In Jason Dohm's sermon on Romans 14, he emphasizes the importance of living 'to the Lord' in all aspects of life, whether in eating, observing days, or differing in doctrinal understanding. The sermon highlights Paul's guidance on how believers should interact when they hold different views, particularly in non-essential matters like dietary laws and the observance of sacred days. Dohm reflects on the nature of being 'weak in the faith,' which Paul uses to describe those who may have a less mature understanding of certain aspects of Christianity, but who may still trust Jesus deeply. He underscores the need for believers to be fully convinced in their own minds, rooted in biblical truth, while living out their convictions with a heart of thanksgiving to God. The sermon calls for grace-filled sensitivity toward others, avoiding judgment and contempt, and emphasizes that all believers will ultimately give an account to God. Dohm also addresses the distinction between legalism and liberty, advocating for careful obedience to God's commands as an expression of faith. Ultimately, the sermon calls for believers to help each other on the journey to heaven, not hinder, and to continually seek a deeper understanding of God's word.

Good morning. Our sermon text is Romans 14, starting in verse 5, for context, so I'd like to go back to chapter 12. I'll only go back to the beginning of this chapter. Please follow along as I read Romans 14. Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to dispute over doubtful things.

For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 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. 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. One person esteems one day above another, another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 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 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. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to Himself. 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. For to this end, Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be 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's deed of Christ.

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 shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this not to put a stumbling block or cause to fall in our brother's way. That's great. Oh Father, open our ears, soften our hearts, and prepare us for the message that you have for us through your servant Jason.

Speak clearly through him and let us be blessed and affected by your holy word. We ask this in Jesus name, amen. The title of the sermon this morning is a phrase that's lifted right out of the text. It occurs six times in these seven verses. And I think I can't count.

It's more than seven verses, isn't it? It occurs six times in our text. To the Lord. Whole point of the text is we belong to him. All of our lives should be unto the Lord.

And so really, Paul gets at that central theme in different ways here. We live to the Lord. Last week James began us in an extended section. It's all of chapter fourteen, it's half of chapter fifteen, and all really on this one topic. And it's instruction on how believers should relate to each other when we have different understandings on different points.

So is there one point of doctrine or are there almost uncountable points of doctrine? They almost can't count them. How many points of doctrine are there? I don't know the number. Do we all think the same about all of them?

No, even people who have tremendous amounts of commonality see certain points differently than the other. Well then what should we do? And maybe more importantly, what should we be careful not to do? Well Paul actually takes us into that territory. He tells us what we should do when we understand things differently than a brother or sister understands them and What we should be really careful not to do so this is just a very helpful instruction to us some favorite quotes from last week I'll give you six number one when James defined weak in the faith, what does weak in the faith mean?

Jesus actually uses weak in the faith, your faith is weak, but he uses it in a different way. He means you don't trust me like you ought to trust me. Paul is actually using it in a different way here, and James defined it in a really helpful way by saying weak in their understanding and application of the Christian faith. So these are people who could be tremendously strong in trusting in Jesus. They're not weak in faith in that sense.

They could be tremendously strong in trusting in Jesus. They're not weak in faith in that sense. They could be tremendously strong in trusting in Jesus. In fact, they could trust Jesus a lot more than you, but have an understanding that's not as mature as you. So you actually there's there is a sliding scale here.

But that that is exactly I think the right way to define this. Weak in their understanding and application of the Christian faith. They don't understand a truth correctly yet. Two, believers should treat each other with quote, grace filled sensitivity. I think you were quoting Rob Ventura there.

But when you quote a genius, you get to be a secondary genius for having quoted them. So congratulations. You are a secondary genius How should we treat each other with grace filled? Sensitivity we should really be sensitive to one another and it just because there's grace in our heart towards one another should be a manifestation of grace in our heart to each other. Three, on legalism and liberty, James said, being conformed to Christ is never legalism.

Amen to that. However you define legalism, it can't be careful obedience to God's commands, to God's ways. Because No one ever obeyed God from the heart like Jesus did. So if our mission then is to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, then that's always good. Careful obedience to God's will as expressed in his revelation always has to be good.

So you have to take that out of any definition of legalism that you have. Being conformed to Christ is never legalism. Four, Christians are our brethren, not our servants. God in Christ makes us children of God, which makes us brothers and sisters. I'm not your servant.

You're not my servant. We're brothers and sisters, and it's always so helpful just to keep that in view. Five, all of us are weak in the faith somewhere. It's not really right to say I'm weak in the faith or I'm strong in the faith some some points of doctrine I have a mature Correct understanding in and some I don't and I don't know which ones I don't I think I'm right about everything. Don't you That's sort of the nature of all of this is I think I'm right about everything and you think you're right about everything This is why we're uncharitable towards each other because you're an idiot and can't see everything that I see This is what Paul is addressing here.

All of us are weak in the faith somewhere. You can't walk around saying, well, he's talking about weak in the faith and strong in the faith. And when he talks about those who are strong in the faith, he's talking about me. Maybe on some points he is, and maybe on other points you're actually weak in the faith. That's definitely true.

Number six. And this is this is the most important thing I think that you said last week, among a lot of important things. Don't be strong in the faith, but weak in love. So is it good to have a mature correct understanding of a point of doctrine? Of course it's good.

It beats the alternative. Being immature, and having a wrong view, not really understanding the truth, it beats that as the alternative. But how would you like to be that? Write about everything, but you have no love. Actually, Paul addresses that in 1 Corinthians 13.

You know it all, but you don't have love. What does that make you? It makes you nothing. Makes you nothing. So I've heard it explained this way too.

Fat headed, skinny hearted. You wanna walk around the rest of your life being a fat head, having the right understanding on points of doctrine, but you have this shriveled up little heart, oh God save us from that. Let's pray as we come to our text. Gotta do thank you for the all that was the groundwork that was laid in verses 1 through 4. In some ways we could just camp on that and think again on those.

But I thank you for the continued development of this through all of chapter 14 through half of chapter 15 And I thought I pray that you would come and be among us. Please Be among us let your spirit move freely and help us to understand these things even more than that, to live these things. Oh, give us that grace in Jesus' name, amen. All right, let's subdivide. I wanna begin by breaking off verses five and six, reread them, and then talk about them.

So hopefully you're still in Romans chapter 14. Follow along as I reread five and six. Paul writes, one person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

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 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.

In these two verses Paul is speaking of living to the Lord with a clear conscience. So if you're taking notes by filling in the blank, conscience fills in the blank. Living to the Lord with a clear conscience. I think it would have been less helpful if Paul had kept this exclusively in the abstract. What I mean by that, I mean if he had just taught the principle and then kept moving.

But that's actually, he didn't just teach the principle, he actually gives us case studies. And this is really so helpful because he actually takes you to a point where it has to be applied and he applies it. So he's not just leaving us guessing about the principle. He says, well think about this. In last week's text the case study was what we eat.

So case study number one, what we eat. The week Only eat vegetables because you have these other dynamics that has left them wondering whether we should eat meat or not eat meat or even maybe feeling that we shouldn't. So they either aren't sure or they feel that we shouldn't. And so they don't have a mature correct understanding of what God actually teaches us. And by the way, give them a break.

They don't have a New Testament fully formed New Testament like you do. So we can give them a break for sure on that. But they don't have the mature understanding of this, and so because they wonder or because they don't think they should, they don't eat meat, and they're the weak at this one point of doctrine. But the strong understand it right. They have a mature understanding of how God sees these things.

And so they know they can eat all things. This week, the case study becomes our view of sacred days, our view of religious days. One believer sets a higher value on certain days, and another believer sets the same value on each and every day. When you read Romans, there are certain sections that you read the section and you say, there must be Jews in this church. Paul would never say what he's saying and say it the way that he's saying unless he's getting at the Jews, he's getting to the Jews with what he's teaching.

There are other sections that you read the section and you say, there must be Gentiles in this church. Paul would never say what he's saying and say it the way that he's saying it unless he was trying to get to the Gentiles, get at the Gentiles with his instructions. And so this must be a mixed church. Does it have Jews in it? Absolutely it does.

Does it have Gentiles in it? Absolutely it does. This is something James said last week that was really helpful. For the Jews, however many, whatever portion they were of the church, for the Jews in this church, they had 1, 500 years of dietary laws that had been given to them by the mouth of God. God gave it direct revelation.

So this wasn't the traditions of the Jews. This was Old Testament law given explicitly by God, and it had been enforced for 1, 500 years. The same can be said of the Jewish religious schedule. Everything that was true about the dietary laws being enforced for 1, 500 years coming directly from God is exactly true of the Jewish religious schedule too. Listen to what Calvin says.

I found this fascinating. Because he actually calls it a religious schedule superstition. How dare you? God gave them that schedule. How dare you, Calvin, call that superstition?

Well, He's actually thinking through the lens of a fully formed New Testament where it's no longer in force. And if it's not in force, but you think you still have to do it, it actually has to become superstition and Calvin calls it that. When I get to superstition, that's what he means by that. The fully formed correct understanding now in the New Covenant is we don't have to follow that religious schedule anymore. Calvin says this, He who was held fast by this superstition dared not violate the solemnity of a particular day.

In other words, they had a day of atonement, they dared not observe the day of atonement, and on and on and on and on. It's a really comprehensive religious schedule. Calvin says this was approved by God. Them continuing to observe religious days that you didn't actually have to observe anymore under the new covenant that was actually approved by God. Being held fast by the superstition was approved by God.

Calvin explain yourself, he will. Okay let me continue. He explains himself. This was approved by God because he dared not do anything with a doubtful conscience. There was a necessity laid on him by the law, and its abrogation, or in other words, its being taken away, was not clearly seen by him.

Nothing then remained, but that he, waiting for a fuller revelation, should keep himself within the limits of his own knowledge and not avail himself of the benefit of liberty before he embraced it by faith. That's it. That's it. Calvin names it here. He's saying that the observance of those religious days that are no longer in force, because they're no longer in force and you don't have to, but holding fast to them is actually a superstitious observance of them, but God approves of it.

Because until you can embrace that by faith, saying, I know in the new covenant I don't have to, Then you're not really free from them and to do it with a doubtful conscience would be wrong And so you have to wait for more revelation Until you can do it without a doubtful conscious conscience by faith You just have to wait for a fuller better understanding of this and in the meantime to keep yourself within the limits of your own knowledge. That's such a helpful way, I think, to phrase this and to think of it. We need to keep ourselves within the limit of our own knowledge until we can embrace by faith a better more mature view of something. At the end of the chapter, the chapter is going to end this way. This is Romans 14 23, but he who doubts is condemned if he eats.

Remember, it's not unlawful to eat. The mature understanding is you can eat, but Paul ends the chapter by saying he who doubts is condemned if he eats. Remember, it's not unlawful to eat. The mature understanding is you can eat. But Paul ends the chapter by saying, he who doubts is condemned if he eats.

He's condemned if he does what's lawful because he does not eat from faith for whatever is not of faith is sin. So there'll be a lot more opportunities. We have two more bites of the apple where the rest of the chapter is broken in two so we'll get to talk about this more in detail but but this is all a helpful way and we want to keep it together. Now, Paul says two critical things, two essential really important things. First, let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

Every believer needs to ground his or her understanding in a careful study of the Word of God so that you are fully convinced in your own mind, in your own understanding, that your understanding is grounded on truth. This is truth. The Word of God is truth. So there's an issue. You're not sure.

You need to go to God's revelation of truth, the scriptures, and study so that you can be fully convinced that your understanding is grounded in a careful study of the Word of God. Now does that guarantee that you're right? Is it possible that two different people could go to the Word of God and study and come to a different conclusion? I mean if you think the answer to that is no, I don't know how to help you. Of course this happens all the time so it doesn't guarantee that we're right but this is required.

God will not have it of his people that we say I'm not sure about this oh well it can't be oh well for us. Truth matters and we need as the people of God to acknowledge that this is the fountain of truth and to settle matters we go there and we keep at it until we're fully convinced in our own minds. We might land fully convinced and not yet have that mature understanding. That might still be in the future of us, but that is required of us, that we go to the fountain of truth and get it settled as best as we can. In Acts 17, the Bereans are commended because quote, they received the Word of God with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

So they were hearing preaching and they weren't even taking the Apostle Paul's word for it. They would go, he preached this, and they would go and they would search the scriptures to see if the things that he were saying were so because they knew this is the revelation of truth from God and everything I think has to be grounded in this because this is truth from God this is what I can trust so I'm not taking that guy's word for it and that guy was the Apostle Paul but I'm not taking his word for it I'm taking the written word of God for it if he says the things that are consistent with the written Word of God, I'm in. If he says things that I can't ground the understanding of those things in the written Word of God, I'm out. And the Bereans are commended for that. As believers, we each need to be fully convinced in our own mind, and that's not just clinging tenaciously to our current opinion, but going to the Word of God to make sure that what we think about things is grounded in Scripture.

So that's the first thing that's essential that he says, let each be fully convinced in his own mind. The second, and the one that the sermon is titled after, is this one phrase that occurs four times just in verse 6, to the Lord. Look again at verse 6. He who observes the day observes it to the Lord. It's done done to the Lord.

And he who does not observe the day to the Lord he does not observe it. So not observing it isn't just abstaining and not doing something it actually is also done to the Lord the not doing of it is done is not done to the Lord that's 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." So through the repetition of this anytime you see something repeated especially within a really short span of Scripture you know oh we ought to be paying attention to that phrase. To the Lord is the thrust here. This is really the centerpiece of the matter.

Paul wanted those who were fully convinced in their own minds that certain days ought to be worshiped to observe them to the Lord. That just means that they would observe that day as an act of heart worship. I'm doing this for a very specific reason to worship God. I'm doing it to the Lord. Paul wanted those who were fully convinced in their own minds that those days simply pointed forward to and taught about Jesus the Messiah to let those days pass without a particular observance, but to do that to the Lord.

In other words, even the non-observance was an act of worship to God, knowing that God had used those things in time past to point forward to and to teach about this Messiah. But now that the Messiah had come, it wasn't necessary to keep those things up so you could actually worship what they pointed forward to and taught about as opposed to observing the days. Same with eating. You ought to eat as an act of worship. God, now all, for 1500 years There were things that we couldn't eat.

Now we can eat all things. God, I worship in my eating. Or I'm convinced that this is still in force, so I'm not going to do it. And there's a very specific reason that I'm not going to do it, as an act of worship from my heart. So the understandings are different.

Actually, the understandings are opposite of one another. I should eat? No, I shouldn't eat. I should observe these days. No, I shouldn't observe these days.

So they're not only different, the understandings are opposite, but the motivations are identical. Different positions, a single motivation. A person aware of being blood bought is living out their best understanding of the will of God to the honor of their Savior. I have a Savior I want to live to His honor. This is my best understanding.

And so I'm going to live it out because I'm not my own. That is what Paul wants from every believer and we can have actually opposite understandings of certain things but still have this singular motivation and live out our best understandings to the honor of our Savior. Paul marks out the living of these convictions with a particular trait. What's that trait? Thankfulness.

So one of the key marks that we're either doing something as an act of worship to the Lord or holding back from doing something as an act of worship to the Lord is thankfulness. I eat, I give thanks, God, thank you that all things are now I can eat all these things or or God I thank you that even though there are some things I really don't think I should be eating I still have all that I can eat and more. Thank you for what I can eat Different and opposite understandings, but but a central motivation to do these things to the Lord, and we express that by our thankfulness to God in it. By the way, it's not a bad way to diagnose whether or not you're doing something to the Lord. You agree with that?

This is A helpful litmus test. A litmus test is something that you can apply the test to find out whether it's this or that. This is a really good way to diagnose whether you're doing something to the Lord. Can I give thanks to God for this? We ought to probably add that to the list of questions that are really helpful that help us understand.

Okay, can I watch this movie with all sorts of things that dishonor the Lord? Can I give thanks to God for that? God, thank you for giving me the opportunity to watch this movie that has all sorts of things that dishonor you in it. God, thank you for giving me the opportunity to watch this movie that has all sorts of things that dishonor you. God, thank you for giving me this opportunity to listen to this music that has all manner of things that dishonor you in it.

God, thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book, to look at these things that are so full of things that dishonor you. And if when you ask that question, if you recoil from it, if you'd really rather just leave God out of it, that tells you a lot. You've applied the test. And you got the color on the test that tells you I don't think I'm doing this to the Lord. If you recoil from the answer that you really just want to leave God out of it, it tells us a lot.

One thing not said explicitly in the text, but that's an implication of what Paul is calling for, is that to whatever extent I am overly preoccupied with what other people think, that's out of step. I need to get fully convinced in my own mind, and then live that out to the Lord. Fully convinced, grounded in the Word of God, confident that my understanding is grounded on this text of scripture and this text of scripture and I'm really trying to handle it properly and then I live it out to the Lord. We don't want to be living out our convictions because she really wants me to do that. He really doesn't want me to do this.

Should we hear each other out on these things? Of course we should. Should we be totally unconcerned about what other people think? I don't think that's necessarily good or healthy either, but Paul is definitely saying that if we're overly preoccupied With what this person thinks or that person thinks that it's out of step here We need to get fully convinced in our own minds and then live out of that, not out of an unhealthy preoccupation with what others think. Okay, before we move on, I know I have to address an obvious question.

Isn't this text saying that considering Sunday to be a special day is a steaming one day above another? And So that falls under this category of doubtful things that we shouldn't be disputing over. Isn't that what it has to mean? Here's the answer. That depends very much on who you ask.

Oh wow does that depend on who you ask. If you ask the ESV study Bible the answer is yes. If you ask the MacArthur study Bible the answer is yes. Sunday, considering Sunday to be a special day is a steaming one day above another, and so It's a doubtful thing that we shouldn't be disputing over. And disputing over it is actually a violation of what this text says, if you go to those two sources.

And by the way, I bring up those two sources because I love those two sources. And I use those two sources every week. They're some of my most trusted sources. If you essentially ask any of the Reformers and their writings, they're dead. Or any of the Puritans, their writings, they're dead.

The answer is absolutely not. That really sort of goes to the point. You think the writers of the ESV study Bible and the author of the MacArthur Study Bible is fully convinced in their own minds? They wouldn't have written it if they wouldn't have written it and put it out to the people of God if they weren't fully convinced in their own minds. You think the Reformers and the Puritans weren't fully convinced in their in their own minds?

They're thoroughly convinced in their own minds, but they have these totally opposite understandings of how this works. Now why would the reformers and Puritans say absolutely not? James defined the disputable matters, and I think correctly, last week, as a non-moral, non-sinful, non-essential. And the Reformers would say, it actually doesn't fit that description. Our view of the whole council of God on how the Christians ought to view one day a week out of seven is not non-moral, not non-sinful, not non-essential.

Now that itself is in debate, of course it's in debate, But here is the principle of Bible interpretation here. Principles of Bible interpretation are so important. Because it's not just what you believe, it's how you get to what you believe. And we need to be using the soundest principles of how to handle this book. I think the principle of Bible interpretation that's really important here is this, the plain reading of a text of Scripture should be adopted as its meaning unless there is a compelling case for another understanding.

I totally embrace that. So I want the instances where I'm being told why a section of Scripture doesn't believe what it appears to mean. I want the number of those to be so small. Because if the number's big, then how do you make any sense of the Bible at all? Because you're telling me it doesn't really mean what it appears to mean, hardly anywhere.

Anybody want a lot of exceptions to those rules? I think it totally takes the ground of the authority of Scripture out when we come to the conclusion, oh this text doesn't mean what it seems to mean. Oh this text doesn't mean what it seems to mean. Oh, this text is this one, and this one, and this one, and you got your own list, and before we know it, none of the texts mean what they seem to mean. I think we want to start by affirming that almost all of them mean what they seem to mean.

The Bible was communicated by God who's the best communicator ever and it was made to be understood God is not playing hide-and-seek with us in the giving us of of His revelation and so it always means what it seems to mean unless there is a really high bar, a really compelling case for another understanding. And that should be really rare. I think this is one of those places. And I don't want there to be a lot of them either. But I believe this is one of those places where there is a compelling understanding that actually, that what we would call the Lord's Day, some people call it the Christian Sabbath.

I'm a lot more comfortable with the Lord's Day just because that's what you see it called after, well, in Revelation. So I'm gonna give you really quick, the text isn't about this question. That's not the central point of this text. So I don't want it to be the central point of the sermon. I could preach a whole sermon on this.

Don't make me do it. But I'll give you kind of three at least starting points for what I think is the compelling case. Hey, if you don't buy any of these, I don't think you're gonna buy four through ten either, so I'm trying to give you sort of the big ones. Here are three what I think are the starting point of a compelling case that actually our understanding of this one day in seven is not included in this text. Number one, one day in seven for resting and worshiping is a pattern established by God in Genesis 2.

God didn't rest because he was tired. He rested to establish a pattern for us. He could have made a hundred more universes in the same amount of time and still not needed a nap. That's not who God is. He was not diminished by the six days of creation and just exhausted and needing the day off.

He was actually establishing a pattern for mankind that we need rest, and so he gives us rest, and we need to worship, and so he's carving out time for us to worship, and he established the pattern himself in creation week. Two, one day and seven for resting and worshiping is part of the Ten Commandments and the Ten Commandments is the moral law. These study Bibles say with breathtaking clarity, well, I guess only nine of these are moral and one of them actually isn't about morality at all. It's actually just part of the ceremonial law. It's fulfilled in Christ, so the the animal sacrifices are done away with and the and a day for rest and worship too.

Like I don't get that. My my best understanding is that the Ten Commandments is the moral law. And it has been binding on not just Israel, but all of humanity. Every human who has ever lived has owed God a day a week to rest his body because God gives it as a gift and to worship God because God is worthy to be worshiped. Everyone who has ever lived inside the borders of Israel and outside the borders of Israel throughout all time have owed God a day of their week to rest their bodies acknowledging that it's a gift and to worship Him.

Three. So two just means the Ten Commandments is the moral law. That cannot be non-moral, non-sinful, non-essential. Three. In the last inspired book written, John speaks of the Lord's Day, Revelation 110.

There's not any revelation that came after that chronologically. Revelation, I think is universally accepted as the last book written. And you have the Apostle John using this phrase, the Lord's Day. I don't insist on everything about that day, but I insist we do something with that phrase. You must do something with that phrase.

You're not allowed to just throw it out. He didn't say, a Lord's day. In other words, they're all His days now. He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords. All days belong to Him.

And so I'm just going to take calling a day a Lord's Day because he owns it all. It's not a Lord's Day, it's the Lord's Day. So in that sense the people of God, Whatever it is, let's go to the Bible to try to find out what it is, but whatever it is, it belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and it is special. It is a special day because it belongs to Jesus. So if you don't buy that, you have company.

You have good company. You have brethren who don't buy that either. But I buy it. Okay, wrapping up this section. Paul would have us to get fully convinced in our own minds by studying the word of God.

Well, what do we do after that? We study the word of God some more. Well, what do we do after that? We study the word of God some more. Until we die, We're always upgrading the maturity of our understanding of points of doctrine and then we die.

That's how it goes. Get fully convinced in your own mind and ground all these things in the Word of God and then live them out. What's the point of studying and learning if we're not going to live it? There's no point at all. We're to have all these things.

Once we understand it, we're supposed to act on it as an act of worship. Because, oh now I understand it. I guess I'll have to do it. No, God is worthy to be obeyed, so we want to obey him who it is an act of worship. Okay, now verses seven through nine.

By the way, if you're looking at your watch, I knew that the first section was going to take a long time. And it has taken a long time. And we're OK. I can speed up. It will be lunch and not dinner.

Verses 7 through 9. Paul writes, For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For 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.

For to this end, Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. In these verses, Paul is teaching us Jesus not self is the Lord in life and death. He sets forth Jesus not self, the Lord in life and death. Self fills in the blank. For none of us lives to himself.

What is the banner that is hanging over all of this? I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that You present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. If you're part of the people that God has poured out all these mercies on, it's such a reasonable service to present your body back as a living sacrifice. What did Paul write to the Corinthians? For you were bought at a price.

Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6.20. So Paul is saying this throughout his writings. We're not our own, we're not our own, we're not our own. We don't live to ourselves, we don't die to ourselves.

This is central to biblical Christianity. What commonly passes out there for Christianity does not pass this test for Christianity. Believers do not live to themselves. There's a Christianity out there where you can live to yourself, still call yourself a Christian. You don't have to change anything.

You can just take on yourself the label and you are that because you say you are that. That is not biblical Christianity. None of us live to ourselves. None of us die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord.

If we die, we die to the Lord. Now, I think we have distinct thoughts about what it means to live to the Lord. That seems plain enough and obvious enough. What about dying to the Lord? You have distinct thoughts about what it means to die to the Lord.

Consider Psalm 116, verse 15. Psalm 116, verse 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Believers train their minds to have death coupled with this understanding. I can't die a minute later than God has appointed.

I can't die a second later than God has appointed. Or a second sooner. I can't prolong my life beyond what God has appointed me to and nothing will kill me before God has appointed the time to be. And when that time comes it's going to be a precious moment in the sight of God. My death will be a precious moment in the sight of God, because it will mean the end of sin in my life, the end of conflict in my life, the end of turmoil in my life, the end of tears in my life, and I'll get to come and be with him and see him face to face.

And that is a precious thought to him. That will be a precious moment to him. This is the Christian view of death. Listen to what Paul said in Philippians 1, 21-23. Philippians 1, 21-23.

Paul says, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. Yet what I shall choose I cannot tell, for I am hard pressed between the two. Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better." Paul actually can't decide whether he wants to live more or whether he wants to die more, because he knows there will be fruitful labor. God will be able to use his life.

He's presented himself as a living sacrifice, so okay, I'll be able to offer my members to in service of his kingdom have fruitful labor and that is a desirable thought to Paul but an even sweeter thought is just to go be with the Lord go Be with Jesus to be beyond his labors in the world. I Think God wants to train Believers to think thoughts like that about death so that we really do desire to be useful in this world but we don't want to live in this world one second beyond our usefulness. God when the usefulness is done please let me come be with you. Please let me be in your presence as soon as possible minute when I'm beyond my usefulness. Believers learn to think this way about life.

Believers need to learn to think this way about death. Believers are the property of Jesus on this side of death. We are the Lord's and believers Continue to be the Lord's after death. We belong to him. He bought us.

We're his property in the world Then what then we're still his property we die and we're still his property praise the Lord for that Gee Paul says Jesus died and rose and lived again for this purpose, to be the Lord of both the dead and the living." Now think about this one. Wasn't Jesus Lord before the incarnation? Jesus is God eternal. So yes, but Jesus secured the position as the great head of the people of God through his incarnation and his saving work on the cross. To say that Jesus was Lord before the death of the God man is fine, is right, but he secured this great place of honor as the head of the people of God through taking on the likeness of sinful flesh and Offering himself up and becoming obedient to death even the shameful death on the cross.

This is all of what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2 and then he concludes that section by saying therefore because of that because he left heaven and took on the likeness of sinful flesh, and suffered here, became obedient even to the shameful death of the cross because of all that. Therefore, God the Father highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee in heaven and on earth and below the earth should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus is the Lord. He secured that place as the head of the people of God for all time by his incarnation and his death and his resurrection. Paul was persuaded that neither life, neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so it is.

That's what he, if that sounds familiar, I'm glad that sounds familiar. We've already been there in Romans. That was Romans 8, 38 and 39. Paul was fully convinced, fully persuaded, that neither death nor life could separate us from God's love in Christ. 10 through 13.

Last section, 10 through 13. Paul continues, 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, 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 shall give account of himself to God.

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." These verses, these final verses, Paul says before us, the danger of judging and despising. So danger fills in the blank. The danger of judging, the danger of despising. If we look back to verse three, last week's text, the strong despises the weak or looks on the weak with contempt. Don't you understand anything?

Isn't this, this should be obvious to us all. It's fine to eat meat. Those were things that just pointed forward to and taught us about the things that have now been fulfilled. It's fine to eat meat. Don't you understand anything?

And the weak judges the strong. Don't you know you're sinning by God? You're sinning against God by eating? Don't you know that this it really isn't all that clear? You really should err on the side of safety here.

You really shouldn't be eating that meat. Paul in verse 3 marked out both of those as sinful. The strong shouldn't be saying, don't you know anything? The weak shouldn't be saying, there's not enough confidence on this to be eating. You shouldn't be eating.

Now Paul returns to that. This exact same language of judging and contempt. It is in the English, it is in the Greek. And he asks, why? Why are you doing that?

Why are you judging your brother or sister? Why are you showing contempt for your brother or sister? So why is why the question? What's Paul trying to get at by asking us why? Why are you doing that?

He's actually expanding on the first part of verse four. Who are you to judge another servant? To his own master he stands to fault. Who are you to judge? But you're judging.

Why are you doing that? Who are you to despise a brother or sister? Why are you doing that? This is an expansion of that thought. God is my master.

God is the master of my brother or sister. He has reserved judgment to himself, and my main concern should be his dealings with me. If you don't get that out of this, we need to go back and stare at it harder and longer. My main concern, Jason Dome's main concern, should be God's dealings with me because He's my master. I'm not your master.

I might have a role of pastor in helping you see something that you can't see if that's happening, but if that becomes my main concern I'm way out of bounds. My main concern should be God's dealings with me. I'm going to give an account of myself. And there's plenty to be concerned with there. Boy, don't I know it.

Makes me think, like, how do I have any time to think about you and your dealings with God with all I have on my plate, with my concerns with God's dealings with me, You are going to give an account of yourself to God. Ditto with you. It's really true of all of us. The question is, who am I in the courtroom? So you envision it.

There's a courtroom full of the various people in their various chairs. Which one are you? Which one am I in the courtroom? Here's what Calvin says. It would be absurd among men for a criminal who ought to occupy a humble place in the court to ascend to the tribunal of the judge.

So the criminal comes into court and says to the judge, scooch over. Scooch over. I think you're in my chair. I've been in real human courtrooms a few times, and I've never been in one where the judge would have put up with that for a single second. The judge is, he or she is king or queen in that courtroom, in the courtrooms that I've been in, and they're not gonna want to hear scooch over.

Who am I in the courtroom? Oh, I'm the person under examination. I don't need to be telling the judge scooch over. That's not appropriate. That's not my place.

Paul quotes Isaiah 45 23. Every knee is going to bow to God. Every one is going to in the end acknowledge I'm nothing, God is everything. Every tongue, so my knee is going to bow to God. That's gonna be so true of me.

In the presence of God, however inappropriately proud I've been of myself, in that moment all that's going to be stripped away and I'm going to be on my knees acknowledging that God is everything and I'm nothing. Every tongue is going to acknowledge the complete and utter right and ability of God to judge the secrets of our hearts. That's going to be true of every single one of us. That's going to be true of me. My tongue is going to confess that I acknowledge the complete and utter right and ability of God to judge the secrets of my heart.

Say, God, you have the right. God, you have perfect ability to judge all the things that were secret to everybody else. No one else knew, but you always knew. And you're completely right to judge those things. And you'll do it completely rightly.

By the way, this is just an aside, but it's an important aside. Paul's usage of Isaiah 45-23 here means that to Paul Jesus equals Jehovah. So Jehovah is the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D in the Bible and it means it's the most holy name for God. It means the self-existent God. Here in our text, Paul in the first half of the breath talks about the judgment seat of Christ and then he quotes Isaiah 45 which is about Jehovah.

Jesus equals Jehovah to Paul. This is a key text for establishing that Jesus is the eternal God. Always a member of the trinity of God. My judging, my brothers and sisters, and my contempt for my brothers and sisters only diverts me from worrying about me and makes the thought of giving an account for my judging and contempt that much more sobering. So it's sort of a double whammy.

Like, I'm preoccupied with you, and that diverts me from worrying about me, whammy number one. And it also, it increases my guilt. It makes the thought of being, giving an account for myself, that much more sobering. Because to my pile, I've added judging and contempt. Now, you might say, and I do in my thoughts frequently this is how I know you might say this is because I've done this frequently in my thoughts.

Well that is sin. Judging, contempt, that is sin. But all my sins have been dealt with at the cross anyway. So it's like all my other sins, and I'm not fretting over them. Like I just can't.

I just can't fret over my sins like that. They've all been dealt with. So yes, I do some judging. Yes, I do some contempt. So I don't really have to worry about being in the courtroom because all those things have been dealt with.

Have you ever thought that? You won't admit it. I'll admit it. Thought that a bunch of times. Two things.

One, that's not how we as believers should be thinking about sin. It's been dealt with at the cross. I can't be bothered now. No sin's talking to me about judging or despising, looking on with contempt. All that's been dealt, you might be right, but all that's been dealt with at the cross.

God does not want us to be thinking about sin like that. We should thank God. Is it true that it's all been dealt with at the cross? It is true, it is true, but does that mean that we should have no grief over our sin? No, that's the wrong conclusion to draw from that truth.

It's all been dealt with at the cross, so oh well. God's not teaching us to think like that. It should be so grieving to us that we have this impulse to judge, this impulse to despise. I see it in there. Talking to my heart.

I see you in there. You got this impulse to judge and despise. I know it's in there. I feel it. I'm guilty of it.

And I don't want to say, oh well. I want to grieve over that. And I want to make progress in these things number two I consider first Corinthians 3 11 through 15 just let me read it first Corinthians 3 11 through 15 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the foundation or you don't have a building at all. There's nothing to build on.

Verse 12. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear. For the day will declare it. The day is capital D day, the great day when Jesus comes back to judge the living and the dead. For the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is.

If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Brothers and sisters, what are you building with? Imagine. Just imagine this.

I could have lived a life of a living sacrifice in view of all God's mercies towards me. But instead I built with wood, hay, and straw, and none of it survived. Could have lived to God's honor. He sent his son to die for me. I could have lived to his honor, but I built with these other things.

And now, yes, I escaped. I escaped. That's the language that ends up getting used here. You will be saved, but as through fire. You escaped with nothing to show to God's honor.

What a grief. Finally the last verse. Let me reread the last verse again. Verse 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.

So I am going to get two more bites of this apple. I'm going to say very little here. But I want you to see Paul's play on words here. It's not there in the English, so we've all got to take a journey into the Greek to see his play on words here. The word translated judge in verse 13, Let us not judge one another.

And the word translated resolve, rather resolve this, is the same Greek word. So we've got two English words, but it's the same Greek word. What is Paul saying? What is the play on words? Paul is saying, don't judge your brothers and sisters, rising to pronounce a verdict of condemnation on them.

Instead, in place of that, rise to pronounce this verdict. So don't pronounce the verdict of condemnation on your brothers and sisters. Instead, rise to pronounce this verdict in the place of that I will never put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in the way of any of my brothers and sisters that is ought to be the verdict that we're rising to declare, to pronounce. I will never put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in the way of any of my brothers and sisters. Now, we're not allowed to end without quoting Rob Ventura, so here goes.

You ready? Rob Ventura saith this. Instead of being a help to them on their way to heaven, your brothers and sisters, We actually become a hindrance. This is a terrible thing, something which needs to be repented of immediately and forsaken altogether if we have done it. Amen to that.

We're supposed to help each other to heaven. It's a long hard road. Anybody finding that? It's a long hard road to heaven. Heaven forbid that we make it harder, that we become a hindrance and not a help on each other's ways.

God so much wants us to help each other on our way to heaven, not be a hindrance. All right, so much more to say, two more weeks to say it. Applications, I'll give you four quick ones. One, This text is a call to be noble-minded Bereans. I love the Bereans.

They heard preaching, even apostolic preaching by day, and they went and searched it out in their Bibles by night to see if those things are really so. We need to be like them. We need to become fully convinced in our own minds having that understanding rooted in the Word of God and then upgrade it tomorrow and then upgrade it tomorrow and then upgrade it tomorrow as we keep studying and meditating on this word. Two, be fully convinced in your own understanding and then live these things out to the Lord. So do get fully convinced and but not just to make your brain bigger, but to live to God's honor.

You need to be living these things out to the Lord. The way we worship well in the way that we live is to be fully convinced and then act on it. You can't stop after step one and not proceed to step two and have it be worshiped to God. I'm not sure God wants us to be smarter without acting on the things that we're learning. Verse three, not verse three, application number three.

Get ready to die to the Lord. Get ready. Richard Baxter had a terminal illness. He wanted to know what was ahead of him. So he thought I'll spend all the time that I can before I die to get a firm grasp of the hope that I'm clinging to.

And he studied and he wrote a book, The Saints Everlasting Joy. Isn't that the name of the book? The Saints Everlasting Joy, I think is it. Then he found out, oh it's not terminal and he lived for six more years. But he got the benefit.

That six years He lived able to cling in a new way to the hope that was before Him. We should have some version of that. That would be so helpful if we would have some version of that, that we would know that the moment of our death is a precious thought in the sight of the Lord, and it would be a precious thought in our sight too, knowing all the things we get to shake off to go and be with Jesus and see him face to face. Number four, finally, identify and purge, judging and contempt. Oh, I don't do that.

That probably means you need to identify and purge, judging and contempt. You don't do any of it in any way. I find that hard to believe. It's not true of me. I can find it.

You can't find any? You should identify and purge it. And just think, one day we're going to stand and give an account for ourselves. All the ways we've been preoccupied with other people, it happens to me all the time, I'm so often preoccupied with other people, and it's a diversion from me worrying about me, and it's actually me making that day and having to give an account a much more sober-minded thing we should identify and purge these things God wants us to. God It's so clear you want us to, help us to want to, help me to want to.

Thank you for this text. I want to be moved by this text, not just to have my understanding upgraded, but I want to have my living as an act of worship upgraded to be merciful to me, be merciful to us in Jesus name. Amen.