December 17, 2023
Evening Service

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

Rom 14:1  Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.

Rom 14:2  For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

Rom 14:3  Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.

Church has people from Jewish and Gentiles and they have customs that vary extremely.

 

Rom 14:4  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.

Rom 14:5  One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

Rom 14:6  He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.

Rom 14:7  For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.

Rom 14:8  For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

Rom 14:9  For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Rom 14:10  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.

Rom 14:11  For it is written: "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD."

Rom 14:12  So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

Rom 14:13  Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.

Rom 14:14  I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Rom 14:15  Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

Rom 14:16  Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;

Rom 14:17  for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Rom 14:18  For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

Rom 14:19  Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

 

Rom 14:20  Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.

Rom 14:21  It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

 

Example: you don’t invite a brother who is weak in the faith about unclean pork over for supper and serve pork chops.

Rom 14:22  Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

Rom 14:23  But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

 

Rom 10:17  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Let No One Disqualify You

Col 2:16  So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

Col 2:17  which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

The Truth Will Set You Free

Jhn 8:31  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

Jhn 8:32  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

In summary: there is a true teaching on everything and it is found in the Word of God, and as believers it is our responsibility to find it.

It is also our responsibility to realize that we are at different levels of faith, and to be patient while the Holy Spirit brings us all into the fullness of Christ.