Welcome the Welcomed

1:06And in chapter 14, which we're beginning this morning, Paul is going to address a potential roadblock to loving each other. And that roadblock, which Paul names in verse 1, is our differing opinions. Now, the opinions Paul has in mind. Are not things like whether the toilet paper should be rolled over or under. As I trust that is obvious to this learned assembly, or whether Texas is better than California, which of course is an established fact. No, the opinions Paul has in mind pertain to what is and is not allowable for Christian believers. What is and is not required of Christian believers. In other words, when Paul uses the word opinions, he's talking about matters of conscience that believers have freedom to disagree on. So this is very important. Paul is talking to, and Paul is talking about, Christian believers in this section. He is talking to people who have all trusted in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

2:40He is talking to people who are converted and counted righteous and accepted by God. These are all Christian believers. But Paul is going to place Christian believers into two different categories in Romans 14 and 15. Those who are strong in faith. And those who are weak in faith. Now, what does he mean? When Paul uses the term strong in faith, he means believers who have a right understanding of Christian freedom. That any thought, any word, any action that is not sinful is allowable. The one who is strong in faith lives in the world of may.

3:32In other words, Christians may do this or that, or they may not do this or that. When Paul uses the term weak in faith, he is referring to believers who live in the world of must. They think that as a Christian, we must do this or that, or we must not do this or that. So consider the examples that Paul gives in this opening section, verses one through four, which probably refer to believers just like himself. People who came from Jewish backgrounds, who would have grown up only eating kosher foods and always observing the Sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, and who would have celebrated the Jewish Sabbath and holy feasts and holy days of the year as a matter of course. Look at verse 2.

4:25Paul says, one person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person may eat. Eats only vegetables. Look at verse 5. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Now remember, Jesus came to fulfill the law. That is why he came. He said, I did not come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill it. In his perfect, sinless life, he did everything that the law requires. He kept all of the dietary commands. He kept the Sabbath perfectly.

5:05He kept every feast and holy day that God prescribed in his word. And because Jesus fulfilled the law, Christian believers are no longer bound by it. Can you still eat a strict Jewish diet? Sure, but you don't have to. Can you observe the Sabbath? Sure, but you don't have to. Can you observe holy days and feasts? Sure, but you don't have to. And that's the problem. Weaker believers thought that if they did not keep the Jewish dietary laws and the Sabbath and the holy days and the feasts, that they were dishonoring God.

5:55And that was creating some tension in the church. People were making different decisions about that, and that led to sin. Look at verse 3. Let not the one 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. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? 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.

6:34So you can see what's happening here. The stronger believers in the church were giving into the temptation to despise the weaker believers in the church. And the weaker believers in the church were giving into the temptation to pass judgment on the stronger believers in the church. And both of those temptations are rooted in pride. Pride leads the stronger believer to look at weaker believers with a smirk on their face. Like, oh, that's precious. You think you have to do that or you can't do that as a Christian?

7:21How legalistic of you. And pride leads the weaker believer to look At the stronger believer with a frown on their face. Like, that's awful. How could you think that you don't have to do that or that you have the freedom to do that as a Christian? How worldly of you. And friends, these are the very same ways that we are tempted today. Stronger believers are tempted to despise weaker believers in the church, and weaker believers are tempted to pass judgment on stronger believers in the church.

8:05We are tempted to allow differences of opinion on disputable matters to weaken or even extinguish the love that we are called to have for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Instead of welcoming one another, we are excluding one another because we are despising or judging. But what is God's command to the stronger believer? Look again at verse 1. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

8:41What is God's command to the weaker believer? Look at verse 3. Let not the one 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. So, friends, this. This is Paul's main point in the section. This is what we must do as Christians. Since God has welcomed every believer, we must welcome one another. That is the main point of this whole section. Since God has welcomed every believer, we must welcome one another. That's what we must do. And so we're going to spend the rest of this morning, the rest of this sermon, answering the question: how?

9:31How do we welcome one another? And we're going to see that in three ways. Don't lose your mind. Make up your mind. And keep the end in mind. This also, incidentally, is the most Baptist sermon I have ever preached in my life. Let's get into that first point, don't lose your mind, verses 1 through 4 here. Since God has welcomed every believer, both strong and weak, we must welcome one another. And here, friends, in verse 1, Paul adds a warning to his command to the stronger believer in the church. He says, welcome him, that is the weaker believer, but not to quarrel about opinions. In other words, don't lose your mind.

10:23Clearly, this command was relevant to Paul's readers. That's why the Holy Spirit inspired him to write this to the Romans. Church. But, friends, this command, as in all commands in the scripture, are relevant for all believers in all places at all times. And I can testify that over 20 years of pastoral ministry, I have been watching Christians lose their minds over opinions year after year after year. I have seen Christians gossip about and slander each other, both in person and online.

11:02I have watched Christians argue with each other. I have watched them throw away years-long friendships and even leave churches over matters of opinion, matters of Christian freedom. Let me give you a partial list of issues that I have personally seen Christians lose their minds and break fellowship over. Alcohol, whether believers can drink it privately or publicly, or even as a part of the Lord's Supper. Family size. Whether believers must have children or must have a certain number of children or must have as many children as possible.

11:58Media. Whether believers may watch certain shows or movies or listen to certain kinds of music. School. Whether believers must homeschool or must send their children to private school or must send their children to public school. Shopping. Whether believers must buy fair trade products or must not shop at certain stores because of what that company promotes. Voting. Whether believers must vote for like-minded Christians or must vote for a certain party or must vote only over a single issue.

12:44Vaccination. Whether believers must vaccinate their children or must not vaccinate their children. I have witnessed Christians lose their minds and break fellowship with each other over these and many other things. And friends, I am certain that breaks God's heart. Because God says in this section that we are to welcome one another because God has welcomed us. But instead, we've despised, we've passed judgment on each other in these matters of Christian freedom. Look again at verse 4.

13:26Paul asks, Who are you to pass judgment on the Servant of another. Friends, when we are tempted to despise a weaker brother whose conscience does not allow him to do something that we feel the freedom to do, or when we are tempted to pass judgment on a stronger sister because her conscience allows her to do something that your conscience does not allow you to do, we must remember these words in verse 4: Who are you to pass judgment on another?

14:03We all have one master, and that master is God. And God is able to uphold those who make certain choices that you would not make in your Christian life. Now, let me clarify something. Paul is not saying that we never pass judgment on other believers. In 1 Corinthians 5, a man in the church was in an adulterous relationship with his stepmother. And Paul did not write to the Corinthians and say, Who are you to pass judgment on another?

14:45No, he wrote what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 5: purge the evil person from among you. Adultery is not a matter of opinion, it is not a matter of Christian freedom. It is sin. And it is our God-given responsibility to hold each other, professing believers in Jesus Christ, to the standard that we all agree to live by, which is the Word of God. We do not hold non-Christians to this standard. They've never signed up. We hold each other to this standard with respect to what is sin and what is not sin. We say to one another, that is not an acceptable attitude. Those are not acceptable words. That is not acceptable behavior for a Christian.

15:41So we do pass judgment on matters of sin. But when we quarrel with believers who are making different choices than we are, when we decide that we are not going to welcome others who have made different choices than we have, that is also sin. We are saying to these brothers and sisters, God may have welcomed you, but I will not. So, friends, have you lost your mind over matters of opinion, over matters of Christian freedom? Are there certain brothers and sisters in Christ that you refuse to welcome, that you refuse to have Christian fellowship with, because they Made different choices than you have on matters of Christian freedom.

16:38In the church, our unity and our fellowship is based on faith in Jesus Christ alone. It is not based on what you decide about alcohol. It is not based on how your children are educated. It is not based on who you vote for, or where you shop, or heaven help us, what you think about shots. It is based on Jesus Christ, Him crucified, and Him risen from the dead. So let's not quarrel over opinions. Instead, let's welcome one another because God has welcomed us in Christ.

17:29Now, you might be thinking, but Pastor Allen, these are important issues. Surely you don't mean that this stuff doesn't matter. I'm glad you asked. These things certainly do matter. Just because they're matters of opinion doesn't mean they're not important. And that brings us to the second point. You need to make up your mind. Look at verse 5. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

18:15So what we learn here is that while we do have freedom to make different choices on matters of opinion, you do need to make up your mind. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. That's what Paul says. In other words, every Christian should come to a settled conviction about matters of opinion that affect your life. Listen to each part of that statement. Every Christian should come to a settled conviction about matters of opinion that affect your life. Here's what I mean.

18:57If God has called you to a life of singleness, or if you don't yet have children, it's probably not necessary or helpful for you to form a settled conviction about how children should be educated. On the other hand, alcohol is a big part of American culture. As a teenager, as a college student, as an adult, you probably do need to have a Settled conviction about whether you're going to drink, and if so, when you're going to drink, where you're going to drink, and how much you're going to drink.

19:41The wrong time to try to answer those questions is when you are 16 and your buddy says to you, Hey, I took some of my parents' liquor. You want some? The wrong time to try to answer those questions is when you're invited to a friend's 21st birthday party, and although you are of legal age to drink, everybody there is getting drunk. The wrong time to try to answer those questions is when you go to dinner with your coworkers and your boss offers to buy everyone a drink.

20:20Those are the wrong times to try to answer those questions. Alcohol is just one example, but in our culture, it is almost certainly going to affect you. So, it is wise to make up your mind to come to a settled conviction about whether and when and where and how much you're going to drink. And so, that begs the question: how do we make up our minds about these matters of opinion? Well, let me give you four steps. I'll give you all four steps and then run through each one. So, if you're taking notes, don't feel like you've got to scribble away. Search the scriptures, seek counsel.

21:00Pray for guidance, form an opinion, and hold it charitably. Okay, first, search the scriptures. Search the scriptures. This is really simple. If Jesus has issued a command, or if his apostles have issued a command, that settles it. It's not a matter of opinion. It's a biblical command issued to all Christians at all times. You shall not commit adultery is not up for debate. But the scriptures are filled not just with commands. That's not most of what the Bible is. It's filled with wisdom. So let's say that you continue to struggle with sexual sin one way or another.

21:49The Bible does not say, thou shalt not own a smartphone with unfiltered access to the internet. It does not say, thou shalt not watch movies late at night with your boyfriend or girlfriend. It doesn't say that. What does it say? Remember last week, Romans 13, 14? But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Scripture may not address the exact issue that you're facing, but every page is filled with wisdom that will apply to your situation. So first, search the scriptures. Second, seek counsel.

22:35Seek counsel. One of the problems with living in the modern world is that we seem to think that we are the first people on earth. That no one has ever wrestled with anything ever before, and we must reinvent the wheel. But in fact, Christians have been wrestling with these issues for 2,000 years and have been writing about them. So you can read how Christians handled issues like alcohol and sexual immorality and everything else a thousand years ago or 100 years ago or even 10 years ago. Consider how believers from different ages dealt with these topics and look at the wisdom of the ages. And beyond that, take advantage of your relationships in the church. In Titus 2, Paul commands older men and women to train younger men and women how to live out the Christian faith. That's why we have things like coffee and conversation and college connect and life groups and a host of other opportunities in the church to put you in relationships with older men and women and younger men and women so that you can seek counsel. That's why you have pastors in the church, so that we can help you process through these things and equip you to think biblically about these challenges. Challenging issues. So search the scriptures, seek counsel, and then third, pray for guidance.

24:09Pray for guidance. Look at James 1, 5 on the screen. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. So you've searched the scriptures, you've sought counsel from saints who have gone before, and saints in the church, and your pastors, and now God invites you to ask him for wisdom, promising to give it generously to you if you ask. You might think, now, if I can just pray and ask God, why should I spend time searching the scriptures and seeking counsel?

24:51Right, this is a thoroughly modern American question to ask. And the answer to that question is: God ordinarily works through means. So how is he ordinarily going to speak to you? He's ordinarily going to speak to you through the Bible. He's ordinarily going to speak to you through other Christians in the church who are filled with the Holy Spirit, just like you are. And so when you are praying and asking for guidance, it's not because you can't go anywhere else to get it. It's because you're asking, Lord, would you confirm what I've seen in your word? Would you confirm what other people have told me? You're asking God for help. To sift through all of the wisdom.

25:34And then, fourth, form an opinion and hold it charitably. Form an opinion and hold it charitably. Remember, the command here is each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. It's important to form an opinion. It's important to be fully convinced that you are taking the right approach. But you have to remember that your opinion is just that. Your opinion. Christians have disagreed about these things for centuries, and until Jesus returns, we're going to continue to disagree about these things. And so charity demands that we recognize that every single Christian is seeking to honor God with every choice that they make. That's the charitable approach. That is the charitable way to look at other Christians, that whatever they're doing, they're seeking to do it to honor God. This is what Paul says in verses 6 through 9. Look at verse 6.

26:41The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord. 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. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies. Dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be both Lord of the dead and of the living. Amen.

27:26Paul says that Christians who eat eat in honor of the Lord. And he says that Christians that choose not to eat do so in honor of the Lord. Two completely different and opposite choices, both made from hearts and spirits that intend to honor the Lord in every single decision. They are fully convinced in their own minds, hearts full of thankfulness, doing what they are doing in an attempt to honor God. So friends, when it comes to matters of opinion, don't lose your mind, but you do need to make up your mind. You do that by searching the scriptures, seeking counsel, praying for guidance, and then forming an opinion and holding it charitably. Let's pick up now in verse 10 and see that final point. Keep the end in mind.

28:19Verse 10. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? 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. So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. So, in this last section, Paul returns to this problem of weaker believers passing judgment on stronger believers, and stronger believers despising weaker believers. He asks rhetorically, why do you do that?

29:04The answer is forgetfulness. Forgetfulness. When weak Christians judge stronger ones, when stronger Christians despise weaker ones, it's because we've forgotten the truth of verse 10. Look what verse 10 says. We will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Paul quotes Isaiah 45 to drive this point home: that a day is coming when every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess to God. And on the day of judgment, weaker believers are not going to answer to stronger believers. Stronger believers are not going to answer to weaker believers. I am not going to answer to you, and you are not going to answer to me. We will all have to give an account of ourselves to God. In other words, we must keep the end in mind.

30:01We must remember that we all have to give an account to God. But what are we giving an account to God for? Two things. How we've used our Christian freedom and how we've treated other Christians. How we've used our Christian freedom and how we've treated other Christians. First, we will give an account for how we've used our Christian freedom. All morning, we've been talking about Christian freedom, how we have the freedom to decide to do something or not do something as long as it's not sin.

30:35But we have to keep the end in mind that every one of us is going to answer to God for how we have used our Christian freedom. I want you to picture yourself standing before the almighty God of the universe on the day of judgment as your life is reviewed in slow motion. I want you to look at Matthew chapter 12. Jesus says, I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak.

31:23And I bring that scripture in to just remind you that if we are going to give an account for every careless word that we speak, Have spoken, how much more so our choices and our actions. In that moment on the day of judgment, do you think that you are going to care one bit about what other people thought of your opinions and decisions? Do you think that you're going to care what your family members thought, what your friends thought, what random people on the internet thought?

32:00Certainly not. The one thing that is going to matter to you in that moment is what does God think of my life? What does he think of every choice that I have made? And so today and every day, we've got to keep the end in mind because we're going to give an account for how we have all used our Christian freedom. And then second, we're going to give an account for how we've treated other Christians. This is what Paul is saying in verse 10. Why are you passing judgment on your brother? Why are you despising your brother? We're all going to stand before the judgment seat of God.

32:42Stronger believers, how do you think God feels about you looking down on, smirking at, despising weaker believers, men and women for whom Christ died? And weaker believers, how do you think God feels about you looking? Down on, frowning at, judging stronger believers, men and women for whom Christ died. Paul said it best in verse 4: Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is sinful to despise and pass judgment on each other over matters of Christian freedom. Friends, how will people know that we are Jesus' disciples?

33:31Because of our opinions about alcohol, on homeschooling, on shopping at Target, on vaccination, on political parties? No, Jesus tells us in John 13, By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Brothers and sisters, that is what sets the church apart. What binds us together in unified love is not our shared opinions about political or cultural or social issues. It is our shared belief that Jesus is the Son of God, who lived a perfect and sinless life, who went to the cross to take your place and mine for our sin. Who died, was buried, and who rose again victorious over sin and death. That is what unites us together, not our opinions.

34:44And so we have to keep the end in mind. We can't get distracted over those differences and lose sight of the gospel that unites us. So as we close, if you're a Christian, and if you're reflecting on what Paul has taught in Romans 14, you might be feeling either convicted or anxious. Maybe there have been occasions when you've lost your mind or you haven't kept the end in mind. And so you have quarreled and argued with other Christians about matters of opinion. You have not welcomed them, but you've excluded them. Maybe online, maybe in real life.

35:31And if that's true, then what God's call to you is, is to repent. It is to apologize and ask forgiveness from those brothers and sisters that you've done that to. It looks like finding ways to invite weaker or stronger believers into your life and into Christian fellowship despite your differences in opinion. Consider inviting someone with different opinions over. For dinner or over to pray. It is very difficult to despise or judge people that you eat with and pray with.

36:15Or maybe there are issues that affect your life that you have not made up your mind about. You don't have any kind of a consistent approach. You're all over the map on whatever the issue is. Some days you feel fine about it, some days you feel guilty about it because you have not done what Paul says and you have not made up your mind. You have not been fully convinced. And if that's true of you, it's time. It is time for you to make up your mind, to search the scriptures, to seek counsel, to pray for guidance, and then to form an opinion and hold it charitably. Friends, every Christian has the right to hold an opinion. Every Christian has the right to be wrong.

37:00Every Christian has the right to change their mind. And that includes you. So make up your mind and be charitable. If you're here today and you are not yet a believer in Jesus Christ, you might be listening to this sermon and thinking to yourself, Christians make mountains out of molehills. I cannot believe. That they're arguing with each other about whether to eat stuff or whether to drink stuff or what days stuff should be done on. Who cares?

37:42And in one sense, you're right. Christians have argued about many dumb things over the last 2,000 years. At times, we have completely lost sight of what really matters, which is loving God and loving our neighbor. You might have been hurt by Christians who are exercising their freedoms. Or you might have heard that the message of Christianity is really: keep all of these rules and God will be happy with you. And in either case, we want to say, we're sorry. We are sorry about that.

38:23But here's what you do need to understand. We believe that God created the world and everything in it, including us, to honor and worship Him. Everything. We want to please Him in every single way, including things that seem really small, small decisions in our lives. Because that's what you do when you love someone. You seek to please them. You find out what they like and what do they not like. What do they love and what do they not love? And then you try to do the things that they like and you try to avoid the things that they don't like. All of this is because we love God. And we love God, as 1 John says, because he first loved us.

39:09While we were sinners and rebelling against him, while we wanted nothing to do with God, he sent his only son to live and die and rise again so that we could have a relationship with him, a reconciled relationship that is based on his grace. That's why all of this stuff matters so much to Christians. My friend, God loves you, and he wants to welcome you into his family. But for that to happen, you have to welcome Jesus. He is the way. There is no other way. He is the door. There is no other door. You have to go through Jesus by turning from your sin and receiving him as Lord and Savior, confessing with your mouth that he is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You must do that in order to be welcomed by God. God wants to welcome you, but you must welcome his son. And so our prayer is that you would do that today, that you would love the God who has demonstrated his love for you in sending Jesus, and that from this day forward you would seek to love him with every choice, every decision, every opinion.

40:25Let's pray. Father, we want to honor you in every single area of our life. I pray that you would speak to us through your word and your people and your spirit and help us make decisions. Sometimes, decisions that are going to be the same as others in the church, sometimes decisions that are going to be different, but help us to make every decision to honor you. I pray for Christians who are wrestling with various areas. Should I drink alcohol? Should I keep drinking alcohol?

41:16What are we going to do with our kids next year? Are we going to homeschool? Are we going to send them to private school? Are we going to send them to public school? Elections are coming up. Who are we going to vote for? God, we need wisdom. We need faith. We want to do everything in light of what you have spoken and what you have done for us. So, God, forgive us for our divisions. We know they're sinful. I pray that there would be reconciliation, even in this room, between people who have decided not to welcome each other because of their different opinions. I pray that. You would preserve our unity and that we would be united around the gospel of Jesus Christ.

42:10And God, for those who are not yet Christians, would you meet them where they are? For many of them, they've exercised a lot of freedom. They've exercised freedom where you've given clear commands to do or not to do certain things. They need forgiveness. They need reconciliation with you. And I pray that this morning, men and women, college students and teenagers, boys and girls would come to faith in Jesus Christ, that they would turn from their sin and look to Christ in faith for the first time.

42:52God, thank you for your word. Thank you for speaking to us so clearly about matters that are often very unclear. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.