Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1916-11-09

thnS WHEREBY thy brotner Stumpiei
Rom 14:21 -
The early Christian church had two
outstanding problems, the question of
the Sabbath days (two of them) and
the question of eating meat offered to-
idols. This lesson. suggests the solu-
ition of the latter. Our modern prob
lem of Intoxicating liquors Is very
much the same as this ancient one of
the early Gentle Christians.
!. *Let US not therefore Judge one
another" (yv. 1850. There are GER
tain acts which are universally conced-
ed to be right and within the Christian
law of liberty. There are also other
acts which are as plainly prohibited.
There are large number of acts which
lie In the region between these Two,
and men ought to be careful how they
condemn one another for these latter
things. Where good and true men diff
fer, their acts, on the matter of the
Sabbath (See Col. 2:16), or on temper
ance,. must be determined as being
unto the Lord, sincerely, conscientious
ly. 1t is not for US to judge ". 13),
literally, to pronounce judgment. They
have right to, their opinion and to,
their liberty of thought and action, but
wv. Ia, %, 23) as for Paul or the
christian, he must have clear con-,
science. He must have faith, and be-
assured that he Is right; otherwise hel
Is condemned by God and by his own
conscience, and is not sincere Chris,
tian, disciple. The word therefore" I'M
verse ID points back to verse IL, which
ought to be carefully pondered. AS we
have each. to render our accounts TOT
God we should stop judging one an-
other. Food is very proper thnA
and laws are also proper, yet love ID
the ruling principle Of the Christian
life.
We ought to have our liberty cur
tailed rather than have our souls lost.
If we magnify our liberty to the sacri-
fee of our brothers soul we walk no
longer In love-" The demands Of
Christian love are more to the true
followers of Christ than the permits
sions of Christian liberty The privi-I
lege of eating and drinking while 1t
Injuries others, however harmless tot
yourself, rs not to be tolerated.
The word "stumbleth" here used
". 21l implies movable trap or snare,
literally any impeachment placed in thel
way so as to cause another to fall. Wei
must never forget that even a weak
brother is "a brother for whom Christi
died"
II. HLet not your good be evil spokeshd
or" CIV. 1923. The kingdom of God
is not meat and drink, bat it is a life
OF righteousness, peace and joy in thel
Holy Ghost. Our liberty is to be sol
used that it shall not be evil spoken
OF. The real proof that we are in the
Kingdom of God and that the kingdom
of God is in us is not found in orr
scrupulousness or lack of it, in our eat
ing and drinking, but in the nanifesta-
tons of righteousness in our lives. and
OF having peace in our hearts 1917.
Ihls peace must be manifested toward
our fellow men ". 10; Oh. Is :19) and
being filled with "joy in the Holy
Ghost The object of our pursuit. ia
to be the things which make for peace
the things whereby we may fill oneg
another up, not the exploitation Of
some pet hobby, for the kingdom of
COO does not consist of riding hobbies.i
In this matter of temperance reform
we all recognize that alcohol has many
uses besides that for drinking MR.
poses, and that there are various onin- i.
ions about drinking certain forms of
IT, ana various ways of advancing the
temperance cause, all of which are
honestly held by many good men, but
christian patriotism demands that ey-
cry true-hearted man or woman. eyery-
one who is loyal to his country, to hu-
manity and to his God, should take
Pauls position, ID That he will NOT
be stumbling block in the way of the
weak and of the young. ~ That he
viii not do anything to destroy his
brother for whom Christ died. (3) That
ne Will deny himself anything for their
sake. (4) That his attitude win be
That OF love and not of seifshness.
lhls places temperance on a high moral
plane, but the world is also beginning
tAAetS ll1C temperance 0IfGfy-
ton is also an economic one.
1t is well to have faith, but it is
also well to have the love that does
not injure others by the exercise oe
that faith. The question is, "Are Won
perfectly sure this thing is right?s
When in doubt as to whether anv ac-
ton will please God, doubt your doubts.
and avoid that act.
III. 1--WE then that are strong" (15:
l-3). This section is in reality a con
tlnuation OF Chapter IA. Paul is con-
tinuing his thought that we are nor
to please ourselves, but rather to live
such lives as will edify or build I'D our
neighbor. Our strength is not given
to us that we may glory or lord it
over our weaker brethren, but rather
That we may serve them.
10 please my neighbor does not mean
that when in Rome do as the Romans