Looking Good for God | Studies with Stearman

Summary

Detailed Summary: "Looking Good for God | Studies with Stearman"

Prophecy Watchers — March 18, 2026
Hosts: Gary Stearman & Mondo Gonzales

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Gary Stearman, joined by co-host Mondo Gonzales (referred to as "David" in some transcript portions), embarks on a deep dive into Romans 14, exploring the intersection of personal conviction, cultural tradition, and Christian community. The key theme centers on how early Christians handled disputes over kosher laws, dietary practices, religious customs, and the principle of receiving those "weak in the faith" without judgment. Through scriptural exposition and personal anecdotes, the hosts emphasize love, acceptance, and the folly of religiously motivated superiority.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From Citizenship to Kosher Food: The Shift in Romans

• Transition in Romans:
  Last week’s focus was on Christian citizenship (Romans 13); this week, the study shifts to food laws in Romans 14.
  Quote:

  "Paul just makes what appears to be a huge swerve here, going from obedience to government to receiving one who is weak in the faith." (Gary, 02:10-02:20)

• Love as the Overarching Principle:
  The guiding principle is clear:

  "Owe no man anything but to love one another." (Gary, 00:52)

2. Weakness, Hospitality, and Judgement Among Believers

• Welcoming the Weak:
  Christians are urged to welcome those "weak in the faith," without critiquing their internal reasoning or experience.
  Literal Greek Translation:

  "...not with a view toward a critical analysis of his inward reasoning." (Gary, 02:53)

• Common Behaviors:
  It's human nature to judge or analyze others, especially newcomers, but Paul calls Christians to resist this impulse.
  Quote:

  "You approach every Christian as suspect, right? ... you begin to approach Christians on a kind of a critical basis..." (Gary, 03:19)

• Jesus’ Example:
  Jesus, despite his unmatched wisdom, embodied humility and nonjudgmental love, a model for all believers.
  Quote:

  "But that's not the way Jesus handled his life. He came as a pleasant personality... not critical, except where criticism was due." (Gary, 05:06)

3. Kosher Food and Religious Customs: Weakness or Strength?

• Distinction in Dietary Practice:
  The difference between nutritional vegetarianism and religious vegetarianism is discussed, with religious abstention framed as "weakness" in the context of Romans 14.
  Quote:

  "The Bible speaks of religious vegetarianism as weakness. There it is." (Gary, 07:55)

• Jewish Dietary Laws as Cultural Dividers:
  Kosher laws were primarily intended to distinguish Israel from surrounding nations.

  "The purpose of kosher as given in the Old Testament was one purpose — that was to separate Israel from the Gentiles." (Stearman, 09:58)

• Personal Anecdotes on Dining:
  The challenges of dining with strictly kosher observers illustrate the endurance of these divisions.

  "If you went to the Golden Corral with such a person... he ate only the vegetable items on the menu because he was very strict kosher." (Gary & Stearman, 08:35-09:05)

4. Scriptural Case Studies: Peter’s Growth and Struggle

• Peter’s Vision (Acts 10):
  The famous vision (sheet of unclean animals) is a divine directive overturning kosher distinctions.

  "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common, profane, non kosher." (Stearman, 19:09)

• Peter’s Reluctance:
  Even after the vision, Peter struggled with fully embracing Gentile fellowship, especially under peer pressure (Galatians 2:11-14).
  Memorable Moment:

  "Peter is still having trouble. He's still vacillating in the faith. ... The apostles were not perfect men. I love it." (Stearman, 25:09)

• Implication for Believers:
  Human imperfection, even among apostles, is reason for hope and patience.

  "I figure if the apostles can make mistakes and show signs of weakness from time to time, it's okay for me." (Stearman, 26:19)

5. Practical Application: Receiving All with Love

• The Call to Cordial Welcome:
  The Christian response isn’t critique but loving acceptance, whether dealing with new believers, the marginalized, or those with different convictions.

  "You receive them cordially in the love of Christ." (Stearman, 27:22)

• Personal Weakness and Judgment:
  The discussion turns to food laws, Sabbath observance, wine consumption—topics often used to judge other Christians.

  "You do not beat them about the head and shoulders to try to heal their weaknesses. You extend the love of God to them." (Stearman, 28:22)

6. Culturally-Driven Faith vs. Apostolic Christianity

• Traditions and Superiority:
  Traditions often give rise to superiority and division, but the apostles worked against this tendency:

  "People love to weave themselves into various kinds of tradition, which they then interpret as superior to these other traditions over here." (Stearman, 34:24)

• No Statutory Religion:

  "Nothing in the Christian religion is legal or statutory, not even the religious observance of the first day of the week." (Stearman, 33:52)

• Head Coverings as Example:
  Paul’s seemingly contradictory instructions on head coverings (1 Corinthians 11) illustrate that customs shouldn’t be elevated into universal mandates.
  Quote:

  "Paul says, rip off the tallit, boys. It's a new day." (Stearman, 38:39)
  "...if any man seem to be contentious... we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." (Stearman, 39:13)

7. The Heart of Christian Judgment

• Judgment Seat of Christ:
  Christians will be judged, not by detailed law-keeping, but by motives and love.

  "...we are going to be judged on the basis of whether what you did is good or bad... Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. In these two premises is bound the entire law." (Stearman, 41:08–41:59)

• The Real Test:
  Extending love is the truest “looking good for God,” not external observance.

  "Your motive is to extend the love of the Lord to this person. The Word will critique that person, and the Holy Spirit will critique that person." (Gary & Stearman, 43:01-43:09)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Traditions Creating Division:
  "You always want to try to exclude people from your group because you're better than they are, right? ... But Apostolic Christianity was exactly 180 degrees opposite from that." (Stearman, 35:19-37:01)

• On Human Weakness and Apostolic Example:
  "I love the idea that the apostles were not perfect men. I love it." (Stearman, 25:25)

• On Accepting Diversity in Practice:
  "You want to cover your head? Fine. Want to uncover your head? Fine." (Stearman, 39:37–39:41)

• On the Christian Principle of Non-judgment:
  "Who are you to judge another man's servant?... That's between me and him, period. End of comment." (Stearman, 30:46)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:52] The centrality of love over law in Romans 13
• [02:53] Literal translation on welcoming the “weak in the faith”
• [05:06] Jesus as the model for humility and love
• [08:35] Real-life interaction with strict kosher practitioners
• [13:58] Peter’s resurrection of Tabitha; launching point for Acts 10 discussion
• [18:54] The vision of unclean animals — overturning kosher laws
• [24:03] Peter’s later struggle with peer pressure in Galatians
• [26:19] Human imperfection among apostles; hope for all believers
• [28:22] On not judging other Christians for their perceived weaknesses
• [33:52] Dismantling statutory approaches to faith and observance
• [39:13] Paul’s final verdict on head coverings: "no such custom"
• [41:59] The law of love as the Christian ethic
• [43:09] The Holy Spirit, not we, will critique and transform others

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Conclusion

Stearman and Gonzales use Romans 14 and related scriptures to illustrate how Christian maturity is less about maintaining traditions or judging others’ practices, and more about extending the love, patience, and acceptance Christ himself modeled. The apostles’ struggles highlight both the challenge and encouragement for every believer: unity and love, not uniformity of practice, is what “looks good for God.” The deep scriptural exploration, relatable stories, and clear practical exhortations make this a powerful episode for all seeking to balance conviction with compassion in the Christian walk.

Transcript

[Host]

Welcome to Studies with Stearman. Join us as we look deeper into the Bible. Strengthen your faith with us even as we see the day approaching. And now here's Gary.

[Gary]

As we get into today's study, which

[Stearman]

is going to be in chapter 14, we're going to go from the subject we covered last week, which was good citizenship and being a good citizen of a gentile government. Today we go to kosher food. Just flip the page. Chapter 14 talks about kosher food. Is it okay to eat a pork

[David]

hot dog or do we have to stick to the Hebrew national all beef kosher hot dog?

[Gary]

Well, last week we looked at our relation to government, and the chief point to be made in Romans 13 is found in verse 8, where it says, owe no man anything but to love one another. The chief operating principle of Christianity is owe no man anything or be obligated to no one on grounds other than love. You are obligated to love. That is a staggering thought. You stop and think about it. So we hop Forward after the 14th verse of Romans 13, which says, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Paul says in the first verse of the next chapter, him that is weak in the faith, receive ye. But not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things. Another who is weak eateth herbs. It says in the King James eats vegetables, or is a vegetarian. 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 who art thou that judgest another man's servant to his own master. He standeth or falleth, yea, he shall be held up or helped up, for God is able to make him stand. So Paul just makes what appears to be a huge swerve here, going from obedience to government to receiving one who is weak in the faith. In the literal Greek, the first verse of this chapter says, and it has an emphatic positive now it says, now the one who is weak in respect to the faith, you be giving him a cordial welcome, not with a view toward a critical analysis of his inward reasoning. That's the most literal way to translate this sentence. Someone who is weak in the faith give him a cordial welcome, not with a view toward a critical analysis of his inward reasoning. Now you stop and think about that.

[Stearman]

You meet a new Christian.

[Gary]

What do you immediately do? You begin to put out little feelers to say, what does this guy really Believe. You approach every Christian as suspect, right? You never know what he believes. He probably doesn't even believe thereafter. He may be one of those guys that says go to church on Saturday and on a Sunday, you just don't know. Boy, if he believes those two things, what else does he believe? And you begin to approach Christians on a kind of a critical basis, particularly new Christians or weak Christians, Christians who are fishing around for what they really believe. They haven't studied all that much. They would like to believe this or that, but they really haven't gone that deeply into the word. And Paul says, now listen here, the one who's weak with respect to the faith, welcome him cordially, not with a view toward a critical analysis of his inward reasoning. Have you ever critically analyzed someone's inward reasoning? Of course you have, all the time. That's what we do. You're talking to somebody in a little place in the back of your head. You say, now why did he say that?

[David]

I wonder what he really meant.

[Gary]

You know, we do that with each other. And so Paul recommends a better way. And Paul's motive is always the way of love. You stop and think about it. When Jesus came to earth, there was the smartest man who had ever walked the face of the earth. Probably had an IQ of about 5,000. I don't know what Jesus IQ is, but it would be so far off the charts in every way that you can think of that it would be mind boggling. And yet how did Jesus behave? Did he go around saying you're a bunch of dumb clodhoppers? You know, it makes me sick to be around you, a bunch of stinky farmers and shepherds. And I'm just coming from a beautiful clean place and I know so much more than you that you can't tell me anything. And Jesus whole attitude would be imperious, antagonistic. He would be staring down his nose at the entire world. But that's not the way Jesus handled his life. He came as a pleasant personality, very, very appealing guy who didn't drive people into the ground with his incisive wit and logic, but just rather made a very simple point. He came in love. He was not critical, except where criticism was due. And he was the very model of

[David]

what Paul is talking about here.

[Gary]

He came to a whole world weak in the faith, but he did not come as a critic. He came representing the love of God. That's astounding to me to think about that, that God came in that way. Doubtful disputations is the King James. He that's weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. Doubtful diacrisis means to discern or discerning disputations is the Greek word dialogismos. We got our Eng Dialogue, dialogues of dispute. What you have here is that if you encounter a weak Christian who is vacillating in his views and is not absolutely certain of his faith or the facts of his faith or the apologetics of the faith, you're still to be cordial to him. What Paul is describing here is the vacillating views of a weak or anxious person. If you encounter a Christian who's operating at that level, you are to extend the love of Christ to him. You're to receive him cordially. And then Paul says, for one, believeth that he may eat all things. Another, who is weak, constitutionally weak, eats veggies. Now, there are two kinds of vegetarianism. There's nutritional vegetarianism and there's religious vegetarianism. And for example, in India, just to give a very large example, there are a lot of vegetarians who are religious vegetarians because they don't believe in eating animals at all. It's against their faith and their creed to munch on beautiful little critters.

[Stearman]

They think that's a crime and a sin.

[Gary]

In fact, the Jainists in India are

[Stearman]

so frenetic about that, so religious that they don't even walk on grass because there are little things living in the grass and they might stomp the little things and kill them. But point is, the Bible speaks of religious vegetarianism as weakness. There it is.

[David]

Now, have you ever gone to dinner

[Stearman]

with an Orthodox Jewish?

[David]

I have a number of Orthodox Jews.

[Stearman]

For example, if they live in New York City and they're visiting Oklahoma City, they will eat only glat kosher. It has to be not just kosher, but a particular kind of kosher.

[Gary]

And so if you went to the Golden Corral with such a person, which

[David]

I did on one occasion, because this Jewish guy wanted to eat at the

[Stearman]

Golden Corral because he could pick through

[Gary]

and find just vegetable things that would

[Stearman]

not offend his kosher upbringing.

[David]

In other words, he couldn't eat meat

[Gary]

that had not been prepared in a particular way.

[David]

So he skipped all the meat items

[Gary]

and he ate only the vegetable items on the menu because he was a very strict kosher.

[Stearman]

He was kosher after the manner of

[David]

what's called the mitznogtic tradition.

[Stearman]

Very strict. You run into that.

[David]

Well, Paul ran into that all the time.

[Stearman]

That's what he's talking about here. One new convert to Christianity believes that

[Gary]

he can eat everything.

[Stearman]

Another, who is weak, that is who is still residing in the area of law, believes that meat has to be kosher before you can eat it. Therefore, when he's eating in a group, he will only eat vegetable things. By the way, if you ever have occasion to dine with an Orthodox Jewish,

[David]

just be on the lookout.

[Stearman]

Early on, don't offer, hey, they serve

[David]

the best steak in town or the best chicken in town because this guy's not going to eat steak or chicken,

[Stearman]

much less pork, unless it's prepared ritually

[David]

in the kosher way.

[Stearman]

This is the thing that Paul had to deal with. The purpose of kosher as given in the Old Testament was one purpose that was to separate Israel from the Gentiles.

[David]

God gave the law and you've probably read the dietary laws of the Jews. Can't eat a bird of prey, you can't eat a shrimp, etc. On and on and on. You can't eat a fish with no scales.

[Stearman]

Lots of things you can't eat.

[David]

And then you can't eat lamb unless

[Stearman]

it's been prepared in a particular way. And you can't eat beef unless it's

[David]

been prepared and butchered in a particular way and so forth.

[Stearman]

And, and so the very strict kosher dietary laws were given to Israel at Mount Sinai for a cultural reason. There is nothing that separates cultures faster than dietary habits. If two cultures with two different dietary

[David]

styles cannot merge, they cannot and will not merge.

[Stearman]

Food separates people,

[David]

period.

[Stearman]

And that's what kosher is all about. And you may say, well, isn't it

[David]

a better way to eat?

[Stearman]

Aren't you healthier eating kosher? And therefore shouldn't we all eat kosher?

[David]

Because obviously it's a healthy thing.

[Stearman]

Why? Pork will kill you. And didn't God say that if you follow the dietary laws that I gave you, you shall have none of the diseases of the Gentiles? He did.

[David]

Therefore we should eat kosher.

[Stearman]

Well, let's talk about that.

[David]

Remember now Paul's got a problem.

[Stearman]

He's going out and evangelizing. He's bringing Jews to Christ and he's trying to convince them that it's okay to eat food in a non ritualistic way. And he says, he who is weak with respect to the faith. And we're talking about a new believer here. Give him a cordial welcome.

[David]

Don't critically analyze his inner reasoning, just welcome him.

[Stearman]

If he wants to eat veggies, just serve up the best veggie plate you

[David]

can possibly serve up. It's just perfectly fine. Let's go back to Acts, chapter 9,

[Stearman]

verse 36. We've been through this before. This is a very important section of scripture. The book of Acts is a book of historical transition.

[David]

That's why it's in the Bible.

[Stearman]

Acts begins at Pentecost and it ends

[David]

with Paul going to Rome and being shipwrecked, etc.

[Stearman]

It's a book of historical transition. It talks about what happened in the early church.

[David]

And believe me, the early church in its first days was entirely different than the early church a few years later. The first 10 years or so of

[Stearman]

the early church, which were years of rapid, rapid revolutionary change. And here's one of the most graphic descriptions of change. Verse 36 of chapter 9. Just to set the scene. There was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days that she was sick and died, whom, when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.

[David]

And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to

[Stearman]

Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there. They sent unto him two men, desiring that he would not delay to come to them. So Peter, by divine mandate, goes to Joppa. Joppa's on the Mediterranean Sea coast, on the south edge of what is today Tel Aviv. And Peter goes there and encounters a young dead girl, and he raises her from the dead. This sets the scene. You want to advertise your presence.

[David]

Tell you what you do.

[Stearman]

Raise somebody from the dead, because I

[David]

guarantee that's going to get out.

[Stearman]

It's a great. Just a terrific method of making your

[David]

message known on a broad scale.

[Stearman]

And that's exactly what happened here.

[David]

The word went out.

[Stearman]

Peter raised this girl from the dead. Chapter 10. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band

[David]

called the Italian band. Mamma mia, the Italian band.

[Stearman]

When I think about a centurion and a house full of servants in Caesarea,

[David]

which was the Malibu of ancient Israel,

[Stearman]

that's where all the beautiful seacoast homes

[David]

were, the big theater, and all the rich people lived there.

[Stearman]

And Cornelius was obviously a rich man, and he was an Italian, had a household of Italian servants. And his house would have been strictly off limits to any Jew. You would break kosher to go into

[David]

the house of an Italian.

[Stearman]

It would be considered dirty. I mean, just the smell of the things they cook. They cook up a big Italian Kettle full of every kind of sea creature you can think of, seasoned with various kinds of spices and herbs and vegetables, and ladle that out in a big soup bowl, kind of like the Italian

[David]

version of a bouillabaisse.

[Stearman]

About as unkosher as you can get. Why, a Jew just walking past that

[David]

place and smelling that soup would have to go to the temple and ask forgiveness.

[Stearman]

And those of you who know Judaism are shaking your heads, yes, you would be ritually unclean. And yet Peter is sent to Joppa, just down the coast from Caesarea, where

[David]

he performs a miracle.

[Stearman]

Word gets out of all places to Caesarea and to a man named Cornelius, a centurion, a captain of a hundred. And he lives probably a very well to do lifestyle. He's called a devout man and one that feared God with all his house. So he's a centurion, but he's also a believer. Through some miracle that we don't understand, he's been given the grace of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ somehow, or he was a believer in God before that, we just don't know. But he gave alms, he prayed to God always. He saw in a vision, evidently about the ninth hour of the day, that would be middle of the afternoon, an angel of God coming to him and saying unto him, cornelius. And when he had looked at him, he was afraid. He said, what is it, Lord? And he said unto him, thy prayers and thine alms are come up for

[David]

a memorial before God.

[Stearman]

And now send men to Joppa. Call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodgeth with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside, and he shall tell thee what thou ought to do. And when the angel which spake to Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually. And when he had declared all these things to him, he sent them to Joppa. Well, now the scene is set. And in the early days of the church, this is the way the church was spread in a very miraculous way, with signed gifts, with angelic messengers, with prophets and prophecies. There was no written New Testament. The Gospel had to go forth in some way, and it went forth miraculously. But by the time you get to the end of the Book of Acts, those miracles have all but disappeared, because the church by that time had established a considerable foothold and the early letters

[David]

had begun to be circulated, and there

[Stearman]

was beginning to be a New Testament. Historically, there's a transitional period that goes out to the whole world through the apostolic doctrines. So the next day, verse nine, on

[David]

the morrow, as they went on their

[Stearman]

journey, drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up to the housetop to pray. About the sixth hour behind noon, he became very hungry. He would have eaten. And while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven open and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great she,

[David]

knit at four corners, let down to

[Stearman]

the earth, wherein were all manner of four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. All we have here are the animals

[David]

of non kosher origin. These would be everything from owls to ossifrages, to frogs to shrimp to who knows what. All squid. Calamari. Boy, love those calamari appetizers, but strictly

[Stearman]

non kosher can't eat those. But the Mediterranean Sea is absolutely full of calamari. And the Romans knew how to fix them about 18 different ways. And so down comes the sheet with everything in it from calamari to who

[David]

knows what, some strange bird that nobody ever heard of.

[Stearman]

And there came a voice to him saying, rise, Peter, kill and eat. Peter says, not so, Lord, in the King James, but in the Greek, Peter

[David]

says, ain't no way, Lord.

[Stearman]

Very emphatic refusal, for I have never eaten anything that's common or unclean. So at this point, Peter is a Christian, but he's a weak Christian, as Paul describes Christians over here in Romans, chapter 14. He does not yet have the strength of his newfound faith. He is still operating on the fringes of the law. Verse 15. Voice spake unto him again, second time. What God hath cleansed that call not thou common, profane, non kosher. What God has cleansed, don't call it unkosher. This was done thrice, and the vessel was received up again to heaven. Now, while Peter doubted in himself what

[David]

this vision which he had seen should

[Stearman]

mean, behold, the men which were sent

[David]

from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate and

[Stearman]

called and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.

[David]

Peter thought on the vision. The Spirit said unto him, behold, three men seek thee.

[Stearman]

So here's the growth of the early church actually being led by the hand through angelic ministry and through the gifts

[David]

of the Holy Spirit.

[Stearman]

And what's being developed here is that the laws of kosher are being overturned in a very systematic way, in a way that will bring Peter to the house of Cornelius and allow Peter to enter an unclean Gentile house and not lose his blessing. Because for Peter, a lifelong Jew to enter the house of Cornelius would have

[David]

been to lose the blessing of God.

[Stearman]

So Peter went downstairs, verse 21. He went down to the men which were sent to him from Cornelius and said, behold, I am he whom you seek. What's the cause wherefore you come? And they said, cornelius, the centurion, a

[David]

just man, one of the fierce God,

[Stearman]

and of good report among all the

[David]

nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send

[Stearman]

for thee unto his house and to

[David]

hear the words of thee.

[Stearman]

And so Peter follows them. He goes up to the house of Cornelius. He relates the story of what happened to him, and then dropping down to about the 34th verse, because we don't have time enough to completely follow this. At the end of all this, Peter opened his mouth, this is Acts 10:34, and said of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation, he that feareth

[David]

him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.

[Stearman]

So Peter has a shocking revelation at this point. And the revelation has everything to do with the union of two cultures. A kosher Jewish being merged with a non kosher Italian. And Peter has this revelation. Wow. He said, up to now I've thought that the only people on earth blessed were the Jews. But he says, now I see that in every nation, he that feareth him, worketh righteousness is accepted with him. I'm sure Peter was staggered by this revelation, because all his life, like all Jews, he had been totally convinced that the only people on earth who could receive God's blessing were Jews. So with this as a little background, we go back to chapter 14 in Romans, him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things. Another who is weak eateth veggies Lachana,

[David]

which is veggies in Greek.

[Stearman]

Peter went up to the house of

[David]

Cornelius there and sat down and ate this incredible meal, I'm sure, around this huge table in this beautiful villa that was decorated with frescoes. And I mean, he was living a good life.

[Stearman]

And from that point forward, Peter became solid.

[David]

Never doubted ever again that it was okay to eat non kosher food, right?

[Stearman]

Wrong. Because you go to Galatians, which, by the way, Galatians takes place a long time later. Let's just flip over there and look at Galatians 2 for a minute, holding your place. Galatians was written about 1857, about the

[David]

same time Romans was written when Nero was on the throne.

[Stearman]

Quite a bit later, Peter has Had years to mature. He's been out preaching and teaching. And Paul was at Antioch, by the way, the headquarters church, the First New Testament Church was up in Antioch of Syria. And it says here in Galatians 2:11. But when Peter was come to Antioch,

[David]

says Paul, I withstood him to the

[Stearman]

face because he was to be blamed for before certain men came from James, that is the Jerusalem church, he did eat with the Gentiles. In other words, he was sitting there

[David]

eating the calamari appetizer and the fried shrimp and who knows, maybe a little

[Stearman]

leg of pork, because, let's face it, the Romans ate leg of pork.

[David]

But when they were come, that is, when the representatives from the Jerusalem church came up to Antioch, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. Hypocrisy is what Paul says.

[Stearman]

So he read Peter the riot act. And we've studied this in the past. And here, years later, Sometime in the 50s, probably 55 A.D. peter is still having trouble. He's still vacillating in the faith. You know, I love the idea that the apostles were not perfect men. I love it.

[David]

David was not a perfect man. Solomon was not a perfect man.

[Stearman]

Jesus came out of the line of the tribe of Judah. Have you ever read about the tribe of Judah? Whoa, you talk about imperfect people. And I love this, that we don't have a bunch of plaster saints up here representing us. These men were humans and they made mistakes. They were men of passion.

[David]

And Peter made mistakes out of passion

[Stearman]

and out of weakness. And that gives me great hope.

[David]

I want to tell you, because I'm not perfect. It may come as a surprise to

[Stearman]

many people, but I am not. And I figure if the apostles can

[David]

make mistakes and show signs of weakness

[Stearman]

from time to time, it's okay for me. Because the fact that they receive restitution, reconciliation, and that the love of God always extended to cover their little faux pas, that means he'll do the same thing for me, which is wonderful, just terrific. And so here's Paul writing now in A.D. 57, Romans 14. Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye, that is, give a cordial

[David]

welcome to somebody who is weak in the faith.

[Stearman]

This is important enough that I have spent a little time with it. You meet a new Christian or you meet a Christian who you kind of wonder about, or there have been Christians who have come here from time to time. And some of them come in raggedy clothes asking for money.

[Gary]

And you say, well, the only reason

[David]

they're here is because they want money. To give them five bucks and get rid of them, right? No, that's not right. You receive them cordially in the love of Christ.

[Stearman]

You pray that the Lord will direct

[David]

you properly relative to these people because

[Stearman]

they were sent here for a reason. You may meet a Christian whom you

[David]

believe to be very mature and very

[Stearman]

influential, someone very high on the list of good Christians. And you may discover to your shock that that person maybe isn't as high

[David]

on the list as you thought at first.

[Stearman]

You still extend the love of God where you encounter weakness, where you encounter Christians who have weaknesses, you do not beat them about the head and shoulders to try to heal their weaknesses.

[David]

You extend the love of God to them.

[Stearman]

Him that is weak in the faith,

[David]

receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

[Stearman]

For one believeth that he may eat all things. Another who is weak eateth herbs. Let not him that Edith despise is the word in the King James. Hold in contempt is what it means in the Greek. Let not him that eateth hold him in contempt that eateth not. And let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth. Now, I've had a Christian judge me

[David]

for eating a bit of food that

[Stearman]

was probably not kosher.

[David]

I mean, I've been severely tongue lashed for having eaten a hot dog that probably was a pork. Hot dog wasn't kosher.

[Stearman]

And you say that's weird.

[David]

I won't go into the entirety of the story, but it's not weird at all. It was just that this individual was

[Stearman]

very serious about legal eating. You don't want to eat anything that

[David]

the Lord says not to eat, therefore you won't eat pork. Right? Right. Okay.

[Stearman]

So what is it about eating anyway? Now I'm asking that question because later

[David]

on we're going to answer the question.

[Stearman]

And you know what? I've just noticed the clock. It is absolutely spinning this morning. I thought I was going to finish chapter 14.

[David]

Woe. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant to his own master? He standeth or faileth, yea, he shall

[Stearman]

be helped up, for God is able to make him stand. In other words, the principle here is that this individual is accountable to God. You are accountable to God, that other person is accountable to God. This is a very big Christian principle. You remember the disciples in John 21 when they were eating down by the stone side of the Sea of Galilee on shore they were very eager to

[David]

ask Jesus, what are you going to do in this man's life? What are you going to do in this man's life?

[Stearman]

And Jesus essentially said, that's not for you to know. That's between me and him. That was always Jesus attitude. People were always questioning Jesus concerning this guy over here. And Jesus invariable answer was, that's between

[David]

me and him, period. End of comment.

[Stearman]

And that's what's going on here in

[David]

verse 4. Who are you to judge another man's servant?

[Stearman]

The other man here being Jesus to his own master, he stands or falls. Yes, he shall be helped up, for

[David]

God's able to make him stand.

[Stearman]

In other words, this person whom you perceive as weak may be weak in

[David]

the faith, maybe weak in the mind.

[Stearman]

However you perceive him to be weak, God's going to help him up. That's what God does. One man esteems one day above another, another esteems every day alike.

[David]

Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

[Stearman]

So is it okay for Christians to go to church on the Sabbath? Sure.

[David]

What happens then when those people who

[Stearman]

go to church on the Sabbath come

[David]

to you and say, you know you're going to hell because we go to church on the Sabbath and you don't, you're violating the ten Commandments.

[Stearman]

Kosher hot dogs, going to church on the Sabbath.

[David]

What else is there?

[Stearman]

Drinking wine.

[David]

Whoa, what you mean grape juice or wine? You know, it's fascinating.

[Stearman]

When God created grapes, he created them with a little white film on the surface of the peel of the grape. Have you ever seen that? You can take your finger and kind of wipe that little sheen, that little

[David]

powder, I guess you would say, off of the surface of the grape.

[Stearman]

You know what that powder is? That's yeast spores. They're right on the grape. So if you crush the grape and

[David]

put it in a big vat, the yeast spores mix with the juice of the grape, and at a certain temperature

[Stearman]

and acidity, those little yeast spores busily

[David]

begin to eat the sugars released by the grape and they convert the sugars to alcohol.

[Stearman]

And when the alcoholic content of the grape juice reaches between 12.5 and 14%, depending on temperature and acidity, the little yeast cells die.

[David]

And that's where the alcohol level remains in that grape juice.

[Stearman]

That's called wine.

[David]

And it's the stuff that Jesus made at the wedding at Cana Galilee.

[Stearman]

And some people say, well, you can't drink that and be a Christian. Among those who abstained from the eating

[David]

of non kosher and the Consumption of wine in the early days of the

[Stearman]

church, Some did so every day, some only on certain days. So to observe the day as we have it here in verse five and in verse six, to observe the day might mean to observe it by fasting. It might be one's ordinary custom to

[David]

eat roast pork and drink wine on this particular day. The person would abstain from that thing.

[Stearman]

Somebody else might observe that same day by feasting. Nothing in the Christian religion is legal or statutory, not even the religious observance of the first day of the week. And it is this very difficult principle that the apostles all spent a great deal of time on because they were faced with people who wanted to look good for God. And they all had different ways of

[David]

looking good for God.

[Stearman]

It could be everything from clothing style, women covering their head, men covering their head in a particular way, certain kinds of robes. It could be everything from that to the eating of certain kinds of foods at certain days of the week or times of the year. It is man's way to live through custom and tradition and not through reason. People love to weave themselves into various kinds of tradition, which they then interpret as superior to these other traditions over here. And that's the history of man. The early church came along, and the apostles and their doctrine busily, busily, busily tried to dissuade human beings from cultural orientation and from being exclusive. You always want to try to exclude people from your group because you're better

[David]

than they are, right?

[Stearman]

Sure. But here we've started this chapter with this sentence. Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye.

[David]

In other words, cordially welcome this person,

[Stearman]

not with the idea of critically analyzing his reasoning. And by the way, the same phrase in the Greek means to vacillate in one's belief system, to be weak or anxious, or to vacillate back and forth,

[David]

which, by the way, those who are

[Stearman]

young in the faith often do. What chapter 14 is doing, Paul is preparing the man of faith to deal

[David]

with those who may be a little bit weaker in their faith in one way or another.

[Stearman]

But notice that the weakness is always in the one who insists on a cultural imperative. That's a weak person.

[David]

You got to do such and such to be righteous.

[Stearman]

That's weakness.

[David]

The Bible doesn't say you got to do such and such to be righteous. It does not say you have to go to church on Sunday. It doesn't say that you have to abstain from certain food and drink, Although people love to make it say that

[Stearman]

they love to create systems which they then fluff up until those systems become denominations with pageant pomp, ceremony, costuming.

[David]

And of course, that makes you better than everybody else who doesn't have this pageant, pomp, circumstance and ceremony. And so you can then pronounce yourself a better Christian.

[Stearman]

But Apostolic Christianity was exactly 180 degrees

[David]

opposite from that verse.

[Gary]

6.

[Stearman]

He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord. He that regardeth not the day to the Lord doth not regard it. And 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. Well, what's being said here? What's being said is both parties, regardless of their practice, have the same end

[David]

in mind to give the Lord thanks. One guy says, I'm going to give

[Stearman]

him thanks this way.

[David]

Another guy says, I'm going to give him thanks this other way. Over here.

[Stearman]

There are so many customs that Paul had to deal with. For example, head covering among Jews, if you were a man, you had to put the tallit over the head to pray. You had to pray with your head covered. There were questions about head covering, and Paul had to deal with head covering, when, in fact, in one of my favorite places in the Bible, and I

[David]

think next week I'm going to look at this a little bit more deeply.

[Stearman]

But the question came to Paul, should we cover our head while praying? And should women cover their heads at all times when they're in church? And so Paul says in First Corinthians 11:4, he says, Every man praying or prophesying having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. Whoa. That's a direct shot at the Jews because they prayed with the tallit over their head. Prayer shawl. Paul's a rabbi. And Paul says, rip off the tallit, boys.

[David]

It's a new day. Wow, you talk about a challenging. I mean, just hurling a challenge into the middle of a culture. That was it.

[Stearman]

And he says, but every woman that

[David]

prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head, for that is even all one, as if she were shaven. In other words, women ought to cover their heads in church to cover up

[Stearman]

their hair, because hair is a woman's glory.

[David]

That is, women have these hairstyles. They try to look good and impress each other. So in order to avoid all this stuff in church, let's just have her cover her head.

[Stearman]

And this continues right on down to the 16th verse of this dissertation where Paul says, but if any man seem to be contentious.

[David]

In other words, if somebody disagrees with

[Stearman]

what I'm saying, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. In other words, forget everything I have

[David]

just said about head covering, because we don't have any such custom.

[Stearman]

Neither do any of the other churches of God. So you want to cover your head?

[David]

Fine. Want to uncover your head? Fine.

[Stearman]

These were the kinds of strange questions Paul had to answer in the early church. And guess what? People are still struggling with all these questions today when the answer is so simple that we are under no statute. Paul says, head covering. We have no such custom. And he says, he that regardeth the day regards it to the Lord. Verse 7. For none of us liveth to himself,

[David]

and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord.

[Stearman]

Whether we we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

[David]

For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord, both of the dead and the living.

[Stearman]

But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at naught

[David]

or reduce to nothing your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

[Stearman]

Second Corinthians 5 says, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body according that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Now, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, will we be judged on the basis of law?

[David]

No, we're not under law.

[Stearman]

So the Lord at that judgment day is not going to pull out the 613 commandments and go down them one at a time, seeing whether or not you have broken one of the commandments. No, but you are going to be judged on the basis of whether what you did is good or bad. Whoa. Who's going to decide what's good or bad? Where is that written?

[David]

The Lord's going to decide.

[Stearman]

Yeah, but you say, wow, I don't

[David]

even have a code to go by

[Stearman]

because I'm not living by the Ten Commandments. How do I know that what I'm doing is good or bad? Because I haven't seen the Lord's code.

[David]

Oh, yes, you have. Love the Lord your God with all

[Stearman]

your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.

[David]

In these two premises is bound the entire law. So you do know what's good or bad.

[Stearman]

First Corinthians 3:11. And following for other foundation can no

[David]

man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

[Stearman]

Now, if any man build upon this

[David]

foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble.

[Stearman]

Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every man's

[David]

work of what sort it is.

[Stearman]

And if any man's work abide which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself

[David]

shall be saved yet so as by fire.

[Stearman]

So now you have the principle. Chapter 14, verse 1. Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. In other words, not to critique this person. That's not your motive.

[Gary]

Your motive is to extend the love

[David]

of the Lord to this person. The Word will critique that person, and

[Stearman]

the Holy Spirit will critique that person. And that's what he's talking about throughout this whole chapter. Because we all tend to judge each other on a cultural base. I'm smarter than you, I'm more educated than you, I've got more experience than you, I know more of the Bible, I've memorized more Bible verses than you, you, I've been a Christian longer than you, etc. Etc.

[Gary]

Etc.

[Stearman]

We all tend to want to set ourselves up as being superior in some form or another. Chapter 14, and we'll not have time to finish it today, deals with that human weakness, the human weakness of setting yourself up in a way that makes

[David]

you internally superior so far as you are personally concerned.

[Stearman]

And that's the antithesis of love. By the way Jesus bared it all,

[David]

I do mean he bared it all on the cross.