God’s way or no way

Romans 14:9-13

Introduction: In Paul’s letter to the Christians at Rome, he addressed the attitude of the church. Not in the manner of saying, they had a good attitude or bad attitude, but he reminded them of what was important and how they needed to handle their testimony. The church was young and it was intermingled with people from differing backgrounds, the Jew, the Greek, the Romans, and all types of cross cultural personalities. But they all had one thing in common; they claimed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which made them brothers and sisters. Paul was afraid these individuals would loose sight of what was important, that their personal opinions were in danger of getting in the way. You know the church today is in danger of falling into this same situation. If you and I aren’t careful, we will loose sight of what’s important and let our personal opinions get in the way of our service to God. Look with me at; Paul’s instruction’s to the Church of Rome and how these instructions apply to our Church today.

I. Christ came for everyone (V. 9)

A. He was resurrected to be Lord over everyone, the lost and those who may claim Him as savior.

II. Why do we (V.10)

A. “Judge” which means to esteem or think highly of

B. “set at naught” which means to set a trip or stumbling device

III. Standing before Christ (V. 10-12)

A. We will bow, or acknowledge Christ as lord

B. We will confess, or give account of why we did or did not do as God ask us too.

IV. Judgment isn’t ours to do (V.13)

Have you ever wondered; what is it about making a judgment or judging that’s so wrong. Well lets take a few minutes and look at the word Judging.

A. What judging is- Determining how a believer uses their freedom in amoral (matters of conscience, not defined biblical teaching) situations.

B. What judging is not- A visual observation of the manner in which a person presents themselves, in contrast to Gods written word. Expounding, i.e. you will know a tree by the fruit it bears, Ephesians ch. 5- don’t be involved in fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking or jesting. Neither will a whoremonger, unclean person, covetous person nor idolater inherit the kingdom of God.

C. Its not sinless perfection, its simple obedience. If we are making a godly effort to be obedient, our life will show it. Likewise, if we are being disobedient our life will show it. God’s word is our road map, our lifestyle is our testimony of whether we follow it or not.

V. Were not to be a stumbling block (V.13)

A. A stumbling block is- Conduct in our life that distracts attention from Jesus Christ, i.e. actions, speech, lifestyle, dress, or attitudes.

B. If we choose to be a stumbling block, we will cause someone to either; fall away from the Lord or delay their decision to accept Christ.

Conclusion: You know we should be grateful that God would not only send His son Jesus to redeem us from our sins. But He also would send His written word and leave it with us to remind us of where we came from and where we should be going. Those directions are simple this morning, if you don’t know Jesus as your personal savior today needs to be the day you make that decision. Living the life of a Christian should not be cumbersome, it should not be a task we begrudge from day to day. We serve the one true God of this universe, He created everything we have, were it not for God and His grace and mercy we would not have any hope for tomorrow or our eternal future. If you’re here today and don’t know Jesus, you need to realize you have no hope, no amount of success will fill that void, no amount of effort will get you into heaven. Today how do you stand with God, are you living a life of obedience or one of disobedience… As our musicians come and prepare a song for us, if the lord is dealing with you will you come.