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Romans 14:16-23
There are certain people that have been a particular encouragement to you in our lives.
Aunt Meredith encouraged me with my photography
You probably also remember the people who weren’t so good at edifying.
You may remember seeing this site in the comics strip.
"I have deep emotions of depression," Charlie Brown informed Lucy at Lucy's booth.
"Snap out of it!"
Lucy remarked flatly.
"That will be five cents!"
In another strip, Lucy told Charlie Brown, “I’m not sure what happiness means, but I look in your eyes and I know that it isn’t there.”
Every single one of us needs edification.
The word "edify" literally means "to build up."
It especially relates to edifying or supporting someone in their faith or growing process as we see in our text today.
Slide Map
The book of Romans was written by the apostle Paul to the Roman church, which included both Jewish and Gentile believers.
Gentile believers came from pagan origins and held different beliefs than Jewish believers on matters like holy days and eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols before being sold in the marketplace.
The eating of meat by Gentiles, which had been offered in idol worship, angered the Jews.
The Jews' customs of making one day more sacred than another outraged the Gentiles.
The believers, including Jews and Gentiles, had a decision to make: tear each other apart or learn to edify one another.
Paul challenged them in Romans 14 to grow in grace and to be willing to give up lifestyle practices that might offend other believers.
He challenged them to limit their liberty in a spirit of maturity in order to edify their Christian brothers and sisters.
Our disagreements in a church family can either harm or help the church, depending on how we address them.
God has called us to be a community that edifies and strengthens one another in the faith.
I.
The Passion of Edification
It is impossible to become an edifying person by accident.
It arises as a result of our genuine concern for those around us and our faithfulness to God's instructions for living an edifying life.
A. 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 making a concerted effort to bring about peace?
Do you endeavor to edify your spouse, children, or coworkers on a regular basis?
Even in our own homes, it is difficult to live in harmony with others.
Someone once said, "Imagine how lovely and tranquil it would be if we could simply persuade everyone to close their eyes and visualize world peace for an hour...at least until the looting started,"
Just before our text, Romans 14 gives us four steps to living peaceably:
1. Stop Living for Self
If we are only concerned with ourselves, we will never be able to live in peace.
We need to realize that our actions have an impact on others, both the lost and the saved.
We will have to pursue peace with one another if we want to live for the glory of God rather than just self-fulfillment.
2. Realize the Gospel Is the Focus
We may win an argument at work, but we miss out on an opportunity to share the gospel with that person.
Satan would love nothing more than for the church to get caught up in small squabbles and lose sight of our true mission: to proclaim the peace that salvation provides.
Jesus Christ came with a single goal in mind: to seek and save the lost.
During the Baseball 1957 World Series, Milwaukee Braves star slugger Hank Aaron came up to the plate to bat when New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra tried to distract him and get inside his head.
“Turn your bat around, Hank,” Berra razzed him, “Don’t you know you’re always supposed to see the trademark?”
Aaron silently stood at his place, then launched the pitch past the outfield fence for a home run.
As he touched home plate after rounding the bases, he looked at Berra and said, “I didn’t come up here to read.
I came up here to hit.”
Focus makes a difference.
And when you bring someone to Jesus, you are doing what matters most.
3. Remember That All Things Will Get Settled at the Judgment Seat of Christ
To judge in verse 10 means “to be contentious; to dispute with others” and to set at nought means “to despise utterly.”
We would be less likely to argue with or condemn others if we realized we would have to give an account of how we conducted our lives for Christ.
4. Avoid Causing Others to Stumble
While Gentile believers had the freedom to eat meat, Paul advises them not to do so if it may offend the Jewish believers in the church.
As Christians, our freedom in Christ should motivate us to serve one another in a loving manner rather than selfishly asserting our right to do as we please.
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.”
We cannot cause others to stumble in their Christian walk if we are going to live in peace with one another.
Rather, our testimony should encourage people to walk in peace with Christ.
A. Live Peaceably
B. Build Strongly
Living a life of edification involves not just living peacefully, but also building up others.
The word "edify" means "to build."
The word edifice, which refers to a structure, has the same sense here.
Verse 19 says, “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”
We are to look for ways to edify or build up one another on a regular basis.
Each of us has a sphere of influence over which we might edify others.
You can edify your child as a parent, or you can build up your spouse as a husband or wife, by choosing your words carefully.
Who knows if the encouraging word you say in a random moment might make a profound difference in someone’s life.
I often talk about a layman in our church in Texas that made a simple statement that caused me to get out of my selfish thoughts, and see the world around me that I affected.
North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith instituted a “point to the passer” rule for his players.
Every time a player scored; he would acknowledge the teammate who assisted on the basket by pointing towards them.
Smith said, “I was so tired of the star always being the one who scored the most points.
I wanted to reward the passer.”
Eventually, the rule became known as the Bobby Jones Rule, named after one of Smith’s players who had received a beautiful pass, but missed the layup, yet still acknowledged his teammate’s help.
Instead of claiming credit for something good that happens to you, you could edify another by acknowledging how they assisted you in achieving that goal.
Edification is vital to the church, but it will never come by chance.
We must live in peace and purposefully build each other up.
I.
The Passion of Edification
II.
The Priority of Edification
To successfully edify one another, we will need to make it a priority in our lives.
How do we do this?
A. Live without Offense
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