If you have your Bible, turn to the 14th chapter of Romans, we're going to look at verses 14 through 23. Before we turn to that text, let's go before the throne. Father, we're thankful for all that you've done and all that you are. We're thankful for your kindness to us and your faithfulness and your love. And when we have to be still and stand in your presence, we recognize that we have deserved none of it. You're God and we're not, you're holy and we're not, you're faithful and we're not. But you found us and we remember where you found us and we remember your promise to get us home. Father, we're thankful for your forgiveness mediated through the cross of Jesus Christ. That you would give your Son to die on a cross in our place. Father is overwhelming and we are drawn to that love. Father, you know everybody who's listening to this broadcast right now and you know those that are frightened and lonely and those that feel their life is without meaning, those that are having financial problems and those with physical problems. Father, we're not here because we're good or together, we're here because we're yours. And Father, because we're your property, we trust that you will protect and that you will meet the needs of and that you will oversee your promise. Father, teach us to have more faith, teach us to trust you more, teach us to lean on you more. Father, we lift our needs before you and ask that you would meet us at the point of those needs. Father, we praise you because you're worthy of our praise, we ask that this week and that we would be sensitive to your agenda. And then Father, as we study your word on key life, we pray for the one who teaches that you would forgive him his sins, for they are many, we would see Jesus and Him only and we pray in Jesus name, Amen. As I mentioned before, we're continuing with our study in the book of Romans. If you have your Bible turn, if you will, to the 14th chapter of Romans verses 14 through 23. While you're finding that, if you're in a place where you can open your Bible without everybody thinking you're a fanatic, let's take a moment to review what we saw last week in our study of Romans. The text then was Romans 14, 1 through 13. If you're listening, you know, we went down three side roads, we noted Paul's reference to the before and after of the Christian. We noted Paul's bottom line, he is the Lord's no matter what. We noted the ultimate outcome of everything every knee will bow, verse 11. Then we noted three contrasts in the body of Christ. We are at different levels, we have different understandings and we have different callings. That's verse 1, verse 3 and verse 6. Then we noted three commonalities. We have the same master, verse 4, the same family, 9 through 10. The same conclusion, 10b. Now we're ready to turn to the text for this week at Romans 14, 14 through 23. Paul, an old and dear friend of mine, writes his follows, I know, and I'm 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. 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, therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil, but the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and proved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Don't 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. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother's stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself and what he approves, but he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith or whatever is not from faith is sin. Most of this week we are going to be dealing with a law of love but before we turn to that. I want to go down three side roads. Side road number one, notice Paul's emphasis on the perception as well as the reality. The Romans 14, 16, therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil. No, I don't drive a Cadillac. I can't afford one anyway, but if I could I probably wouldn't drive one. One time during a building program at a church that I was serving a friend of mine tried to give me a Cadillac. He said, Steve, you're going to love this car and I said I know it. He said you will be safer in this car and I said I know it. He said then let me give it to you and I said no way and he said just come down here and sit in it for a moment. I said no way if I sat and then I would want it and then I would accept it and someone in my position has no business driving a Cadillac. Is there anything wrong with my as a pastor driving a Cadillac? No, not really, but we were having a building program and people think preachers steal from the collection plate anyway. And I was going to be asking others to get sacrificial for a building program driving a Cadillac nothing wrong with it. It would just send the wrong message. The perception of wrong would be almost as wrong as the wrong itself. What's Paul saying here? He's saying that we must be careful not only to avoid evil, but to avoid the perception of evil. In other words, be careful. Not only what you do, but be careful of what you seem to do. I'm a dear pastor friend who was protesting massage parlor that was put into his neighborhood. Some of the people inside, I suppose trying to get him away from marching outside, invited him in and he was quite faithful. He told him about Jesus, but I've kidded him ever since. In fact, I found the sign once that said mods massage parlor and I sent it to him. Now everybody knew why he was there, but it was a subject for humor. But it does illustrate the point in which he knew too. If we had gone into the massage parlor in any of his circumstance, pagans would have said, sure, Reverend, you were witnessing, right? Christians don't replay, boy, for the philosophy. Christians don't spend too much time in bars. Christians don't do a lot of things. Not because they would be wrong, but because there would be a perception of wrong. Do you know the story of the pastor of a church who was riding the bus and the bus driver gave him too much change? He didn't know it until he got home and he noticed, and the next day he found the bus driver and said to him, sir, you gave me too much change at the day. And I wanted to return this. You know what the bus driver said? He said, pastor, I knew that I'd given you too much change because I did it on purpose. You see, I heard you preach, I'm honest if I last week at the church. And I wanted to see if you lived what you preached. Now if the pastor had not noticed his good would have been perceived as evil, and that's why we've got to be very careful. Now obviously, there are times when he simply can't keep the perception of evil away. There have been times when I went into bars and times when I was with people and others didn't understand, but they trusted me. But whenever possible, think not only of doing evil, but also of doing that which is perceived as evil, both can get you into trouble. Signed observation number two, note that Paul says that if we're faithful, we will have good public relations. Romans 14-18, for he who serves Christ and these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Listen, we're not called to be sour pushes to the world. There are some Christians who gauge their spirituality by how many pagans ate them. Well, that isn't the way it's supposed to be. The truth is that all things considered a Christian ought to be the best neighbor in the neighborhood. Christian ought to be the person who is the salt in the community. There are times when we simply, because we bear witness to the truth, when we simply can't help but offend, but don't go out in a fend on purpose. Paul is saying here that when we are good Christians, we are good neighbors and good employees and good friends. Most of us don't understand that. I mean, we think we're supposed to only be with Christians. When we had the Billy Graham crusade in South Florida, I was on the committee. We had this operation, Andrew, where you were to get a number of people who weren't Christians and start praying for them way before the crusade, and then invite them to the crusade. And I said, that's a good idea. And then I said, down, and you know something I couldn't think of a single pagan. I mean, I didn't know a single unbeliever. Now, I was a pastor in most of my social relationships were with Christians, but I decided something was really wrong. That I needed to reach out and love to some unbelievers. I had a lady in a church I served once who was a believer in her husband wasn't. She witnessed it every occasion. She would hide tracks in her husband's newspaper. She'd talk about Jesus every time the television was on. She would brow beat him about religion every time he sat down. He came to me and this is what he said. He said, rather than be honest with you, I'm thinking about becoming a Christian. But if you don't call her off, I'll never become a Christian. Later, she came to my study and said, pastor, I'm being persecuted for Jesus sake. And I said, and she knew that I loved her so I could say it. Ruby, you aren't being persecuted for Jesus sake. You're being persecuted because you're a turkey. You're arrogant and rude and demanding. You see, we got to know pagans and we got to recount the pagans. And our public relations ought to be pretty good unless absolutely necessary that we should offend. Young life has a wonderful statement they give to their staff before anybody will listen to you. You have to earn the right to be heard. John Gator with Moody Broadcasting in Chicago. You know what he does? He does a newspaper for his whole neighborhood. Well, it's kind of a newsletter. He finds out everybody's birthday and every month he publishes a neighborhood newspaper. Now, let me tell you something. When John talked about Jesus, people are going to listen. John DeBrine, my friend in Boston, was at one time the champion of the Boston Red Sox. He's still their number one fan. And there was one ball player who kept witnessing to his teammates. And during that time, was really bombing on the ball field. And John Coli Moverons had listened. Don't talk about Jesus until you're hitting over 300. Good point there. You got to earn the right to be heard. And then I have one other side road or side observation there. We're going to get into the main thrust of the text about the law of love. Please note, in this text, Paul has changed sides. Now, if you were listening last week, Romans 14, 1 through 13, Paul is directing the teaching to legalist. Romans 14, 14, 22, 23, Paul's directing his teaching to the anti-legalist. You know, we lost two radio stations after one program that I did on the key life network. Let me tell you about it. I was asked a question about tons. And I said that the Bible didn't, I believe. Or I believe it can still do. That the Bible didn't teach that any of the guests had ended in the first century, the Apostolic Gate. I pointed out that the texts that he usually used for that first Corinthians 13 and the statement about tons ceasing is misinterpreted when you use it to say there are no more tongues because the canon of Scripture has come. Paul is talking about the perfect coming, i.e., the coming of Christ when tons will cease. Not the Apostolic age or the canon. Now, the prophet is going to come and that's Jesus and there won't be any necessity for him. Well, I offended every non-Phenocostal in my audience. Then I said, I mean because I had this proclivity to offend everybody. It wasn't that I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody. Well, I decided to offend the people on the other side. I said, not willing to leave it alone, that I felt that a lot that went under the name of the gift of tongues was not tongues at all. And the most of the people who spoke in tongues really didn't. But just to make sure that everyone was offended, I said, but I don't think God minds. I think he says, listen, that isn't exactly what I had in mind. But if it makes you feel better, go ahead. Well, one charismatic station took me off the air and one non-charismatic station took me off the air. And I asked Jesus about it. He said they didn't like him much either. He said, Steve, how could you be so stupid? Maybe you have to walk through those pastures, but every time you walk through them you don't have to wave a red flag at the bull. Listen, I had good warrant for what I did. And it is right here in the 14th chapter of Romans. The first chapter of the chapter, Paul, is talking to the Pharisees and the legalists. He says, don't you get upset because someone eats stuff you don't approve of. Just lighten up a bit in your criticism of other Christians who don't measure up to your purity standards. And then in the text for this week, Paul takes the opposite side. And he says, listen, you guys, who think you are so free, you're causing your brother to stumble, so cut it out. Let me tell you something. If we're going to be Christians, we're going to have to have big hearts toward one another. I remember at Boston University in a homiletics class when I was a student there. One student was criticized because his eyeglasses reflected the lights in the Boston University Chapel. And I said, get a wife. What do you want to take off his glasses so he can't read his notes? Or put them on and let them reflect the lights in the chapel. Let me tell you something. We have got a light enough with one another. There really is so much good and truth in the worst of us and so much bad and error in the best of us. That it really does ill be whove any of us to go after the rest of us. Let me tell you something. There's a very big ocean and our boats are so small, we're all wrong and sinful a lot. That's why it's important that we learn to see the other side. Do you know what I've done in my lab classes in seminary? I've had each student present a controversial subject to the other students. And the other students who are not presenting their subject have pretended and played the role of the board of elders or beacons or a church board. And they've had to make arguments for the other side. They didn't like it but they're better off for it because you see they played the role. They got in the skin of they learn to think like people who didn't think like them. That's really important because the body of Christ is big and people are different. People think differently and we've got to have a big hard cause we're in the same thing. Now, we're ready to turn to the main thrust of this text. And it is the importance of the law of love. You'll find the main thrust of this text and the first part of the 15th verse. And that's Romans 14, 15A. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Now, let me tell you some of the problems faced in the church of Rome. And by the way, the issues here were that the pagan priest would go into the marketplace and they would sprinkle water around and say, I dedicate all the meat that's being sold in this meat market to some kind of pagan god. And the issue was, can a Christian then eat that meat? Or should a Christian refrain and only eat carrots? And then there was another problem also. A lot of the Christians in Rome had come out of Judaism and there were a lot of holy days that were observed and they wanted to maintain their heritage. And some of the Gentile begoying Christians said, you can't do that, you're free of that. Get away from that nonsense. And so Paul was trying to deal with both sides of those issues. And there are lots of problems in Rome's problem of diversity in the church that were Jews, former pagans, former outright unbelievers. Their cultural backgrounds were different, their psychological makeup was different, their convictions were different. That's still true in your church and it's still true in my church. There was the problem with religion. Religion has a major tendency to get out of balance. It is powerful and it can lead you down past that are quite weird. That always happens when something is new and fresh. I have a major belief that we had a lock up new Christians for a year. Many in Rome are new Christians who had not yet moved to maturity. Things haven't changed much. There's no idea. And so silly that some pagans won't believe it and no guru so weird that some pagans won't follow him or her. Let me take some else. There's no idea so silly that some Christians won't believe it. And no guru so weird that some Christians won't follow him or her. You know those people who believe that there's a demon under every bed. The Illuminati are everywhere ruling with a new world order and that there is a conspiracy for every occasion. That's the normal life of the Christian church and it was true in Rome too. And there was a problem with convictions. Last week we saw that the reason liberals don't fight is that they don't believe anything. The Christians in Rome had heard the most incredible news one can hear. And there was a great danger in those convictions because convictions can lead you to become a serial killer. And to do it in the name of God. And you are very careful. Now the 14th chapter of Romans is incredibly balanced. Paul has got to keep this thing from falling apart and his wisdom is just something else. We have seen that he takes different sides pointing to the weakness of each argument. In this the second half of the 14th chapter he gives some major principles for keeping the church together. Lots of times I tell those of you who aren't Christians that what we do here is not for you. This is family time as we study God's letter to it. Well this is a time when if you're not a Christian you'll get something out of this. I mean if you're having problems in your family and your rotary club or your social club, the principles Paul gives here will work for you too. After all the Bible is the owner's manual. And if you follow it even if you don't believe in God you're probably going to be a lot better off than you would be. If you didn't you know something? If I were an atheist. I would still study the Bible because it is so wise and it's so balanced and it's so helpful. Listen if you want to be happy even if you're not a believer. If you want to be happier than you are now. If you want to have a life that's more meaningful than it is now even if you're not a believer. Read the Bible and do your best to live by and you're going to be better off than you were before. Now it's better if you believe it. Believe me it's better if you believe it. But I want you to know you can listen this week and you can learn some stuff that'll even help you. Alright we're talking about how to apply the law of love, how to get along. This is kind of an extension of what we said last week. Alright let's dig into this text first. Paul reminds Christians of their freedom, Romans 14, 14. I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there's nothing unclean of itself. But to him who considers anything to be unclean to him it is unclean. Now that's a pretty radical statement when you say. Paul if I understand him and I think I do is giving Christians a pretty wide birth. I said to a friend of mine last week, hey Greg don't do anything I wouldn't do. And you know I've been said well that means I have a very wide birth. Christians really you know are free. God has not given us half as many rules as you would think by listening to some Christians who are always talking about rules. We used to have a skeptics forum where we invited atheists and agnostics to come and then I would tell them what the Christian faith said and then they would go after me and we'd meet for some 12 or 13 weeks. And I promised to give honest answers to honest questions. I remember after talking about freedom and joy and love and meaning that was offered in Christ. A woman who was a psychologist started crying and that didn't happen very often in skeptics forum. And she said oh God I wish this stuff could be true. I wish this stuff could be true. Now if you're a believer the good news is really good news. Don't let anybody make bad news out of it. God isn't mad at you about anything. God isn't your policeman, he's your father. He won't strike you down or send a lightning bolt every time you step a little bit out of line. He'll love you. You're really free. Very little letter to you I received a number of years ago from a woman whose mother had died. And I love this letter. I started receiving your tapes in 1985. I moved home to care for my 88 year old parents shortly after that. After I'd shown much enthusiasm for your tapes my mother started listening to them. Mama had suffered a major stroke in 1987 so was confined to a wheelchair and had to learn to eat and write with her left hand. Each evening my sister would set up a table next to Mama's hospital bed with a tape recorder and one of your tapes. The first thing she did each morning was listen for 15 minutes. I made a visit to mother and she asked me a very personal question and then told me, listen if you don't like what I say just tell me to shut up. My jaw dropped. I had my mouth washed out with soap for saying that as a child. Mama laughed and said, are you surprised? I'm free of lots of rules since I've listened to Steve. Mama really was free. At 92 she was more full of humor, less prudish and less tied to a collection of petty prejudices than in her whole life. She said also that she wanted to continue to grow. My mother had been raised in a very strict church. My father's father was a pastor and Mama and my father were married for 67 years. They raised us five children to strict Victorian standards. We all shaped against that during our growing years. On October the 18th Mama died after only two days of illness. She continued to listen to your tape right up to the end. I know she's continuing her prayers for you as she and my father dance around heaven as they were never allowed to do in this life. May God bless you as you continue and his work of telling people the good news which frees and saves. I know, I know, I'm quite proud of that. I probably shouldn't have read it to you. I'll repent later. The point is this, when so many people take the good news of the freedom we have been given and make it into bad news, we've got a problem. Paul wants to say here at the outside, Christians are really free. You're loved. You're accepted. You don't have to please God. He's already pleased with you. That's what happened on the cross. One time someone came to Luther and said, Dr. Luther, if I believed in this free grace and faith doctrine as you teach, then I would do anything I please. Dear brother, Luther replied exactly. And as a child of Christ, what pleases you. But I don't want to put conditions on it. You really are free. And then secondly, Paul not only reminds Christians of their freedom, he also reminds them of their priority. Romans 14 and 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the whole experience. Romans 14 and 19 therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Romans 20 and verse 14 and 20 do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. The most important thing for the Christian is to seek the kingdom of God, everything else is secondary. There are some Christians who are always looking down their noses at the legalist and saying, I'll do as I please because I'm free. When that happens, we have forgotten our priority. You know, the hardest thing for me, maybe one of my greatest sins, some of you just woke up, got your pencil, you're going to take notes. One of my greatest sins is being ferocious about Pharisees. In other words, I'm legalistic about legalist. And that's just as big a sin as anything else Paul is saying here, you can't do that. Your freedom is always secondary to the kingdom of God. I tell you about G Gordon Brownville, he was my friend, he's in heaven now and I'll introduce you when we get there. He had been the pastor of the Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston, had a wonderful ministry there and then he worked for a number of years with Mr. Graham. I was serving a church in your Boston and Dr. Brownville had been a dear friend. He always said, on the front row, he attended when he retired, a little church I served on on Cape God. He used to sit on the front row with a big black Bible. And that's when I had recognized that Baptist could find texts faster than anybody else. And whenever I had a text or would call out a verse, he'd flip through the Bible to check and make sure that I said it right. I mean, if there was a frown on his face, I went back and reread it to make sure it was right. But I sat on his front porch overlooking the ocean many times down on Cape God. Anyway, I had this problem in a church that I served near Boston and they had this church fair every year. It was called Fleece the Tourist. I mean, they sold stuff you and believe, but the whole church focused on this church fair. I mean, all year they worked on things, they were going to sell it to church fair and everybody brought their junk and sold their junk to everybody else. And so it was just kind of a transfer of joke. And then they had a lot of food they sold and they raised the church budget through this church fair. Now I'm not into this money changes in the temple. I don't think it fits that rubric, but I wasn't really happy with this way of stewardship. I mean, this is the way guys got out of giving sacrificial labor to the work of the kingdom. And I was really kind of angry about it. And I went to see Dr. Brownbull. And they didn't even have to take up a collection. They had this big church fair every year. And he said, what do you think God would do? He said, let me tell you about a church I served in New York. He said, you think you had it, man. We had a circus every year. We brought him a circus. And they said, when I first became the pastor there, they came to me and they said, I guess pastor, you don't like the circus. He said, well, that's not the best way to raise money for the work of the kingdom, but he said I'm your pastor. And as long as you have that circus, I'll be the first person to buy a ticket to it. And he said, you know something Steve, the next year they didn't have a circus and never had one again. And he said, my advice to you is to be that way about the church where you serve. And he said, look, go back and tell them that you're not really big on church fairs, but work hard for their church fair. And I did that. You know what happened? They never had a church fair again after that year. Where did I get that? Well, I got that from Romans 14, 17, 14, 19, 14, 20. That the priority is the kingdom. The priority is the church. And anything you do or don't do that hurts that. Then it's wrong. And that's what Paul is saying. The priority is always the kingdom. Thirdly, Paul not only reminds Christians of their freedom and their priority, he reminds Christians of their responsibility. Look at Romans 14, 15, yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you're no longer walking in love. Don't destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Romans 14, 21 is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother's tunnels are as offended or as made weak. Now let me take a moment just to describe to you once again the problem. The pagan priests would go into the marketplace and they would bless all the meat in the name of a pagan god. And the Christians wondered whether you could eat that meat. I mean after it would have been dedicated to pagans. After it had been used maybe sometimes on an altar of a pagan and then sold. And some people said you can't do that. And some people said you just should eat carrots. Some people said it's no big deal, those gods don't exist anyway. And then they had a problem of holy days too. Some were out of Judaism and they liked the celebratory days that were a part of Judaism. And they felt you ought to keep them. And some of the Gentiles said you're out of your mind, those things aren't important anymore. And so there was pretty much division in the church. And what Paul is saying here is that you have a responsibility for your brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm responsible for you and you're responsible for me. Now I'm a teacher. I've never let booze past these fewer lips. You ought to hear my sermon on total abstence. I want you to know because it's the one sin about which I am totally free. I can preach a sermon that'll make you feel so guilty if you ever touch alcoholic beverages. Now can I drink alcoholic beverages of course? Will I know because I have so many brothers and sisters who are alcoholics? I have counseled so many families who come apart because of booze. I have a father who's an alcoholic. I as a news reporter reported on so many automobile accidents because of booze. Now while I'm free, there are some things I'm not going to do because I can hurt my brother. I may never be an alcoholic. I may never abuse those beverages. But there are some people who look to me and that scares me to death. And I'm going to be very careful in that area. Now don't misread what I'm saying. I'm not dictating to you. I'm just saying that my responsibility is to other people. I have a responsibility to my brothers and sisters in Christ and you do too. No Christian is an island. We're in this thing together. I have some friends in Nashville. Dott and Devon Woods, they are wonderful folks. They've had an unbelievable impact on young couples in Nashville. And they tell this wonderful story about having dual controls on their electric blanket. And one time they got them reversed and he's always hot and she was always cold in that night. She about fried him and he about froze her to death. You know what God has done to take that metaphor right to the ball? God has given us dual controls in the body of Christ and He switched them. And you're responsible for my warmth and my cold and I'm responsible for your warmth and your cold. There's some things we can do but they think that we shouldn't do because it would hurt a brother or sister in Christ. And while it isn't a legalistic thing, it's a thing that we as Christians have a responsibility for and the Bible is clear about that. Now fourthly, Paul not only reminds Christians of their freedom, their priority, and their responsibility reminds them of their model. Now next week in Romans 151 through 6 this point is going to be even clear but Paul makes reference to it here. Romans 141 I know and I'm convinced by the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1415 be do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. And the next week the 3rd verse of the 15th chapter for even Christ did not please himself. Do you see it? Jesus didn't have to come but he did. He didn't have to die but he did. He was quite comfortable but he thought about us and not about himself. I think I've given it to you before but Jill Brisco has this wonderful statement in one of her books, Prime Rib and Apple. She's talking about Eve when she first ate the fruit in the garden, how the poison seeped into her veins. And then Jill writes at that very moment Jesus prepared to go to Bethlehem. There's a story and I can't remember the whole story but I remember when I was kid in my pastor told and it was tightly told it to teenagers. I am 3rd and it was about this man who all of his life had a motto and it was above his desk and everybody knew it but nobody knew what it meant when he died to ask his wife. The motto was I am 3rd and they found out that God was first his family and brothers and sisters in Christ were second and he was always 3rd. Listen dear friend write that on your heart. A Christian is always 3rd. Richard Bratt was speaking in chapel at Reform Seminary not too long ago and he said that the temptation of a professor when he preaches in chapel is to preach four students and not two students. Richard has his PhD from Harvard and Old Testament studies and he said the temptation is to impress you with some obscure Old Testament passage and show you how to preach a wonderful sermon. But that isn't what this is about. I want to preach to you and to me and not for you. In other words I don't want to perform. That's what Jesus did. He didn't just say it. He did it. He was always 3rd and we ought to be 3rd too. Now am I laying out different rules and saying you don't do these. God is going to strike you dead of course not. I'm just saying use a little balance. Remember that Christ loved you and he loved you totally when you were unlovable. And that meant that he had to place himself 3rd and I want you to know that because he did that we're now capable of doing that ourselves. Now I have one other point never finished with his text. All not only reminds Christians of their freedom, their priority, their responsibility, their model. He reminds them of their convictions. Look at Romans 14, 22 through 23. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy as he who does not condemn himself and what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he aids because he does not eat from faith for whatever is not from faith is sin. Now Paul is saying here that convictions are important for your peace. In fact the thrust of these two verses can be understood when you substitute for faith in the authorized version. The word convictions, Paul is saying be sure that you really believe what you're doing is the right thing or you won't be able to sleep at night. There's a wonderful and profound insight here. Paul is discussing here the peace and unity of the church. He's giving the law of love and he's talking about how Christians should walk so that the law of love is abate. Brothers and sisters are accepted and affirmed and the church is not chained. Now note that here he is saying in effect if you aren't sure of what you believe you're going to be a pain and a neck. Someone found the sermon notes of their pastor after a Sunday morning sermon and they found this written in the margin of the notes. Bad point, shout louder. That's how we live our lives. Do you know how to tell if someone is unsure of their position, listen to how much they talk and how loud they talk? I get tired of the noise. People who really believe are secure in that belief even if nobody else believes it. If you tell me I never had a mother, I'm not going to start yelling at you or trying to force you to accept the reality that I had a mother. That'd be silly. If you tell me I never had a mother, I'm going to feel sorry for you because you're a fruitcake. I'm not going to get angry at you. If I get angry it means I have some doubts about having a mother. We shout too much and pagans know that we don't believe what we say we believe because we shout too much. They know that we're insecure because we shout too much. Paul is saying here learn to be secure in what you believe. People who are secure don't have to yell to get others to believe it too. If Christians were more secure they would be more light and less smoke in the body of Christ. There you have it. The church would be unified by the law of operating in our midst. Paul defines that law as remembering our freedom, our priority, our responsibility, our model and our convictions. The late Paul Rees told the story of a church in Korea where there was a church fight. Got so bad that the police were called in to break up the fucking one of the policemen of Buddhist was heard above the den of shouting. Why don't you folks just act like Christians? Good point that and you should think about it. I'm in.