Is Christmas for the Christian?

The point: Think right to do what's right; wrestle with principles to govern your thinking, not just specific actions.

Martin describes how he would respond to someone commanding or forbidding him to wear a tie, using it as an example of asserting Christian liberty against legalism or pharisaism.

And if someone came up to me and said, you must wear a tie in order to please God, I'd say no. I'd take my tie off and stick my liberty under his Pharisaic nose. And if someone then said, you must not wear a tie, I'd get one of those old, remember when they were about six inches wide? With the nice bright colors that our brother, Bert, often has in his ties.

16:36 - 16:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Think right to do what's right; wrestle with principles to govern your thinking, not just specific actions.

He uses the analogy of a compass to explain that right thinking, grounded in principles, provides guidance for action even in new situations, unlike merely following specific rules.

So, in that category, what are the major principles that must guide our thinking and our conduct? And remember, brethren, it's always in that order. We've got to think right to do what's right. Otherwise, if you attack the doing without the thinking, you just have a wooden framework and the minute someone gets in the situation that you haven't described in the doing, they're left without any rudder, without any compass, because they never wrestled with the principles that need to govern our thinking.

17:50 - 18:20 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin reads Romans 14 and begins to extract principles. The first principle is the recognition of 'strong' and 'weak' believers within a healthy church, and the directive for the…

Martin explains that receiving a weak brother means genuine, open-hearted acceptance, not merely bringing him close to 'zap him' or 'straighten him out' with censorious scrutiny.

Him that is weak in faith, receive, yet not for decisions of scruples. That is, don't receive him with a view to saying, okay, this guy can't eat this meat and this guy can't do this and I'm going to receive him, but I'm not really receiving him with all of his hang-ups that I regard as hang-ups. I'm only receiving him to get him close enough to straighten him out. I'm going to receive him with a view to zapping him.

18:52 - 19:20 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin reads Romans 14 and begins to extract principles. The first principle is the recognition of 'strong' and 'weak' believers within a healthy church, and the directive for the…

Martin recounts how the church has avoided 'civil war' over Christmas by applying these principles, noting that some wanted him to inveigh against it, while others wanted him to mock the scrupulous.

All right? What are the major things or principles now? The things that by God's grace have kept us from having a civil war over the celebration of Christmas in this church for years. And I know from a pastoral standpoint we've had some people that were ready to start a civil war.

22:57 - 23:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not divorce your celebration from Christ; do not think and act as a non-Christian during Christmas, but regard it unto the Lord.

He illustrates how a Christian celebrating Christmas does not divorce the celebration from Christ's Lordship, but gives thanks for family time and the mention of Christ's name, even amidst pagan trappings.

Verse 6. He that regards the day, if he's a true Christian, regards it to the Lord. You see, if you're a true believer and you celebrate Christmas, you don't say on December 24th, Lord Jesus, goodbye till the 26th.

35:33 - 35:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Thank God for another day to serve Him, even if not celebrating Christmas, and do so without judging those who do celebrate.

He illustrates how a Christian not celebrating Christmas can also do so 'unto the Lord,' thanking God for a day free from the 'rubble of the trappings' and without judging others.

He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He that eats not, unto the Lord he does not eat and give thanks. He comes, comes to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and says, Lord, thank you for another day in which to serve you. Thank you, Lord, for a day in which I'm not buried beneath all of the rubble of the trappings of Christmas.

36:58 - 37:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Thank God for another day to serve Him, even if not celebrating Christmas, and do so without judging those who do celebrate.

Martin uses the metaphor of 'cookie-cutter Christians' to describe the negative outcome of wooden conformity, where people abandon personal persuasion for consensus, leading to the death of true liberty.

You've got the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. He helps you to do many things that aren't natural. Naturally, we want to make everyone line up with us. But Paul envisions a wonderful context in which we are perfectly content to say, I know my brother John is going to get up this morning in his bare house.

37:36 - 37:57 Read in full sermon

The point: If you know a brother has conscience reservations about celebrating Christmas, show love by not inviting him to Christmas-specific events that would cause him to sin against his conscience.

He provides a concrete example of not inviting a brother with conscience reservations about Christmas to a Christmas dinner, but instead showing love in a non-Christmas context, to avoid causing him to sin against his conscience.

What he is saying is here is a man who has a genuine scruple of conscience about an issue and if, knowing that, you exercise your liberty in his presence, you then nudge him into doing what for him is sin, you are not walking in love, you are causing him to stumble and he says in verse 20, do not overthrow for meat's sake the work of God. Now a concrete example would be this. If you know there's a brother in the church who has reservations of conscience about celebrating Christmas, but you're good friends. You don't invite him over to your house if you've got a Christmas tea, you're going to h...

42:40 - 43:54 Read in full sermon