Romans 14:7  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.
9  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
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.

The Christian life is not about us. It is about God. Salvation is a gift of God. Eternal life is a gift of God. True peace is a gift of God. It is important for those who are saved to remember that we do not live to ourselves. We do not die to ourselves either.
The Bible has much to say about the unity among the brethren. That unity is not found through compromise. It is not found through watering down the truth. It is found in submitting to the God Who saved us.
In verse 8 we see this further explained. We live unto the Lord. If we die we die unto the Lord. We belong to the Lord from the moment of salvation. This is what Saul (Paul) discovered. He had been bound and determined to persecute Christians. The Lord stopped him on the road to Damascus. Saul understood he was going the wrong way and he was fighting a losing battle. He surrendered there and was saved through placing his faith in the Lord. He spent 3 days as a blind man. He did not eat during that time. He had some time to think. God sent Ananias to pray for him and give him his physical sight back. His spiritual eyes were already opened, but now God was going to give him his physical sight back. Ananias also told him that he would be the apostle to the Gentiles. After Saul’s salvation, God changed his name to Paul. The Lord personally taught Paul for three years prior to sending him out to preach the Gospel. Paul was teachable and he truly lived for the Lord. He also died unto the Lord. He suffered persecution and he took it and continued to grow and serve the Lord. He did not run and find a place to hide. He was truly saved and he understood the blessing he had been given and he wanted to serve the Lord faithfully. He had a desire to see others saved and to see saints growing in the Lord.
In verse 9 we are reminded that Jesus Christ came to die, but also to rise again. A dead Saviour is no Saviour at all. All false religions have dead founders. Even though the Muslims claim that Mohammed ascended from the rock that is in the Dome of the Rock, that is a lie. He is buried somewhere. His body is long decayed and his soul is in torment and will be for all eternity. His body will be resurrected one day and his body and soul will be cast into the lake of fire for all eternity.
Jesus Christ gave His life a ransom for many. He is the Lord both of the dead and the living. The saved have a different end than the lost. The saved soul goes to heaven immediately after death. The body is placed into the grave and decays. The soul lives on because of Jesus Christ. During the time that the saints live on this earth, they live unto Christ because He is Lord of their lives. The saved will be resurrected and be joined to their souls again and will spend eternity with the Lord in the new heavens and the new earth.
We talked yesterday about the need of unity. We also made it clear that Biblical unity is not found through compromise. God’s Word is sure. His Word is right. Those who are saved need to submit to His Word and follow Him. We have mentioned in the past that a very common danger among the saved is that we become careless as we get older. We grow weary in the fight.
As I have mentioned, I am currently 72 years old. I have observed other men getting older. I have seen preachers who once seemed to have a good stand, weaken and stop standing for the truth. They have chosen a path of compromise. Often their children are compromised and for the sake of getting along, the parents will drop what they once claimed to believe, just to keep the peace. They fail to realize that what they have is a pseudo peace.
Those who compromise do themselves no favours, nor do they do anyone else any favours. We are reminded in this passage that we need to live unto the Lord and we need to die unto the Lord. We need to grow stronger and stronger as we live our days on this earth.
The grace of God is certainly there to help us to grow stronger. We will grow weaker physically. I cannot do what I once did, physically. However, by the grace of God I want to grow stronger, spiritually. God wants older saints to be a testimony to the younger saints. We can be faithful to the Lord. He is faithful.
In verse 10 we are warned against faulty judgment. We have seen throughout this book that sound doctrine is important and essential. The judging here goes back to the earlier verses of this chapter. Again we see that God did not tell Paul to counsel the saints to walk away from the local church and start another one, or just to stay home.
I understand there are churches that have fallen away. The Bible warns of this. I understand there are pastors that have fallen away. However, the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ found in Matthew 16:18 still holds. Jesus Christ did not blow off some steam when He made that statement. He is well able to build His church. I do not know all the excuses men might have for growing weaker. I do not need to know that. I know I need to be faithful to the Lord. If I can, I will try to encourage others to do the same. It requires a moment by moment walk of faith to walk with the Lord.
For me, I am not interested in human titles. I want to learn and grow. There are men who believe there are no true churches anymore and they stay home. Some of them think they still have a calling to rebuke others, but they are hypocrites because they refuse to submit to God’s command to be a part of a true church. God will lead His children to a true church. He is good and He knows we need the fellowship of other believers. As we approach the end of this age, we can see that this is just as needful now as it ever was.
We are reminded that we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We know this is written to saints. The ungodly will not stand at that judgment. They will be at the great white throne judgment. The saints will stand at the judgment seat of Christ. If we truly understand this, we must also understand the importance of yielding to the will of God now. We will answer to the Lord for our choices after we are saved. We cannot lose our salvation, but we can lose rewards. Those who are truly born again know there is no Biblical support for forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. We cannot be so tied to our physical roots that we refuse to move if need be to be able to attend a true church. If a saved person believes their church has gone wrong, it is important to examine your own heart before the Lord. God will guide you to some godly men to seek counsel from.
I remember as a younger Christian being called upon by some other members of that church, to go and speak to the pastor about some concerns regarding his ministry. I was a green horn and the Lord taught me an important lesson through that all. I was told the concerns had been raised to the pastor but he was not willing to listen. I found out those men had lied to me. I was wrong in going with those men to speak to the pastor. I had to apologize to him for getting involved in such a wicked thing.
As a pastor I have faced the wrath of men and women several times. It is not pleasant. Every time it has happened, it has given me the opportunity to further examine my stand with the Lord. We have a book called the Bible. We can seek God’s counsel at any time. I am often reminded of Psalm 139:23-24 —

Psalm 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

The Lord has shown me things that I have needed to learn. He has also shown me that there are times when there will not be a resolution to a problem. Matthew 18 is still in the Bible. We can deal with unruly brethren. Our desire must always be to see them repent and get right with God. There are many men and women who just do not want to surrender to the will of God. They will follow God to a certain point and then they dig in their heels. I know there are churches that forced me out, but looking back at them, I do not see that they grew stronger under another man. In fact some of them still do not have a godly pastor leading them.
God is in charge and we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. As we see in verse 11 of our text, every knee will bow to the Lord. Every tongue will confess to God. We, those who are saved, need to take this seriously. Are we part of the problem or are we part of the solution. It is work to be a part of a true church. There will be differences. However, if the Lord is in charge, and if you believe God wants you in a certain area, He will also provide the most important part of your life there. He will provide a true local church to attend. If that is not the case, then you misunderstood His leading. The true local church is very important. It is an essential part of any true child of God’s life.
In verse 12 we are reminded that we must all give account for ourselves before the Lord. I cannot blame anyone else for my choices. Even if I seek counsel from another man, I am still accountable for the decisions I make. God’s Word is our authority. All counsel must agree with God’s Word. If it does not, it is not God’s Word that is at fault. It is the human counsel that is lacking.
Seek the Lord and be sure you are saved and are walking humbly with the Lord. Follow Him and grow in Him. He will never lead you contrary to His Word. You may not like what He has to say, but it is important to be humble and obedient to Him.
Pastor Bartel