The Bible is not explicit in many areas, yet in the unexplained things, many people are found exerting effort all day long while ignoring or paying little attention to the explicit matters. Much of this misguided attention consumes the internet, while the explicit fact remains that the true Israel of God in Christ hopes in the LORD. Then people wonder why so many do not have the peace of a weaned child from his mother.
Psalms 131:1 KJV LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.
Psalms 131:2 KJV Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.
Psalms 131:3 KJV Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever.
A doubtful disputation arises when someone attempts to read a personal or denominational interpretation into a text, leading them to believe the text says and demands more than what is actually stated. Those who are weak in faith often compensate with a zeal not based on knowledge, which leads them to attack and misjudge other believers for not aligning with their private or corporate interpretation. Such doubtful disputes will be accounted for at the judgment seat of Christ, where there will be a loss of reward.
The question is: Why do you do what you do? Is it for self, other men, or for God?
Romans 14:1 KJV Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Romans 14:2 KJV For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Romans 14:3 KJV Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Romans 14:4 KJV Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Romans 14:5 KJV One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Romans 14:6 KJV He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Romans 14:7 KJV For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
Romans 14:8 KJV For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
Romans 14:9 KJV For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
Romans 14:10 KJV But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Might as well start practicing now. When was the last time you bowed and confessed before God?
Romans 14:11 KJV For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Romans 14:12 KJV So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
In 1993, I became a born-again Christian and felt led to abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages. In 1997, I relapsed with a single six-pack of beer, realized it was pointless, and have not had an alcoholic beverage since. One of the reasons for this is that I wanted to be an example to my children first and foremost. I didn’t want to ever be their excuse for drunkenness; in other words, I didn’t want to be a stumbling block to them. As an elder in the church, this same principle applies and remains in my life.
Romans 14:13 KJV 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.
Romans 14:14 KJV I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, so you can parade it as an offense to others to prove a point. Even that which is good, in the wrong hands, can be evil spoken of.
Romans 14:15 KJV But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
Romans 14:16 KJV Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
Romans 14:17 KJV For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
If you want to build another believer up, concentrate on the Builder, not the Destroyer, of peace.
Romans 14:18 KJV For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
Romans 14:19 KJV Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
Romans 14:20 KJV For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
Romans 14:21 KJV It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
If you and your spouse decide to have a glass of wine together in your own privacy, that is your business if it’s in the context of faith. However, the Scripture clearly states not to parade such things in the church, knowing that the consumption of any alcohol can be a stumbling block within the church.
As for my wife, she has not had a glass of wine in her entire life. She has no plans to start now. She despises it all, for her dad was killed by a drunk driver.
Romans 14:21 KJV It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Romans 14:22 KJV Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
Romans 14:23 KJV And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Just because a congregation weeps doesn’t mean they are weeping in repentance before God. Self-pity is unnecessary and misguided. It believes we deserve something when, in reality, we deserve nothing.
Numbers 14:1 KJV And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Numbers 14:2 KJV And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
I am preaching through the Bible chapter by chapter, and my social media numbers and stats are declining. If you did the same in most churches across America, you would sadly see the same result. Most congregations today are not looking for sound teaching; they are looking for entertainment.
When the fear of circumstances appears in our lives, we will respond in one of two ways: trusting in ourselves,
Numbers 14:4 KJV And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
or trusting in the LORD.
Numbers 14:5 KJV Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
Who can be against us if the LORD is for us?
Numbers 14:8 KJV If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Numbers 14:9 KJV Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
Romans 8:31 KJV What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
People often attempt to stone me with their words for preaching the Word of God. Over time, I’ve learned to feel sorry for them instead of offended.
Numbers 14:10 KJV But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
Numbers 14:11 KJV And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
Numbers 14:12 KJV I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
Intercession for the salvation of one's nation is not in vain, for it’s a fruit of faith. However, the citizens thereof must personally intercede on their own behalf as well for the salvation of their souls.
Numbers 14:13 KJV And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
Numbers 14:14 KJV And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
Numbers 14:15 KJV Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
Numbers 14:16 KJV Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
Numbers 14:17 KJV And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
Numbers 14:18 KJV The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Numbers 14:19 KJV Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
Numbers 14:20 KJV And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
There may be forgiveness from rebellion against God. However, the consequences often remain on this side of heaven.
Numbers 14:27 KJV How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
Numbers 14:28 KJV Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
Numbers 14:29 KJV Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,
Our sins have an effect on our children.
Numbers 14:33 KJV And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
How is such an evil congregation America's greatest ally today?
Numbers 14:35 KJV I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
If the LORD closes a door because of our sin, it is not repentance to attempt to force the door open.
Numbers 14:39 KJV And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
Numbers 14:40 KJV And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.
Numbers 14:41 KJV And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.
Numbers 14:42 KJV Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
The enemies of God mock Him, thinking they are in control. The king of Assyria felt it was their power and strength that ultimately destroyed the high places of the Jews, believing Hezekiah's God was no match for the Assyrian gods. Such places of worship were a show of force and strength; diminishing them was perceived as a sign of weakness in the eyes of the Assyrian. However, in the case of Hezekiah's reform, it was actually a demonstration of strength and faith, not weakness and surrender to the enemy.
Isaiah 36:7 KJV But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
Where are the Assyrians and their gods today, yet the Word of God remains? Boast all you want, child of hell, but my response has already been spoken, for it is written.
Isaiah 36:18 KJV Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Isaiah 36:19 KJV Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Isaiah 36:20 KJV Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
Isaiah 36:21 KJV But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
Father, thank You for Your Word that endures forever! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
