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Romans 9-16

Applying Righteousness: Towards Others/Selflessness

Josh Combs · Sunday, 23 November 2025 · Romans 14:1-15:13 · 40:41 · 5,807 words

Romans S31 · 14:1-15:13 Goodrich

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

The sermon looks at Romans 14 and Romans 15, where Paul tells believers to welcome one another instead of arguing over personal convictions about diet, drink, or worship days. It explains that while the Bible is clear on some matters, other issues are conscience matters on which Christians may legitimately differ. The speaker urges listeners not to despise or judge each other over these opinions, but to accept one another as Christ has accepted them, and to stop fighting over non‑essential matters.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

eat 54 opinion 28 issue 25 meat 20 welcome 21 vegetables 11 disputable 9 conscience 15 abstain 10 sunday 18 friday 9 drink 12

Topics

Conscience 4 Faith 3 Freedom 2 Atonement & Sacrifice 2 Salvation 1 Hope 1 Sin 1 Judgment 1 Unity 1 Love 1 The Gospel 1 The Weaker Brother 1

Scripture referenced 56

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 14 0:35 Romans 14 0:53 Romans 14 1:03 Romans 14 1:15 Romans 15 1:15 Romans 14 1:22 Romans 12 1:25 Romans 14:1 3:36 Romans 14:2 4:12 Romans 14:5 5:12 Romans 14:5 5:39 Romans 14:21 5:55 Romans 14:2 7:34 Romans 14 8:03 1 Corinthians 5 8:16 1 Corinthians 5:9 8:19 1 Corinthians 5:5 8:47 1 Corinthians 5 8:51 1 Corinthians 5:9 8:51 Romans 14:11 9:34 Romans 14:12 10:18 Romans 14 10:38 Romans 14 10:40 Romans 14 10:43 Romans 14:3 11:24 Romans 14:3 12:12 Romans 14:3 12:48 Romans 14:1 13:37 Romans 14:4 13:44 Romans 14:4 13:59 Hebrews 10:25 14:50 Romans 14:5 15:11 Romans 14:6 19:27 Romans 14:10 20:59 Romans 14:13 22:11 Romans 14:13 22:38 Romans 14:13 24:10 Romans 14:14 24:34 Romans 14:15 25:12 Romans 14 25:32 Romans 12 25:41 Romans 14:9 25:42 Romans 14:15 26:07 1 Corinthians 10 26:28 Romans 10 28:00 Romans 8 28:06 1 Corinthians 10:23 28:18 Romans 14 31:05 Romans 14:17 31:09 Romans 14:20 32:30 Romans 14:20 33:52 Romans 15 34:50 Romans 14 34:57 Romans 15:6 36:41 Romans 15:7 37:11 Romans 15:7 37:17

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:35. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

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This morning to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 14.

If you don't have a Bible, I want to encourage you to share it with someone sitting next to you.

Or you can take out your phone, you can download a Bible app or the River Church app.

There's a Bible feature on there.

Romans chapter 14, if you're a guest, I want to welcome you.

Honored to have you here with us.

Thanks for being part of our gathering today.

If you're watching online, I certainly want to say hello to you as well.

Romans chapter 14, we're going to jump right into verse number 1.

In just a moment.

But I want to encourage you as much as I possibly, possibly can to be following along in the Bible for yourself.

We're going to be looking at all of chapter 14 and then some into chapter 15 today.

Romans chapter 14, verse number 1.

Paul says,

Paul, back in chapter 12, has begun to articulate, explain what a...

transformed Christian mind looks like.

Obviously, I can't tell what your actual brain looks like,

but I can tell what you're thinking because of actions that you live out in your life.

Paul's saying a transformed mind, this is how it is going to be lived out.

Someone who has truly been transformed, changed by Jesus is going to be living in this specific way.

He says you're going to be welcoming.

Now, this idea of welcoming...

is more than just a handshake and a hello, though that's a good thing.

One writer says this idea of welcoming means to receive one,

to receive into one's home or circle of acquaintances.

It literally means to take alongside oneself.

So the Christian is not looking to debate or quarrel over opinions, as we'll talk about in a moment,

but is looking at those who are newer in the faith or are struggling with their faith,

who are shaken maybe by circumstances or background or something that's happened in their life,

is coming into the family of God and feeling welcomed.

Welcomed with friendship, care, time.

Someone who's willing to listen, pray together, to truly love them.

And that image of take alongside oneself is to come alongside them and, as is often said,

to do life together.

To walk alongside them.

And there's a lot that happens in life.

There are good things, there are bad things that happen in life.

But when you've been welcomed into someone's life,

you're there for the good, you're there for the bad as well.

Paul says, back to verse 1,

As for one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

I love the way the NIV translates this.

It says,

Accept him who is weak without passing judgment on disputes.

Disputable matters.

The New King James says,

Receive one who is weak in faith, but not to dispute over doubtful things.

Doubtful things.

Well, what are those doubtful things?

Those disputable matters.

Look at verse 2.

Paul says,

One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.

Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains,

and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on him.

The one who eats for God has, here's this word again,

Paul says these disputable matters, these doubtful things,

these negotiables, these opinions in Rome,

where he's writing this letter, centered around a few different things.

Well, first of all, it's centered around dietary issues.

There were people who believed in the church that to honor God,

to be a good Christian, you had to only eat vegetables.

You had to stay.

You had to stay away from all meat.

Then there were groups inside the church who were like,

listen, God doesn't care what you eat.

There were the other issues inside the church.

Look at verse number 5.

So Romans 14, 5.

Here's the other issue.

One person esteems one day as better than another,

while another esteems or values, as that word esteem, all days alike.

So it had to do with diet issues and not diet for health issues

It had to do with fast, but having to do with I'm not going to eat vegetables

and that's going to please God.

Other people in verse 5, they felt like a certain day of the week

or a certain day of the year was more sacred to God

and you needed to do things on that day of the week

or not do things on that day of the week

and that was going to please God.

Look over at verse number 21.

So Romans 14, verse 21.

The third issue, it is good not to eat meat or drink wine

or do anything.

That causes your brother to stumble.

So three issues that seem to be negotiables,

that seem to be disputable matters or doubtful things or opinions.

They were about days of the week.

They were about whether you should eat meat or not

or strictly vegetables or whether you should drink alcohol, wine or not.

That was the issues in Rome.

Now, when I was growing up, we had some of those opinions

or those negotiable issues.

When I was real young, I would hear sermons against going to the movies.

Like if you go to the movie theater, you're a bad Christian

or if you play cards, you're a bad Christian

or if you like to dance, you're a bad Christian

and if you had tattoos, you were certainly going to hell.

I mean, that was just a foregone conclusion, right?

And so churches would have these things.

They would have these opinions, these negotiable issues.

Now, I actually titled this sermon, Church Fight

because these are often the things that churches, Christians love to battle over.

Love to battle over these, and I love the way the NIV translates,

disputable matters.

These issues where we're allowed to have a differing opinion.

In Rome, there were Christians that said,

I only am going to eat vegetables.

I think that honors God.

Well, notice what verse 2 says.

One person believes he may eat anything,

while the weak person believes he only can eat vegetables.

So Paul says, listen, it's a weak faith

that says you can only eat vegetables,

but you don't need to dispute about that.

You don't need to argue about that.

You don't need to demean each other or insult each other.

You need to welcome each other,

even though you have different opinions about those things.

Now, I think it's important to understand

what this passage of Scripture, Romans 14, is saying

and also what it is not saying.

So hold your spot in Romans and go just one book to,

the right, to the book of 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 5.

1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 9.

There are some things in the Bible

that we are okay to agree to disagree about.

And then there are other things in the Bible

that we cannot agree to disagree about.

The Bible says some very clear things.

Well, in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 5,

excuse me, chapter 5, verse 9,

Paul had to deal with a very clear violation

of sexual immorality,

in the church.

So Paul says,

I wrote to you in my letter

not to associate with sexually immoral people.

Not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world.

So non-Christians.

He says,

or the greedy or the swindlers or the idolaters.

Since then, you would need to go out of the world.

So to never have any interaction with anyone who's greedy

or a swindler or idolater or sexually immoral,

that's an impossible thing.

You'd have to leave planet Earth to be able to accomplish that.

Paul's saying,

I didn't say that.

He said,

So now he's going to clarify.

But now I'm writing to you

not to associate with anyone

who bears the name of brother

if he's guilty of sexual immorality or greed

or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, swindler,

not even to eat with such a one.

Paul's saying,

there's a clear command

that these supposed professing Christians

are in violation of.

Those are the people I want you to call out.

Those are the people I want you to say,

you're living like this

and you're claiming to be,

those don't go together.

Paul's saying,

those are the people that I want you to have

difficult conversations with

because they are in violation

of a clear biblical command.

Paul says,

for what have I to do with judging outsiders?

Is it not those inside the church

whom you are to judge?

Now keep in mind,

what's he saying?

He's talking about

these are professing Christians

who are in clear disobedience

to a clear Bible command.

Now let's go,

let's go back to Romans 14

because that is not

what Romans 14 is talking about.

Romans 14 is talking about

what we'll call an issue of conscience,

a personal conviction,

meaning it's to you.

This is something that

you have a conviction about.

You have a principle about.

You have an issue of conscience of.

And it might have to do

with the day of the week.

It might have to do

with drinking alcohol.

It might have to do

with eating meat or not.

Not eating meat.

Maybe you grew up Catholic

and you're like,

hey, on Fridays I eat fish.

I don't eat meat.

It's a tradition that you grew up with.

What's the Bible say about those things?

let not the one who eats

despise the one who abstains.

So just take a pretty common

traditional Catholic practice.

Don't eat meat on Friday

because that's the day

that Jesus sacrificed his life.

So we're going to eat fish.

I didn't grow up like that at all.

I didn't understand

why there were so many fish fries

I didn't eat fish on Fridays

at every restaurant

until I was in like my 30s.

And I go, oh, OK, that's that's why.

Apparently I didn't.

I just thought people like fish

on Fridays or something, right?

So you take that.

You have one person who says,

I'm going to have a steak on Friday.

And one person says,

I'm going to eat fish only on Friday

or eat vegetables on Friday.

What the Bible is saying

is you're allowed to have

those different opinions.

There's no need to quarrel over them.

But then it comes

to a relational aspect.

Verse three, let not the one

who eats whatever they want

despise the one

meaning look down on you and go,

oh, man, you're such a weirdo.

There's no point to that.

Well, why are you still doing that?

That's ridiculous.

There's there's not this

aggressive posture

or wording to each other

or this argumentative nature.

It's, hey, you're allowed

to have that opinion.

I'm allowed to have my opinion

about these things

because these aren't clear,

you know, locked in black and white

Bible verse chapter

verse type commands

from the scripture.

These are opinions

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.

What did the scripture saying?

We don't look at what other people do

when it comes to matters of opinion

and go, wow, I'm a better Christian

than they are

because I don't do that.

Did you did you see

what they were doing?

Did you see they were drinking

at their table?

My gosh, they must hate Jesus.

On the flip side,

it's the person

walking around saying,

I don't do those things.

Therefore, I am a better

Christian than you.

The Bible saying

we don't despise each other

when it comes to matters of opinion.

We do what?

Verse one, we welcome each other

because God has welcomed us.

Look at verse four.

Who are you to pass judgment

on the servant of another?

These are about opinions,

negotiable issues.

Again, the NIV disputable

It is before verse four.

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.

So we're allowed

to have different opinions.

One person esteems

one day is better than another,

while another esteems

all days alike.

Each one should be fully convinced

in his own mind.

Again, when I was growing up Sundays,

I would hear lessons

I would hear sermons

criticizing people

who worked on Sunday

as if the Bible says,

hey, by the way,

on Sunday don't work.

Now here's some truth.

Hebrews 10, 25 says

not forsaking the assembling

together of ourselves.

So be part of the church,

be gathering together

with the church.

The church primarily meets on Sunday.

It's not the only day of the week

the church gathers together,

but that's a day that the church

primarily meets together

to celebrate the resurrection.

But do we have to meet on Sundays?

Well, some, verse five,

esteem value Sunday

as better than another day,

while somebody else says

all days are alike.

So if I were to announce today,

we're going to start meeting

on Saturdays only

or Tuesdays only,

some of you would be like,

we got to meet on Sunday.

Well, why?

Because it's Sunday.

And if we're super spiritual,

we meet at 11 on Sunday only.

It's in the Bible somewhere, right?

We just, it's a tradition.

We have, it might be so a conviction,

an issue of conscience.

I like meeting on Sunday,

but we don't see that

that's mandated in the Bible.

It's a matter of opinion.

Now, if you have to work on a Sunday,

it's okay to work on Sunday.

But if you're working out of greed,

then that's a problem.

And if you're working to avoid

gathering with the church,

then that's a problem.

But just know that if you have to go

to work on Sunday, sometimes it's okay.

Here's the secret.

Every pastor works on Sunday.

So the people preaching,

against it are breaking the rule.

I always thought that was funny.

I'm like, isn't this like your half day

that you work a week?

You know, like, so it's okay to work on Sunday.

It's not okay to avoid gathering with the church.

And it's certainly not okay to be greedy.

But there are some people that say,

hey, we should definitely only meet on Sunday.

But there are other people that say

it's okay to meet on Monday or Tuesday or Friday.

Each person, this is the key.

I think this is the kind of the thesis

of this whole passage.

Each one should be fully convinced

in his own mind.

Now, what do we like to do

when we're convinced of something

in our own mind?

We love to argue about it.

We like to conform other people

to our opinion.

And we get annoyed when they don't.

Because we're fully convinced in our mind

about an opinion, about a negotiable,

about a disputable matter.

And then we want to dispute about it.

How could you have any other opinion?

My goodness, have you read the Bible?

And these are the issues that Christians

go to war over.

Things like dress code.

Things like hats in church.

I know some of you are wearing hats right now.

Some of you are not.

I want to speak to the holy non-hat wearers right now.

When I was growing up, if you wore a hat

during a gathering, you were basically saying,

I'm done with this Christianity thing.

It's like a first step of rebellion against God.

Guess what?

God doesn't give a rip if you have a hat on or not.

I mean, think about this.

Think about how chaotic the church has become.

Pastors wearing hats.

People wearing jeans and untucked shirts while preaching.

It's the end of the world.

Or standing behind a high-top table

and not a huge, ornate, 50-year-old pulpit.

And clearly, someone can't preach well

if they're not standing behind an enormous oak podium.

But we have all these weird things.

And it's okay to have a conviction in your mind.

It's not okay to argue about it constantly

and try to force someone else to preach.

It's not okay for anyone else to bow to your...

Just be convinced in your own mind and keep it there.

Look at verse 6.

Here's why.

The one who observes the day,

observes it 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 the Lord.

For no one lives to himself.

No one dies to himself.

For if we live, we live to the Lord.

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 we might,

that, excuse me,

that he might be Lord both of the dead

and of the living.

So Jesus is Lord.

And the gospel confirms that he is Lord

and that he went to the cross.

He died.

He was buried.

He rose from the dead.

And he, when we come to him in faith,

is our Lord and master.

So we answer to him

when we choose to abstain from something

out of a conviction.

We do it not as an ego,

we do it to honor the Lord.

When we say,

I don't need to abstain from that.

I'm going to partake of that.

We partake of it,

not as an ego trip,

not as a pride thing,

not as a flashy thing,

but to say,

I'm able to partake in honor of the Lord.

Both the motives are to honor the Lord

and to give thanks for what he has given to us.

All locked in on the gospel.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother?

Or you,

why do you despise,

despise your brother?

This is the conflict in the church.

I'm a better Christian because I don't.

And you're a legalist

or you're a weirdo

or you're too religious

because you don't or you do.

It's this bickering,

this back and forth.

Paul says,

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,

every tongue shall confess to God.

So then each of us will give an account

of himself to God.

Again,

we're dealing with opinions,

disputable matters.

We do have a responsibility in the church

to go to each other,

to care for each other,

in some ways to judge each other

when we see open rebellion against God.

But when it is a debatable issue,

be okay with someone else having a different opinion.

It's all right.

It's okay.

So instead of judging,

verse 13 tells us what we ought to do.

let us not pass judgment on one another any longer.

There seems,

to be a lot of judgment

in the Corinthian,

in the church in Rome.

And I think a lot of people today

would acknowledge

and characterize the church as very judgy.

Well,

we're often very judgy

on those negotiable things.

So don't judge

on those matters of opinion,

decide never to put a stumbling block

in the way of a brother.

So we care for each other

so much so

that even though we have liberty

or license to do something,

we won't do it

because we know it bothers you.

I think alcohol is probably

the most prime example in our culture.

Some Christians say

a Christian should not drink.

That's the way that I was raised and grew up.

Some of you were raised and grew up like that.

Some of you may even have that conviction today.

There are others that go,

Jesus turned water into wine.

What's the problem?

So there are these two different opinions,

these two different convictions.

I look at my family background

and I,

I know there are

many people in my family,

some of my friends

who have a conviction,

an issue of conscience

against alcohol

because of alcoholism

in our family,

in our past.

So it would be rude

for another Christian

to show up to Thanksgiving

with alcohol, right?

Is it sinful to drink?

No.

Is it unloving?

Is it going to potentially

put a stumbling block,

in the way of a brother?

So there is a freedom

that we have as believers,

but there is an awareness

of fellow Christians,

of brothers and sisters,

or of convictions,

or of matters of conscience

that they may have.

We think about those things.

We don't just flaunt our license

or our liberty.

Paul says,

I know and am persuaded

in the Lord Jesus

that nothing is unclean in itself,

but it is unclean

for anyone who thinks,

it is unclean.

Paul says,

nothing's unclean.

You want to eat meat?

You want to eat vegetables?

You want to eat pork?

You want to eat vegetables

or shrimp or shellfish?

Go for that.

You want to drink alcohol?

You don't want to drink alcohol?

Paul's saying,

none of it is unclean.

I know that because of the Lord Jesus,

but, verse 15,

if your brother is grieved,

if your brother's grieved,

there's a sensitivity to,

there's sensitivity.

If your brother is grieved

by what you eat

or what you drink

or day or whatever it might be,

you are no longer walking in love.

That's why back in chapter 14,

in verse number 8,

Paul says,

we don't owe anyone anything

except to love one another.

Back in chapter 12,

in verse 9,

let love be genuine.

This is how love is genuine.

It's to have a liberty

that God has given to us,

but not to use that liberty

to steamroll someone else's opinion.

It's to be sensitive

to their conviction

and to love them,

to care for them,

to realize that what we're doing

may grieve them

so we don't do it.

by what you eat,

do not destroy the one

for whom Christ died.

Don't hurt them.

Yeah, you have a liberty to eat that,

but don't destroy them.

Hold your spot in Romans

and go to the right,

back to 1 Corinthians,

but this time go to 1 Corinthians 10.

Now, the issue in Corinth

was a little bit different.

It seems like the issue in Rome.

They certainly were connected.

The issue in Corinth

was about eating meat

that had been offered to idols.

So here's kind of a rough,

very quick summary

of how that worked.

you had massive amounts

of pagan idol worship,

and those often would have

a holiday or a festival

where they would gather together

at the pagan temple.

They would sacrifice an animal

to that false god or goddess.

They would partake

of some of the meat

and then the meat that was there

that wasn't eaten

or there was another sacrifice,

would then be taken

to the market the next day

and sold.

A Christian would come

and be like,

hey, I'm hosting a barbecue

at my house.

Would see this meat

and buy this meat.

Other Christians were like,

what are you doing?

You can't eat that meat.

That was part of the temple sacrifice

to the false god or goddess yesterday.

This is a crisis.

So Paul has to address this.

Chapter 10 in verse 23,

but before we go,

he starts the conversation

back in chapter 8.

He says,

now concerning food offered to idols.

So this is the conversation.

Here's the conclusion.

1 Corinthians 10 verse 23.

All things are lawful,

but not all things are helpful.

All things are lawful,

but not all things build up.

Let no one seek his own good,

but the good of his neighbor.

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market

without raising any question

on the ground of conscience.

For the earth is the Lord's

and the fullness thereof.

Every animal ever created,

made belongs to the Lord.

So fine, you can eat the meat,

but there's some nuance here.

If one of the unbelievers

invites you to dinner

and you are disposed to go,

eat whatever is set before you

without raising any question

on the ground of conscience.

If you have a highlighter

or you're taking notes,

look back at verse 27.

Notice the word unbelievers.

These are non-Christians.

They invite you to dinner

and you are not.

You are disposed to go.

You're there.

You're at the dinner table with them.

Eat whatever is set before you

without raising any question

on the ground of conscience.

Don't be like,

this right here.

Was this sacrifice to idols?

I'm sorry.

I can't partake of that.

Paul's saying,

you don't need to do that.

if that unbeliever,

says to you,

this has been offered in sacrifice,

then do not eat it

for the sake of the one

who informed you

and for the sake of conscience.

Paul says,

I do not mean your conscience,

but his.

For why should my liberty

by someone else's conscience?

If I partake with thankfulness,

why am I denounced

because of that

for which I give thanks?

He's saying,

you're at this meal

They say,

this is going to be fantastic,

this meat.

We offered this to our God last night

and this is our portion

that we brought home.

Paul says,

don't eat.

And the reason being is

because they'll confuse you

being willing to participate

with their false idol worship.

So you can't eat of that.

But guess what?

If you go to the meat market,

just buy the meat,

cook it,

eat it.

It doesn't matter.

It's all the Lord's anyways.

is the other person,

is the gospel witness.

so whether you eat

whatever you do,

do all to the glory of God.

Give no offense to the Jews

or to the Greeks

or to the church of God.

Just as I try to please everyone

in everything I do,

not seeking my own advantage,

but that of many,

that they may be saved.

Be imitators of me

as I am of Christ.

Now let's go back to Romans 14,

Paul says,

for the kingdom of God

is not a matter of eating and drinking.

What the kingdom of God is about

is righteousness,

and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Whoever thus serves Christ

is acceptable to God

and approved by men.

So then let us pursue

what makes for peace

and for mutual upbuilding.

What's the paradigm

that he lays out here?

And we're going to continue on this.

Weak and strong.

The strong are like,

we can eat whatever we want.

God doesn't care.

The weak say,

we should only eat vegetables.

Paul says to both of these groups,

you don't need to fight about this.

You don't need to fight about this.

God's going to work in your hearts.

You're allowed to have

these differing convictions.

God accepts you.

God approves of you.

God welcomes you.

relationally for each of you,

and how to build up one another.

Encourage one another.

Don't,

for the sake of food,

destroy the work of God.

And I would say

particularly in America,

has become very effective

because we want to go to war

over stupid stuff.

Stuff that God says,

hey, that's okay.

If you want to wear a suit on Sunday,

wear a suit, that's okay.

who don't want to wear a suit,

that's okay for them

not to wear a suit.

You want to sit in pews on Sunday,

that's awesome.

They want to sit in chairs,

There's nothing wrong with that.

They want to have softer music.

You want to have louder music.

God doesn't care.

He's looking at the heart.

He's looking at the motive.

But the church in America

wants to fight to the death

over these things

and convince someone

that they're too traditional

or they're too modern

or they're compromisers

or they're old

or they're this or that.

They're not.

And this is what I'm saying.

God's okay with those.

If the motive is to honor Jesus,

we don't need to try

to convince someone else.

We don't need to say to old people,

hey, you need to like the band.

I'll just tell you this.

They're never going to like the band

because they grew up

singing out of a hymn book.

And there's nothing wrong

with singing out of a hymn book.

do not for the sake of food

or these other opinion things

destroy the work of God.

Everything is indeed clean,

but it is wrong.

For anyone to make another stumble

by what he eats,

it is good not to eat meat

that causes your brother to stumble.

The faith that you have

keep between yourself

and God blessed is the one

who has no reason

to pass judgment on himself

for what he approves.

But whoever has doubts

is condemned if he eats

because the eating is not from faith

for for whatever

does not proceed from faith is sin.

If you have an issue

of conscience about this,

I'm saying don't eat

because it does become sin for you.

The chapter 15,

we who are strong

have an obligation,

as he would say back in chapter 14,

an obligation to bear

with the failings of the week

and not to please ourselves.

So many Christians want to fight

about their rights.

Bible gives me this liberty.

Yes, you have liberty in Christ.

I love Galatians says for freedom.

Christ has set you free,

but we are not

to use our rights

to please ourselves.

First to let each of us

please his neighbor

for his good to build him up.

That's why Paul prior to this says,

love your neighbor as yourself.

Well, who's our neighbor?

We talked about this.

We're looking for ways to honor,

to please, to not grieve our neighbor,

to build each other up.

And here's why for Christ,

for Christ did not please himself.

But as it is written,

the reproaches of those

who reproached,

you fell on me

for whatever was written

was written for our instruction

that through endurance

and through the encouragement

of the scriptures,

we might have hope.

May the God of endurance

and encouragement

grant you to live

in such harmony

with one another

in accord with Christ Jesus.

What brings us together

must not be our opinions

about debatable,

disputable things.

What brings us together

must be Christ Jesus.

And when we gather together,

that together you may

with one voice glorify God

and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So what do we do?

We gather together.

We're not here to debate.

We're not here to steamroll.

We're not here to force you

to have this issue of conscience

that this person has.

We're here to say,

man, Jesus has brought us together

and together with one voice,

literally as we sing

in a few moments,

we're going to bring glory

to the father

by glorifying the son.

And verse seven,

we're going to welcome one another

because Jesus has welcomed us.

Verse seven, I love.

Therefore, welcome one another

as Christ has welcomed you,

as Christ has come alongside of you,

as Christ has taken us

alongside himself

for the glory of God.

So how we behave

is always rooted in the gospel,

is always rooted in the gospel.

It's rooted in who Jesus is

and what Jesus has done for us.

That Jesus died on the cross

and that Jesus was buried

and Jesus rose from the dead

and that Jesus has offered

to each of us

the forgiveness of our sins

and the hope of eternal life.

It's all about him.

It's all about our behavior

coming back to that.

It's okay to have those issues of conscience,

but we don't need to force those

on somebody else.

And if we don't have an issue of conscience,

it's not honoring to Jesus

to try to chip away

at somebody else's opinion.

What's the point of that?

Just honor each other.

Care for each other.

Welcome each other.

Because that's what Jesus has done.

We had a,

my wife and I,

after the nine o'clock,

had a lady come up to us afterwards

and one of our great teachers

here at the church

and we were talking about

some different things.

She said,

I love that word welcome.

She's like,

I did a study on it.

It talked about,

it's the pursuit.

It's pursuing someone.

Man, that's what Jesus has done for us.

Jesus pursues us.

There's a passage of scripture

that the Lord brought to my mind.

I haven't really thought about it

or used it in a long time.

There's a passage in Revelation,

this idea of Jesus pursuing us,

not just welcoming us when we show up,

but him coming to us.

Jesus says,

behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice

and opens the door,

I will come into him

and eat with him

and he with me.

So Jesus pursues us.

Hope that you're encouraged by that.

I hope that if you're sitting here

and you know the Lord,

you're encouraged by the fact

that Jesus pursued you.

And maybe right now,

you are sensing the Lord pursuing you,

standing at the door of your heart,

knocking, saying,

I want to, please let me in.

I want to fellowship with you.

Bible says that if you will confess with your mouth,

and believe in your heart

that God raised Jesus from the dead,

you'll be saved.

And that salvation,

that being born again is fellowship with God.

It's a restoration with your heavenly father.

It's forgiveness of your sins.

It's the gift,

of eternal life.