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Psalms 83:1-18 A Psalm of
Asaph. Do not keep
silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God! For behold,
Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together
against Your sheltered ones. They have said, "Come, and let us cut them
off from being a nation, That
the name of Israel may be remembered no more." For they have consulted
together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: The tents of
Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They
have helped the children of Lot. Deal with them as with Midian, As with
Sisera, As with Jabin at the
Brook Kishon, Who perished at En Dor, Who
became as refuse on the earth.
Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah
and Zalmunna, Who said, "Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God for
a possession." O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff
before the wind! As the fire burns the woods, And as the flame sets the
mountains on fire, So pursue them with Your tempest, And frighten them with
Your storm. Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O LORD.
Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and
perish, That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, Are
the Most High over all the earth. Father
God, I ask that you open the doors of Heaven and pour out your love and Grace
to all that turn to you. Watch over your children and guide them on all they
do. We give you all the glory and praise. Amen!
Romans 14:13-23 NKJV
This
week’s lesson is more of what the previous lesson was all about, but with more
clarity. It points out the responsibility we have as followers of Christ in how
believers are to live. We are to set examples for other believers that are weak
and new in the faith. Not only for new believers but also for those around us
that don’t have the relationship with Jesus that they should. Many people
around us claim to be Christians, but by their actions and speech you know they
aren’t and what is sad, they cheer others into parties, drunkenness, and places
of ill repute.
So we
will be learning more from the Apostle Paul on how to conduct our life so that
we do not cause others to stumble and sin. Here again the main purpose of Paul
writing this chapter is for the true believers in Jesus and what He did for us
in dying on the cross. It is to help the weak in faith and new believers to
become strong in their faith so that they can become deeply rooted in the
Gospel. With a deep root system they will be able to discern the true right
from wrong and withstand the temptations that come along. It will help one to
be able to understand what walking in faith is about.
13 Let us
not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man
put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
Let
us not therefore judge one another anymore; this phrase I believe is one of the most difficult
things a believer is not to do, and that is judge or criticize. Whenever we
criticize another believer we are actually judging that person. I also struggle
with this and find myself being dragged into conversations that end up with
criticism. It is wrong and we need to recognize this as sin and ask the Lord to
help us to have dominion over this sin.
Stop and think of it this
way. If we criticize another believer we are actually criticizing God. If one
is a true believer then God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, resides within that
individual and that person is God’s property. By judging we are judging the
work of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever thought about criticizing/judging this
way? I haven’t but it makes sense to me. The next time you start talking about
someone stop and think about the fact that you are gossiping about the work of
the Holy Spirit, meaning God!
But judge this rather, that no man put a
stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his
brother's way; the first part of this verse tells us not to judge, but
Paul is telling us here what we can judge. It is very difficult not to
criticize, but here he tells us we can judge. Hmmmm!
What Paul is telling us is
that we are to judge the situations surrounding a Brother or Sister in Christ
and help them overcome the situation instead of condemning them, lend advice
and a helping hand. Encouragement and support is what a fellow brethren needs
to overcome a situation, not being criticized which is a stumbling block.
Reinforcement of faith in God that “He” will get them through the situation.
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.
I
know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus; this is a very strong statement by Paul, “I know and am
convinced”. This isn’t from Paul’s mind, but from the Holy Spirit. What is
being said is what God desires from us.
There is nothing unclean of
itself; meaning and
pertaining to rituals, religious customs, eating of certain foods, etc. Don’t
get the idea this verse is stating that if we think something is ok to do, then
it’s ok. This isn’t speaking of immorality. Go back and read verses 1-12 and
the rest of the verses in this week’s lesson and you will see what Paul is
referring to.
The
key words here are, “unclean of itself”. In other words if God created it and it
is used as God intended, then it is not unclean and causes no sin. Think of it
this way, alcohol and fermented wine can be made from many types of grain and
fruit. Man alters the grain and fruit into a state that affects the mind,
therefore causing drunkenness/sin. (Food for thought; drunkenness; if a person
drinks one bottle of beer and it contains 3% alcohol, is that person 3% drunk?)
Many plants produce a chemical that is helpful but when mixed or altered from
their original state they become harmful drugs. Even a tree that is cut down
and carved into some type of idol, therefore becomes sin in God’s eyes.
When
we humans change and alter what God has given us and use the altered results to
please the flesh, then it becomes sin. God has never created anything that is
bad, humans take what is good and make it evil because of our inherited sin
nature, because we think we have all the answers.
But
to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean;
Paul is referring to faith here. Because of Gospel lack of knowledge, someone
weak in faith will still be living according to some of their old beliefs and
ways of religious lifestyle. This is not unclean or wrong in the eyes of the
person, because they lack the knowledge of the Gospel. Our part of being true
believers is not to judge each other in trivial matters, but to encourage each
other to true Christlikeness and holiness when it comes to living by faith.
This involves sincerely evaluating, correcting, and rebuking one another in love
and grace.
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.
This verse is simply
stating that if we cause a brother to think ill of us because of the food we
eat or don’t eat then we aren’t portraying love. We don’t want to turn a new
believer away from Jesus by our actions pertaining to rituals and customs. Our
faith must be in the Cross and not in the rituals. Out of love for our brother
or sister we are to reveal the truth about false customs and rituals, but in a
way that will not drive them away from Jesus. This does not mean that we can participate in sinful actions that violate
God’s moral laws the Ten Commandments. Many people twist this concept in order
to partake of things that please their flesh. We are talking about essential
and nonessential things pertaining to salvation.
At the Jerusalem council (Acts 15), the Jewish church in Jerusalem asked
the Gentile church in Antioch not to eat meat that had been sacrificed to
idols. Not that they were sacrificing animals, but purchasing meat that may
have been sacrificed. Paul was at the Jerusalem council, and he accepted this
request, not because he felt that eating such meat was wrong in itself, but
because this practice would deeply offend many Jewish believers. Paul did not
think the issue was worth dividing the church over; his desire was to promote
unity; his faith was in Jesus.
16 Therefore
do not let your good be spoken of as evil;
“Your good” pertains to
the liberty we have in Jesus because of our faith in Him. The good we know and
exercise must not be portrayed as evil because of our actions. We are to act in
love, point out wrong, but not to get into arguments over the situation. We are
to plant the seed and God is to germinate and cultivate the seed.
17 for the
kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy
in the Holy Spirit.
18 For he
who serves Christ in these things is
acceptable to God and approved by men.
The
kingdom of God does not
consist of external things like food, rules, regulations, ceremonies, or
rituals, etc., but in spiritual realities like righteousness in action and thought, peace that seeks harmony, and joy that comes from the
Holy Spirit. Those who understand the spiritual realities of the kingdom
will not choose the brief joy of satisfying selfish desires of I’m right your
wrong, shaming another into submission, boasting of their knowledge of
scripture, contention, quarreling, fighting, etc.
19 Therefore
let us pursue the things which make
for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
Paul is telling us here
that we are to pursue things of God which produce Peace, Love, and Joy. Pursue
things that will edify us and our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Pursue all
things by the leading of the Holy Spirit and not by man so that harmony in the
church will prevail.
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.
Another way to term this
verse is; Don't tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all
foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another
person stumble.
Do
not destroy the work of God for the sake of food; this pertains to many other issues
that cause church arguments. Many times arguments are over nonessential
salvation things that cause division and dissention. These types of contentions
may cause people to leave the church and therefore start to live a lifestyle
that is contradictory to God’s Holy Word.
Have you ever been
involved in a disagreement at your church that was based on something that had
nothing to do with salvation, but on something that you or someone wanted? Were
you acting out of self righteousness or God’s righteousness?
All
things indeed are pure; refers to what God has created and is
used for its intended purpose.
But
it is evil for the man who eats
with offense; An
action may be pure in itself, but it may become an occasion of sin if another
is grieved by it. It is evil to the person who pursues a course that will give
offence to a fellow believer and drive him from the church, or lead him any way
into sin.
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.
This verse is saying the
same as verse 20. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything
else if it might cause another believer to sin.
22 Do you
have faith? Have it to yourself
before God. Happy is he who
does not condemn himself in what he approves.
What Paul is saying here
is when we live by faith and situations come up, as they did in his time, we
are not to feel guilty if we participate. This does not mean to participate in
a manner that causes one to disobey God’s moral Laws the Ten Commandments. For
instance let’s say you are invited over to a friend’s house and they are
celebrating a feast based on the Old Testament. They still believe this is a
necessary thing for salvation. You are living by faith in Jesus and what he did
on the Cross for you and you know the occasion no longer holds any merit
because when Jesus died and was raise the custom was done away with. You can
participate knowing this custom means nothing and you should not place guilt
upon yourself. It would be better to participate than to raise a big commotion
about it and arguing that it is wrong especially if your friend is a believer
and just hasn’t come to the realization of what he is doing holds no merit.
Many people indulge in
practices which their consciences condemn them, but the way to be happy is to
have a clear conscience in what we do. In other words, if we have doubts about
a course of conduct then we shouldn’t indulge in that activity, it should be
abandoned at once.
You may believe there's
nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God.
Blessed are those who don't feel guilty for doing something they have decided
is right, provided it doesn’t violate
God’s moral laws.
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.
If you have doubts about
whether or not you should eat something, and go ahead and eat it, you are
sinning. In other words if you do something that you are being convicted of,
you are sinning. Proper faith is the criteria for all that we do. We must
listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide us in all matters of life. As a new
believer one will have many questions about whether something is right or wrong
concerning their past lifestyle of religious rituals. If one is undecided on a
particular matter, then it would be wise not to participate. They need to seek
the answer from the Bible or have a seasoned believer explain whether it is
right or wrong using Bible scripture.
Romans
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…...
Psalms
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit
within me.
John
3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I
say to you,
unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill Wiesbrock
Last Week’s Trivia: Who was Adin?
Answer: Adin was one of the heads of families
carried off to Babylonia during the exile. Adin’s family returned to Jerusalem,
one contingent with Zerubabel, another with Ezra, and joined with Nehemiah in
putting their seal to the covenant to keep the Law. Ezra
2:15; 8:6; Nehemiah 7:20; 10:14-16.
This week’s Trivia: Who was Adonibezek?
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