hurtful weak believer the end is always going to be bad you see the believer's goal according to verse 17 is to honor God to remember that we are evidences of his kingdom righteousness peace and joy are always going to be the product of a clean conscience when he says in verse 18 for he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another he goes on to say you're not destroying the work of God for the sake of food all things indeed are pure but it is evil for the man who eats with offense it is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak do you have faith have it to yourself before God happy is he who does not condemn himself and when he approves but he who doubts is condemned if he eats because he does not eat from faith now notice for whatever is not from faith is sin so a couple of things one verses 18 and 19 he says pursue the things that make for peace and edification of one another the key in Christian living is to love one another you have liberty you have legalism some people have license but what we're supposed to have is liberty and love when you have love for others the love that you have for others is going to restrict your behaviors it always does it always does verse 21 is an important verse to me let me just run right to that and I'll close by looking at this and a couple of other things but I want you to see this it is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or made weak instead of me insisting on my rights I should concentrate on my obligation in the Lord this is an important point I want to make sure I clarify it I should concentrate on my obligation to build somebody else up love and this I believe so very strongly I could do a whole message on this I chose not to but I could do a whole message on this very easily love will always restrict my behaviors even if the behaviors that I have may be free in Christ because if it causes a brother or sister to have a stumbling then out of love for them I'll refrain myself there's an argument that's going on in the body of Christ right now some of you as believers are familiar with the argument can a believer drink wine can a believer drink a believer can do a lot of different things I'm free to do many things but do all things build up is the question I just never hear people who are proponents of drinking I just never hear them ever say something like how much of the spirit can I have because much of the time what they were arguing about is how much of the world can I enjoy I've never spoken to anybody who when arguing about the freedoms that they have in Christ have ever said I just want to make my life an offering to God so that I can build other people up in the faith the ones that I have had who have wanted to discuss with me their freedoms in Christ and liberties to drink have never impressed me as being people who really care about the lost care about serving God care about walking in the spirit they just have never impressed me with that it's always what can I do and they never are saying how much more of Jesus can I have they're always saying how much more of the world can I have that's been what I've seen now you may have a different experience and I grant that you may because I don't know everybody you know and you you probably know some solid saints who love Jesus and have the deepest thoughts when they're having a chardonnay I used to have all kinds of thoughts when I had a few chardonnay but they were not deep but the problem is is those who are what we call sipping saints those who have those freedoms that they like to exercise are the same ones who never share their faith of Christ with anybody and never do anything for the Lord they just basically are caught up with what they call their liberties and then they want to make an argument about that I would feel more comfortable if these were people who would sit down and talk to me about how much they love God's word how much they love God's people how much they love to serve the Lord how much they love to share their faith with others how much they love the spirit working in their life how much they desire God to overpour in them his spirit so that their cup could run over I just haven't seen that what I have seen is why do you preach legalism why do you say we can't have this Jesus never said we couldn't in all kinds of odd arguments that they find well didn't Paul tell Timothy that he should drink a little wine for his stomach's sake and his many infirmities oh my tummy hurts excuse me do you see what I'm trying to say I really think that the church really needs to take into consideration the the weaknesses of others and that we should restrain what we perceive as liberties we should restrain ourselves and those things for the love of others for the love of others for the concern that other people have I can tell you this and I'll say this openly my mom and my dad did my dad and mom were very important to me and when I was first saved you know I thought a good beer once in a while was fine I didn't have a problem with it sometimes I would have a beer sometimes I wouldn't but I knew that would stumble my parents I knew it would I knew it and so what did I do I voluntarily restricted myself from some things that I didn't have a problem with that that time why I could have argued with them I could have said listen I teach the Bible and I can tell you there that the Bible forbid getting drunk I'm not getting drunk I'm having a beer no big deal but I had a higher goal and my goal was for my mom and my dad to serve Jesus with all that they had within them that was my higher goal and I wanted them to follow the Lord with all of their hearts and I knew that my mom and my dad would be stumbled if they thought that their Bible teacher became their pastor had freedoms that he exercised like that I know that and thus out of love for them I asked God to give me a new taste a different taste and he gave me a different taste and the taste he gave to me was for the new wine and guess what I've never had a Holy Ghost hangover I never have I've never awakened after having the Holy Ghost all over me the next morning saying what did I do and who do I have to apologize to I never had to clean up the messes that I've left because I had so much of the Holy Ghost but I've had the experiences with the old wine and I tasted the old wine and the new wines better Jesus said I'll give you new wine that's the Holy Spirit so the question really isn't can I drink the question really is is how much spirit do I want and if someone something's going to keep me from the spirit and having the fullness of the spirit and I don't have a clean conscience pure conscience to be able to do that and therefore if I drank it would be with a bad conscience and thus like he said he said if I'm not doing something out of faith then I'm walking in sin then why would I put myself into that and and by the way and you know what you you were sipping saints and all of that I'm not condemning you I'm really not I mean if I walked up and I go into different restaurants around here in Chino and all that if I can't walk it in and you're sitting there with your your glass of wine at your meal and you see me you don't have to drop your napkin over it and pretend it's somebody else's you don't have to do that you know and you can say hi to me and I'll say hi how you doing why no I'd say hi you know we got a lion tamers at church you know that don't you I'm not going to condemn you or not you know you perceive yourself to have freedoms like that I'm not going to argue with you but if you do see me when you walk in and when you do see me and you're drinking your wine and I walk in just remember what I'm saying to you right now just remember is this helping me get closer to Jesus Christ is this helping me to have more of the Holy Spirit is this developing a testimony with these waiters and waitresses and all who are around me right now can I stand up right now and say look at Jesus Christ as Lord if God gave me the opportunity can I do that and I'll finish by telling you this I learned that lesson when I was a young man one of my friends was telling me hey we're old enough we're over 21 we can have a beer with our pizza and I'm in Huntington Beach I'm at a pizza parlor he says what could be better to have pizza with than a glass of beer he orders a picture of beer and I have my liberty in Christ and I pour my beer and I take a drink and there's this man who's about 15 feet or closer away from me sitting at a bench right across from me and the Holy Spirit speaks to me and says to me as he's looking this older man's looking at me and the spirit of God speaks to my heart and says to me go witness my love to him and I say I can't and he says why not and yes Lord can speak to your heart and he says why not and I say because I'm drinking beer and he just saw me take a drink of this beer and and he's an older man he's going to be stumbled I can't I remember that conversation and as God is my witness believe it or not it's up to you two young men came walking off the street walked into that restaurant one sat on this man's left the other sat on his right I was close I was 10 feet away even closer and a young man pulled out a Bible from his pocket opened it up and started pointing to the scriptures and witnessing the love of Christ to this old man right in front of me and the Spirit of the Lord spoke to my heart and said this I'll never forget it if I can't use you I will use somebody else I've never forgotten that I said God by the grace of your grace I want to be used so this perceived liberty is out the door so I can at any time open my Bible to anybody and say God loves you Jesus loves you and that's what I restrict my freedoms so that I can talk about the one who gave me those freedoms Jesus Christ that's how I should live and that's what Paul is saying the church should be like live for Jesus Christ give him glory and he'll honor you