WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:07.519 This podcast is a ministry of Grant Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:13.279 For more information about Grant Parkway, visit GrantParquay.org. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:20.000 Jesus, let no one caught in sin remain. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:24.399 Remain inside the lie of inward shame. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:27.600 Let that resonate in our hearts and our minds today, Lord. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:37.439 Lord, fix our eyes upon you and upon your work, your securing, life-giving, death-defying work on the cross. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:42.159 And let us, God, be responsible enough to run to you. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:43.920 Why? 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:46.479 Because you've showed us great love. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:47.679 Love that never ends. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:49.600 Love that never gives up. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:54.240 Love that pursues and love that holds. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.439 Let our eyes be open this today. 00:00:57.520 --> 00:00:59.920 Let our hearts be molded to this today. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:02.719 Let our ears be pricked today. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:11.280 Let our minds be molded and shaped and be renewed by the truths of your word and of who you are, God. 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:17.519 Let this not be a religious exercise today, but let us come, be refreshed, be renewed by the relationship we have in you. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:24.640 And God, let us have clear insight as to how to apply this message today in the coming week. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:27.760 So we submit ourselves to you, God. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:29.439 We are laid open. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.280 Asking for you to speak because that's what you do. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:38.480 And asking for you to perform miracles in our hearts and our minds because, again, you do that. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:42.799 Nothing we ask, God, is beyond you or beneath you. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:45.599 So we just come. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:51.040 And we receive today, God, your goodness and your grace as we give you glory. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:52.239 It's in Christ's name. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:53.200 Amen. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:54.640 You can be seated. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:59.280 My name is Lance Williams, and I'm the spiritual formation pastor here at Grand Parkway. 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:05.680 As was mentioned at the beginning of the service, we've got prayer cards for our team in Costa Rica, which includes Neil, and that's where he is today. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:09.599 And so it's my privilege to be before you as we continue on in the book of Romans. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:16.560 And we are in chapter 14 today, and we will cover the first 12 verses of Romans 14. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:21.199 If you don't have your Bible, we are we would love for you to use the one at the end of your row. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:28.639 And we are on page 948 of the Bible there that you can ask your neighbor to pass on down to you. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:37.520 And I'm uh again excited to preach today, uh, mainly because I think this is the first time that Neil asked me to preach uh quickly, uh, I guess kind of back to back in a way. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:42.639 I get to actually preach from the same page of the Bible, uh, which is actually really nice for me. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:49.680 Uh, but then he told me what uh what he wanted me to preach on and where we were at in the schedule, and it was like, yeah, hey, so you know, we're gonna do this and do that. 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:52.560 And it's, oh, by the way, Romans 14, you know, not judging others. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:54.319 And I was like, I just laughed. 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:57.759 I was like, okay, yeah, because yeah, you know me. 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:01.039 I'm really good at not judging other people, so that's perfect. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:02.240 Yeah, that's awesome. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:03.039 I'm on that. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:04.800 Yeah, I got that mastered. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:06.159 Not so much. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:11.360 Uh and so I laughed and giggled and cried a little bit along the way, but we're gonna make it today. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:14.080 Uh, because here's the reality: nobody's mastered this. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:16.719 Yes, thank you. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:18.080 Nobody's mastered this. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:22.240 I heard this in seminary, and it's always uh continued to sit inside of me. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:25.120 No one masters this, it masters you. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:30.879 Uh and so that's the beautiful thing about the Bible is I don't stand up here qualified to tell you that because I've mastered it. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:36.319 I've stand up here qualified to tell you because that's what God calls me to do, uh, an exercise of my priesthood. 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:39.360 So it's a great thing, even outside of my comfort zone. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:48.000 Uh, and speaking of outside of our comfort zone, the day the day's talk is basically entitled this Why thinking of yourself is godly. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:50.719 Why thinking of yourself is godly? 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:55.599 And I know that many of you right now are going, okay, God first, others second, me third. 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:56.960 You're wrong. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.000 No, why thinking of yourself is godly? 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:18.480 And we'll unpack that today because the reality is this we spend way, way too much time thinking of how other people have sinned, wronged us, not looked at us the right way, didn't greet us on the way in, didn't shake our hand, missed giving me a bulletin, br- and on and on the list could go. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:25.680 And so why thinking of yourself is godly is because there's a recent study that went out by a guy by the name of David Kinneman. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:29.439 He is with the Barna group, and he wrote a book called Unchristian. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:30.399 UnChristian. 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.360 And basically the whole premise of the book is basically this. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:43.120 It's built on this, is that we um obviously grew up and we were raised this nation, America, U.S., uh, the one that's going to dominate the Olympics over the next few weeks. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:53.839 Uh we were raised basically underneath the premise of Judeo-Christian principles, and basically we're at the point now in our society, in our culture, where we're just kind of over that. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:56.560 We're over the whole Judeo-Christian thing. 00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:58.879 If you don't know this, turn on any news. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:01.279 I mean, no local network doesn't matter. 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:08.560 We're over the whole Christian thing, and so basically we live in a culture now what people are calling post-Christian. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:11.040 After Christianity. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:16.000 It's kind of the kingdom is come and gone, and this, that was great, and everything, hey, you guys had your day in the sun. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:17.519 Now it's our turn. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:18.800 Post-Christian. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:23.600 So David Kinneman wrote this book called UnChristian, and he basically did a bunch of different studies. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:24.560 That's what Barna does. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:27.199 They do a bunch of studies and find a bunch of statistics. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:38.879 Uh, and one of the statistics I found um that resonated with us or should today is that he surveyed uh uh uh a lot of different people uh not from that were born from 1965 to 2002. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:46.639 So that's anywhere between 12 and 49 years of age, and basically uh uh uh come down with this. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:49.279 Um and it's it this is the uh the statistic. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:56.480 87% of people said that the term judgmental accurately describes present-day Christianity. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:06.480 87% of people they surveyed would say that we are judgmental. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:20.879 He kept going, and he said, actually, what the good news is that the of the non-Christian surveyed, the ones that don't agree with the faith that we hold tightly to, he said, 84% of those people personally know at least one committed Christian. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:23.920 So the good news is we're rubbing elbows with non-believers. 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:33.360 That's that's the great news, is that 84% of non-believers can identify someone in their life that calls Christ Lord and follows them. 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:41.360 The bad news is only 15% of us, they would say, that does that actually make a difference in your life. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:49.519 So there's this huge gap between, yeah, they know who we are, but only because we profess it and not because we live it. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:51.600 And so basically, two things. 00:06:51.759 --> 00:07:00.160 We're great at giving lip service to what we believe, the statistics would say, and then we're also really good at telling people what we don't believe. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:02.720 That we're judgmental or we disagree. 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:09.199 Not that we are making right judgments, but the way in which we do them is judgmental. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:19.519 The vast majority of what he found is that we are a judgmental people, and so it's no wonder that today we're talking about why thinking of yourself is godly out of Romans 14. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:24.399 And as we do so, let us catch us up on basically what God's gonna say to all of us. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:28.800 He is gonna basically instruct us on the gray matters of faith. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:30.319 Not the black and white. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:35.680 He's gone chapter 12 and chapter 13 doing very black and white instructions. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:37.279 These are some of the things that he's talked about. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:38.319 Issues of worship. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:39.680 How is it that we should worship? 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:49.199 Living in grace, loving others with a genuine, unhypocritical love, submitting to authority, which we all love, and walking the Christian walk. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:52.399 That's basically where we've been, Romans 12, Romans 13. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:57.279 And now he turns from essential manners in the faith, black and white. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:08.800 He says, this is how we must behave concerning non-essentials, the gray matter of the faith, where maybe the Bible isn't as clear as we would like for it to be. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:09.839 How do we behave? 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:13.199 How do we how do we live in that gray area? 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:17.920 Let's just read Romans 14, 1 to 12, and Paul will give us his own instruction. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:19.199 We'll unpack it. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:26.000 He says, As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:30.800 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:40.080 Let not the one who eats who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:42.799 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:50.480 It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:55.840 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.799 Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:02.240 The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:10.879 The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:16.399 For one of us lives to himself, uh for none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:20.000 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:24.480 So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:31.200 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord, both of the dead and of the living. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:32.159 Verse 10. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:37.519 Why do you pass judgment on your brother, or or why or you, why do you despise your brother? 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:47.200 For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God, for it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:52.480 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:10:01.919 There's at least three reasons why thinking of yourself is godly that you can find in these first twelve verses of Romans 14. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:08.960 The first one is this first reason why thinking of ourself is godly is because God has welcomed all believers. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:14.879 And I had somebody come up to me after the first service and they said, and then you should just add like a comma and go, not you. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:20.559 It is God, not you, who has welcomed all believers. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.639 And let me just unpack that a little bit. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.080 Uh Paul is clearly talking to the family of God. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:27.039 He talks about brothers. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:28.000 Why do you judge your brother? 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:29.279 Why do you despise your brother? 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:31.919 This is talking about believers, not non-believers. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:36.240 This is you and me, those that call on Jesus as our king. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:41.440 And you'd be surprised, by the way, at how much the Bible doesn't talk to non-believers. 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:43.840 Like he just is silent to non-believers. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:51.440 And the reason for that is because uh the Spirit of God is not in them, and he does not expect them to hear him or do anything that God would instruct them to do. 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:58.559 Instead, he instructs his kids because we're his, and so we're gonna respond in that and actually be obedient to what God says. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:09.120 So these types of things, especially this today, he's calling us to respond in a responsible and in a mature manner that has eyes to see and ears to hear. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:14.320 But this is basically the problem, and it's gonna come down home hard on us here in just a minute. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:18.559 Here's the problem that Rome was understanding and living through. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:20.960 The early Roman church. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:23.759 Basically, it was this they were hearing the same words. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:25.039 There were two groups of people. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:39.679 The Bible wasn't written yet, but let's just say that they were reading the Bible, they were, they were still being written, they were hearing the words of Jesus, they were hearing the words of the apostles, they were quote unquote reading the Bible, and these two groups of people were applying it in radically different ways. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:49.440 And so the stronger Christians, those that what most people think is of Gentile background, that would be probably most of us in this room, came from all types of faiths, okay? 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:53.679 And they grew up and they were in a pluralistic society, and so there was a lot of freedom in all of that. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:12:00.159 And so, where the Bible was silent, all of a sudden they filled that silence with freedom. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:02.080 Responsible freedom. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:06.639 And so for them, the Bible, Jesus didn't ever really say anything about what to eat, how to eat it. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:09.279 I mean, what do we have to cook it to 165 degrees? 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:10.320 What do we do here? 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:17.039 Jesus is silent, and so for the stronger, more mature believers, the Gentile believers, they filled the silence with freedom. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:17.840 They're like, you know what? 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:21.600 Jesus didn't really say this, but I'm gonna eat it because I'm gonna do it to the honor and glory of God. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:22.879 Yeah, come on. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:38.559 And then all of a sudden you have the quote-unquote weaker believers, and most people think they came from Jewish descent, and the reason why they were a little bit weaker, so to speak, for Paul, and oh, by the way, he was one of them, uh, is because they they came from a background of rules and regulations and law. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:45.759 And so where Jesus was silent, where the apostles were silent, all of a sudden they filled that silence not with freedom, but with more rules. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:53.759 And so where Jesus basically didn't talk about, hey, what you can eat, if this is the Sabbath day, I mean, people talk to him all the time, hey, it's a Sabbath day, and goes, I'm the Lord of the Sabbath. 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:59.519 Okay, but I'm now I'm years later now, Jesus, and you're you're I'm the Lord of the Sabbath, really cool saying. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:00.159 Doesn't help me. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.159 What am I supposed to do with the Sabbath now? 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:08.639 And the stronger ones filled it with freedom, and the weaker ones, quote unquote, filled it with rules. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:14.320 And so those that that saw all the silence, like, oh, Jesus didn't say meat or whatever, so you know what? 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:15.679 Only vegetables for me. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:20.080 Jesus didn't say anything about what to do on these holy days, the Jewish holy days and the holidays and the Sabbath. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:20.799 So you know what? 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.159 I'm gonna go to all of them, I'm gonna do everything I can, do whatever. 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:33.440 So there's where there's silence, where it's gray, where it's not so black and white as the Bible tends to be in most areas, two different people apply it in two radically different ways. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:43.679 And if we think we're different than that, uh let me ask you about 21 things that either you can agree or disagree on uh very quickly, uh, very quickly. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:49.120 And don't raise your hand to this because we will test the whole judgment and despising thing rather quickly. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:58.720 But here if you do you would you invite somebody over for dinner that thought differently or believed differently strongly than you in any or all of these? 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:00.000 So here we go. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.080 What do you believe about drinking? 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.600 What do you believe about smoking cigarettes or cigars? 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:07.120 What do you believe about gambling? 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:08.720 How about dancing? 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:11.039 How about R-rated movies? 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:13.919 Or how about secular music? 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:15.360 Or how about KSBJ? 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:16.000 Flip it. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:16.960 Because that's mine. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:19.360 If you're coming to me and you're like, oh, I'm only listening to KSB J. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.840 I gotta work through a little bit of despisement in my own heart. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.159 I'm like, what is what how do you listen to those songs? 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.240 They are the same songs from 1990. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:27.519 I don't get it. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:32.480 How about watching MMA or UFC? 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:34.559 How about using birth control? 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:36.320 How about tattoos? 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:37.679 How about piercings? 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:39.840 How about sending your kids to public school? 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:41.519 What about private school? 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:43.120 What about homeschool? 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:45.440 How about owning a luxury car? 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:46.320 What do you drive? 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:48.879 You made a theological decision about that? 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:53.360 Or how about how many square feet do you have in your home? 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:54.879 How many bedrooms you got? 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:57.120 How about working on Sunday? 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:59.440 By the way, I work on Sunday, don't judge me. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:02.240 How about observing Halloween? 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:04.399 Or how about Santa? 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:06.480 Or how about the elf on the shelf? 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:08.879 How about Harry Potter? 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:10.240 How about magic? 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:11.519 What about politics? 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:13.519 Republican, Democrat? 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.919 What about your spiritual gifts and the use thereof? 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:17.360 What about baptism of the Spirit? 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:18.000 What about hymns? 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:20.879 What about a song that you didn't just know right off the bat? 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:22.000 How dare he? 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:24.240 What about modern worship? 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.559 What about real wine or grape juice at communion? 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:28.559 What about the role of women in the church? 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:34.639 And finally, what do you believe about Justin Bieber? 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:40.559 Yeah, I'm with you. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:42.320 Right? 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:48.639 These things are unessential, non-essential things that the church has split over. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:51.279 I say unessential, except for the Justin Bieber reference. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:52.480 That's completely essential. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:54.240 You better know it. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:54.799 Okay? 00:15:55.120 --> 00:16:08.000 But I mean, all these different things, we have created denomination after denomination, church after church, split after split, and the world looks at us and goes, Why can you not agree on anything? 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:10.639 Your God can't even unite brother and sister. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:12.320 Why would I go to that? 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:23.279 And it's an indictment on us because we cannot, we've done really well at getting other people to apply the Bible and pointing out how other people should apply the Bible. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:29.519 We're doing really poorly of just thinking of ourselves in a godly manner and applying the Bible for our own self. 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:34.639 So Paul responds to that and he basically just says this two things. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:36.320 Welcome one another. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:42.080 All these things that you could get caught up in in this gray area of life, welcome one another. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.879 And the reason for that is because God has welcomed you. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:46.879 Verse 1 says, hey, receive one another. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:52.559 Welcome those that are weak in the faith, but do not quarrel over opinions. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:55.919 Oh my goodness, do not quarrel over opinions. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:03.279 And the word there for welcome, not just to tolerate, but to invite that person into our inner circle, into our home. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:05.680 So question that just came and rising up in me. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:12.240 When's the last time I've invited someone that I know I disagree with to come and put their feet under my table? 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:18.559 And the reason for this, again, because God has welcomed us at the end of verse 3. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:20.640 For God has welcomed him. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:23.119 Don't judge, don't disdain. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:29.920 How much, and this is again another question that just came up that I think is relevant for all of us, what would it look like? 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:40.720 How much criticism, how much cynicism in my mind would be silenced if I simply saw myself and others through the lens of God has welcomed you. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.440 Just as He has welcomed me. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:50.079 He has leveled the playing field in a good sense, brother and sister. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:53.359 Nowhere in here does he say older brother and younger sister. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.319 Maybe stronger, maybe weaker, more mature, maybe immature. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:57.039 That's fine. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:02.240 But nowhere in here do we get the recommendation to just go, hey, I'm I'm I'm ahead of you. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:03.119 Come on. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:05.119 Too bad for you. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:17.359 How much criticism in our mind would be silenced if we just simply saw ourselves and others through the lens of God has welcomed us in, invited us in to our inner circle. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:21.119 Not just tolerate, not just, okay, yeah, you're here, can't really acknowledge you. 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:27.839 No, I'm talking enjoyed you and therefore calls us to do the same for others. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:29.519 In verse 4, we continue on. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.759 It basically says this who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:41.920 It's before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:49.039 What Paul is basically saying for all of us is that we've got to focus on what God has done for us. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:19:03.119 If we're going to get past the judgment and the despisement that we may have for one another, whether it be weaker or stronger, or wherever we kind of fall out on all those issues that I just talked about, only thing that's going to get us past that is thinking of ourselves in a godly manner. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:08.079 But more importantly than that, thinking and focusing on what God has done for us. 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:13.200 Just in verse 4, he says that he's our Lord, he's our master, and I'll talk about that more in just a bit. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:15.359 He promises to uphold us. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:21.359 You know, there's a Bible in the Old Testament, or there's a verse in the Old Testament, Isaiah 41, it says, Don't panic. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:22.799 I'm with you. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.920 There's no need to fear, for I am your God. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:33.440 I'll give you strength, I'll help you, I'll hold you steady, and I will keep a firm grip on you. 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:41.519 He causes us to stand, and in fact, he sustains all things. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:53.279 I had somebody come into my office this week and go, man, I'm gonna be out of my office, I'm gonna be out of my job, I'm gonna be doing this, I'm gonna be doing that, I'm gonna be going over here, I'm gonna be going over here, don't know how they're don't know how I'm gonna handle this, don't know how they're gonna handle this, not really sure what's up. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:55.839 And a couple things just started coming to my mind. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:59.119 The first one was this is that Colossians 1, 16 and 17. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:16.640 The things that he's done for us says this, Colossians 1, for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, and all things were created through him and for him. 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:24.079 And oh get this, he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:36.160 When I was uh teaching on the sufficiency of Christ up in a Bible community a while back, maybe a year ago or so, I had the strongest guy in the room uh stand up before the class and take one chair and just hold it over their head. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:38.319 I said, just do that for as long as you can. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:40.880 And then I just started reading Colossians 1. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.400 And we got to this part where he says, and he holds all things together. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:46.480 I looked at that person, I said, How you doing? 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:48.240 He goes, I'm getting tougher. 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:49.920 Big dude, strong dude. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:50.720 You'd know this guy. 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:52.160 I mean, really strong guy. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:54.880 Definitely works out, not like me. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:57.920 Somebody asked me earlier, you've been working out, do you know me? 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.000 I can't stand it, but thank you for asking. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:06.720 But this guy, he got to about three minutes, and then I just said, Dude, you're done. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:11.839 He was never gonna give up, but it was kind of going from here to one of these, it was getting lower and lower, and I was like, All right, we're done. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:17.440 That's about three minutes, and he couldn't hold one chair over his head for more than three minutes. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:26.079 And Jesus sustains whatever chaos is in your life, whatever chaos is in my life, and everywhere else, and he holds it all together. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.799 Like a zip tie over the whole earth. 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:32.079 Just holds it all together. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:43.599 These are the things that God says that he does for us, and it's no wonder that if that God welcomes me in, if that God welcomes you in, though I may differ in opinion, then goodness gracious, we can get along. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:47.279 We can do this, we can act like the family of God. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:56.400 The second reason why it's a godly thing to think of yourself in this context is because Jesus is Lord. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.440 Again, adding the comma Jesus is Lord. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.039 Not you. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:03.680 Jesus is Lord, not me. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:11.680 And so let me just read verses five to nine, and what you'll find in this little section, five to nine, is that the word Lord is used seven times. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:13.759 He must be trying to tell us something. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:19.920 One person esteems one day as a better than the uh as better than the other, while another esteems all days alike. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:26.319 Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind, and the one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:29.039 The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:35.839 Since he gives, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.640 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:42.880 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:46.960 So then whether we live or die, or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:53.839 For to this end Christ died and lived again that he might be the Lord, both of the dead and of the living. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:56.559 Jesus is Lord. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:00.640 It is something that we say, it is much more difficult to live out. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:06.079 Let me tell you what I mean and why I mean it, it's because the word Lord is kurios in the Greek. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:07.920 Curios, not curious. 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:12.319 Curios, again, used seven times in that little section alone. 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:14.720 And this is what it literally means in the Greek. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:17.119 The one who is in charge. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:22.240 The one who is in charge, and oh, by the way, by virtue of possession. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:25.279 He bought you. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:26.960 That's what 1 Corinthians would say. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:30.400 That he bought you with a price, you are not your own. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:34.480 Actually, that's exactly what verse 8 says, the end of verse 8. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.799 We are the Lord's. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:38.880 We are his possession. 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:44.240 And so if he's in charge by virtue of possession, he owns us. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:48.480 It would go on to say, he is the one who is in authority. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:53.599 So it's no wonder and no question that Paul just got done in chapter 13. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:57.519 And chapter 13 is all about submission and authority. 00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:05.119 And all of a sudden, he just brings it on home for all of us that don't know what to do in the gray areas of life that either judge one another or despise one another. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:10.559 And he says, Oh, by the way, I'm Lord of that too, and I'm Lord of you two, and I'm in control. 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:14.480 And I'm calling you to obey because you're my kid. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.960 It's no accident that he does that and builds that argument. 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:26.079 What I love about the Bible and might frustrate some of us in this room is that God doesn't give a whole lot of prescriptions. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:33.920 Yes, there's black and there's white and there's do this and don't do that, but all those things that I just talked about, 21 or so things, he doesn't give us prescriptions. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:37.279 He says don't get drunk on wine, but he doesn't ever say don't drink. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:40.000 He certainly doesn't say anything about dancing. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:43.440 And yet we've made that like the ultimate thing in the Baptist faith. 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:46.559 I mean, if there's one thing that people know about a Baptist faith, they don't know anything else about it. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:49.759 Well, you don't like uh drinking and you don't like dancing. 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:55.920 There's nothing in there about all of that, and so uh I get a lot of emails. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.079 Actually, the last time I preached, um, I uh I guess I made a mistake, I'm not really sure. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:04.960 But somebody said, hey man, I'm not really sure about what you mean by uh genuine love is hateful. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:05.759 Help me out. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:06.880 Give me a text on that one. 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:16.000 And I said, All right, well, yeah, you were here, you listened to it, and I saw all y'all's eyebrows rise up higher than mine can go in response to that first point, but that's okay. 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:17.359 I think I still think it's relevant. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:21.519 But real, genuine love is hateful, and I said, All right, here's my deal. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:22.880 I'm not gonna answer your question. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:27.839 Instead, I want you to go back and I want you to read that section of scripture, Romans 12, 9 to 21. 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:31.519 And I want you to tell me what you think that means, why I said it. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:36.160 And a couple days later, that person went back and they go, All right, I got it. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.160 Real love hates evil. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:40.319 Yeah, baby, now we're talking. 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:44.720 So if I was a prescriptive type of a person, I would go, well, real love hates evil. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:45.680 Just, yeah, it's right there. 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:47.680 Verse 9, verse 21, done. 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:55.279 But I think the way that the Bible engages us is at a heart level and a mind level, and he says, Hey, I want you to figure this out on your own. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:59.920 I want you to read the Bible, be convinced in your own mind, and then honor God with this. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.440 As a matter of fact, that's exactly what he says next. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:10.880 No matter where you shake out, there is a filter that Paul and God are telling all of us to kind of just lay over our lives. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:17.039 Maybe we can be less judgmental, maybe we can be less despising, uh, an intense criticism. 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:23.359 Maybe we can be those people that we want to be if we just lay this filter over our checklist of everybody else doing right or wrong. 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:31.279 And it's basically this: verse 5 says this one person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:36.160 Here's what he says each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:39.440 So the filter that you and I can just lay over our minds. 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:41.519 Number one, what does the Bible say? 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:43.839 What does the Bible say on the matter? 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:53.680 Number two, have I investigated or researched or looked into this enough to be fully convinced in my own mind, my mind, not your mind, mine. 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:58.640 And then finally, the last piece of that is, now how can I honor Jesus? 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:03.519 Be fully convinced in your own mind, verse 5 and verse 6 says, hey, whatever you do, it doesn't really matter. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:05.039 Just honor the Lord. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:12.000 Whether you abstain, whether you eat, whether you do the Sabbath, whether you don't do the Sabbath, hey, honor the Lord. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:25.440 And no matter if it's 1 Corinthians 10 or Colossians 3 or Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 10 says, So whether you eat, whether you drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:45.519 And speaking of doing things for the glory of God, a couple last Saturday or so, I went grocery shopping with my girls recently, and we're in the cart and we're all the way at the end of this beautiful box of groceries called H E B, and we get to the end of this thing, and there's a wall of cookie dough. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:46.559 Have you guys been over there? 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:49.599 I mean, it is like a whole deal of cookie dough, and I'm like, oh man. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:54.480 And my wife is very much not a checklist person and very much not a list person, and I am. 00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:58.000 Like, we go to the grocery store and she picks something off the shelf that's not on the list. 00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:00.960 I'm like, hello, why did you not put this on the list? 00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:02.400 You did not think ahead far enough. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:04.240 This is not gonna happen today. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:06.640 And then I lose immediately. 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:08.720 Uh, but that's okay. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:14.720 And so we got to me and Reese and Ellie, and my my wife was not there this day, so I thought, hey, might as well just, you know, break my own rules. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:17.359 So Ellie looks at the cookie dough, she's like, You want to get some of that? 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:18.799 I'm like, Do I want to get some of that? 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:19.599 Are you kidding me? 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:20.319 Yeah. 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:22.880 So we get some cookie dough and we bring it home. 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:23.920 And you know what? 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:25.359 They forgot about it. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:27.359 And a day later they forgot about it. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:30.480 And another day later they forgot about it, and it was disappearing somehow. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:36.240 Some magical person was going into our refrigerator and eating that cookie dough at a rapid pace. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:38.960 And it was me, and it was delicious. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.880 And I loved every I loved me some cookie dough. 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:46.799 And y'all will come up to me afterwards and go, you know, you can get salmonella from the raw egg and that cookie. 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:48.000 I don't care. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:50.240 It's delicious. 00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:55.440 And so a couple days went by, a couple days went by, and here's my wicked heart. 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:59.519 Speaking of not honoring the Lord, because I did not do it with my cookie dough incident. 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:03.039 Uh, I I all of a sudden a couple days went by and half of it was gone. 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:07.440