ROMANS 32


     We will begin this lesson in Romans 14:11 "For it is written,
[As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every
tongue shall confess to God."

     Philippians 2:10 "That at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under
the earth;"  Isaiah 45:23 "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone
out of my mouth [in] righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me
every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."  We can see, again,
in these three Scriptures above that, God never changes. He is the
same in Isaiah that He is in Romans. We read in Revelation 1:7
"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they
[also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail
because of him.  Even so, Amen."  We must not wait to declare Him our
Saviour, until we can see Him with our physical eyes. We must accept
Him by faith, not fact, to be saved.

     Romans 14:12 "So then every one of us shall give account of
himself to God."

     Jesus will judge us one at a time. Whether your mother or dad was
saved will not matter. You will stand or fall by the decision you made
about what you would do about Jesus. II Timothy 4:1 "I charge [thee]
therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the
quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;"  All believers
in Christ will stand before His Throne in heaven. Revelation 7:9
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and
palms in their hands;"  These in white robes are the Christians who
have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.

     Romans 14:13 "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."

     It does no good at all for us to try to judge another, because we
are not the Judge, Jesus is. We are told to judge not, lest ye be
judged and, also, with whatever judgement we judge another we will be
judged. We find a very good Scripture covering this in James 4:11
"Speak not evil one of another, brethren.  He that speaketh evil of
[his] brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and
judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the
law, but a judge."

     Romans 14:14 "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."

     We see here another illustration of the sin taking place in the
heart and conscience. If we believe something to be sin and go ahead
and do it anyway, then regardless of what it is, it is sin to us.
Titus 1:15 "Unto the pure all things [are] pure: but unto them that
are defiled and unbelieving [is] nothing pure; but even their mind and
conscience is defiled." Again, this is a very good example that the
sin takes place when we do something feeling in our heart that it is
displeasing to God. God judges the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

     Romans 14:15 "But if thy brother be grieved with [thy] meat, now
walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom
Christ died."

     I Corinthians 8:11 "And through thy knowledge shall the weak
brother perish, for whom Christ died?" I Corinthians 8:12 "But when ye
sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin
against Christ."  Paul tells just how important it is not to lead our
weak brothers and sisters astray. I Corinthians 8:13 "Wherefore, if
meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world
standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." This is some very good
advice from Paul. We must not let our liberty in the Lord cause us to
encourage someone else to go against their conscience.

     Romans 14:16 "Let not then your good be evil spoken of:"

     II Corinthians 8:21 "Providing for honest things, not only in the
sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men."  The best sermon any
of us can preach is letting the unbelieving world see in our lives the
way a Christian ought to live. I Thessalonians 5:22 "Abstain from all
appearance of evil."  Christians are to be different from the world.
The Bible calls us a peculiar people. If we are just like the world,
then the people we are trying to witness to will have no desire to
follow us.

     Romans 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

     I Corinthians 8:8 "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." Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,"  What all three of
these Scriptures are saying is that the abundance of the things God
has entrusted to us do not make us right with Him.  The blessings that
really count are the gifts of the Spirit that He entrusts us with.

     Romans 14:18 "For he that in these things serveth Christ [is]
acceptable to God, and approved of men."

     James 2:18 "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have
works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my
faith by my works." James 2:19 "Thou believest that there is one God;
thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." James 2:20
"But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"
 God expects us to use the gifts of the Spirit that He gives us. The
power of the Holy Spirit is given for a reason. The reason is to make
us more effective workers for God. It explains it perfectly in Acts
1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

     Romans 14:19 "Let us therefore follow after the things which make
for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."

     Edify means confirming or building. In other words, instead of
tearing someone down, build them up.

     Romans 14:20 "For meat destroy not the work of God. All things
indeed [are] pure; but [it is] evil for that man who eateth with
offence."

     We touched on this earlier, but will just say again, here, that
if the man thinks it is sin to eat whatever this is, then it is sin
for him. He would be sinning against his conscience.

     Romans 14:21 "[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."

     We see here, again, that whatever it takes to set a good example
before our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ is what we should do.
If they think it is sin to eat something, then in their presence we
should not eat it either; just because they would feel we were
sinning.

     Romans 14:22 "Hast thou faith? have [it] to thyself before God.
Happy [is] he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he
alloweth."

     As we said before, we must not even give the appearance of evil.
When we are alone, we can eat anything that we do not feel guilty
about eating.

     Romans 14:23 "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because
[he eateth] not of faith: for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin."

     This has to do with more than just food. Everything we do must be
done through faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Abraham's faith was counted unto him as righteousness. This is true
for us, as well. Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith [it is] impossible to
please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and
[that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."





                             Questions 32

1.  Who will bow to Jesus?
2.  In Isaiah, who has God sworn by?
3.  When Jesus returns to the earth, who will see Him?
4.  Is it safe to wait for the second coming of Christ to be saved?
5.  Who do each of us give an account to?
6.  Will it help your condition with God, if your parents are saved?
7.  Jesus shall judge the _____ and the ____ at His appearing.
8.  Who are these dressed in white robes standing around the throne?
9.  What has made their robes white?
10. In Romans ch.14 v.13, we are cautioned against doing what to our
    brother?
11. Who is the Judge of all the world?
12. When we speak evil of our brother, we are actually speaking evil
    of what?
13. What really is unclean to us?
14. Where does a person's sin really take place?
15. What does Titus ch.1 v.15 mean?
16. Describe the Word of God from Hebrews ch.4 v.12.
17. Why is our brother offended in verse 13 of 1 Corinthians chapter
    8?
18. We are to stay honest not only in God's sight, but in whose sight?
19. What is another short way of saying the same thing as verse 18?
20. What one word describes the way others view Christians?
21. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but what?
22. The fruit of the Spirit is what?
23. What does James ch.2 v.18 say about faith?
24. Faith without works is ____.
25. Romans ch.14 v.19 says follow after what?
26. What does edify mean?
27. Romans ch.14 v.22 says have faith where?
28. Whatsoever is not of faith is ___.
29. Without what it is impossible to please God?
30. He that cometh to God must believe that __ __.

                                 Notes