WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.000 Please turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 8 in your Bibles. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:17.000 ! When it comes to the issues of the day, the world, the internet, the internet, the internet, 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:21.000 ! It has the answers we're told that we need. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:28.000 And if we could just get our heads around this particular idea, or we could grasp this particular 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:37.000 knowledge, or we could learn these lessons, well then we'd be fine. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:44.000 The solution to the problems that we experience, the solutions to the problems that you experience 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:53.000 in the day to day, well, information is what you need. More knowledge is what you need. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:58.000 The answer to your frustrations and struggles in life, well, if you just knew these life hacks, 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:04.000 well then you'd be able to thrive. What are the answers to the bigger problems in society? 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:09.000 Take it up a level. Not just the things that we struggle with, but societal problems. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:15.000 Education, we're told. That's what Google's ad from a few years ago told us. The strapline was, 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:24.000 the closer we learn, the closer we get. The closer we get to, I don't know, but the answer was learning. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:30.000 Remember a conversation I had not that long ago with a guy who runs an executive coaching business, 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:37.000 and he told me that racism would vanish from our country if people were educated. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:44.000 That was the problem. They just needed to be educated. Reoffending, he said, would drop significantly if we could just teach, 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:51.000 and he said, if we could just teach those people, whoever they are, how to make the right decisions and not the wrong ones. 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:58.000 It would, more information, more knowledge, that's what we need in order to clear up the societal problems. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:02.000 In every area where we feel there are problems, more knowledge we're told is the answer. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:08.000 Now, we as Christians will hear this and we think, well, no, actually what we really need is Jesus. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:14.000 What people really need is the truth of God's Word in their lives. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:19.000 And of course, that's true in a sense, but if we think about it, if you're a Christian, 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:23.000 you're in a relationship with the Lord Jesus, and you have access to God's Word, 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:26.000 and you still struggle to make good decisions and not bad ones. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:30.000 We struggle, even though we're Christian, even though we know Christ, 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:35.000 to know how best to navigate the complex world that we live in. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:41.000 And if we were pushed for an answer, well, okay, yes, I do struggle, and life is complicated, 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:45.000 and I wish I made better decisions and fewer worse decisions. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.000 If we were pushed for an answer to how we were going to be able to do that, 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:54.000 we'd probably have our own version of more knowledge. We need more knowledge. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:01.000 If I could just get to the bottom of that pile of books that I keep adding to and not taking from. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:07.000 If I could just get the right authors, actually the sound authors, if I could get those into my system, 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:13.000 well then, I'll be okay. If I could just get connected to the right podcast, the right Christian podcast, 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:15.000 well, then I'll be all right. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:22.000 Getting the right bit of information, we think, will be the key that unlocks the life of godliness that we long to have. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.000 More knowledge is the answer. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.000 Knowledge is good. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:33.000 Better education would doubtless help some people make better life decisions. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:37.000 Knowing more about God undoubtedly is a good thing for any Christian. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:46.000 But Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 8 that if we're going to navigate the twists and turns of life in Christ well, 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:54.000 if we're going to be a useful, encouraging, edifying church member, we need more than knowledge. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.000 We need more than the information in the books. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.000 We need our knowledge to be accompanied by other qualities. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.000 Look at verse 1. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:09.000 The issue here at this point in the letter now concerning food offered to idols. 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:12.000 Food offered to idols. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.000 That was a real problem in Corinth. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:19.000 In Corinth there were lots of deities being worshipped by lots of people a lot of the time. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:25.000 And the meat that was sold in the market would have been offered to one of those deities before it arrived in the butchers. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:30.000 So, you would have gone as a Christian to the butcher, you would have bought your meat, 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.000 but that meat would previously have been offered to a false god. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.000 And this question and related issues will occupy Paul for several chapters. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:42.000 Is it lawful for a Christian to eat something like that? 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:48.000 If this meat has been offered to a false god in worship, is it okay for a Christian to eat it? 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:55.000 Can we who belong to the Lord eat food that has been in some way offered to another god? 00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:00.000 And a bit like last week, if you were here, the answer? 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.000 It depends. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.000 It depends. 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:07.000 And when that's the answer, you know you'll need more than just the right information. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:11.000 It depends means that we've got to think carefully. 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:13.000 We've got to weigh up different categories. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:19.000 There are perhaps different things that will modify the way we would answer the question in different situations. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.000 Can we do this? 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.000 Well, it depends. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:27.000 And if we need to nuance things in that way, if there are qualifiers, 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:33.000 if there are things that shape the way we would answer, just reading the book isn't going to be enough. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.000 Just listening to the podcast isn't going to be enough. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:39.000 Just getting the info isn't going to be enough. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:45.000 So, the Corinthians, verse 1, have said to Paul, the bit in quotation marks, 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.000 all of us possess knowledge. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.000 Paul quotes them back to themselves. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:53.000 All of us, me and you, we know the right things. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:56.000 We know the truth about idols, as you've said. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.000 Verse 4, an idol has no real existence. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:00.000 We know that. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.000 They're nothing. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:06.000 They're a representation of a God that doesn't exist. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:09.000 So, they don't exist in any meaningful way themselves. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:12.000 And yes, we know the truth about God. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.000 Look, what does he say? 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.000 There is no God but one. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.000 We know that idols don't exist, and we know that there is one true God. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:25.000 The only true God that exists is the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:27.000 He created all things, verse 6. 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:34.000 There is God the Creator, that means, and therefore there is everything else which is called created. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.000 We have the Creator, and we have everything else. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.000 And everything else comes into the category created. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:44.000 And this God has installed His Son as Lord of all of those created things. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:53.000 Jesus Christ stands as King and Ruler over everything that has been created, including every idol under the sun. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:59.000 Compared to the true and living God, an idol is nothing. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:03.000 And there is no God beside the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:09.000 This means that idols have no authority, and any food that is offered to them is not affected in any way. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:16.000 There would be no reason to abstain from eating it because of anything in the meat itself. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.000 To do that would be superstition. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:24.000 And superstition is the thing that pagan idolatry relies upon. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.000 Any kind of idolatry relies on superstition. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:36.000 What I mean by that is pagan religions depend on people attributing power to idols that those idols don't actually have. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:41.000 And so, joining in with superstitions that are just untrue. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.000 They're just lies. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:49.000 To say this particular statue has a particular power is false. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:53.000 It is to engage in superstition. 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:57.000 And Paul says, he will say later, quoting Psalm 24, 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:00.000 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:03.000 And that means, as one author has said, quote, 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:11.000 Everything else being equal, it would be perfectly fine to have a BLT made from bacon that came from a pig that was slaughtered on the altar of Satan. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:18.000 This kind of freedom that Christ brings does not give power to Satan, but rather takes all his power away. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.000 Do you see that? 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.000 The bacon may have been offered up to some false god or other, 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:30.000 But the fact that you eat it to the glory of God in God's world means that all the superstition has been taken away, 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.000 And you are directing glory where it's supposed to go. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.000 There is no superstition. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.000 The idol has no power. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:40.000 And Paul says, we know this. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:42.000 We know this. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.000 We know that idols are nothing. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:47.000 And that God is the one true God. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:52.000 But that knowledge isn't enough. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:57.000 On its own, he says, verse one, it puffs up. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:59.000 And I asked the children this morning about this. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:00.000 What does that mean? 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.000 It means it makes us proud. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.000 It makes us superior to others. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:08.000 There is a kind of knowledge that gives you a big head. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:17.000 There is a kind of theological precision and correctness that just makes you proud and superior. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.000 You know an idol is nothing. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:20.000 That's great. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.000 It is also true that knowing an idol is nothing is also nothing. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:30.000 If you think you know, says Paul, and he's talking about know-it-alls, 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:35.000 If you're that kind of person, regardless of what information you have at your fingertips, 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:38.000 you don't know as you ought. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.000 You have the kind of knowledge that puffs up. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.000 The kind of knowledge that makes you proud. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:50.000 Knowing stuff, even knowing theology, even knowing good theology, isn't enough. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:52.000 Even if it's absolutely true. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:58.000 Your knowledge needs, verse one, to be accompanied and directed by love. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:04.000 This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.000 This is the goal of the Christian life. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:10.000 To be built up ourselves, but also to be the kind of people who build others up. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:15.000 Rather than, verse 11, see the language Paul uses in verse 11, rather than destroying them. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:18.000 Build them up rather than tearing them down. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.000 And that flows from love. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:26.000 And unsurprisingly, Paul has in mind the two-fold love that summarizes the entire Christian faith. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:32.000 So, when Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, you remember he gave the questioner two commandments. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:33.000 What's the greatest? 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:34.000 There are two. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:35.000 Love God and love others. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:41.000 And that is what needs to control our knowledge when it comes to deciding on ethical matters, 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:45.000 like whether or not you can eat food sacrificed to idols. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:50.000 Whether you can buy your chicken from Hanwell grocers and your lamb from Damascate. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:52.000 Can you do that as a Christian? 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.000 Well, what is required is love. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.000 Love for God and love for others. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:03.000 But not only that, the principles that Paul applies here, not just about choosing where you get your meat. 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:10.000 The principles that Paul applies here, as we'll see in coming chapters, should affect how we live in all kinds of different ways. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.000 All kinds of different settings. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:17.000 How we decide what godly living looks like in a pluralistic culture like ours. 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:22.000 We need those decisions to be governed by love. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:27.000 First of all, what does it look like to love God? 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:32.000 Point number one, loving God, God before gods. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:35.000 Capital G, God before gods. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:41.000 If anyone, verse 2, imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:45.000 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:52.000 So, can you see here, Paul's contrasting not knowing as you ought with loving God. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.000 And being known by God. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:58.000 So, true knowledge starts with loving God and being known. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:59.000 Verse 3. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:01.000 And this being known isn't the possession of information. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.000 It isn't just getting the data right. 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:07.000 When you love God, he becomes aware of who you are. 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.000 It's the knowledge of relationship. 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:16.000 When you put your faith in the Lord Jesus, you are giving God his rightful place in your life. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.000 And he sets his love upon you as a heavenly father. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:25.000 But among all the things that this relationship offers you, forgiveness, yes. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:27.000 Reconciliation with God, yes. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:31.000 Hope, joy, peace. 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:39.000 We get all of those things when we give ourselves over to the Lord Jesus and put the true and living God at the center of our lives. 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:40.000 We get all of those things. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:45.000 But it also, that relationship also opens us up to true knowledge. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:54.000 When you put God at the center of everything in your life, the book of Proverbs tells us that is the beginning of true wisdom. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:00.000 But for Paul, being in that relationship also brings the requirement for loyalty. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:01.000 Verse 6. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:06.000 There is one God, the Father, from whom all things and for whom we exist. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:07.000 Sorry. 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:11.000 There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:15.000 And one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:20.000 The one true God owns us. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.000 He owns you. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:27.000 And when you love Him, by definition, you are refusing to love other gods. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:30.000 You cannot serve two masters. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.000 When you choose to love the one true God, you can't love other gods. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:36.000 And there are many of those. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:39.000 Verse 5, do you see, tells us many gods and many lords. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.000 And they are persistent little fellas. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.000 They try and draw you away from the living God all the time. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.000 How does that work? 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:51.000 Well, it's important to understand this. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:14:02.000 To say that idols have no real existence isn't to say that there aren't demonic powers behind them using them to draw people to worship false gods. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.000 We don't believe that Apollo or Zeus were who they claimed to be. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:12.000 We don't believe that the Buddhist statues or the Taoist icons or the trappings of folk religion are what they claim to be. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:17.000 That little statuette on the side, we don't believe that that has divine power. 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:27.000 But just because these things are worshipped under false pretensions, pretenses, doesn't mean that they aren't there at all. 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:35.000 What I mean by that is idols can mislead us and we can find ourselves under their thrall. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.000 We see this when someone leaves the Christian faith to join another religion. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.000 They didn't make that decision overnight. 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:43.000 That wasn't a snap thing. 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:46.000 There was a point they started down that track. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:49.000 They knew that there was no God but one. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:54.000 But they were interested and they went down a track of exploration. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:58.000 And what happened was at some point their heart was changed. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:04.000 They went from knowing that there is only one true God to not knowing that there was only one true God. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:06.000 To being convinced of something else. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:07.000 How does that happen? 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:08.000 The idol is nothing. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.000 False gods are nothing. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:12.000 Demonic powers are not nothing. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:17.000 Demonic powers it was that led them to believe this. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:20.000 I've seen this happen in a number of different contexts. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.000 Yoga is one example. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.000 Christians go along, they say, oh, I don't bother with the spiritual stuff. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:27.000 That's all nonsense. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:29.000 I know there's only one God. 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:32.000 But yoga is a version of Hindu worship. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:37.000 So it's no surprise that after a while, actually, they're more into yoga than they are into Jesus. 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:47.000 Participating in the worship of a false god does not honor the Lord, regardless of what you're thinking in your head. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:55.000 And even though you might be thinking the right things at a particular point, the significance of what you're doing. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:56.000 We are embodied souls. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:57.000 The physical matters. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.000 The way that we do things matters. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:12.000 And when you use your body in a particular way, when you perform particular physical actions, well, over time and by repetition, they can change the way you think. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.000 And it doesn't just happen with other religions. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:18.000 A false god is anything that demands your devotion. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.000 Anything that demands your obedience. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:21.000 It could be anything. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:24.000 It could be an overreaching state. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:25.000 It could be your employer. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:28.000 It could be the in-crowd that you care about. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:31.000 Teenagers, young people. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:36.000 It could be the in-crowd that you so desperately want to be liked by at school or socially. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:40.000 They have a power over you like a false god. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:43.000 And we know that they're not gods. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:46.000 We confess with our mouths. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:47.000 You've done it this morning. 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:49.000 That there is one God, the Father. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:52.000 And we only submit to one Lord Jesus, His Son. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:58.000 But in practice, well, we let the state tell us how to live. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:00.000 Because we don't want the hassle. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.000 We don't want to have to say no. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.000 We don't want to be that guy or that girl. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:08.000 We do whatever our boss tells us, whether it's consistent with our love for God or not. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.000 Because we need to keep the money coming in. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:17.000 And we toe the line with the cool shamers on whatever we need to do to not cause offence. 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:21.000 Because, well, we just really care about their approval. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.000 How is that not just another form of idolatry? 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:29.000 We're being controlled by these other things that aren't gods. 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:38.000 Don't presume to think that because you know sound doctrine that you aren't susceptible to being misled. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:41.000 Paul's doctrine of God forbids any encroachment by false gods. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:45.000 Those who love God are known by Him and they shouldn't mess with idols. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:47.000 We shouldn't do that. 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:54.000 Loving God with a complete loyalty would have had personal consequences in Corinth as it does today. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:02.000 Loss of faith, loss of income, no doubt, as these people withdrew from pagan celebrations. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:09.000 When love for God governs our loyalties, it will inevitably cost us in a culture that doesn't live that way. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:12.000 But we've got to make that choice. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:15.000 It is God before gods. 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:20.000 If we're going to love God, it means we don't play with idols. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.000 That's the vertical dimension. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:23.000 Loving God. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:24.000 Loving God. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.000 God before gods. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.000 Point number two, loving others. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.000 The horizontal dimension. 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:31.000 People before preferences. 00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:33.000 That's the principle. 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:34.000 Loving others. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.000 People before our preferences. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:40.000 You may well know the truth about idols and about God. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:41.000 Look at verse 7. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:46.000 However, not all possess this knowledge. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:50.000 Your knowledge is absolutely tip top, but others isn't. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:57.000 But some, through former association with idols, eat food as rarely offered to an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:00.000 Food will not command us to God. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:11.000 We are no worse off if we do not eat and no better off if we do, but take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.000 People before preferences. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.000 What's Paul doing here? 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.000 He's introducing the idea of weaker and stronger people within the church. 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:24.000 As I said earlier, food in and of itself is spiritually and morally neutral. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:27.000 God doesn't prefer any kind of diet. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:33.000 Jesus declared all foods morally clean, and that means that you can eat anything. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:37.000 If you fancy it, you can even eat the packaging that it comes in. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:41.000 It will neither benefit you nor will it hinder you spiritually. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.000 It might hinder you health-wise. 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:48.000 A mouth full of polystyrene is probably not great for you, but it actually won't be any detriment spiritually. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:56.000 But there are those who have a weak conscience, and that conscience doesn't afford them that freedom. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:09.000 If you have someone who has been in a context where eating certain foods was associated with idolatry, when they come to faith in Christ, they leave the idolatry behind. 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:14.000 But the association with the food in their mind still remains. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:20.000 So, a strong Christian who knows the right things about idols, they've got the knowledge. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.000 They don't have any connection in their mind between eating and false worship. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:34.000 They eat the meal, they enjoy God's generous creation of all of these foods, and they sit back with a contented smile full of gratitude to God. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:41.000 And the meal has done nothing except bring them pleasure and bring glory to God. 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:51.000 But a weaker Christian, freshly converted from some form of idolatry, sees the strong Christian doing this and thinks it's okay for them to eat the meat. 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:58.000 Which it is, but they can't actually do this without being drawn back into the idolatry again. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:03.000 So, when they eat the meat, they are drawn back to whatever gods they used to worship. 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:08.000 There was a time when they ate this meat, and their heart and their mind were connected to their false god. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:13.000 They now see you eating the meat, and they think, oh, I can eat the meat. 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:18.000 And they eat the meat, but because the connection is still there, they're led astray. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.000 They're stumbled. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.000 Paul, do you see verse 9? 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:28.000 Paul describes the freedom to eat idol meat as a right. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:34.000 In Christ, you are free to eat whatever you like without concern. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:37.000 In fact, it's a right that you possess. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:40.000 It's one of your Christian rights. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:48.000 But you mustn't use your rights in a way that will cause another to stumble back into idolatry. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:52.000 A common example often here on this is alcohol. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:22:07.000 So, the neutral thing, wine, associated with a sinful thing, drunkenness, means that someone converted from a background where drunkenness was normal for them has real difficulty dissociating those two things. 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:15.000 So, when they see the stronger Christian having some wine, they think that they can too, but they can't because they slip back into old ways. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:24.000 Your knowledge may be such that you're free to do this, but love demands that you bear others in mind first. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:27.000 People before preferences. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:32.000 You could say people before rights. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:34.000 One author says this, 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:59.000 This is the heart of the matter in proud and divided Corinth. 00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:02.000 And Paul warns against getting this wrong in the strongest terms. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:04.000 Do you see verse 9? 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:06.000 Take care. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.000 Literally, it's watch out. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:09.000 Be on guard. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:10.000 Do not let this happen. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.000 It is really serious. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:21.000 If you stumble your brother in this way because you allowed your knowledge to trump love, you can actually destroy them. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:22.000 Verse 11. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:24.000 The person is destroyed. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:28.000 You were able to swim in the current, but your brother wasn't. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:33.000 And because he saw you in there swimming, he jumped in as well, and he got washed away. 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:41.000 Christ died for him, but you couldn't curtail your freedom in order to protect him from idolatry, in order to keep him from sin. 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:51.000 You can see why Paul says, verse 12, to do this is a sin against that person, and because of Christ's relationship to them, why it is also a sin against him. 00:23:51.000 --> 00:24:00.000 Christ takes a dim view of those who, even though they know the right theology, don't let that theology lead them to love others. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.000 Particularly the weaker among the church family. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.000 I want us to see this. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:19.000 Although the weaker brother's conscience is misguided, although he's actually wrong on the matter, Christ identifies with the weak brother. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:26.000 So what that must lead us to conclude is that there is a deeper right than being right. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:34.000 The spiritual health of our brother or our sister is more important than our liberty. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:40.000 It is better to accommodate their error than to destroy their faith. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:45.000 Now this isn't the same thing as allowing the freedom police to control how others behave. 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:52.000 Paul isn't talking about those Christians who enjoy scolding others, who enjoy liberties that they, for some reason, just don't like. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.000 He's not talking about that. 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:57.000 Neither is he saying it's okay to have an immature conscience. 00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:01.000 We want an immature conscience to grow and become a mature conscience. 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:08.000 But he is talking about those kinds of people who put preferences before people to those people's spiritual detriment. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:16.000 He's not talking about causing offence so much as causing people to sin. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.000 And he says, watch out. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:23.000 Take this very, very seriously. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:27.000 I want to say, oh, you know, they should grow up. 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:30.000 They should know that actually it's okay to do these things. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:32.000 They should, dot, dot, dot. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:33.000 No. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:37.000 You should accommodate your weaker brother or sister. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:42.000 Set your freedoms aside for their spiritual good. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:45.000 Buy your meat from wherever you want. 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.000 You know those halal prayers are nothing. 00:25:49.000 --> 00:26:00.000 But if your former Muslim friend who has recently come to faith in Christ sees you there and can't dissociate that from the prayers they used to pray, get it somewhere else. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.000 You'll have quite a job in London now finding meat that isn't halal, but there will be some somewhere. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:06.000 You'll have quite a lot of time. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:07.000 Enjoy your wine. 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:08.000 Enjoy your wine. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:12.000 But if your Christian friend can't have it without getting drunk, don't bother. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:13.000 Yoga. 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:14.000 Yoga. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:19.000 Yoga is getting a hard time this morning. 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:23.000 You've somehow found a way to do it because you know gods are nothing. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:28.000 But even if that is the case, your friend recently converted from Hinduism can't do that. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:29.000 So don't bother. 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.000 Do Pilates or something else instead. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:36.000 And we do this. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:41.000 Not just, we do this because it's the way of the gospel. 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:46.000 Going without for the sake of another is exactly what Jesus did for us. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:47.000 For the weaker brother. 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:49.000 We're the weaker brother. 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:52.000 He did it for us, for the world. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:55.000 When he gave up his privilege. 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:57.000 When he gave up his rights. 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:04.000 And he left the glories of heaven where he had every right to stay in order to come and go to the cross for us. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:09.000 That is why the apostle Paul calls us to this approach. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:13.000 It's not just some arbitrary thing so that the church can all get on a bit better. 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:16.000 It is because it is the way of Christ. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:17.000 It is the way of the cross. 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:19.000 It is profoundly Christian. 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:22.000 To love God before gods. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:24.000 There's no alternative if you're going to be a Christian. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:28.000 It is profoundly Christian to put people before your preferences. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:32.000 The world that we live in grasps for what it can get. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:37.000 It stands on its rights and it insists that others bend to its will. 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:41.000 I'll have what I want on my terms when I want it. 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:44.000 And well, if you don't like it, too bad. 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:47.000 The Christian gospel is the total opposite. 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:50.000 It is my life for yours. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.000 As it was for Christ, so it must be for His followers. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:28:07.000 And my life for yours bleeds out into every area of the Christian life, not least my preferences for your good. 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:09.000 And you don't get this through more knowledge. 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:13.000 You don't get it through just reading the right books and getting more information into your head. 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:15.000 You get it through the Spirit. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:18.000 The Holy Spirit who grows us in love. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:20.000 Love for God and love for others. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:25.000 So what we must do as we seek to implement this is to ask God to give it. 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:27.000 Ask and you will receive. 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:29.000 Seek and you will find. 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:33.000 Knock on the door of this kind of love will be opened to you. 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:35.000 Let's pray together.