TOGETHER IN THE MIRACLE OF THE CHURCH
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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 offence.
21 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.
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.
Share a personal story of someone in your life who gave you encouragement that made a difference. Perhaps you remember a teacher, a parent, a coach, a mentor, or someone who encouraged and helped you at a crucial time in your life. You probably also remember the people who weren’t so good at edifying.
Edification is something every one of us needs.
To edify means "to build up." In our text today it refers specifically to building up or encouraging someone in the faith or in his process of growth.
The apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans to the church at Rome which included both Jewish and Gentile believers. The Gentile believers were saved out of pagan backgrounds and had different views on topics such as observing holy days and eating meat that had been dedicated to idols before being sold in the marketplace than the Jewish believers did. The Jews were appalled by the Gentiles eating meat, which was associated with idol worship. The Gentiles were appalled by the Jews' practices of making one day more holy than another. The Jew and Gentile believers had a choice to make-_they could tear each other apart or learn to edify one another.
In Romans 14, Paul wrote to challenge them to grow in grace and to be willing to lay aside lifestyle habits that could be offensive to other believers. He challenged them to be willing to limit their liberty in a spirit of maturity to edify their brothers and sisters in Christ.
In a church family, our differences can either harm the church or bring harmony to it, depending on how we handle them. God calls us to be a people who edify and build one another up in the faith.
1. THE ROOT EDIFICATION
Becoming an edifying person never happens by accident. It comes as we genuinely care about those around us and follow God's instructions for living an edifying life.
LIVE PEACEABLY
Verse 19 of our text instructs us to "follow after the things which make for peace." To follow after is "to run after; to pursue; to seek after eagerly."
Are you actively pursuing peace? Do you purposefully seek to edify your spouse, children, or coworkers?
It is difficult to live peaceably with others around us, even in our homes. Someone once said, "If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be...until the looting started."
Romans 14 gives us four steps to living peaceably:
Stop Living for Self
We will never be a peaceable person if we are focused on ourselves.
Romans 14:7-8
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8 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.
We need to be mindful that our lives affect others, both the lost and the saved. When we seek to live for the glory of the Lord, not the fulfillment of self, we will be able to follow after peace with one another.
Realize the Gospel Is the Focus
Romans 14:9
For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
We might win an argument with someone at work but lose the opportunity to share the gospel with him. Satan would like to get the church bickering over petty things and lose sight of our real purpose- telling of the peace that salvation brings.
Jesus Christ came with a single focus: to seek and to save that which was lost.
Luke 19:10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Focus makes a difference. And when you bring someone to Jesus, you are doing what matters most.
Remember That All Things Will Get Settled at the Judgment Seat of Christ
10 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.
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
To judge in verse 10 means "to be contentious; to dispute with others" and to set at nought means "to despise utterly." If we know that we will eventually have to give an account of how we lived our lives for Christ, we would not be so quick to dispute with or despise others.
8 But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.
9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
Paul tells the Gentile believers that while they might have the liberty to take meat, they should not do so if that action is going to offend the Jewish believers in the church.
As believers, our liberty in Christ should cause us to lovingly serve one another, not selfishly exert our right to do what we want.
Warren Wiersbe said, "There is one thing we should judge: we should judge ourselves to see whether we are abusing our Christian liberty and making others stumble. Certainly nothing is unclean of itself, but some practices and habits are considered unclean by others. Therefore, if we deliberately do something that makes our brothers stumble, we're not living according to the rule of love"
If we are going to live peaceably with one another, we must not cause others to stumble in their Christian walk. Rather, our testimony should help others to walk in peace after Christ.
Live Peaceably
Build Strongly
Living a life of edification involves not only living peaceably, but also building up strongly.
To edify means "to build." If you think of the word edifice, referring to a building, that's the same idea here.
Verse 19 says, "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things where-with one may edify another." We are to be purposefully looking for ways to edify or build up one another.
Each of us has a sphere of influence and is able to edify someone else. As a parent, you can edify your child or as a husband or a wife, you can build up your spouse through your spoken word.
According to Leadership: In Turbulent Times, an essay book about four different presidents, Abraham Lincoln learned to become an orator at a young age through listening to the Baptist preachers of Illinois who challenged him both in his delivery style and in his speech content. We never know who we might edify with our speech and with our lives!!
Who knows if the encouraging word you say in a random moment might make a profound difference in someone's life.
When something good happens to you, instead of taking credit for yourself, you could edify another by acknowledging how they helped you with that accomplishment.
Discussion
Who in your life can you purposefully look for a way to build up this week?
As important as edification is to the church, it will never happen by accident. We must purposefully live peaceably and build strongly.
2. THE FRUIT OF EDIFICATION
To successfully edify one another, we will need to make it a priority in our lives. How do we do this?
Live without Offense
Verse 21 instructs us to avoid partaking of any activity that would cause a fellow Christian to be "offended" or "made weak."
When we offend someone in our manner of life-style, we violate Scripture and abuse the liberty we have in Christ. We end up tearing down a fellow believer rather than building him up.
The goal under grace is not to do what we may be free to do but to avoid causing offense to others.
Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Grace is not our license to live as we please.
Instead, grace teaches us that God works in our hearts, enabling us to live soberly and righteously so that we will not be an offense or stumbling block to others.
If we offend a young Christian by the things that we say or do, it will be more difficult for us to recover him.
None of us are perfect, and we will of course stumble from time to time. But we should seek to avoid what we know could cause another to stumble.
Our actions have a ripple effect on others. They will either be destructive or helpful. Being aware of thismotivates us to live with a godly testimony.
Live without Offense
Live with Faith
Verses 22-23 deal with our conscience in the things we do. Whatever activity we consider getting involved in especially one that may be questionable--we need to be sure that we can do it in faith. Can we do the activity knowing that it pleases God?
Verse 22 says, "Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God." Our faith is built upon truth. We need to stay true to our beliefs or convictions formed by our faith. As a believer, we have the Holy Spirit to convict and guide us in our actions.
If He convicts you against a particular action, you should avoid doing it. If you are dealing with something questionable, ask yourself if you can do that thing in good faith before the Lord without condemning yourself. Verse 22 tells us,
"Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth."
When we do something in doubt, we go against our convictions and end up sinning by hurting our conscience.
1 Corinthians 8:7
Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
If you know something is wrong, yet you continue to do it, you eventually feel less strongly about the conviction you once had about it, and your conscience becomes defiled.
We ought to have a conscience that is tender toward God's voice and examine carefully if we can carry out our actions in faith.
Going against what God has laid on our heart is always wrong, regardless of the specific issue.
The guiding principles in the Bible are very clear:
If something disobeys God's Word, it's wrong. If it violates our conscience before God, it is also wrong.
3. THE PURSUIT OF EDIFICATION
When we speak of the perfection of edification, we do not mean that we are a perfect people. The word perfection here means "mature" or "complete." Through spiritual edification, we can complete and mature one another.
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Teachers of Edification
Notice in Ephesians 4:11 that God gave specific roles and offices to the church to help the believers grow. Some of the roles such as apostles and prophets were temporary. The apostles, who were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ, lived and died in the first century. The prophets once gave revelatory messages to the church, but with the completed Bible, we no longer need the office of an apostle or a prophet to give us revelation.
Some of the God-given roles to the church, how-ever, still continue today. These include the evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
Acts 20:28
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
A pastor is an overseer who is "to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." He is also a teacher of the flock.
Hebrews 13:17
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
The Bible instructs us to obey those that have the rule over us. God has given us church pastors and teachers who have the divine authority of imparting God's infallible Word.
We live in a society that is suspicious of all authority. Some are hostile and disrespectful toward their bosses at work or toward their political leaders. We should never bring such an attitude into our relationship with our pastor. God has ordained that the pastor preach His Word, and when he lovingly admonishes us according to the Bible, we ought to submit ourselves to his spiritual authority. One day, our pastor will have to give an account to God for the church, and it would be wise for us to respond to his care and instruction in our lives.
Teachers of Edification
Testimony of Edification
When we are growing in our Christian walk, following our God-given leaders, and encouraging others, there will be a clear proof of our testimony.
Discussion
Who has God put in your life to help build you up in spiritual maturity?
Ephesians 4:12 tells us we are not alone in our growth in maturity; other spiritual Christians have a role in "perfecting" us or helping to bring us to maturity. God gives us evangelists, pastors, and teachers "For the perfecting of the saints."
1 Thessalonians 3:10
Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
Christians who are spiritual should be helping to bring others to spiritual maturity. We want to mature, then, in our Christian walk, not only for ourselves, but also to be involved in the work of the ministry.
Discussion
What ministry in our church are you involved in (or would you like to be involved in)? Who could you reach out to encouraging them to join you in the work of the ministry?
Ephesians 4:12 gives the reason for the work of the ministry: "for the edifying of the body of Christ." The word edifying here is derived from the Greek word oikodome which means "building up a house; building upon a foundation."
The church's greatest building project isn't buildings but the lives of Christians. This is not only a job for pastors but a responsibility that each Christian should take part in.
1 Corinthians 14:12
Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
As we minister grace to others and edify one an-other, we contribute to the unity of the church.
A friend sitting nearby looked out at the vast crowd in the great hall and asked the preacher, "When will we see A VENUE LIKE THIS filled to capacity for a Christian service?" The pastor pointed to the members of the orchestra playing on the stage and said, "When we see eighty men willing to give absolute obedience to the will of Christ as these give to Barbirolli."
Imagine the great things we could accomplish as a church if we would follow our director the Lord Jesus Christ in unity and seek to edify one another.
The perfection of edification is the maturity of the believer. Let us seek to be perfected in our faith that we can serve in the ministry and edify the body of Christ.
Conclusion
The life of edification begins with living peace-ably. Are your relationships characterized by peace? Are you living without offense toward others so you can be an edifying influence in their lives?
We should also be actively seeking out ways to build up one another. It could be by saying something uplifting to someone who is discouraged, or just showing your appreciation to a coworker.
May we seek to hear God's Word and apply it in our lives so that we can grow in our spiritual maturity and fulfill God's plan--the edification of the church.
We live in a world filled with discouragement.
Satan himself actively seeks to destroy your life, and he would love for you to tear down others with your words or actions.
Christ, however, came to give life and life more abundantly.
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Christ calls us -His people--to be life-giving builders of one another's faith.
Every day, we have the choice to be a destroyer or an edifier. We can tear down with our words and actions, we can cause others to stumble as we misuse our liberty; or we can purposefully seek ways to build up and encourage one another.
Take up the challenge to be the edifier that God calls you to be!