Directives to the Weaker Brother

Introduction: The Delicate Doctrine of Christian Liberty and the Focus on the Weaker Brother

0:05 Those of you who have been keeping count of this rather brief series of studies will know that we come this evening to the seventh and, in all probability, the final study of this theme of Christian liberty. Now, several of you are here for the first time. And to my knowledge, as I look out over the congregation and the pain that I felt last week, I feel again tonight, because much of what will be shared tonight may go over your head, simply because you've not been with us for the previous studies. And I'm sorry for that, but I cannot go back and re-preach and re-emphasize and flesh out all of the principles that, as it were, form the base of our study tonight.

0:50 They are available through the tape library. But I trust you will not be hopelessly lost. Having sought to lay deep roots in the major historical, biblical, and theological aspects of this doctrine that I've called a delicate doctrine, we have for several weeks been concerned with a very practical issue, namely, what principles ought to guide us in the exercise of the liberty that has been purchased for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. And I've suggested that the...

1:22 The major lines of teaching, particularly in Romans 14, 15, 1 Corinthians 8 and 10, and really chapters 9 and 11 of 1 Corinthians as well, suggest to us that there are four major principles or guidelines with reference to the exercise of our liberty. The first is that the exercise of our liberty, understanding that our liberty, understood and appreciated, is a God-word and inward issue. And that the exercise of our liberty is an...

1:52 An outward and man-word issue. We need to be governed in the exercise of our liberty by, one, the prior claims of personal holiness. Two, the powerful claims of the advancement of the gospel. Three, the practical demands of edification.

2:11 And, fourthly, the self-denying claims of the weaker brother. The self-denying claims of the weaker brother. Having shown from the Word...

2:23 Who the weaker brother is, what we are to do with reference to him, we concluded our concern in that area last week by looking at the passages which indicate something of the horrifying implications if the strong are not willing to deny themselves in true Christian love for the well-being of their weaker brethren. And we noted seven staggering things that are said as the...

2:53 Are said to be the implications of this refusal. Now, what I propose to do tonight in concluding our study is to speak concerning the responsibilities of the weaker brother. Having looked at what the scriptures say concerning the responsibilities of the strong to the weak, tonight we look at the responsibilities of the weak, both to his stronger brethren, to his God, and also in a very real sense to himself. Now, as we approach tonight's subject, let me remind you of two things.

Defining the Weaker Brother and the Emphasis of Scripture

3:28 Number one, the identity of the weaker brother. Remember, he is weak in faith, Romans 14, 1 and 2. He's weak in knowledge, 1 Corinthians 8, 1 to 7. He's weak in conscience, 1 Corinthians 8, 10.

3:43 With reference to things that are not clearly condemned in the Word of God or clearly commanded in the Word of God, he is weak. He has...

3:53 He has, in the words of Professor Murray, scruples arising from religious convictions. But they are scruples in areas where God's law has not explicitly spoken. And so we see him in Romans 14. He's uptight about eating certain kinds of foods.

4:11 He's uptight about keeping special Jewish ceremonial days. He has scruples arising from religious convictions. The weaker brother is not the person...

4:23 The weaker brother is not the person who's got all kinds of cultural prejudices and tries to impose them upon the church. We must never mistake the precise identity of that weak brother. He cannot grasp the thought articulated in 1 Corinthians 10, 26, quoted from the Psalms, that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Nothing is unclean of itself.

4:44 He can't grasp that. And he has these scruples arising out of his religious convictions. And God says he is weak in faith. Weak in knowledge.

4:54 Weak in conscience. We need to remember that as we begin to consider tonight his responsibilities. And then, secondly, I would remind you that the predominant emphasis in the Scriptures is not on this subject, the responsibilities of the weak, but it's on the responsibilities of the strong. It took three weeks to expound what the Scriptures say to the strong in reference to the weak.

5:19 We'll be able to take care of the weak, brother, in one sermon tonight. Thank you. Just remember that. But the Word does have something to say.

Responsibility 1: The Weaker Brother Must Not Pass Judgment on Stronger Brethren

5:26 All right, with those two introductory thoughts before us, what precisely are the responsibilities of the weaker brother? I believe they are set forth under three categories. Category number one. The weaker brother must not pass judgment on his stronger brethren.

5:46 Follow, please, as I read from Romans chapter 14. Verses that have been read a number of times. In the course of this study, each time gleaning different dimensions of the Apostle's thought,

6:02 starting out with the responsibilities of the strong to the weak. In verse 1, Him that is weak in faith receive ye, yet not for decisions of scruples, that is, don't receive him, only with a view to straightening him out. One man has faith to eat all things, but he that is weak eateth earth. So the strong and weak are found.

6:25 And together, now there is a practical danger that each of them faces. Let not him that eateth, set it not him that eateth not. And we dealt with that. The strong is not to despise the weak.

6:39 He's not to say, well, what in the world's wrong with you? Are you still half a Jew hung up with Jewish ceremonies? Are you still half a pagan? Your conscience is so foul that man, grow up, will you?

6:50 You come into the church with all your scruples and you jump at every shadow. And you just need to understand your liberty, man. Get with it. He said, no, no, don't treat him that way.

7:01 Don't despise him. We've dealt with that. But now notice, immediately he turns to the weaker brother and says this. And let not him that eateth, eateth not, judge him that eateth.

7:14 For God hath received him. Then he sticks with the weaker brother. Who art thou that judgeth the servant of another? Notice he doesn't say, who art thou that despises?

7:23 That's the problem of the strong. He hangs in there with the weak brother. He gets on the track with the weak man and he says, all right, now look, who in the world are you, Mr. Weak Man, to judge your brother, Mr. Strong Man?

7:33 Who in the world are you to judge the servant of another? To his own Lord he stands or falls. Yea, he shall be made to stand, for the Lord hath power to make him stand. And so the apostle speaks to the weak and he says, you must not, under any circumstances, pass judgment, upon your stronger brethren.

The Nature of the Weaker Brother's Judgment and its Implications

8:00 Now, precisely what is the judging here forbidden? Well, let's look at how the conscience of the weaker brother works. He wants to be a holy man. These are scruples arising out of religious convictions.

8:14 Now, what does holiness involve in practical experience? Well, it involves two things. Positively keeping all that you know and believe to be the precepts, the precepts of God and positively avoiding all things that are prohibited by God. If sin is any lack of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God, righteousness is everything that is in conformity to the law of God and in keeping with the prohibitions of God, right?

8:52 As you seek to be holy, you try to avoid what is evil and in conform what is good. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Isn't that practical godliness? In thought, in word, in motive, in attitude, in deed, seeking to do all that God has commanded, endeavoring to avoid all that God has forbidden.

9:20 So here's this weak brother who has the root of the matter in him. He's a brother. He's one for whom Christ has died, whose heart is bent upon being holy. Now, in this particular setting of Romans 14, what happens?

9:35 Well, as he gets up one morning and he thinks, now, I want to be holy today and that means I will not do anything forbidden of God. In his mind, he thinks that God has forbidden the eating of certain meats. So he cannot eat meat. Why?

9:53 For him, it's inconsistent with the pursuit of holiness. Take, for instance, Peter, with reference to eating some of that nice fat pork and some of those juicy pork chops that were let down in the sheet. There in the book of Acts, he said, Lord, I can't eat that stuff. They look good, may taste good, but it's unclean.

10:13 Nothing unclean has ever come into my mouth. You see, I can't be a holy man. I can't be a true servant of Christ. You see what we're driving at now?

10:22 He gets up in the morning and he says, Lord, whatever I eat today, it cannot be certain meats because I believe in my religious perspective that they are forbidden by God. And I want to be holy. And holiness means, on the one hand, not partaking of what God forbids. Furthermore, this happens to be a special ceremonial fast day or feast day.

10:47 And this poor man thinks that he's still obligated to keep these days. So he dare not look upon this day as just any other day in the week. He says, why, this is a special day. And to the Lord, I must keep this day and enter into all that God has intended by marking out this special ceremonial feast day or fast day.

11:10 That's why Paul says he that regards the day, verse six, regards it unto the Lord. He's doing it in the pursuit of holiness. Now, get the picture of the weak brother. He gets up in the morning and he says, whatever I do in the realm of eating, I cannot eat this or that because it would be a violation of my pursuit of holiness.

11:32 The way I regard this day, I must regard it in the light of my conviction that it is a special day appointed by God to be kept for God in a peculiar way. Therefore, to be holy means that I regard this day as unto the Lord. Now, he isn't long into the day before his strong brother comes by. And lo and behold, he starts talking about the wonderful sausage and eggs breakfast that he had that morning.

12:02 And everything in him says, how in the world can my brother Joe, I thought he wanted to be a holy man, but since holiness for me before God means no sausage with my eggs, the world can Joe really be sincere. He says he wants to be holy. I mean, he sits in the same congregation with me and prays and sings more holiness. Give me more likeness to Christ.

12:32 But I think he's a phony. I mean, how in the world can a guy really want to be holy and disregard this matter of distinction in foods?

12:45 And he's just about beginning to push that in the back of his mind when his friend says, well, I'll see you later. I'm going down to such and such a place with my kids today. And we're going to spend the day in the park. You mean you aren't going to give this day peculiar religious significance?

13:02 He says, why, of course not. And the poor fellows, he's sent into a tailspin again. He said, how in the world can he be pursuing holiness? God's mark this day out is a special day.

13:14 And he acts like it's just any other old day. We begin to question. In fact, if he goes on that way, it won't be long before he's going to go clean out of the Christian faith and be an apostate. He's going to fall.

13:33 How do we know that's what Paul's driving at? Well, look at the language again. Verse four. Who art thou that judgeth the servant another to his own Lord, he standeth or falleth.

13:47 Yea, he shall be made to stand for the Lord has power to make him stand. One man esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

14:00 He that regards the day, he says, all right, Mr. Weak man, you regarded out of conscience to God. Fine. He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks.

14:11 He that eateth not unto the Lord, he eateth not and giveth God thanks for none of us. Weak or strong, if we are believers, lives to himself and none dies to himself. For whether we live, we live to the Lord. Whether we die, we die to the Lord.

14:25 Whether we live, therefore die. We are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ both died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But thou, why does thou judge thy brother comes back to Mr.

14:38 Weak man and then he comes to Mr. Strong man or thou again. And why does thou said it not thy brother? We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

14:47 You see what he's saying? He's saying, look, Mr. Weak man, if you bring your brother to the bar of your scruples, you're doing three things, you're usurping the prerogatives of God to his own master. A servant standard for Mr.

15:08 Weak man, don't you push God off the throne and try to take his place with your friend George, you let him eat his sausage, though you couldn't eat it. You give him his right to eat it and not grudgingly acknowledge that the same Lord who brought you into loving subjection to himself as the fruit of the intention of his own death is the one who's brought your friend into the same subjection to himself as the fruit of the same death to this end. Christ both died and rose again. Don't you?

15:45 The prerogatives of God. Secondly, he questions the validity of his brother's professed submission to Christ. That's why Paul keeps emphasizing when he does not regard the day. He does not regard it as one answerable to God.

15:59 When he regards it, he regards it as one answerable to God. When a man eats, he eats, giving God thanks. In other words, he says, Mr. Weak man, don't you dare question the validity of your brother's professed submission to Christ Christ is his Lord as well as yours.

16:15 Don't ever forget it. And then there seems to be not as clear, but I think it's a third dimension of this in first Corinthians eight eight. He says, you show Mr. Weak man a blurred vision of the essential issues of the Christian life.

16:32 He says in first Corinthians eight dealing with this matter of meats offered to idols. He says, why are you getting all uptight about this business anyway? Verse eight of first Corinthians eight food will not commend us to God, neither if we eat not are we the worse, nor if we eat are we the better. He says, are you going to allow your whole perspective and relationship to your brethren to stand or fall on the matter of foods?

16:57 He says, how ridiculous eating foods and standing from foods? What basic difference does that make in your relationship to God? What can the difference of vegetable protein or meat protein in your belly do with your relationship to the God of the universe through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit? He says, now, tell me the connection between those things and then maybe I'll get all upset with you.

17:19 He tries to show them how ridiculous it is. So I say to any of the weak among us whose consciences have scruples about things which don't seem to bother others. It may be in the area of what you eat, what you drink, what you wear, where you go, how you keep certain days, how you don't keep them in the whole spectrum of the things included in these I solemnly charge every weak brother, and I don't say weak in a despising way. I say it in the sense of the biblical usage.

17:58 But I say to every weak brother or sister, as I have solemnly charged the strong with much greater vehemence because there's much more material. I solemnly charge you do not be guilty of judging your brethren. Don't usurp the place of God. Don't question the validity of your brother's professed submission to Christ.

18:22 And don't show that you have a distorted vision of the essential issues of the Christian life. All right. Second responsibility of the weaker brother. In addition to this responsibility not to pass judgment on the strong, he must not violate the present light and standard of his own conscience.

Responsibility 2: The Weaker Brother Must Not Violate His Own Conscience

18:47 He must not violate the present light and standard of his own conscience. And I read several portions again from Romans 14 and first Corinthians chapter eight. The apostle says in Romans 14 and verse five, he that regards the day. I'm sorry. Verse five.

19:10 One man esteem with one day above another. Another esteem with every day alike. Let each man. Here's the key word.

19:17 Be fully assured in , in his own mind. Now, that's real vigorous biblical individualism. Let each man, each man, each woman, each boy, each girl. We're not going to have some kind of consensus of the Trinity Church mentality on these issues.

19:42 When that day comes, God have mercy on us. So often I get letters from people. What's the position of your church on this, on that? And on the other thing, things concerning which the word of God is silent.

19:55 And then they say, what's the position of reformed Baptist? And so there's some kind of pope sitting somewhere sending out his decrees with his blue list of forms of recreation that are permissible and his blacklist of books and forms of entertainment that are ridiculous. But that mentality is so pervasive in evangelicalism that I get letters literally all the time. What does your church say about this?

20:24 And well, of course, I can't dictate back seven sermons on Christian Liberty. So I tell him to get in touch with Roger and get the series from the Trinity pulpit. That's what I tell him to do. So this matter, you see, is so vital.

20:41 Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Now, once he's come to a persuasion out of religious principles. Now, remember, we're talking about a man answerable to the Lordship of Christ. That's the dominant emphasis in the first 12 verses.

20:57 Now, he says, first 40. I know and then persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself. Now, that's nothing in the context. There are things unclean in themselves.

21:09 The Bible says no unclean person shall enter the kingdom of heaven. The nothing must be interpreted in the context. Nothing in the way of foods is unclean of itself. Nothing. That's what he's talking about in the context.

21:23 Say. If to him who accounted anything to be unclean in his own persuasion, he accounts a thing to be unclean, this man that cannot eat meat to him. It is unclean. Here's a man fully persuaded.

21:39 We go back to our friend, you see, fully persuaded that it would be uncleanness. It would be contrary to practical holiness to eat meat or certain forms of meat. Now, what is he to do? Well, the apostle goes on to say to this person.

21:55 If that's so, verse 22 and three, the faith which thou hast have to thyself before God. Happy is he that judges not himself in that which he approveth. But he that doubteth is that man who says, well, you know, maybe, maybe it's all right. That maybe Rob go ahead and have.

22:19 He's not fully persuaded that he can take that meat and say, oh, God, my father, to whom this world belongs, oh, God, my father, who's given me all things richly to enjoy. I received this meat as your gift. I eat it with thanksgiving. Strengthen me to do your will.

22:41 He can't do that. He says, well, well, you know, other people, this job. Well, what? Well, I'll go ahead and have a piece of meat.

22:49 And every time he's masticating every chump of his uppers and his lowers on that piece of meat, he's getting pain, not in his uppers and his lowers, not in his benches. He's getting pain where? In his spirit. Why? He's condemning himself.

23:09 Because why? He that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith. And whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

23:23 And I say to any who are weak in conscience, weak in knowledge, weak in faith in any of these areas, do not violate the present light and standard of your conscience for anything or for any one. For when you have religious scruples about anything and you still indulge in that thing, or in the case of keeping special days, you do not keep that special day. You are taking, of course, of action, which to you is sin. And that is sin, for you are choosing that which may be innocent in itself.

24:02 But because it is moral evil in the present standard of your conscience, the very fact that you're making a choice in the direction of moral evil is sin. And God says it must not be done. Notice the same emphasis in First Corinthians eight verses ten to thirteen. Food will not commend us to God, neither if we eat are we the worse, nor if we eat are we the better.

24:30 Thinking in terms of the influence of the food upon us, objectively, apart, from our conscience in relationship to it, Paul says, why get all uptight about it? But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours, speaking to the strong, become a stumbling block to the weak. For if a man see thee who has knowledge sitting at meat in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through thy knowledge, he that is weak perisheth, the brother for whose sake Christ died, and thus sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience.

25:09 When it's weak, you sin against Christ. What's the whole thrust of what the apostle is saying? Well, it's precisely this. When the weaker brother is emboldened to partake of something against the dictates of his conscience, he's putting himself in the path of destruction.

25:25 And there's only one path of destruction. That's the path of sin. And so undergirding all of the apostles statements here is the assumption that to annihilate one's present light and standard of conscience in the realm of religious scruples is to choose a path of evil. And so I say to some of you who are still weak in areas of conscience where perhaps the majority of the assembly may be strong, don't be bullied by some kind of group pressure to go one iota beyond the present persuasion of your conscience.

Distinguishing Religious Scruples from Subjective Feelings

26:11 Not one iota. He that doubteth is judged if he eat, for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Now, let me give a word of caution. There is a difference between religious scruples rooted in conscience and subjective feelings rooted in habit and past patterns.

26:36 Now, there may be times when you'll have to kick your feeling right in the teeth in order to get them to catch up with your conscience. For instance, here's a person brought up a devout Roman Catholic and all his life, all her life, she or he has been taught that to be a good Catholic, you do this, that and the other thing. All right. One of the things in the ritual was going through the rosary every single morning.

27:04 I mean, as much as you put the left foot out first, whatever foot you put out first, put your socks on, brush your teeth and whatever your morning ritual is, this person part of that morning ritual for years was thumbing through the rosary. All right. Now, the Lord is pleased to save this person, bring them out of the blindness and the bondage and emptiness of Romanism into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Does that mean that automatically the morning after he or she is saved, there'll be no tendency to slip into the past pattern of reaching for the rosary?

27:36 No, no. You see, the person has been so mechanically and psychologically and emotionally conditioned to reach for the rosary. If you're, you know, if you're really going to be good, you've got to reach for the rosary that they may really feel funny facing the day without the rosary as much as some of us feel funny going out to the day when we forgot to brush our teeth after night, you know, that cruddy, crummy feeling. You feel funny. Well, they may feel the same way.

28:00 Now, what does that person have to do? Does that mean that they must now look upon that as the dictates of conscience and go say the rosary? Of course not. They must say, now, look, my conscience, looking to the word of God, says there's one mediator.

28:14 And I've come to him in faith and he's introduced me to the Father and this feeling of uneasiness or even what on the surface seems to be a guilt feeling. If I don't fund that little string of beads in the mumbo jumbo prayers that I was taught, that's ridiculous. And that person needs to walk over the feelings until the feelings catch up with the dictates of a conscience enlightened by the word of God. You see, now some of us have had to learn the difference between those two things.

28:46 The weak brother is the brother whose problems of conscience arise out of religious scruples. He's thinking of his posture before God in the light of what he understands his word to teach. Now, if God gives you a new light from his word as to the path of duty, you may have to use the term again, kick your feelings in the teeth and walk away and let them let the guns bleed and say, I refuse to have my whole inner psychological and emotional makeup bound up with rules and regulations that are not of God.

29:24 You take the person who's been taught all his life that to be holy, you wear a certain type of clothes, someone perhaps who wore plain clothes out of religious conviction, and they see the ridiculousness of this. I'm sure they have funny emotional feelings the first time they put on a brightly colored tie. Well, they may have to deliberately keep putting it on until their feelings catch up with their conscience. You see the difference?

Responsibility 3: The Weaker Brother Must Not Be Content to Remain Weak

29:45 There's a fine line I know, and that can be abused, but I feel from a pastoral stamp point that must be said to those of you who may be weak in some areas. So that's the second line of directive. You must not judge the strong. You must not violate the present light and dictates of your conscience.

30:03 And then thirdly, you must not be content to remain forever weak. And that's my word of direction. And I believe I have biblical warrant for it in the very manner in which the Apostle Paul deals with these things, there is a very positive teaching. Element notice how cleverly he does this in Romans 1414.

30:26 Now he's going to zero in on the strong man and he's going to tell Mr. Strong man to deny himself for the sake of the weak. But don't you get something of the tremendous pressure that he's bringing to bear upon the weak at the realm of their understanding? I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself.

30:50 Well, it's as though Paul is. He's saying, now, look, God has given me as an apostle, a peculiar place of responsibility in serving the Church of Christ. I'm a bond slave of Christ. And yet the same Paul could say, I do not come behind the chiefest of apostles in my labors and here's some humble new saint there who's got these deep seated convictions, tempted to judge his stronger brethren, saying, no, sir, we just can't eat certain forms of meat.

31:18 And we've got and all of a sudden one of the elders reads that morning. Here's the great Apostle Paul, whose fame in the gospel is throughout all the churches, says in one sweeping declaration, I know and am persuaded in virtue of my union with Christ that nothing is unclean. What's that do to this poor fellow's whole list of taboo meats? He says it's an invalid list.

31:42 You better reconsider it. Isn't that what he's saying? I know and am persuaded nothing. However, he said until he does that, reconsidering you strong bent bent.

31:50 But you see, he's gotten in a little. Big, a loving dig to the weak, to instruct them. He does the same thing in first Corinthians, chapter eight, again, in this sort of offhanded way, as though why it should be obvious to anyone. Verse four concerning, therefore, the eating of things sacrificed to idols.

32:11 We know that no idol is anything in the world. This is what anybody who knows his own name knows that an idol is really nothing. And that there's no God but one, though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven and earth is there God's many and Lord's many yet to us one God, the father of whom are all things and we unto him and one Lord through whom are all things and we through him, how be it there's not in all men this knowledge. You see what he's saying? It should be self-evident.

32:39 We know there's no such thing as an idol. So you're getting all upset that this piece of meat was one time offered to an idol. Now it's sold in the shambles, a good piece of bargain meat. He says, in essence, what do you get all upset for?

32:51 An idol is nothing. So how can nothing change something? The piece of meat was a piece of meat before it was offered to the idol. All right. The idol is nothing.

32:58 What is the piece of meat after it's been offered to nothing? It's still a piece of meat. This is not that simple, isn't it? You see what he's doing? He's saying to the weak.

33:06 Now, maybe you better reexamine your position. I mean, you're all uptight about this meat business. It may be not quite as important as you think it is. Now, what's he doing?

33:15 Well, I suggest that what he's doing is he's saying to the weak, you must not be content forever to remain weak. And though. Paul was the greatest example of one who complied to the nth degree, as we say, with the self-denying demands made upon him by the weak, even saying, I'm willing to become a vegetarian for life if I'm surrounded by weak brethren to whom eating meat will be an occasion of stumbling. He says, I'll not eat any meat while the world stands.

33:55 Yet while taking that posture of self denying love, he does not think it a contradiction of love to become an instructor to the weak, encouraging them to go on from weakness of conscience to strength of conscience. And why? Well, we touch some of this in one of our initial studies, because the liberty that is ours in Christ was purchased at so dear a price that it is in great measure, crass, indifference to what Christ is purchased if we do not appreciate our liberty in Christ. That's why Paul could say in Galatians five for freedom. Did Christ set you free? Be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage in first Corinthians. He says you've been purchased with a price.

34:50 Be not the servants of men. Don't let men bind your conscience. Certainly we ought not to allow past tradition. And indistinct views of God and his world and things in our place in it.

35:08 And so I say to some of you and I said again, I trust in true Christian love. Who are my weak brothers and sisters? Don't be content forever to remain weak, but ask God by the Holy Spirit to strengthen your faith, to believe what he says in his word that God has given us richly. And all things to enjoy.

35:35 That doesn't mean that you will partake of your liberty to enjoy all things. You may wish for a number of reasons to relinquish the exercise of your liberty in every single area where now you do not understand your liberty. You see, not one thing may change in your external conduct. But if you're thinking with reference to those things change, you become a different person.

36:02 It's no longer the idea that so common to the old economy, where God was hedging up His people with rules and regulations, touching meats and washings and days and feasts and all the rest. God called that, through the Apostle, the yoke of bondage which neither we nor our fathers could bear. But you're God's free child with the full run of the house, and you may not choose to play with all your toys for good and wise reasons. You may not choose to indulge in all of your gifts, but just knowing that they're gifts of a loving Father that you're free to use or refuse, out of principles that your Father has given, it takes away that spirit that can best be described as that of a bent-over person whose spine is no longer straight and whose face is cast upon the earth, and it causes you to throw your shoulders back and lift your head up. And to say in the words of the hymn that is not evangelical by any sense, but it fits here, this is my Father's world. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. And so, dear weak brother or sister, do not regard lightly liberties purchased so dearly and which have so much in terms of your own personal blessing involved in them.

Conclusion: Relevance of Christian Liberty and Exhortation to Unity

37:29 Now, in conclusion tonight, let me try to wrap all of this. And say that no doubt there are some of you who sit here and say, what in the world is all this about? Why are people concerned with meats and days and the whole thing's gone clean over my head? Well, my friend, that's perfectly possible.

37:50 But will you just hang in there a little bit while I try to explain to you why the apostle was so concerned about this and why we are? The simple reason is this. If you ever become a true Christian, then you, like these people at Rome and like the people seated here tonight. Will want to know that you're pleasing the Father who saved you in every area of your life.

38:11 They're no longer talking about little things. You want to please him in what you eat, what you drink and whatever you do. Your goal, according to first Corinthians 1031, is to glorify the God who has saved you. And that's why Paul gave whole chapters over to a discussion of these things that may seem very irrelevant to you.

38:30 You say with the world and the message in and with the problems of New York, why don't you speak about something? Right? Well, listen, this is relevant. It's relevant to the people who gather here because they want to be holy.

38:41 They want to please God and they want to edify their brethren and they want to honor the Christ who's purchased them. And those are the great issues that are at stake in this whole matter of Christian liberty. So please, my friend, don't be so quick to write us off as being totally out of it. Could the problem be that the reason you're not with it is because you're out of it?

39:06 Out of it? Out of the family of God? Out of the orbit of the concerns that underlie these things? Oh, my friend, don't be so quick to write all of this off.

39:17 Maybe you ought to pause and reflect and ask yourself, could it be that the reason all of this was so distant and detached from me is I know nothing of the God whom those people in Rome knew, whom the people in Corinth knew, and whom obviously some of those people gathered in that church tonight know. I plead with you, don't write it all off as something irrelevant. And then to you, the people of God, my closing exhortation on this whole subject is best expressed in Romans 15. It's beautiful language, and I hope the word is not saccharine in using it.

39:58 It's beautiful language. Having dealt with this whole subject of Christian liberty and concluding with the exhortation that the strong are to bear. The infirmities of the weak. The apostle envisioning a church which will always have strong and weak dwelling together says, verse 5, now the God of patience and comfort grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus.

40:25 Now, in the context, it's obvious he does not mean that you will all have the same conscience with reference to things indifferent. He means be of the same mind in the midst of your differences. In the midst of the areas where the conscience of this brother and that brother bind them with a different conviction with reference to things concerning which the word of God is silent, be of the same mind one to another. That is the mind of lowly self-service, the mind of mutual love and unfeigned affection and acceptance.

41:05 To what end? That with one accord. You see, if we do not learn how to be of the same mind, we will not be of the same mind. If we relate this doctrine at the grassroots, we may sit under the same roof and in the same pews, but we will not be of one accord.

41:20 The weak brother sitting there saying, that hypocrite, look at him praising God. And do you know that he had his sausage this morning?

41:30 Why, I happen to know that he went to such and such a movie last week. That hypocrite. There's no one accord. Why?

41:39 Because the weak is judging the strong. And the strong happens to know that. The same brother was invited, just in general Christian concern, to go with another brother to a ball game or something. And he said, no, I can't do that with a good conscience.

41:56 And he's heard about that and he sits there and says, how ridiculous. He's despising him. And when he hears him singing praise to God, he said, what's he know about what Christ has done for him? He's so hung up with all of his old fundy, huh?

42:11 What happens? There's no one accord. Paul says, no, no. The God of patience and comfort grants you to be of the same mind, one to another, according to Christ Jesus, that with one accord, ye may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Standard of Mutual Reception and Warning Against Extremes

42:31 Now, how is that going to come to pass? Wherefore, receive ye one another with all your differences. Receive ye one another, even as, here's the standard of mutual reception, even as Christ also received you to the glory of God. Brethren, is it too much to expect that here in this place we shall be kept from man-made rules, from wooden uniformity, from artificial conformity, and maintain liberty while still being sensitive to the weak and the weak, not, as it were, trying to become little popes and bring everyone in submission to their feet?

43:15 I believe it's possible. This is the standard God has set before us. May God grant that we shall cry to him for a fresh baptism of his own love, the love that seeks not its own, the love that bears all things. And it's hard to bear with some weak brethren who have scruples, as Calvin said it so beautifully, and I didn't quote it because some of it was dated, but he talked about the poor weak brother who said he had scruples about this and that.

43:47 He says, Paul, he has scruples about what he eats, and before long he's careful lest he even step upon a straw. And he talks about he who will not drink this will not drink that, and then he ends up saying he'll carry it to the place where the only things he feels he can drink with a good conscience is bitter water. And he saw this in his own day, but he also saw the other extreme. He talked about these wild-headed people who felt the only way to prove they understood liberty was to exercise it in every circumstance.

44:18 And in the presence of everyone, you see, the human heart is not changed, and they got keep us from the callousness on the one hand that exercises liberty with no concern for the weaker brother. And on the other hand, from the tyranny of that kind of autocratic spirit that would cause the weaker brother to demand that the whole assembly bend to the dictates of his conscience. My wife suggested, and I don't think it was a bad suggestion. Maybe we'll follow.

Invitation for Further Questions and Prayer

44:48 We'll follow through on it on Wednesday. Maybe whether or not there's sort of a mopping up study that just brings together any miscellaneous untouched areas of broad concern. Maybe we'll have a little box here Wednesday night. And between now and then, if you have any fundamental questions on the whole thing that we've covered, any aspect of it, you write out your question.

45:08 We'll put it in a box. Phil, will you remember to have a box for us, please? All right. Thank you.

45:13 And if it seems that there are enough broad areas that one sort of general study, followed along the line of some key questions would be in order, then we'll have a sort of a P.S. to the study. But apart from that, this is the conclusion of the study.

45:28 But I trust it will not be the end of our consideration of and obedience to these principles of the word of God. Let us pray.

45:45 Our Father, we are amazed at the completeness of your word.

45:51 When we've spent some weeks examining chapters such as these that have been before us, we do confess that we ask for no further revelation.

46:02 We do not ask for additional revelation. We do not ask for fresh prophecies or words from heaven. We feel in our heart of hearts if we could but plumb the depths of what is already given. We should truly know what we ought to know concerning your will for us.

46:24 Therefore, we plead in the very language of Scripture, open thou our eyes that we may be. Behold wondrous things out of thy law. Our Father, we thank you for the measure to which you've helped us as a congregation in our understanding and outworking of these principles. But we pray for more light and for more grace.

46:48 Deliver us as a people from the curse of man-made uniformity. Deliver us from the curse of man-made standards. O Lord, deliver us from the tyranny of a wooden, rigid conformity in matters indifferent. Grant that all of us together may grow in our appreciation of the liberty that is ours in Christ.

47:13 But, O Lord, with that, give us an increasing growth in the understanding of what our responsibilities are in the exercise or in the withholding of the exercise of those liberties. May we grow in self-denying love. May we, by love, serve one another. O our Father, as we pray for ourselves, we confess that our hearts bleed tonight when we see whole segments of the evangelical church following rules and regulations that were never laid upon them by the head of the church, while indifferent to so much that is clearly revealed.

47:57 O God, have mercy upon your people. Will you not, in wrath, remember mercy and come to your people with such gales of heavenly blessing that they shall know and enjoy their liberty in Christ and be so immersed in the love of Christ that there will be the willing relinquishment of that liberty for the cause of the gospel in the pursuit of holiness, in the concerns of the weaker brethren. O Father, hear our prayers. For tonight, seal to our hearts the word we have studied, and may the blessing of your own presence rest upon us and abide with us as we leave this place and as we part one from another. Hear us as we bring our petitions and our praise. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.