Calvary Church is
dedicated to doctrine, and we want you to experience
the life change that comes from knowing God's word
and applying it to your life. So we explain the
Bible verse by verse, every chapter, every book. This is Expound. Good evening. Let's get transformed by
the renewing of our mind. Book of Romans, chapter 13. Let's pray together. Father, thank you
for an opportunity to gather together midweek. Thank you for the
rainy day we've had, and may your word now water
our souls as we gather. Lord, for that to happen,
adequately, powerfully, we need a hunger and a thirst
in our hearts for truth. For we recall that
our Lord Jesus said, blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness. They shall be filled. So Father, we need your wisdom. We long to hear your Spirit's
voice speak amidst and through and over my voice. We pray, Lord, that you would
speak tonight to your people, those gathered
here, those gathered in places around the
city, around the country, around the world
who are tuning in. Thank you for the
technology we have to broadcast from this place,
that the word of the Lord may sound forth. Strengthen us, Lord,
for days ahead. Strengthen us for
the task to which you have called us in particular. May we be able to apprehend
that for which we have been apprehended by Christ. In Jesus' name we ask, Amen. You doing all right? Good. So we're in the book of Romans. And we have seen that Romans is
divided up into four sections. And I go over these a lot. Because by the end of this book,
which is in a couple of weeks, you're going to have
this so down pat, you will never forget it. So the book of Romans is
a Paul's incredible letter to a group of Roman believers. He longed to go to Rome. He finally went to
Rome, not the way he thought he would go to Rome. But he wrote this letter. And in the letter, after
his introductory remarks, Paul begins speaking in chapter
1, verse 18, all the way to chapter 3, verse
20, about the wrath of God revealed from heaven. Then, from chapter 3, verse
21, all the way through to chapter 8, verse 39
is the next section, where he speaks about
the grace of God. He sets the wrath
of God out first, so that we can appreciate
the Second great section, the grace of God,
undeserved, unmerited favor. Then, beginning in chapter
9, verse 1, to chapter 11, verse 36 is the third great
section, the plan of God. Then chapter 12,
verse 1 to verse-- to the end of the
book, chapter 16, is, finally, the will of God. That's the section, we are in. And as we get into chapter
13, we get to a, for some, difficult little
section of scripture. Because Paul tells us our
relationship, the relationship of the Christian
to the government, and what our attitude is to be
toward governing authorities. And automatically,
when we hear that, when Christians, especially
in America, hear that, we're sort of founded in
this country with a hands off attitude when it comes to
the government, a separation clause that we have
in our Constitution. But he begins by saying
let every soul be subject to the
governing authority. When I was a kid, the motto
in my culture, the motto in my brother's culture-- I was a kid. They were teenagers. But I remember when the motto
question authority became kind of the standard fare. What do you do with authority? Well, you don't believe it. You question it. You fight against it. You do your own thing. You challenge authority. Here, are the apostle said, let
every soul, your soul, my soul, our souls, be subject
to governing authority. The difficulty is when you have
a governmental structure that is not godly, which
is most of the time. You see, when Paul
wrote this, there wasn't a Democrat
or a Republican in-- sitting in Rome. There was not a Democrat. There was an autocrat,
Caesar Nero, a tyrant, a despotic ruler. And yet Paul says,
let every soul be subject to
governing authorities. That government authority
that Paul has in his mind, sitting in Rome, is the very
one who will eventually take Paul's head off with an axe. Paul will be beheaded at
the hands of Caesar Nero eventually. But Paul begins, let every
soul be subject to governing authorities. Now you know, the New Testament
has, as its background that kind of tyrannical
social structure. When Jesus was born, he was born
into that structure, not just Caesar in Rome, but
Herod in Israel. The Herod family,
they ruled as tyrants. They ruled as despots. They ruled hand in glove
with the Roman government. It was Herod the great who, in
hearing that a King of the Jews was going to be
born, or was born, in Bethlehem, that he
ordered all the children two years of age and younger
to be exterminated, all the male children to be
decimated, to be murdered. Jesus was born into that kind
of governmental structure. Now, when people discovered
his claim, the reality that he was the
Messiah, they had been anticipating the Messiah. But Jesus was not the
Messiah they were expecting. They were expecting a political
ruler, a political rebel, somebody who would overthrow
the Roman government, overthrow the social structure,
set up the kingdom of God by force upon the earth. So Jesus comes on the scene. He is not what they expect. He doesn't come to
bring social reform. He doesn't come to
bring political reform. He does not meet
their expectations. There was one occasion when
the Pharisees and the Herodians came together. They both hated each other. But they came together
to trap Jesus. The Herodians were
loyal to Herod. They believed in supporting
the Roman government. They believed in paying taxes
to support that structure. They were very loyal to that
Roman governmental structure. The Pharisees did not believe in
paying taxes, hated the Romans, hated the Herodians. And yet, on one occasion,
they got together, and they were both
on the same side. Because the enemy of
my enemy is my friend. So the Herodians
and the Pharisees came together to trap Jesus. And they said, we'd like to know
the answer to this question. Is it lawful to pay
taxes to Caesar or not? They thought they had him. Because if he said
no, don't pay taxes, it's a tyrannical government,
then they say tax evasion. He's not obeying the laws. And the Romans would, and the
heroines as their proxies, would be not in favor
of that, and would want to arrest him and
kill them based on that. And if they said, yes, you
should pay taxes to Cesar, and you should do
whatever Herod says to do, then the Pharisees would
have a case against him. So they came to Jesus,
asking him the question. And he answered it
masterfully-- so much so, they dared not ask him
any more questions. He said show me a coin. He looked at a coin. And he said, well, whose
mug is on this coin? Whose face is on here? Whose inscription? And they said Caesar's. Gave them the coin back. Said good. Give to Caesar what
belongs to Caesar, and give to God
what belongs to God. That's how he answered
that question, so wisely. But again, he was not
what they expected. Let every soul be subject to
governing authorities for-- here's why-- There is no
authority except from God. And the authorities that
exist are appointed by God. Well, we have trouble with that. It means that the policeman who
wrote you a ticket last week because you were speeding
was sent there by God. The governor, the president,
the Congress, the house, the prime ministers
of a country, the kings are put there
ultimately by a sovereign God. Now, we have to rest in that,
as much as we may not like it. Go back to-- not literally,
but go back in your mind to the book of Daniel. In the book of Daniel, we
are told that Nebuchadnezzar came and attacked Jerusalem. And it says, in
verse 2 of chapter 1, the Lord gave Joakim
the King of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Ultimately, God
assumes responsibility for the plunder,
takeover, and burning of the city of Jerusalem,
which he predicted through his prophets, because of
the falling away the apostasy, as we have been
discussing on weekends, of the nation of Israel. When Nebuchadnezzar
was King of Babylon, and he put a statue
in the plane of Dura, and commanded that
everybody bow down to, it and three of the Hebrew
children did not do it, we are told also
that during that era, that Nebuchadnezzar
walked around his palace. And he looked over Babylon. And he said, is this
not the great Babylon which I have built? And something happened to him. He started growing his
nails out like claws. His hair started growing out. He started eating
grass like an animal. Started going crazy,
living out on the field. The dew of heaven, for seven
seasons, passed over him. And Daniel came to him
and said, until you realize that the most high
rules in the kingdom of men and places over it
whomever he chooses. And, in the book
of Daniel, it says God puts over them
the basest of men-- the worst sort of politician. So when you go, I
hate that politician, the Lord might use them
to put him over you. I know it's a bitter
pill to swallow. But again, keep
in mind that when Paul wrote this, Caesar
Nero, Herod the Great, those were the bad actors. But they were in place as
governmental authorities. And Paul says, there really is
no authority except from God. And the authorities that
exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever
resists the authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who resist will
bring judgment on themselves. Now to be subject uses
a very important word. He uses a military word,
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH].. It means, in a
military context, you get underneath in your ranking
before your commanding officer. In a non-military
context, it suggests the bearing of a burden or the
voluntary carrying of a load. So I think the idea is this. Understanding the ultimate
sovereignty of God, get in line under his
jurisdiction and show support, with your heart
right before God, to governmental authorities. Whoever resists the authority
resists the ordinance of God. And those who resist will
bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror
to good works but to evil. Do you want to be
unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will
have praise from the same. And here's a phrase I
do have problems with. But I believe it. For he, that is the ruler,
the Herods, the Cesar Neros-- you can fill in the blank. I'm not going to do that. But you can put
in any politician, modern or present or past. He is God's minister. Wow. The word Paul uses,
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]---- we get the word deacon from,
servant from, God's servant, God's minister-- is the same
word that the apostles use in describing an officer of the
church, a minister, a servant. He is God's minister
to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid. Be afraid. Be very afraid. For he does not bear
the sword in vain. That is, he has
weaponized for a purpose. For he is God's
minister and avenger to execute wrath on
him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject
not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. Shortly after the flood, right
around Genesis chapter 9, is when most Bible scholars
will say God established, God began to Institute
human government. After the flood,
God gave the mandate that whoever sheds man's blood,
by him, blood must be shed. Or you shed that
man's blood by-- whoever shed that
blood is guilty. And a capital punishment
would be the consequence. So human government is
considered by theologians to be what's called common
grace, common grace. Common grace is a
term that refers to God's blessing or
grace or favor on humanity that is not purely salvific. That is, not for
salvation purposes. Breathing air is a common
blessing, a common grace. The beautiful rain, the
ability to appreciate nature, common grace. Jesus put it this way. The sun shines on the
just and the unjust. The rain falls on the
just and the unjust. That's common grace. We commonly enjoy it together,
whether you're saved or not. Government, though it can
be a burden, is given, is seen as a common grace. Because it has a
twofold purpose-- number one, to protect the
community, and number two, to punish criminals. So, next time you get pulled
over by a police officer, and they notice that you've been
doing 25 miles over the speed limit the last few miles, and
they're going to write you a ticket-- no
warning, a ticket-- you really should thank them. You should thank the officer. Because the officer
is writing you a ticket pulled
you over because he is there to protect your life. He understands--
obviously, you don't. You and I, when we
get pulled over, we're too dumb to
protect ourselves. So that's why we hire it out. And the police, whom we hire,
are there to protect your life. So thank the officer for
stopping you, and writing the ticket, and watching
over the community. They're part of the common
grace, the common blessing. You know what's
worse than a bad cop? No cop. If you were to defund
the police, as some proposed you should, we should,
you probably wouldn't make it. If there were no
police on the streets, you probably wouldn't
make it home from church. Eventually, that
would be the case. There would be total anarchy
without laws and without those to uphold those laws,
enforce those laws. It's part of common
grace, common blessing, God's minister. Now, I will say this. When I was younger, I
did not think this way. We had, where I lived, right
down the street from us, a couple of police officers,
CHPs, California Highway Patrols who just loved their
job, a little too much. Loved the authority it
brought, and in particular did not like motorcyclists. Well, my brother Bob and I
were riding motorcycles up and down the street every
day for months, for years, not always abiding by the law. We were kids. So at age 13, 14,
15, I'm already riding a motorcycle in
California, on the streets. The officer would pull us
over, we felt unduly hassle us, that began a very
uneasy relationship that I had with law enforcement. It wasn't good. To this day, because of all
those altercations I had, to this day, whenever I see
a black and white, a police officer, a Sheriff, a
state trooper, I white knuckle the steering wheel. I grab. It's instinctive. I may be doing under. And I look down. And I go, I'm doing
the speed limit. Now, that's not
always, not even often. But when that happens,
it's like [SIGH],, right? The first time I got pulled
over in a car, I was 15, I had my learner's permit. Didn't have a license. I was pulled over by
California Highway Patrol in San Bernardino, California. And he said, can I
see your license? I didn't have a license. Again, I had a learner's permit. So he said-- and now,
that was illegal, what I was doing, right? Pulled me over, and he said,
can I see your license? And I said, officer, I
forgot my license at home. He said, are you of age? You have a license? I said, yes sir. Now I'm unregenerate
at the time. I'm unsaved. So give me a little
bit of a break. You expect an unsaved
person to act unsaved, and I acted very unsaved. So I lied. I said, I have a license. He goes, OK. What's your address? I told him my correct address,
my parents' phone number, very confidently. And he said, OK,
I'm going to check. I'm going to check our records. If you're lying, and you
don't have a license, you're in big trouble. I said, sure. No problem. Go ahead. Call my folks. Now, I was hoping-- dare I say even praying-- that wouldn't happen,
which it did not happen. But here was the kicker
for me at the time. I got pulled over. And he said, do you know
how fast you were doing? I said, sir, I was
doing the speed limit. He goes, that was the problem. He said, you're
impeding traffic. In other words, he said,
and he explained this to me, you need to go the
flow of traffic. If you are in this left lane and
you are slowing down, that's-- you're slowing the
flow of traffic. That's dangerous. We call that impeding traffic. Now, probably only in
the state of California do you get a ticket
for going to slow. Because I notice a lot
of people in New Mexico impede traffic all
day long, and it seems to be sort of the fare. But there, was a problem. Here, if you do the opposite,
you'll get a ticket. That is-- I don't know
why I even shared that. It has nothing to do at
all with this message, except I'm confessing
my sin to you, that I had an
uneasy relationship with police officers. Now I thank God every
time I see them. Therefore verse 5, you
must be subject, not only because of wrath, not
only because you'll get in trouble, not only because
you might get a citation, not only because you
might go to jail. If you commit a severe
enough infraction, but also for the sake
of your conscience. For because of this
you also pay taxes. Ooh. Now, Paul, now you're getting
really close to home here. Because of this,
you also pay taxes. For they-- this is those
government tax collectors-- they are God's ministers. Now, it's really
difficult to swallow. Now, he's saying the
IRS are God's ministers. For they are God's ministers. And notice, attending
continually to this very thing. That I agree with. They do attend continually
to this very thing. There's no end to
the creative ways they come up with to tax us. Rendered therefore
to all their due, taxes to whom taxes are due,
customs to whom customs-- so pay your taxes. Don't try to sneak anything
over when you fly somewhere in your suitcase. Pay the custom. Payee the tribute. Fear, to whom fear,
honor, to whom honor. So we are to support the
government, basically by paying our taxes and
by giving them respect. Now, once again,
consider the background the New Testament
was written in. Israel, for example,
the tax structure was far more burdensome
than our own. In Israel, the Roman government,
and all over the Roman world, exacted what was
called the poll tax. Number one, the
poll tax was a tax for everybody alive from age-- if you're a male-- age 16 to age 65. If you're a female,
like age 14 to age 65-- that was called the poll tax. It is a tax on you breathing. For you just being alive,
you paid the poll tax. Then there was an income
tax on top of the poll. Tax the income tax
was a 10% flat tax. Then there was a ground tax. You were taxed on use of
roads, the use of bridges. Then there was a cart tax. If you had a cart
with wheels on it, you were taxed, depending
on the number of wheels you utilize-- whether it was one
wheel, like a wheelbarrow, two wheels, four wheels. The more wheels, the more tax. There was a fish tax
on top of all those. The fish tax was, if
you lived by the ocean, or you lived by like
the Sea of Galilee, you were taxed per fish
you caught in your net. You were taxed for that. On top of that, you
paid a ground tax. Or did I mention the ground tax? OK, so the ground tax
was, if you grew grain, you had to pay the government
10% of whatever you grew. If you grew wine,
like in vineyards, you would pay 25% tax. So there was tax
upon tax upon tax. And yet, Paul says
pay your taxes. Give them respect. Render to all they're due--
taxes to whom taxes are due, custom to whom customs are
due, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Now, before we get into the next
section, we have to ask this. OK, I understand
what Paul is saying. But is there ever a time when
you disobey the government? You don't honor them. You don't obey them. Is there? Of course there is. We find that in the scripture. Book of Daniel is one of them. I just mentioned it. When Nebuchadnezzar
built that huge statue and commanded the
whole world bow down, three Hebrew fellas
decided not to do that. Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego said we're not going to bow
down to that false idol. He said, well, if
you don't bow down, we're going to throw you
into the fiery furnace, and you'll be dead. They said, listen. Our God is able to deliver us
from the burning fiery furnace. And even if he doesn't,
not going to bow. So they disobeyed
government orders. In Acts chapter
4, Acts chapter 3, there was a healing
of the lame man at the gate beautiful in
the city of Jerusalem. Peter and John were there,
used by God to do that. They were brought on trial
before the Jewish Sanhedrin. The effect of that
healing was so great, it says 5,000 men believed
in Jesus that day. So it created quite
a stir in Jerusalem. Peter and John stand trial. And they say, by what
name, and by what authority have you done this? And Peter said, if we're being
called into question because of a good deed done to a
lame guy, be it known to you that by the name of Jesus of
Nazareth, whom you killed, whom God raised from
the dead, does this man stand before you whole. And they say, well, we're
passing a law in Jerusalem. No one can ever speak
in the name of Jesus, use that name like you have. Nobody can do that from
now on in the city. They were let go. They went right back out
into the temple courts and preached again,
were arrested again, put in prison overnight. And angel sprung them from jail. They went right back
out and did it again. They were arrested
again in chapter 5, brought before the leaders. Leaders said, didn't we give
you the command, the order, the law, that you shouldn't
speak anymore in this name? They said, well, whether it's
right in the sight of God to obey you more
than men, you decide. But as for us, we must speak
what we have seen and heard. And then he said, we must
obey God rather than men. We have to. So when the
government trespasses a law that interferes with the
laws God has told us to keep, with the dictums,
dictates, things God has told us to practice,
when the government says you can't do
that, they infringe upon not just constitutional
right, but what God tells us, we disobey. So being a good
Christian means being a good citizen until
being a good citizen means being a bad Christian. So there were times when
this became problematic. Put yourself in the shoes of you
live in the South in the 1850s. You're a plantation owner, a
Christian plantation owner. You have working under you
people conscripted as slaves. You morally feel this is wrong. Biblically, you feel
slavery is wrong. But it's the structure
that is set up. And you want to
feed your family. And you feel the angst,
the pull, in your culture, but in your Spirit. And then, you hear that
the South in which you live is going to wage
war, military war, against the union, the northern
states, over this issue. What do you do? Do you-- they want to secede
from the Union, the South. Do you cross over enemy lines
and now live in the North, and fight for the North? Or do you stay in the South? What do you do? It's a moral dilemma. Christians dealt with
this during that era. Here's another example. You're living in the
1930s in Germany. You're a Christian businessman. The leader of the country
is seemingly very promising, Adolph somebody. Oh, Adolf Hitler, right, right. Adolph Hitler, the Chancellor
of the Third Reich, sees promise in you and
wants to promote you. But you understand his
ideology toward the Jews. And as a believer,
that's untenable. to you. What do you do? Those are things that
people, that believers, dealt with during that era. So there are times when we are
called to disobey government. But the general rule
is, you don't be-- you're not to be subversive. You're not to be
a rabble rouser. You're not to stir up trouble. You're not to always be
against the government. You don't want to
be known for that. So verse 8, he continues,
owe no one anything except to love one another. Don't owe anybody anything. But owe everybody love. Love everyone. For he who loves another
has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, you
shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder,
you shall not steal, you shall not bear false
witness, you shall not covet, and if there's any
other commandment, are all summed up
in this saying. Namely, you shall love
your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the
fulfillment of the law. Now, when Paul says owe no man-- don't owe anybody
anything, he doesn't mean, as some people have
said this means, he's not forbidding you
to have a credit card, or to have payments
for a house that you're going to eventually pay off in
15, 30 years, or a car payment. That's not what
it's referring to. It's-- because if it were,
you'd have to deal with a lot of texts that say it's OK to do
that, like Exodus chapter 22, which is laws governing
borrowing and paying back. So there were loans that
were taken out in Israel. Or the words of Jesus in the
Sermon on the Mount-- it says, if somebody asks you for
something, give it to him. If he wants to borrow
something from you, let him. Now Jesus wouldn't say that
if borrowing and lending was prohibited. But the idea here is,
don't overburden yourself to the point where
you can't pay it. Don't over borrow. Don't overbuy. Sometimes, we want
to buy something. We can't wait for it. And so we get
behind in payments. You want to have a good
record going forward, to show that you are a
responsible child of God. Because Ben Franklin said,
creditors have better memories than debtors. Good wisdom. You take something
out on credit. Yeah, I'll pay it off. And you may forget. They will not, and they
will compound the interest, as some of us well know. But you'll notice that he
says that we have the duty to love one another. And then he lists some
of the commandments. Now, what he is
listing is from what's called the second
table of the law, the law of Moses, the Ten
Commandments, had two tables. The first for, the second six. The first four dealt with
our relationship with God. The second six dealt with
man's relationship to mankind. Paul is making a very important
statement, a statement that Jesus underscored, that
if you live by the law of love, you'll fulfill the law of Moses. If you love somebody, you're
not going to kill them. If you love somebody,
you're not going to covet. If you love somebody, you're
not going to rip them off. You're not going to steal from
them, et cetera, et cetera. So there were Ten Commandments. Jesus comes along and turns them
from negative into positive, and reduces them to
two commandments. He said, love the Lord your
God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love
your neighbor as yourself. On these to hang all the
law and the prophets. So instead of thou shalt not,
thou shalt not, thou shalt not, Jesus said, well just do this. Love God with all your heart,
mind, soul, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. You'll keep it all. Then he really
reduced it down to one when you gave the golden rule. Do unto others as you would
have others do to you. Now again, it's put
in the positive. Love, verse 10, does
no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the
fulfillment of the law. Now I just want to touch on
something, if I can briefly. And I say if I can, like you're
going to say, no you can't. But you'll notice in verse 9 how
he sums it up with that summary verse I just mentioned. You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. What does that mean you shall
love your neighbor as yourself? And the reason I ask
that is because there has come a teaching. I've heard it over the
last couple of decades. But it resurfaces
every few years. And it goes like this. If you really want to
love your neighbor, you have to first begin
by loving yourself. You won't be able to
love others until you are in love with yourself. And once you learn
to love yourself, then you're equipped
to love your neighbor. And I've even heard this,
and equipped to love God. You can't love God, they say,
unless you love yourself first. Because we're told to love our
neighbor as we love ourselves. So you begin with self-love,
and then you love God. Then you love your neighbor. Well, I'll answer that by
saying, first of all, never is there a commandment in
the Bible to love yourself. Two commandments are
given by Jesus, not three. He didn't say, love
yourself, and then love God with all your heart,
mind, soul, and strength, and then love your
neighbor as yourself. That's never there. And then, second, when it says
love your neighbor as yourself, it's because it
presupposes the love your-- love your neighbor
as you love yourself, that's the presupposition. The presupposition of the
truth is that you already do love yourself. And because you
already love yourself, and everybody on Earth knows
that we all love ourselves, based on that, love
others with that same kind of care, that same
kind of interest that you have in yourself. Turn that outward to others. It presupposes that everybody
already does love yourself. So loving yourself
is not the solution. Loving yourself is the problem. And yet, this teaching
has come into the church. We're going to teach you
how to love yourself, so that you can love others. You already love yourself. Paul said, if you
didn't love yourself, you wouldn't nourish your flesh. You wouldn't eat. You wouldn't put perfume on. Somebody's dressed up
nice, and in perfume. Oh, I hate myself. Really? I couldn't tell. So it's a presupposed
fact, and often the very root of the problem. So love your
neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the
fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing
the time, that now it is high time to wake out of sleep. For now, our salvation is near
than when we first believed. If you were saved
20 years ago, you are 20 years closer to have
them than you were then. I know that's pretty obvious. But I do believe,
first of all, I do believe we're
in the last days. I'm not going to
make any prediction. That's been done
to the detriment of the church for years. But Paul always
believed and taught, and the New Testament
teaches, the imminent return of Jesus Christ. And for us, our salvation
is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast
off the works of darkness. Let us put on the
armor of light. Let us walk properly,
is in the day, not in revelry and
drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness,
not in strife and envy. Put on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make no provision for the
flesh, to fulfill its lust. Paul is using a picture, a
word picture that was familiar. A Roman soldier would get
up and would strip himself of his common clothes, and
put on his battle gear. And then at night, he would
put off his battle gear and put on his sleeping
clothes, et cetera. So the idea is,
let's likewise strip ourselves of the things that
are wrong and hold us back. And I love this. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on Jesus. Invite Jesus everywhere
you go during the day. In fact, ask yourself,
if I know that Jesus is sitting next to me
during this activity I'm about to engage in,
would he approve? I'm going to invite him. I'm going to not
just bring him in. I'm going to put him on. When you put Jesus on, you'll
find he's a perfect fit. He fits you perfectly. And you'll find it to be a
perfect fit in every situation. So like the soldier who would
put off the works of darkness and put on his
armor for the fight, put on Jesus in every situation. Now, in chapter 14,
as we get into this, Paul continues this
practical section. But he is going to
be dealing with what we would call gray areas
of the Christian life, OK? There's no specific that's
right, that's wrong. But it could be right. It could be wrong,
depending on who's doing it and for what reason. The boundaries aren't as clear. So you'll notice this. Receive one who is weak in
faith, but not to dispute over doubtful things. For one believes he
may eat all things. But he who was weak
eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise
him who does not eat. Let not him who does not
eat judge him who eats. For God has received him. Who are you to judge
another's servant? To his own master
he stands or falls. Indeed, he will
be made to stand. For God is able
to make him stand. There are issues that
are secondary issues. They're not issues of salvation. They're not issues of
major points of doctrine, like the death of Christ, the
character nature of Christ, of God, et cetera. They're secondary things. Dieting and days of worship
are a couple of them. Here's what's
interesting about this. In the context of this
chapter, the week brother, the week sister, is
the legalistic brother. Usually, we would think,
well, a weak person just sort of is just
going to eat whatever he wants, does
whatever he wants, worship whatever days they want. But a strong
believer is somebody who has those strict
parameters of this and that. That does not seem to
be the context here. The stronger believer receives
the weaker, more legalistic believer who's hung up on diet
and hung up on days of worship. Receive-- that is receive
into fellowship-- one who is weak in the faith,
but not to dispute over doubtful things. So don't bring them in and
then pointer finger out, and corner them,
because you're there to straighten out their life. No, just keep the
essentials essential. You love Jesus. You working in
fellowship with him. You keep the basic tenets
of the Christian faith. And then, when it
comes to diet and days, you receive them in the faith. You receive them in
the corporate faith in which we have. When I was still living at
the beach in California, I remember I was out in
my front yard one day. I've used this analogy before. But my mind went
back to it this week. I was in the front yard. I don't remember
what I was doing. But I think I was
either cleaning the salt off my
wetsuit or waxing my surfboard, one of the two. But I was in the front yard. And I'm working. And I see a shadow of a person
stop right in front of me. I looked up, and I kid you not. There was a man in
a flowy white robe with a beard and long hair. Well, I'm a young Christian. What am I to think? I think, this is it. He's come for me personally. I mean, here he is. And I almost wanted to
say, what is it, Lord? But I looked up to him. And I said, hello. And his first-- the first
words out of his mouth was a question. He goes, do you eat meat? Pardon me? Hello. What is your name. Nice to meet you. I mean, that's kind of a
common thing you first say. Not do you eat meat. But do you eat meat? And I said, well yeah, from
time to time, I eat meat. If I can afford
a good hamburger, I'll pick it out and eat it. And then he went into a
little tirade about how that I, as a follower of the
Lord, should not eat meat. And it was just really
hung up on diet. And he seemed to be very
rigid, and very strong, quoting this, and quoting that. He was somebody
weak in the faith, if he was in the faith at all. I didn't have that
long of a conversation. He got mad. When he found out that I
didn't mind eating a hamburger, he sort of stormed
off after that. In the New Testament,
unlike the Old Testament, there are no
dietary regulations. There's no kosher
pallet or menu. There are not specific
days of worship that you are bound to,
like in the Old Testament. You rested and worship on
the seventh day, the Sabbath. That does not seem to be the
case in the New Testament. You remember Acts chapter 10. Peter's on the rooftop in Joppa. He sees a vision
all these animals, let down on a white
sheet before him. And the Lord says,
Peter, rise and eat. And Peter goes, not so, Lord. I've never touched
anything common or unclean, as if to say, I've only
eaten kosher my whole life. God said, what I've cleansed,
don't call common or unclean. Now, he didn't know that
what he was getting out was not diet per se, but
admitting Gentiles, whom he called common and unclean,
allowing people of faith into the church, the
same basic principle. So there aren't the
same kind of regulations as in the Old Testament. Receive when I was
weak in the faith, but not to dispute
over doubtful things. One believes he may
eat all things, right? That's a lot of us. Now, you might not want
to eat certain things because of what it does to
your physique, or your hips, or your weight, or
your complexion. But other than
that, you probably don't have a religious
hangup on it. Somebody else says, he who is
weak, eats only vegetables. Let not him who let not
him who eats despise him who does not eat. And let him who does
not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him. Who are you to judge
another man's servant? I've always found it
interesting that there seems to be a kind of
worldliness in circles, in Christian circles,
that I would describe as geographic worldliness. So among fundamental Christians
in America, they would say, we don't drink. We don't smoke, right? We don't chew. I don't smoke. I don't chew. I don't go with girls that do. You know, we have our little
set of things that we say. If you do that, that's worldly. Drinking and smoking
would be on the list. And yet we might eat to the
point where it's unhealthy, and we're obese. We don't have a problem with
that, because I'm not eating, or I'm not drinking or smoking. You might break the speed limit. But I'm not drinking or smoking. You might do a lot
of things that are wrong and sinful and worldly. But I'm not drinking
and smoking. DL Moody loved Charles
Haddon Spurgeon. Read his sermons. Always wanted to meet him. I remember reading this
story, and it just-- I loved it. So on one occasion, Moody was
in England, had the chance to visit with Spurgeon. Knocked on the door. And wouldn't you know it? The one who answered the door
was Moody's hero, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, in the flesh. He opened the door. His hero was there. The problem was, Spurgeon had
a big old cigar hanging out of his mouth. He loved cigars. He was a cigar smoker. He found no problem doing that. So, open the door. Good day! Hello! That was really more Australian. And Moody was shocked. He looked back. And he instinctively
pointed at Spurgeon and said, how can you,
as a man of God, do that? And Spurgeon was witty,
and he was quick. He quickly looked at DL Moody,
who was quite rotund, quite large physically-- he's a fat man. And when Moody said, how
can you as a man of God do that, he patted Moody
on the belly and said, the same way you, as a
man of God, can do that. So what you eat
or what you smoke, it might be unhealthy for you. But it doesn't make
you far or near, in terms of your
relationship with God. So you receive one who
is weak in the faith. Why? Because they're in the faith. Now, he goes on. One person esteems
one day above another. Esteems every day alike. Let H be fully convinced
in his own mind. He who observes the day
observes it to the Lord. He who does not observe
the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the
Lord, he gives God thanks. 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. 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. So the debate is,
well, which day is the right day to worship? Which is the real Lord's day? Well, if you're in the Old
Testament, the day to worship is what day? Saturday-- actually, sundown
Friday to sundown Saturday. That's Shabbat. That's the day of rest. That's the day of worship. That's the Lord's day. In the New Testament, there
really isn't such a day. It became a practice
of the early church to meet on Sunday, the
first day of the week, because of what it stood for. So the seventh day of the week
speaks of a finished creation. The first day of the week
speaks of a finished redemption. And because Jesus rose on
the first day of the week, sealing that redemption,
early church members worshipped, met together, on
the first day of the week. But every now and then,
I'll have a Sabbatarian-- that is, somebody who says you
have to worship on Saturday, not Sunday. Get a hold of me and go,
you know, and kind of corner me, and say, you
worship on Sunday. I believe Saturday is
the only day to worship. I say, well, I invite you
to our Saturday service. You're welcome to come. You have a Saturday-- you
have a Sabbath service? Well, we don't call
it a Sabbath service. But it begins at 4 o'clock. And then 6 o'clock,
you can come, 6:30. And if somebody says, well,
I don't believe in worship on Sabbath. I believe on Sunday. Well, let me tell you about the
two services we have on Sunday. Now, I love the way
Paul handles this. He doesn't say, this is
the right day of the week. He just says, let each be
persuaded in his own mind. Figure it out inside here,
your head, your heart. So for me, Sunday is
the day to worship. So is Monday. And, by the way,
so it's Tuesday. And then Wednesday,
obviously, because here we are, then Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday-- every day is a day to worship. And I think it's dangerous
to take one day and say, this is the Lord's day. Because when you only say
this is the Lord's day, you are inferring the rest
of the days are yours. And none of us lives
or dies to himself. We're his. He bought all of us. All of our time belongs to him. So I'm persuaded in my mind that
every day is exactly the same before the Lord, that
we should worship him every day of the week. So the Sabbath didn't
change in the early church. They met on Sunday, the
first day of the week, because it spoke of a
finished redemption. For none of us lives to himself. No one, none of us dies himself. Verse 9, for to this end, Christ
died and rose and lived again, that he might be the Lord of
both the dead and the living. But why do you
judge your brother, or why do you show
contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ-- the word bema seat,
the raised platform often used in the Olympics to
give rewards to the runners. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9, said,
don't you know that all of us who-- all those who run in
a race all run, but only one receives the prize. So run that you might obtain it. So we will be
judged before Christ and given rewards in the kingdom
based upon our faithfulness to what God has
called us to do now. We're saved by grace. You go to heaven
not by your works, but by his finished work, right? We know that. But your position
in the kingdom is determined by your
faithfulness to what God has called you to do. Two different issues
completely, bema seat of Christ. For 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
an account of himself to God. He's quoting Isaiah 45 to
show the universality of God's sovereign jurisdiction, and
to use the verse to say this. You're going to give an
account one day for yourself-- not for anybody else,
not for your husband, not for your wife, not
for your adult children, not for your neighbor, not for
the Christian down the street that you need to straighten out. You won't give an
account for them. You will give an account
only for yourself. And you'll give it to
God, not to a committee, not to your neighbor, or not to
anybody else, but only to God. That's the point of this. That's the thrust of it. Each of us shall give an
account of himself to God. therefore let us not judge
one another any more, but rather resolve this,
not to put a stumbling block or to cause to fall
in our brother's way. Certain things we
have the freedom to do might actually be an impediment
if others see us do them. Now, when it comes
to diets and days, let each be persuaded
in their own mind. But there is a caveat. There is a consideration that
might change our involvement in certain things. And to understand
what that caveat is and that little condition, we'll
have to wait for next week. Because we are out of time. We're at that time. So I'm going to let
it hang right there, and we'll finish chapter 14 and
get into chapter 15 next time. Father, thank you that we
have free from the law, the law of Moses, as well
as the law of sin and death. Thank you that our
names are written in the lamb's book of life. Thank you that we are not
more righteous because of a diet we keep, or of a
day upon which we worship. For Christ, as
Paul wrote, Christ is the end of the law to
everyone who believes. I pray, Father, that you would
strengthen us and use us. We ask it in Jesus' name, Amen. Let's all stand to our feet. Let's close in a
song of worship. For more resources from Calvary
Church and Skip Heitzig, visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us from
this teaching in our series Expound.
