Audio Worship, 7/6/2025, "The Kingdom of God" Romans 14.13-19

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC)

Sermon # 1692   Click here for audio worship.

July 7, 2025 Romans 14.13-19

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“The Kingdom of God”

 

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

 

 

  • Kingdom of God – Kingdom of Heaven

 

I do not know if you have ever considered if there is any significant difference between the use of the phrases Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven in the Bible and particularly in the gospels. I would love to be able to settle this query with a definitive response, but alas, scholars still debate Kingdom titles. We could possibly agree that the kingdoms, while some consider them synonymous, do have certain similarities in general. Certainly God is the King of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. These are realms, if not the same realms, these are realms of God. When Jesus teaches the disciples the prayer we are familiar with, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”. The heavenly Kingdom is being summoned to the earth. Part of the understanding, just from that part of the prayer, is that the Kingdom is connected to the will of God. The Kingdom reflects God’s will, God’s purposes, and God’s Word.

As I thought about this series on the Kingdom, I thought briefly about the arguments that have been made to distinguish between the two phrases. The problem is twofold, one, scholars are not in agreement, and two, it does not really matter in the end. It is not a salvation issue to this mystery of why some gospel writers use Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven. What we do have for today is Paul’s use of the Kingdom of God. Verse 17, For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We will examine more closely the apostle’s meaning of the Kingdom and not so much on why he chose Kingdom of God over Kingdom of Heaven as the title.

 

  • Essentials and Non-Essentials

 

Let’s start with the opening verses of our reading. Paul basically calling on believers to not argue over non-essentials like food or drink. His exhortation is to not put a stumbling block before others for the sake of their faith and faith development, and second, know and conduct ourselves in the knowledge that the kingdom is not about physical things like eating and drinking, but about the things of the Spirit – righteousness, peace, joy, in the Holy Spirit. There are greater matters to consider other than material things. That does not mean that material things are not important, but they do take subordinate place as far as our life in the Kingdom of God.

I think too often we place things in compartments like material vs spiritual or sacred vs secular. Many of the spiritual fathers and mothers of the church regarded all things as sacred rather than a division of secular vs sacred. In that way of thinking, all things are clean unless we make them unclean by unclean use. Food is clean unless we are glutenous. Possessions are clean unless we use them to sin. This kind of thinking is often addressed as “all things in moderation”. It is not just about food and drink, but all things of the earth. It is how we make use of technology or medicine or science, all things should be used for the glory of God and the edification of the church and for the common good.

Some might consider a thought process that the spiritual is a first priority in that the material is subordinate to the spiritual. We might call something like that “kingdom thinking”. It is a way at looking at the world and all things through the lens of God’s reign and realm. Jesus called people to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus was ushering in the Kingdom, not as the zealots thought, to overthrow Roman rule, but to set us free from sin that we might live in a new way of life in the Kingdom of God.

I think that Paul is calling on all who are part of the Kingdom to consider how we walk and talk and handle the things of the world for the sake of our witness to the King of Kings, to Jesus Christ. In Paul’s time there were many who still considered some foods unclean, not kosher, and if they saw believers eating such things it could cause them to stumble, especially if a new convert to the faith. Not everyone today may understand what a more seasoned believer might do or not do and so we are responsible, as best we can be, to teach and lead in ways that does not cause others to stumble. Certainly we should not do something that we know would cause another to be hindered in their walk of faith. In this matter it is a discipline of discernment, walking as a people always seeking first the kingdom of God and trusting God to provide all we need (Mathew 6.33), not just in material well being, but all we need to encourage one another as well.

 

  • Not Far from the Kingdom

 

We recall the story from Mark 12.28-34, And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that [Jesus] answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

 

What did Jesus mean that he was not far from the kingdom of God? We might consider that the scribe knew all the right answers but did not live in accordance with his knowledge. But it also was probably more than that, he knew the right answers but he did not recognize the author of the answers. His entrance into the kingdom could only come by believing that Jesus is the Christ. Many people know the words of the Bible but they do not know Jesus, do not believe He is the Messiah, do not trust Him as their Lord and Savior, do not acknowledge Him as the King of Kings and King of the Kingdom.

 

 

 

 

 

  • The King of the Kingdom

 

What is the Kingdom of God? Is it spiritual over physical, sacred over secular? We have mentioned that the Kingdom is wherever the King reigns and rules. But the Kingdom of God is unique among kingdoms! The Kingdom of God is at hand and not yet. It is the Kingdom of Christ. It is Christ Himself in the sense that He ushered in this Kingdom of repentance and forgiveness, of covenant and love, of hope and faith. Paul even speaks of our being citizens of heaven, Philippians 3.20, and Jesus speaks of our being in the world but not of the world (John 17.14-15). We live by a different Kingdom rule and a different allegiance than anything of the world.

The Scriptures speak of the Kingdom that is at hand and the Kingdom that is to come. Jesus said that His Kingdom if not of this world. The Kingdom of God refers to God’s realm, sometimes that which is of the heart, sometimes that which is of perspective and attitude, faith and hope, to what is now in our midst and the kingdom for which we wait.

 

We may want to connect all that Paul is writing in Romans 14 to various aspects of the Kingdom. Kingdom living is known when the church...

 

  • Does not pass judgment on one another;

  • Does not put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother;

  • Understands that, in the Lord Jesus, nothing is unclean in itself; only unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

  • Does not cause another grief by what we eat;

  • Walks in love;

  • Looks after those for whom Christ died;

  • Does not let what we regard as good be spoken of as evil;

  • Serves Christ by pursing peace and edification.

 

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

 

Those are eight things the apostle Paul regards as a way of Kingdom living. This is the way we can make the invisible Kingdom visible. This is how we manifest the reign of Christ in our hearts, in the church, and to the world. The Kingdom is at hand because Jesus is at hand. He is here by the Holy Spirit so that Paul rightly proclaims the Kingdom in terms of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God but He did not complete it in its fullness on earth. And yet, He is the King of all Kings and thus King of all Kingdoms, whether kings and rulers know it or not. The heart of the matter is that we are subjects of the King and of the Kingdom of God. We are called and created to conduct ourselves in ways that give witness to the King and His Kingdom. In all that we do we are to serve Christ the King and walk in His love.

We have a taste of the Kingdom of God in our worship, in the Word of God, and at the table set before us. Our prayer may be this day, that we might seek first the Kingdom of God, trusting totally in Him for all we need, so that we might proclaim the good news of the Kingdom where Christ reigns, where salvation is realized, and where righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit are the true Kingdom reality. Amen.