WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.459 My middle name is Gilbert, but this story is not about me. 00:00:08.060 --> 00:00:09.679 Gilbert, you're pregnant. 00:00:10.980 --> 00:00:17.440 This is something that was said quite a few years ago to a man by the name of G.K. Chesterton, 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:24.460 Gilbert Keith Chesterton, and it was said to him by one of his best friends, George Bernard Shaw. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:28.780 And those of you who are English majors will know who these people are. 00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:34.740 The rest of us might be a little bit confused, but for the first third of the last century, 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:38.859 they were two towering figures in English literature. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:45.880 And George Bernard Shaw was an atheist and a socialist and everything that was considered 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:49.120 to be very, very modern and with it back then and cutting edge. 00:00:49.780 --> 00:00:54.040 And G.K. Chesterton had become a Christian as an adult. 00:00:54.039 --> 00:01:00.039 And George Bernard Shaw was rake thin and very healthy. 00:01:00.839 --> 00:01:04.859 And G.K. Chesterton, well, let's put it this way. 00:01:05.039 --> 00:01:06.539 He loved a good cigar. 00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:09.780 He loved good food with lots of fat. 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:13.780 And he loved to pray and follow Jesus. 00:01:14.039 --> 00:01:17.500 And he, as he got older, became larger and larger and larger. 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:25.319 And one day, George Bernard Shaw, as I said, is rake thin, came up to G.K. Chesterton and 00:01:25.319 --> 00:01:28.700 poked him in the stomach and said, Gilbert, you're pregnant. 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:36.859 And G.K. Chesterton, without missing a beat, said, you know, George, I do think you are correct. 00:01:37.340 --> 00:01:40.680 And if it is a boy, I'm going to call it Johnny. 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:44.280 If it is a girl, I think I'll call it Susie. 00:01:44.940 --> 00:01:51.420 And if, as I suspect, I'm just full of, if, as I suspect, it's just a lot of hot air and gas, 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.180 I will call it George Bernard Shaw. 00:02:00.320 --> 00:02:05.719 Don't you all wish you have at least one moment of witticism like that once in your life, especially 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:11.000 both of those were men who never had an unpublished thought, so it got written up somehow or another. 00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:17.340 In the epistle that we looked at today, there's, in fact, that exact type of image. 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:23.919 One of the things which Paul is dealing with in Corinth, which is a problem, is that there's 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:29.180 a group of super-spiritual Christians in Corinth, and they think they're just getting really, 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:31.060 really, really big and strong. 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:37.240 And Paul says, you're not getting bigger, you're just getting puffed up. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:42.420 And it's a polite Greek way of saying you're just getting filled with hot air and gas. 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:48.280 And that's exactly, let's look and see why Paul would say this and what exactly he says. 00:02:48.379 --> 00:02:51.599 Turn in your Bibles to page 992. 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:54.340 Page 992. 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:58.460 And if you're using, for all of us, whether you're using the Pew Bible or the ones that 00:02:58.460 --> 00:03:01.040 you've brought from home, it's 1 Corinthians 8. 00:03:01.920 --> 00:03:04.740 And 1 Corinthians 8. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:10.740 And over the first three verses here, Paul is going to try to communicate to the church 00:03:10.740 --> 00:03:15.260 in Corinth and to us a really important spiritual principle. 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:22.020 That is, that in regards to God, we are taller when we bow. 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:30.060 That in regards to God, we are taller, we are bigger, we are stronger when we bow. 00:03:30.939 --> 00:03:37.740 And Paul is going to try to communicate this to them as he launches into a major problem 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:39.860 which the church in Corinth is facing. 00:03:40.700 --> 00:03:41.600 Now, just listen. 00:03:41.700 --> 00:03:42.879 We'll read the first three verses. 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:45.740 Now, concerning things offered to idols. 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:51.379 Over the next three weeks, this week and the next two, Paul is going to be dealing with 00:03:51.379 --> 00:03:54.260 the problem of idolatry in the culture. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.920 And he says, we know that we all have knowledge. 00:03:58.060 --> 00:03:59.700 That's actually quoting from their letter. 00:04:00.200 --> 00:04:01.560 And then this is where he begins. 00:04:02.100 --> 00:04:04.980 Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 00:04:05.820 --> 00:04:13.340 And that puffs up is an image of just like getting bloated with gas and hot air, not getting 00:04:13.340 --> 00:04:14.920 stronger, bigger at all. 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:18.939 Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:24.300 And if anyone thinks and he knows anything, he knows nothing, yet as he ought to know. 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:29.420 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by God. 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:36.100 Now, I said, Paul here isn't being sort of postmodern. 00:04:36.100 --> 00:04:40.060 He's not telling us that we should sort of despair of knowledge. 00:04:40.060 --> 00:04:45.360 He's not sort of warning us against grand narratives, metanarratives. 00:04:45.620 --> 00:04:52.060 He's not teaching us that we should be doubters and skeptics and give up on the possibility of 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:53.500 knowing things. 00:04:53.579 --> 00:04:54.879 He's not saying anything like that at all. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:56.699 He's not denying that there's true truth. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:01.959 In fact, in a moment, he's going to try to tell them that they have to act in a particular 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:05.819 way in light of the fact that there really is stuff that you can know. 00:05:05.819 --> 00:05:13.019 But what Paul is trying to say is this, that it's very easy for us as Christians, and even 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:18.079 though it's very easy for us as Christians, it's always wrong, it's very easy for us to 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:25.539 become smug, to become presumptuous, to sort of somehow or another think that we have this 00:05:25.539 --> 00:05:31.399 knowledge or this relationship with God, and that once we have it, we've arrived. 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:35.139 And we can walk around this planet as the arrived ones. 00:05:35.339 --> 00:05:38.659 There is the non-arrived ones, and then there are the arrived ones. 00:05:38.799 --> 00:05:44.019 And the arrived ones are ones who just know the right things and have the right type of 00:05:44.019 --> 00:05:49.659 knowledge and are the right type of person, and we are able to look down our noses at 00:05:49.659 --> 00:05:50.459 everyone else. 00:05:51.359 --> 00:05:55.439 Paul says this is completely and utterly wrong spiritually. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:06:04.040 What matters most of all is not knowledge per se, but being known and loved by God. 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:06.759 And how do we get known and loved by God? 00:06:07.019 --> 00:06:13.199 That comes by, in a sense, spiritually, so to speak, bowing. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:24.800 It comes from a humble acknowledgement of our need to come to God and to receive that which 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:26.459 only God can give. 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:29.579 That's the whole point of that third verse. 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:33.959 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by him. 00:06:34.300 --> 00:06:38.379 It doesn't matter so much whether we love God or whether we know things about God. 00:06:38.379 --> 00:06:44.740 What really matters is that we're known by God, and how do we become known by God? 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:50.459 And the word known here is referring to us having a particular status before God. 00:06:51.819 --> 00:06:56.199 Jono's song, it wasn't Jono's song, but the one we just sang a few moments ago, touches 00:06:56.199 --> 00:06:58.600 on it, Now That We Are Your Daughters and Sons. 00:06:59.219 --> 00:07:05.699 It's referring to how do we enter into this particular special status as God's adopted 00:07:05.699 --> 00:07:06.240 children. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:12.100 And we don't enter into the status of being God's adopted children by superior theology, 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:19.900 by superior intellect, by superior spiritual experiences, by superior ethnic background 00:07:19.900 --> 00:07:21.300 or cultural background. 00:07:21.540 --> 00:07:25.680 It has nothing to do with anything at all which is superior in us at all. 00:07:26.379 --> 00:07:31.360 That to become the adopted children of God is always an act of grace by God. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:34.680 Not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offenses. 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:42.300 And that in a very, very real and important spiritual sense, that we enter with open arms 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:44.120 because we have nothing to bring. 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:49.540 And if we can sort of manage two images at the same time with open arms and literally 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:55.120 bowing before God, acknowledging that he is great and that we are dependent upon him for 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:56.240 grace and mercy. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:04.240 And the wonderful thing is that God is rich and deep in kindness and grace and mercy and 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:07.060 only desires to show mercy to us. 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:14.460 So Paul here begins by saying, it's not a matter of knowledge that makes us superior. 00:08:14.459 --> 00:08:20.079 It's always a matter of remembering that we are taller when we bow. 00:08:20.739 --> 00:08:26.319 That it's a matter of being known by God and remembering all the way throughout our Christian 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:29.919 life how it is that we enter into the Christian life. 00:08:30.019 --> 00:08:31.039 We enter by bowing. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:32.460 How do we grow as Christians? 00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:34.019 We grow by bowing. 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:36.120 Bowing before his word. 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:38.299 Bowing, acknowledging our need for grace. 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:41.100 Bowing because we acknowledge our need for mercy. 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:46.299 Bowing because we acknowledge that God is greater and that he is the giver and that we 00:08:46.299 --> 00:08:47.059 need to receive. 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:53.419 And that the entire Christian life is one of being characterized by learning how to bow 00:08:53.419 --> 00:09:01.399 before our gracious, kind, almighty, heavenly Father who desires to give us grace and desires 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:02.899 to pour out love upon us. 00:09:02.899 --> 00:09:07.120 Now, why is Paul talking about all of this? 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:13.379 In chapters 8, 9, and 10, Paul is going to be trying to deal with a particular problem 00:09:13.379 --> 00:09:14.559 that's going on at Corinth. 00:09:15.059 --> 00:09:21.600 And it's a feature of the ancient world which is not a common feature today in postmodern 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:22.139 Canada. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:27.960 And that is, in a sense, there weren't any restaurants in Corinth. 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:32.440 That if you wanted to go and have a meal out, you went to a temple. 00:09:33.040 --> 00:09:36.100 You went to a place where food was sacrificed to an idol. 00:09:36.580 --> 00:09:40.920 The entire culture was completely and utterly pagan. 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:49.379 And so temples were, you know, I don't know if it's still the case, but you hear stories 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:51.879 about English people going to their local, you know. 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:54.120 And that's where a lot of their social life is. 00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:58.580 They go to a particular bar, you know, a particular pub, I should say. 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:01.799 And at the pub, you know, they have their pints and they know all the people there and they 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:05.100 all have their friendship and their camaraderie. 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:08.740 And it's just a huge, important part of the communal life. 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:15.519 And in a sense, temples in the ancient world, temples in Greece, temples in Corinth, that was 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:17.120 the place, that was your local. 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:19.840 That was your place where you'd go to have your meal. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:21.639 That's the place where your friends were. 00:10:22.539 --> 00:10:29.000 And so for these people in Corinth, they'd spent their entire life surrounded by idols, 00:10:29.560 --> 00:10:31.120 surrounded by all that that meant. 00:10:31.820 --> 00:10:36.759 And the way they would meet their friends and any important social event would all be 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:42.460 connected with going to a temple where food would be sacrificed and then you would eat it. 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:44.799 It would be prepared for you and you would eat it. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:52.379 And so there were these super spiritual people in Corinth who were saying, it's just a rock. 00:10:53.019 --> 00:10:53.299 Okay? 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:58.639 Just like, okay, guys, you know, tone down all of the rhetoric about this stuff. 00:10:59.079 --> 00:11:03.399 You can't be saying that to become a Christian means that I don't have any time with my friends 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:03.819 anymore. 00:11:03.939 --> 00:11:05.879 Like, that can't be what Christianity means. 00:11:06.219 --> 00:11:10.240 That I come to Jesus, I lose all of my friends and I can't eat out. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.899 But I have to just eat at home all the time by myself all alone. 00:11:14.419 --> 00:11:16.240 You know, listen, you can go to a temple. 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:17.560 It's just a rock. 00:11:17.639 --> 00:11:17.879 Okay? 00:11:17.899 --> 00:11:18.639 That's all it is. 00:11:18.659 --> 00:11:20.460 It doesn't correspond to anything. 00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:21.500 There's no Aphrodite. 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:23.440 There's no Apollo. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:25.080 You know, they don't exist. 00:11:25.220 --> 00:11:25.399 Okay? 00:11:25.419 --> 00:11:26.519 It's just a rock. 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:31.139 So if these guys think that it's something else, well, that's their problem. 00:11:31.139 --> 00:11:34.840 But I just want to be able to have a nice meal out with my friend, my friends. 00:11:34.939 --> 00:11:37.059 And I'd like to mark important social things. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:41.580 And if you folks were just a little bit more intelligent and a little bit more spiritual, 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:42.740 you'd understand this. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:49.199 So that's, in a sense, the type of conversation that's going on in Corinth. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:12:01.400 And Paul is going to give two reasons why Christians shouldn't be going to temples to have the meat slaughtered and to eat it in such a context. 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:02.600 He's going to give them two reasons. 00:12:02.740 --> 00:12:04.379 The first reason is this week. 00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:09.000 And in chapter 10, he's going to give the second reason. 00:12:09.700 --> 00:12:14.640 And the first reason, so the first thing before Paul gets into this issue, that's why he teaches them, 00:12:15.180 --> 00:12:17.540 reminds them of this important spiritual principle. 00:12:17.539 --> 00:12:22.199 That, okay, you know, listen, even the whole tone of your conversation is wrong. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:25.299 Okay, how is it that you grow as a Christian? 00:12:25.419 --> 00:12:25.959 By bowing. 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:27.039 How did you become a Christian? 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:27.759 By bowing. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:29.039 What makes you taller? 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:30.819 Not superior knowledge. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:32.399 Not having good friends. 00:12:32.539 --> 00:12:33.399 Not having money. 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:35.319 What makes you taller spiritually? 00:12:35.860 --> 00:12:36.240 Bowing. 00:12:36.860 --> 00:12:40.139 Bowing to the one God that really does exist. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:46.639 So now he's going to say a little bit about the fact of whether they're just stones or not. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.919 And he's going to sort of agree with them. 00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:54.659 And in agreeing with them, they'll give a very important meditation upon what it means to be a Christian. 00:12:55.259 --> 00:12:55.919 Verse 4. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:06.379 Therefore, concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:27.139 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:34.379 Now, Paul begins by saying that, in fact, you're completely correct, there is only one God. 00:13:35.139 --> 00:13:38.720 There is nothing objectively that corresponds to Aphrodite. 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:42.580 There is nothing objectively that corresponds to Zeus. 00:13:42.580 --> 00:13:45.660 And on one level, it's just a stone. 00:13:46.040 --> 00:13:47.540 It's just a pile of rocks. 00:13:47.780 --> 00:13:48.980 It's just a tree. 00:13:49.259 --> 00:13:50.320 It's just a grove. 00:13:50.580 --> 00:13:51.560 It's just a building. 00:13:52.800 --> 00:13:55.940 But, and Paul is going to acknowledge that. 00:13:56.040 --> 00:14:03.560 He goes into this profound meditation upon the fact that there is only one God and what it means and how it goes right. 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:17.739 The knowledge that there is only one God goes right down into the very, very fabric of creation and that there is only one way to this God, and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only source of divine life. 00:14:18.839 --> 00:14:22.819 Now, here's where this meditation becomes very, very un-Canadian. 00:14:23.599 --> 00:14:25.739 Very, very, very un-Canadian. 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:37.639 You know, it's talked about sometimes in Canada as if it's a brand new discovery to think that there is more than one religion or more than one conception of God. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:47.180 If we went back in time and tried to lecture Paul on this, that there's more than one, he would just look at us with the most puzzled and bemused expression. 00:14:47.179 --> 00:14:55.879 Because you couldn't walk a block in any major city that he traveled in without seeing God after God after God. 00:14:56.459 --> 00:15:04.479 And Paul's home church, Antioch, was one of the most cosmopolitan cities that have ever existed. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:08.639 There were even people in Antioch from China and from India. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:22.039 So Paul would have been familiar with things which, like the earliest, earliest forms of, in fact, Buddhism wouldn't even have been around, earliest, earliest forms of Hindu religions. 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:25.639 And he would have been familiar, there were people there from Africa. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:32.639 And all of these were in this unbelievably cosmopolitan, multicultural city of Antioch. 00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:37.500 And it was in that context that that was Paul's sending church. 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:44.759 So if there was anybody who knew about how big the world is and how many gods there were, it was Paul. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:47.779 He was not at all confused about that. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:55.600 And yet in the face of many people who believed in many gods, Paul unequivocally says, there is but one God. 00:15:57.179 --> 00:16:02.200 And gods other than the one God correspond to nothing. 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:05.720 And there is but one way to that true God. 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:07.899 And that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:16:08.060 --> 00:16:12.980 This is very, very, very contrary to Canadian public opinion. 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:18.940 Some of you might have heard the story about, maybe you've been badgered by it. 00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:22.840 You know, it's sort of really arrogant to think that your way is the only way. 00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:23.879 And that's true. 00:16:23.940 --> 00:16:25.340 It's not my way. 00:16:25.560 --> 00:16:27.399 It's a matter of finding out whether God has made a way. 00:16:28.060 --> 00:16:31.379 But, you know, and then they give you the example of the blind men with the elephant. 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:35.240 And, you know, and some people touch the trunk and some the leg and some this. 00:16:35.300 --> 00:16:36.940 And they say, this is what God is like. 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:38.240 And this is what God is like. 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:39.399 And this is what God is like. 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:41.879 And they all say very different things, but it's just one elephant. 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:46.019 And so, therefore, there's just one God. 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:47.480 But there's all these different ways. 00:16:47.579 --> 00:16:50.459 We're all like blind people, et cetera, et cetera, blah, blah, woof, woof. 00:16:50.819 --> 00:16:53.159 And it can be a very, very... 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:55.159 I have to show my... 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:56.740 That line, blah, blah, woof, woof. 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.159 It's Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. 00:16:59.299 --> 00:17:00.639 If you listen to the... 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:04.680 Back in my wayward youth, when I listened... 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:09.279 Anyway, you don't want to hear about my wayward youth. 00:17:11.100 --> 00:17:20.259 And the problem with that analogy is that the person telling you the story knows that there's only one elephant. 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:27.340 The person telling the story doesn't say that they're blind, because all the blind people think that their views of God is correct. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:33.060 The person telling the story, in effect, knows that there is only one elephant. 00:17:33.059 --> 00:17:37.940 They are, in fact, acting from a privileged position in telling that story and telling that analogy. 00:17:38.879 --> 00:17:43.480 And in response to that story, we can say, listen, it's not a matter of my way to God. 00:17:43.919 --> 00:17:50.019 In fact, the worst thing you could ever do is follow my way to God, because George is a pillar of dust. 00:17:51.179 --> 00:17:53.359 And George will die. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:02.019 What we need to discover is if the one God has sent a way by which we can come to know him and become his children. 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:09.759 And the Christian gospel is that there is but one God, not many gods, and that that one God has made the way. 00:18:10.259 --> 00:18:12.619 And that way is the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:14.220 Listen to verse 6. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:21.299 Yet for us, and here he's not being postmodern as if for us there's only one God, but for somebody else there's a different God. 00:18:21.379 --> 00:18:22.940 And for somebody else there's a different God. 00:18:22.940 --> 00:18:28.700 He's, that's not, we can't read the text like that, we'd be misreading us, misreading it. 00:18:28.860 --> 00:18:38.940 He's saying, in a sense, we have come to know that there is only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:45.460 And by saying this, Paul is saying there's only one God, that he's not known as the tyrant or as the dictator. 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:53.259 I know for many of us we've had bad fathers, and it's a hard type of image, but if we were to think of the best possible image of Father, 00:18:53.819 --> 00:19:02.819 it's that this one God is one who expresses his life towards us in terms of tender care, of us being his children, 00:19:03.460 --> 00:19:08.440 of us, of him protecting us, caring for us, desiring our good, 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:15.620 that he is responsible for all things, that we come from him, and that we are made for him. 00:19:16.019 --> 00:19:23.740 That coming to know God is not like coming to know an alien from outer space that might come to invade this planet. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:30.080 And, you know, they're obviously alien, they're obviously different, they're obviously completely and utterly opposed to us. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:36.619 They just desire to belittle us, to destroy us, to make us their slaves, or to make us their food, 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:42.279 or whatever type of horrible science fiction movie you've seen lately about those types of creatures. 00:19:42.619 --> 00:19:45.000 And the true God is not like that at all. 00:19:45.099 --> 00:19:50.759 He's Father, and not only is he Father, but even the way that the created order has been made, 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:58.119 even though George is but a pillar of dust that is animated by a soul, 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:05.959 even though that is who I am, I as a pillar of dust animated by a soul have been created by God, 00:20:06.259 --> 00:20:08.039 and I have been made for God. 00:20:08.959 --> 00:20:15.219 It goes right down to the very, very depths of the created order. 00:20:16.139 --> 00:20:21.679 And then one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live, 00:20:22.399 --> 00:20:26.299 that Jesus is fully God, that he is the Lord, 00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:31.680 that he is the agent of creation, that God made all things through him. 00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:38.899 All things come from him, and we live and have our life and being in him, 00:20:39.399 --> 00:20:43.579 through whom are all things and through whom we live. 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:46.940 I am God's adopted son. 00:20:47.379 --> 00:20:49.319 Is that because I'm somehow special? 00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:50.720 Far from it. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.860 How did I become God's adopted son? 00:20:54.059 --> 00:20:56.180 By bowing to the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:01.360 by acknowledging that he is the Savior, that he is the one who has opened the way to God. 00:21:01.819 --> 00:21:06.860 I come to him bowing before him, saying that you have not weighed my merits, Jesus. 00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:09.140 You have come to pardon my offenses. 00:21:09.860 --> 00:21:12.539 You have not come to watch how high I can jump. 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:17.720 You know that I cannot possibly ever jump into the lap of my heavenly Father. 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:22.819 Father, you have come to carry me there and make me fit and worthy to sit in his lap. 00:21:26.460 --> 00:21:28.299 So we are taller when we bow. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:30.440 There is only one God. 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:36.299 And then Paul, getting to the issue at hand, wants to tell them there are no little people. 00:21:37.220 --> 00:21:39.579 There are no little people in Christ. 00:21:39.579 --> 00:21:48.699 Paul is going to say that the first reason why we should have nothing to do with idols and temples 00:21:48.699 --> 00:22:00.139 is because that Christians have a positive obligation to love those who are new and weak in the faith. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:08.619 And we have a positive obligation to protect and make clear the way that one becomes the adopted child of God. 00:22:08.619 --> 00:22:10.479 That's a positive obligation. 00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:16.979 That the Christian life is not a matter of, okay, now that you're superior, now that you're a super spiritual Christian, 00:22:17.179 --> 00:22:19.179 now that you're, you know, you're really, really great. 00:22:19.180 --> 00:22:26.279 God can set before us the 15 things we can't do or the 23 things we can't do or just pick a number, God. 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:28.480 Just give us the things that we can't do. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:32.920 And everything else which isn't limited by one of those things we can't do, we're free to do. 00:22:33.100 --> 00:22:34.860 And we just go through our life doing all that. 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:38.880 Just make sure you avoid those 23 things or 10 things or 15 things. 00:22:38.940 --> 00:22:40.860 Then just do whatever pops into your mind. 00:22:40.859 --> 00:22:43.179 And Paul is saying, no, no, no, no, no. 00:22:43.219 --> 00:22:46.119 We're always, it was always a matter of surrendering, acknowledging God. 00:22:46.659 --> 00:22:51.039 It's always a matter of understanding that we live in him and we have our being in him. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:56.799 And it's always a matter of us understanding that we have an obligation to make clear 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.319 how one becomes an adopted child of God. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:08.139 And one has a continuing obligation to care for those who are weak, care for those who are young, 00:23:08.460 --> 00:23:15.539 that we have a positive obligation to think about these things and think of others and organize our lives 00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:21.339 so that we can make a positive difference in others' lives to bring them closer to God. 00:23:22.159 --> 00:23:25.619 That's to be the motivating factor in our lives. 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:30.240 Listen as Paul goes on in verse 7 and following. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:34.939 However, remember he's just said how, you know, there's only one God and one Lord. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:37.539 However, there is not in everyone that knowledge. 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:43.700 For some with consciousness of the idol until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol 00:23:43.700 --> 00:23:48.079 and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 00:23:48.980 --> 00:23:52.000 I just want to pause there before I read the next verse. 00:23:52.659 --> 00:23:54.659 See, what Paul is saying here is this. 00:23:55.259 --> 00:23:58.000 There's intellectual knowledge and there's emotional knowledge. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:03.799 And intellectually, the person who's come to Christ might intellectually know that it's just a stone. 00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:06.039 But emotionally, they don't know that. 00:24:06.759 --> 00:24:08.220 Existentially, they don't know that. 00:24:08.220 --> 00:24:14.079 And so if they were to see me going to a place where the food's being sacrificed to Aphrodite 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:18.940 and then sitting there, I'm just there with, I'm lounging around, I'm really, really comfortable, 00:24:19.100 --> 00:24:24.100 I'm lounging around and the animal is sacrificed and Aphrodite is praised 00:24:24.100 --> 00:24:26.019 and then the meal begins. 00:24:26.600 --> 00:24:30.160 And for somebody, they intellectually might know that it's just a rock. 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:34.860 But gosh, it sure looks like Aphrodite is just as important as Jesus. 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:41.900 And so for that new Christian, there is the possibility that they will be led back into the worship of Aphrodite 00:24:41.900 --> 00:24:43.600 and they will be led away from Christ. 00:24:46.060 --> 00:24:51.000 This is one of the reasons why we should not have yoga classes in this church 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:54.220 and we shouldn't have labyrinths in this church. 00:24:54.220 --> 00:25:00.140 One of many reasons why no Anglican church should have either of those things connected to their worship. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:04.620 You know, we might say, listen, okay, yoga, it's just stretching. 00:25:05.360 --> 00:25:06.420 Okay, that's all it is. 00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:09.440 It's just a way to get stretched and get a little bit of relaxation. 00:25:10.860 --> 00:25:17.480 And it's exactly the same type of argument that the super spiritual are using here about idol worship. 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:25.740 But here's the problem, amongst other things, is it obscures to a watching world the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:33.000 And it makes it possible that if people have come to faith in Jesus Christ 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:37.380 after having been involved in these Hindu spiritual practices, 00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:46.140 that they will be led to think that they can go back into that pursuit of those spiritual practices. 00:25:46.140 --> 00:25:48.259 Same thing with labyrinths. 00:25:48.360 --> 00:25:50.820 Oh, listen, okay, George, it's just a maze. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:52.540 It's just like a thing you walk along. 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:55.220 And, you know, so what if you have some drumming to mark the seasons? 00:25:56.280 --> 00:25:59.180 You know, George, don't get so worked up about it. 00:25:59.560 --> 00:26:04.060 But the fact of the matter is, is that for those of us who have come to faith out of a New Age background, 00:26:05.520 --> 00:26:10.400 and churches should be evangelizing people who are in that quest, 00:26:11.360 --> 00:26:14.540 it obscures the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:19.319 And for those who have come out of that background, or those who are brand new Christians, 00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:24.359 it is easy for them to then think that this way is just as good as following Christ, 00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:30.359 and they can be led completely and utterly astray, and seriously, seriously astray. 00:26:31.139 --> 00:26:34.460 And we as Christians, remember, we're taller when we bow. 00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:37.599 We're not a community association. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:41.680 We're not a club of the spiritual people or the Christian spiritual people. 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:44.060 We are taller when we bow. 00:26:44.460 --> 00:26:50.980 We come to Christ by acknowledging Him and surrendering to Him and coming to Him for mercy. 00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:56.480 And that has to characterize all of our discussions and all of our decisions about everything that we do. 00:26:57.259 --> 00:27:05.299 And on top of that, we have a positive obligation to care for young Christians and new Christians and weak Christians. 00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:14.259 And we should be thinking not what is going to benefit us, but always what can we do to add value to their lives 00:27:14.259 --> 00:27:20.619 and come alongside them and encourage them and do whatever we can to help them to grow. 00:27:20.759 --> 00:27:24.440 That should be one of the things which so powerfully motivates us. 00:27:24.980 --> 00:27:26.519 Let's listen as Paul continues. 00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:33.660 But food does not commend us to God, for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. 00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:35.500 There's no such thing as a holy diet. 00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:40.019 But beware, you can be a vegetarian, you can be a non-vegetarian. 00:27:40.099 --> 00:27:41.940 There's nothing better or worse about our diet. 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:49.019 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 00:27:49.019 --> 00:28:01.559 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:07.940 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:17.779 But when you thus sin against the brethren, the brothers and the sisters, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 00:28:17.779 --> 00:28:25.240 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:31.839 I have to confess that I've been greatly, I really greatly benefited from this sermon. 00:28:31.879 --> 00:28:33.339 I don't know if this has ever been an issue for you. 00:28:33.379 --> 00:28:36.519 I just want to share it with you before I get to my final point to close. 00:28:38.099 --> 00:28:42.240 This passage has been used against me time and time again over the years. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:48.240 And that's because, you know, there have been different changes that have happened in this church over the years. 00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:52.140 And I've been told, George, what you're doing is offending people. 00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:56.480 You're violating 1 Corinthians 9 and you shouldn't be doing it. 00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:58.599 I've been told that many, many, many times. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:00.900 And I have to confess I've never studied the text. 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:03.059 And I always partially believed it. 00:29:03.180 --> 00:29:06.240 Partially I didn't think that's what I was doing, but partially I believed it. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:09.960 And this text is not talking about offending people. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:15.120 If offending people was a sin, Jesus was a sinner. 00:29:15.700 --> 00:29:18.680 He offended countless number of people. 00:29:19.259 --> 00:29:22.359 It's not a matter of causing offense. 00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:23.920 The gospel causes offense. 00:29:24.359 --> 00:29:28.380 The text is talking about causing a stumbling block. 00:29:28.380 --> 00:29:35.480 It's talking about doing something that if other people emulate us, it will lead them away from Christ. 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:38.099 Okay, it's a difference like this. 00:29:38.140 --> 00:29:48.700 If you know that you have a friend who's an alcoholic and you invite them over to your house and you encourage them to drink alcohol, you're being a stumbling block. 00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:49.859 Okay. 00:29:49.859 --> 00:29:59.819 If you tell a group of people who have gone to church maybe for many, many, many, many, many years, but they've never understood why Jesus had to die on the cross. 00:29:59.819 --> 00:30:08.079 And if you tell them why Jesus died on the cross and encourage them to come to faith in Jesus, if you offend them, you're not being a stumbling block. 00:30:08.639 --> 00:30:10.379 It's all the difference in the world. 00:30:10.380 --> 00:30:18.620 Stumbling block here refers to doing a course of behavior that if people copy you, it will lead them away from Christ. 00:30:19.360 --> 00:30:28.460 But here, remember, just in closing about this text, that was just me sharing you a biographical thing, something which I've learned from the text. 00:30:28.460 --> 00:30:31.140 But listen again to verses 11 to 12. 00:30:31.460 --> 00:30:35.980 Because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:42.100 But when you thus sin against the brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 00:30:44.019 --> 00:30:52.640 We are not to look upon people as, oh, you know, they're just really weak Christians and sort of look down their noses at them at all. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:56.600 In Christ, there are no little people. 00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:02.800 Every person who has come to Christ is a temple of the Holy Spirit. 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:05.000 And there are no small temples. 00:31:06.280 --> 00:31:11.280 Every person that has come to Christ, Christ now lives in them. 00:31:11.320 --> 00:31:12.259 Look at verse 12. 00:31:12.759 --> 00:31:18.000 For me to do something, for me to ignore the people who are weaker in Christ, 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:23.099 and for stronger people to ignore me or to look down on me or to belittle me, 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:27.180 is to actually offend and hurt Jesus Christ. 00:31:27.539 --> 00:31:33.079 And I am to understand everyone who comes to Christ, not as a weak or a strong, 00:31:33.220 --> 00:31:38.019 but I am to try to, I am to understand everyone as one for whom Christ died. 00:31:38.019 --> 00:31:41.680 Are there weak Christians and strong Christians here? 00:31:41.819 --> 00:31:43.519 No, there are only temples of the Holy Spirit. 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:46.019 Are there weak Christians and strong Christians here? 00:31:46.379 --> 00:31:48.299 No, there are only those for whom Christ died. 00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:51.299 Are there weak Christians and strong Christians here on one level? 00:31:51.379 --> 00:31:51.879 No, there isn't. 00:31:51.940 --> 00:31:54.579 There's only those within whom Christ dwells. 00:31:54.819 --> 00:31:58.440 How am I to live amongst you folks, and how are you to live amongst you folks? 00:31:58.819 --> 00:32:05.240 We are to live in such a way that our goal in life is to build the people around us up 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:08.319 so they become more and more like Jesus. 00:32:08.839 --> 00:32:13.460 And whether we are correct in thinking they are not very like Christ or very, very much like Christ, 00:32:13.819 --> 00:32:15.740 the cry of our heart should be, 00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:21.319 God, loving Father, help me to live towards the people in St. Albans 00:32:21.319 --> 00:32:28.660 that my life and my prayers and everything about me helps them to grow and become more like Jesus. 00:32:29.140 --> 00:32:30.460 Let's bow our heads in prayer. 00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:45.160 Father, we ask that you deliver us from all arrogance, all smugness, presumptuousness, 00:32:45.500 --> 00:32:50.559 from dogmatism, from glorifying in thinking that we are superior 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:53.460 and having unquestioning and hard hearts. 00:32:53.980 --> 00:32:57.140 Father, it is easy for us to fall into all of these things. 00:32:57.140 --> 00:33:04.500 Help us, Father, because it's so easy for us to slide into comparing how spiritually mature we are to others 00:33:04.500 --> 00:33:05.620 and look down our noses. 00:33:05.780 --> 00:33:10.940 Father, in your mercy, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and deliver us from these paths. 00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:15.380 Father, teach us and help us to bow to your word and to bow to your Son 00:33:15.380 --> 00:33:17.900 and to bow to you and to bow to the Holy Spirit. 00:33:18.759 --> 00:33:24.380 Help us, Father, to have humble and pliable hearts before you and before your word 00:33:24.380 --> 00:33:29.580 and fan into flame within us, Father, not only an ever deeper desire to know you, 00:33:30.080 --> 00:33:36.220 but fan into flames within us, Father, a deep desire to make a positive, a great difference 00:33:36.220 --> 00:33:41.560 in the lives of our brothers and sisters in this place and around the world. 00:33:42.180 --> 00:33:47.040 Father, fan into flame within us a deep longing and desire to build others up. 00:33:47.280 --> 00:33:50.420 This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.