Faith Over Fear.

 We believe. However, I think we sometimes forget that we believe. How do the men and women Christ followers suffer all the way through torture, and still believe when my life gets tossed about with car troubles, health issues, future insecurities and I forget to believe? I have to word it that way because I do believe, I know I believe and I know Christ is helping my unbelief, so why do I forget? Why do I let myself get caught up in uncertainties? Why do I borrow the trouble of tomorrows possibilities? Why do I question the reasons for situations I know are in God's hands? I could use the excuse I do all that because I'm human and that is true. I'm extremely infallible in many ways, but I have a God who is greater than my sinful humanity. I have His promises. A person suffering severe painful torture near to death, in throes of agony beyond my grasp of truly comprehending and still their mouth rasps out whispers of praise to God not only for their own situation but that of their torturers is something I marvel at! That person is human with all humanities infallible ways as well, yet they choose faith over fear. Can I choose faith over fear? Is it a choice? It goes against so much in me, so much of my character, so much of my genetic make-up, so much of my tendencies, so much of who I am and have been since childhood. I was the little girl who still remembers being so frightened of Kindergarten that I could barely breathe. I remember scuffing the toes of my brand new school shoes in the dirt over and over being so nervous and being scolded for doing so. I was that little five year old that somehow found it too fearful to carry my nap blanket to school so my sister did it for me. That little girl grew into a fearful big girl, and that fear shifted and altered to meet new circumstances. That fear ebbed and flowed in different ways for different reasons. That fear was believed conquered through Christ but reared its ugly head to beat me down even as I cried out to be saved from its mental, emotional pain. Faith over fear.  Maybe it's a daily thing, or at times an hourly thing. Maybe it's a choice that isn't made all at once and declared but rather a choice made in situation after situation for the rest of my life. Faith over fear. Maybe the fear needs to be felt for the faith to rise up through outright choosing beyond all comprehension to believe. Faith over fear, maybe it is feeling the awful symptoms of fear and still believing even though the symptoms persist, my God is greater than those and they won't diminish my choice to believe my God will see me through all things, because HE strengthens me, I can't strengthen myself. Faith over fear, like so many things in our lives we are taught should be automatic, but aren't for us like we imagine they should be, we must choose deliberately and hold fast to in spite of all things contrary to having that faith. Faith over fear, Lord I believe, You, Lord, You help my unbelief. Lord help me to remember to believe. Faith over fear. You, Lord, conqueror of all, even death. By Your mercy and grace, through Your will now and forever. Amen.

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Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 15 Excerpt

Romans 15:1-7

1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 

2 Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. 

3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written,  The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 

4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 

5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus; 

6 that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

"How to Please Others. This is still further shown by the exhortation, "Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification." We are never exhorted to aid a brother to sin, in order to please him. Neither are we exhorted to close our eyes to a brother's sin, and allow him to go on in it without warning him, lest we displease him. There is no kindness in that. The exhortation is, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; thou shalt in anywise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him." Lev. 19:17. The mother who would be so fearful of displeasing her child that she would not stop it from putting its hand into the blaze, would be exhibiting cruelty instead of kindness. We are to please our neighbors, but only for their good, not to lead them astray.

Bearing Others' Weaknesses. Going back to the first verse, we find this lesson still more strongly emphasized:  "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves." "For even Christ pleased not himself." Compare this with Galatians 6:1, 2: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such on one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." In bearing the infirmities of the weak, we are fulfilling the law of Christ. But to bear another's burdens does not mean to teach him that he can safely ignore any of the commandments. To keep the commandments of God is not a burden; for "his commandments are not grievous."  1 John 5:3.

How Christ Bears Our Burdens. Christ bears our burdens, not by taking away the law of God, but by taking away our sins, and enabling us to keep the law. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." Rom. 8:3, 4.

He Says "Come." One blessed thing in the service of the Lord is that he does not say, "Go," but, "Come." He does not send us away to labor by ourselves, but calls us to follow him. He does not ask anything of us that he does not himself do. When he says that we ought to bear the infirmities of them that are weak, we should take it as an encouragement, instead of a task laid upon us, since it reminds us of what he does for us. He is the mighty One, for we read, "I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people." Ps.  89:19. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Is. 53:4, 6.

Why the Task Is Easy. This is what makes it easy to bear one another's burdens. If we know that Christ bears our burdens, it will become a pleasure for us to bear the burdens of others. The trouble is that too often we forget that Christ is the Burden-bearer, and, being over powered with the weight of our own infirmities, we have still less patience with those of others. But when we know that Christ is indeed the Burden-bearer, we cast our own care upon him; and then when we make the burden of another our own, he bears that too."

As Christ Received Us.

 Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 15 Excerpt

The fourteenth chapter of Romans presented to us our duty towards those who are weak in the faith, and who have excessively conscientious scruples with regard to things that are in themselves of no consequence. We are not judges of one another, but must all appear before [Christ's] judgment seat. If we have more knowledge than our brother, we are not arbitrarily to bring him to our standard, any more than he is to bring us down to his. Our greater knowledge rather throws upon us the responsibility of exercising the greater charity and patience.

The sum of it all is contained in these verses: "For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure;  but it is evil for that man who eateth with offense. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God."

The Duty of Helping One Another Romans 15:1-7

1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 

2 Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. 

3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written,  The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 

4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 

5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus; 

6 that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

Receiving One Another. The verses composing this chapter supplement the instruction given in chapter fourteen, and are a continuation of that. Thus, that chapter opens with the exhortation, "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye." The last verse of our present study is, "Wherefore receive ye one another."

How Are We to Receive One Another? The answer is, "As Christ also received us." This again emphasizes the statement that the apostle had not the slightest intention in any way of depreciating any one of the Ten Commandments when in the fourteenth chapter he said: "One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."

Christ did not in the slightest degree make any concessions in the commandments in order to accommodate those whom he would receive. He said, "Think not that I came to destroy the law, or the prophets." Matt. 5:17.  Again, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." John 15:10. Christ's commandments and those of the Father are the same,  because he says, "I and my Father are one." John 10:30. When a young man wished to follow him, he said to him,  "Keep the commandments." Matt. 19:17. Therefore it is evident that in making concessions for the sake of peace and harmony, no concession is to be made in respect to keeping the commandments of God.

Help Thou Their Unbelief.

 Oh, how we wish we could have faith for another, even when we question our own faith and pray for God to help our unbelief. We believe, we cry out, and we ask for help for our unbelief. We look at those around us who profess no belief at all, and we long to have them believe. We long for God to help their unbelief. We want to share our belief with them, our faith, our convictions but a heart has to be convicted on its own, a heart has to believe on its own, we can give none of our own faith at all, but we can share our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can live Christ. We can live clinging to our Savior despite all of Satan's attempts to bring us to despair. We can pray for heart convictions of those who do not believe, pray their hearts cry out for the Savior, that they have even the tiniest of belief that the Lord will help all the rest of their unbelief.  Please, Lord, please. We believe, help our unbelief, we believe, help thou their unbelief! Please, Lord, please.

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The Limitations of Conscience.

"Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God." 

Faith and conscience pertain to single individuals. 

No man can have faith for another. 

No man can have faith enough to serve for two.

The teaching of the Roman Church is that certain ones have had more faith than they needed, and have been more righteous than was necessary, so that they can divide with other people; but the Bible teaches that it is impossible for any man to have more faith than will serve to save himself. Therefore, no matter how well one man's faith may be instructed, no other man can be judged by it.

We hear a great deal in these days about the public conscience. We are often told that the conscience of one man is outraged by the course of another. But it is with conscience as with faith, no man can have enough for two. 

The man who thinks that his conscience will serve for himself and for somebody else, has mistaken selfish obstinacy for conscience. It is this mistaken idea of conscience that has led to all the horrible persecutions that have ever been perpetrated in the name of religion.

Let Christians all understand that conscience is between themselves and God alone.

They are not at liberty to impose even their freedom of conscience upon another; but by the laws of the kingdom of Christ, they are obliged even to refrain at times from exercising their own freedom, out of consideration for others. That is to say,  the man who can walk fast, is to help along his weak brother, who is going the same way, but more slowly. But he is not to turn around to please somebody who is walking the other way.'

Excerpt- Articles on Romans  by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 14

Peace With Each Other.

 

Living for the Kingdom

Not Meat and Drink.

Living for Others Romans 14:14-23

14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. 16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of; 17 for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. 19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. 20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offense. 21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. 22 Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. 23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

Many errors arise from careless reading of the Bible, and from hasty conclusions from detached statements, as from wilful perversion of the word. Possibly many more are the result of lack of proper thought than of deliberate willfulness. Let us therefore always take heed how we read.

Clean and Unclean. If we consider well the subject under consideration, we shall not wrest this scripture from its connection. The thing presented from the beginning of the chapter is the case of a man with so little real knowledge of Christ that he thinks righteousness is to be obtained by the eating of certain kinds of food, or by not eating certain things. The idea clearly conveyed by the entire chapter is that it is by faith, and not by eating and drinking, that we are saved.

A little consideration of the question of clean and unclean food will help us much. There is a strange idea prevalent, to the effect that things that were at one time unfit for food are perfectly wholesome now. Many people seem to think that even unclean beasts are made clean by the gospel. They forget that Christ purifies men, not beasts and reptiles.

There were plants that were poisonous in the days of Moses, and those same plants are poisonous now. The very people who seem to think that the gospel makes everything fit to eat, would be as much disgusted at the thought of eating cats, dogs, caterpillars, spiders, flies, etc., as any Jew would have been in the days of Moses.  Instead of finding that a knowledge of Christ reconciles one to such a diet, we find, on the contrary, that it is only the most degraded savages who make use of them for food, and such a diet is both a sign and cause of degradation. Enlightenment brings carefulness in the selection of food.

Now there is no one who can imagine the apostle Paul or any other person of good sense and refinement eating everything that he could possibly find on earth. Although most people think themselves wiser than God in the matter of eating and drinking, there are, as there always have been, certain things universally held to be unfit for food. Therefore when the apostle says that nothing is unclean of itself, he evidently confines his remark to those things which God has provided for man's eating. There are people whose conscience is so poorly instructed that they fear to eat even of things which God has given to be eaten; just as there are some who forbid the eating of "food which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving." 1 Tim. 4:3.

So when the apostle says, "One believeth that he may eat all things," it is evident that the "all things" does not include filth. The idea evidently is that one believes that he may eat everything that is fit to be eaten. But another, having for instance the thought that some of those things may have been devoted to an idol, fears to eat of them lest he should thereby become an idolater. The eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians makes this whole subject plain, as it runs parallel with the fourteenth of Romans.

This throws light also upon the subject of days. Since the apostle evidently confines his remarks concerning food to that which it is allowable to eat, it is more clear that those days which may be considered as all alike are those days only which God has not sanctified to himself.

The Nature of the Kingdom. "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Over that kingdom Christ has been set as King, for God has said, "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." Ps. 2:6. Now read further the words of the Father to the Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things: "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Heb. 1:8, 9.

Articles on Romans  by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 14

We Are Servants.