WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.439 of Christ. So, there in chapter 10, verse 31, we have this principle, do it all for the glory 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:18.260 of God. And here is a guiding principle big enough to apply to all of life. Really simple statement, 00:00:18.379 --> 00:00:25.480 not difficult to understand, but it has massive life-shaping importance. Here is a principle, 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:31.620 do it all for the glory of God, that could guide all the established rhythms of our life. 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:40.380 Here is a truth to apply in all the juggling of various responsibilities and relationships that 00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:47.380 we have day to day and week to week. If we find ourselves asking, what's my goal in this moment? 00:00:47.939 --> 00:00:55.460 What's my purpose in this situation? What's the controlling principle governing what comes next? 00:00:55.479 --> 00:01:04.780 Here it is, for the Christian, do it all for the glory of God. So, we've got this big overarching 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:11.120 principle, but as you were listening along to Paul's argument, it was a very interesting road to get 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:17.500 there. Because we've come down a very, I imagine for many of us, a very unfamiliar road, the road of 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:22.219 what do we do about food that's been offered to an idol that's getting sold in a meat market? 00:01:22.219 --> 00:01:30.379 Now, I imagine for many of us, that's something that we've never had to think about. But it is a 00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:36.379 principle and an idea, a concept that will be familiar to millions around the world. And there 00:01:36.379 --> 00:01:40.980 will be millions of people living the Christian faith who are having to ask these important New 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:48.599 Testament questions. Believers in very different cultures and contexts to ours, and missionaries who 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:55.099 go to different parts of the world, if you go to any place where there is a strong local religion, 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:59.839 and that religion has dietary restrictions, these kind of questions are going to come up. 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:07.000 And maybe, just maybe, somebody here one day will end up being a missionary to Africa or to Asia, 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:12.959 and you'll look back and you'll think, ah, this is a text. This is a really important text for me to 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:19.680 consider. But even if not, there's still really important principles. And actually, it was something 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:23.920 that was really important in the first century for most Christians, especially those who were 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:30.840 Jewish, and then they became followers of Jesus. They were having to ask all kinds of food questions. 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:37.680 It was one of the big issues. Can Christians eat meat that was previously in the Old Testament 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:45.099 considered unclean? Well, Jesus said so, but that was a radical change. Can Christians eat at the house 00:02:45.099 --> 00:02:54.400 of a Gentile, someone who is not Jewish? Again, unity in Christ says yes, but that was something that took 00:02:54.400 --> 00:03:01.219 quite a lot of effort and understanding for the church to get to. What should a Christian do about 00:03:01.219 --> 00:03:07.580 this food that's offered to idols? And what difference does it make if I'm eating personally at home, 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:13.080 or if I'm going to someone else's house and we're having a shared meal? And so, these kind of 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:18.520 questions were coming up all the time as believers from different backgrounds were trying to figure out 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:27.460 how do we live together as one body in Christ? So, we're being introduced to an ancient issue, 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:33.920 but I think it's probably an issue that has some modern parallels, like in our setting. 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:39.759 Maybe as we go through this, we might be thinking, well, how do these set of principles that we'll 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:46.519 think about, how does that apply to, for example, my thoughts or my attitude to alcohol consumption, 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:55.139 or my spending habits, or the things that I watch on the telly, or the kind of language that I use 00:03:55.139 --> 00:04:02.239 in company? I think there are some principles that we can also helpfully apply to our own setting. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:08.260 At the same time, we're being introduced to an ancient church. So, we've just read one little 00:04:08.260 --> 00:04:14.659 bit of the letter of 1 Corinthians, but Corinth was a significant city within the Roman Empire, 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:22.579 kind of a notorious city, quite an immoral city. It was also a place where lots of former slaves 00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:29.620 or former soldiers had been given their freedom, and so there was this thing, go to Corinth and make a 00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:34.699 name for yourself. And so, it was a place where there was lots of competition, lots of people trying 00:04:34.699 --> 00:04:40.480 to get to the top of the social ladder, and so they were known and they celebrated the idea of being 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:50.139 self-made people, and they loved celebrity teachers. And what we see within the whole book is that there 00:04:50.139 --> 00:04:58.699 are significant issues of personal pride and these divisions that are rocking this young church. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:06.860 And we'll see a little bit of this as well, that we're introduced to how Paul applies the gospel to 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:14.379 everyday life. So, here's one issue, food offered to idols, and Paul's going to apply the gospel to how 00:05:14.379 --> 00:05:19.759 to think about that. But he does it all through the book. He does it about issues to do with the Lord's 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:25.000 Supper. He does it to do with attitudes towards different leaders in the church. So, we'll see some 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:30.680 of this. So, he brings the gospel to bear on everyday Christian ethics. And if you read the letter, you'll 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:37.579 discover there's so much that we can learn from this letter about how the gospel shapes how we think about 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:45.919 all of life. But central to these chapters, central to the Christian, is this theme, do it all for the 00:05:45.919 --> 00:05:51.379 glory of God. So, we're going to think about it, first of all, think about it narrowly as it relates 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:57.699 to this issue, the problem of what do we do about food that's offered to idols. Okay, so we're in Corinth, 00:05:58.379 --> 00:06:04.279 and we've got a bunch of new Christians, and most of them have been saved from a pagan background. 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:10.139 So, they're used to probably every day going to a temple, offering sacrifices to idols, including 00:06:10.139 --> 00:06:16.759 offering food to idols. They're still surrounded by idol worship. Even when you go to buy your meat 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:24.079 every day, there's this reality that it's been offered to an idol at some point, most likely. So, 00:06:24.239 --> 00:06:32.779 what should they do? We get some fascinating teaching. And what we see is that there are a group, 00:06:32.779 --> 00:06:37.639 this is a church that's very divided, there are a group who say, well, we know, 00:06:38.679 --> 00:06:43.739 let me tell you our opinion, and let me exercise my rights. And then we've got a group that are 00:06:43.739 --> 00:06:49.419 described as the weak. So, let's see what Paul has to say. He reminds them, chapter 8, so go to chapter 00:06:49.419 --> 00:06:57.739 8, first of all, first eight verses, he says, it's not about what you know. So, the idea of knowing and 00:06:57.739 --> 00:07:01.759 knowledge is really important to this section. So, he says to these guys who are full of themselves 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:08.000 because they think they know. We know that we all possess knowledge, that's one of their phrases. 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:16.899 He says to them, but knowledge puffs up while love builds up. So, Paul says, listen, I know 00:07:16.899 --> 00:07:23.159 that there are some things that you know, that an idol is a non-thing, and that there's only one God, 00:07:24.099 --> 00:07:29.819 and that eating idol food is no problem. They know all those things, but he says to them, beware. 00:07:29.819 --> 00:07:41.740 The Christian life is not all about knowledge. What comes first is love. Don't be all about your 00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:49.279 knowledge that puffs up. Be about love that builds up. Don't put pride over love, he says. He says, 00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:52.180 actually, in verse 3, a really interesting thing, he says, the best kind of knowing 00:07:52.180 --> 00:07:59.519 is to love God and to be known by God. That's priority number one, to be known by God and to 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:06.920 know God's love. And then in verses 4 to 6, Paul says, listen, I know as well. I know there's only 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:14.500 one God. I know there's only one Lord. I know those idols are not real. And in fact, he makes a wonderful 00:08:14.500 --> 00:08:22.100 statement in here about Jesus. He says, for us, there's one God, the Father, from whom all things 00:08:22.100 --> 00:08:26.339 came and for whom we live. And there's but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:32.220 and through whom we live. So, in the midst of this, a really amazing description of Jesus as God. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:37.019 Jesus, the one who we are to worship with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. 00:08:37.019 --> 00:08:42.379 So, Paul says, listen, I know that too. I know the truth about God and the truth about idols. 00:08:43.419 --> 00:08:51.199 But what does he say next? In verse 7, not everyone knows. Not everyone possesses this knowledge. And 00:08:51.199 --> 00:08:55.919 here he's not even talking about people who are outside of this new church. He's saying, even within 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:01.500 our Christian gathering, he's saying, there are some who've been brought up with idols, and they've 00:09:01.500 --> 00:09:06.879 always believed these idols are real. And so, for them, it's a really big deal. They think if they 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:13.200 eat this food, they're going to be defiled. So, what should the people who know do? 00:09:15.580 --> 00:09:19.799 He also applies some logic in verse 8. He says, food doesn't bring us near to God. 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:28.460 We're no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do. But he wants to use that logic to say, 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:36.659 so be careful not to eat in a way that's unloving. Be careful not to act in a way that 00:09:36.659 --> 00:09:43.600 makes problems for others. And so, he identifies, and this is where I think we have a general principle, 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:50.740 he identifies in these areas where people take different opinions, there's a danger to avoid. 00:09:51.959 --> 00:09:57.299 Simply asserting my knowledge and my preferences regardless of the people around us. 00:09:57.299 --> 00:10:07.279 He says, there's a glory to seek, but it's not the glory of my knowledge. It's God's glory. 00:10:09.419 --> 00:10:15.959 It's about showing love for God by being thoughtful to the people around who maybe are weaker, 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:22.439 who are less mature, who've got a different background. So, knowing is not everything. 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:29.500 The second principle that he identifies here from verse 9 onwards of chapter 8 is, he says, 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:37.880 in effect, aim to build others up, not to tear them down. Verse 9, be careful that the exercise 00:10:37.880 --> 00:10:46.580 of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. So, imagine the scene. You've got a church 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:54.440 gathering. And then the next day, there's some Christians who are at the market. Some of those 00:10:54.440 --> 00:11:01.320 Christians have just very recently left idol worship, going to the temples, worshiping false gods to 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:06.220 become a follower of Jesus. So, they're still kind of living in that world, but they're just coming out 00:11:06.220 --> 00:11:12.740 of it. And they go to the meat market, and they see a mature believer going from the meat market, 00:11:12.740 --> 00:11:18.279 maybe even going into the temple, and there they're happily eating the food that's been offered to 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:26.600 idols. It's entirely plausible that that weak believer will look at the mature one and say, 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:32.259 okay, he's gone to church, and now he's gone to the temple, and he's taking the food for the idols. 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:38.899 So, Jesus and the idols, they must be equal. So, why don't I just worship both? I suspect that'll 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:49.000 work out quite well for me. And so, Paul warns about not causing a stumbling block to someone else. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:53.720 If someone with a weak conscience sees you with all your knowledge eating in an idol's temple, 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:59.459 won't that person be emboldened to eat what's sacrificed? And the significance of that, 00:11:59.779 --> 00:12:05.480 the destructiveness of that is clear. So, this weak brother or sister for whom Christ died is 00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:12.600 destroyed by your knowledge. He says to them, recognize this is not a small thing. You sin 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:20.620 against their conscience. You're acting harmfully against someone for whom Christ died. You're 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:25.980 running the risk of causing their faith to run aground by the careless use of your freedom. 00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:29.680 And actually, when you do that, you sin against Christ Jesus himself. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:38.639 He puts it a different way in chapter 10. I have the right to do anything you say, 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:46.639 but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything, but not everything is constructive. 00:12:47.599 --> 00:12:55.459 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. Does my action benefit other believers? 00:12:55.460 --> 00:13:08.160 Does my action build up other believers? Are my actions thinking first and foremost about other believers? 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:20.700 The danger that Paul exposes is a very real one. It's about how we choose to exercise our Christian 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:30.640 freedom. How do we choose to live out our Christian ethics when they are seen, when we are seen by others? 00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:39.780 Do we understand that our example can have a profoundly harmful effect on someone who is less mature, 00:13:39.920 --> 00:13:47.120 who has a weaker conscience than we do? Perhaps we've seen that in our own lives and our Christian 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:54.460 experience. Something that is fine for one believer, you know, whether that's going to a pub, whether 00:13:54.460 --> 00:13:58.060 that's watching certain kind of films, whether it's hanging out with certain kind of crowds, 00:13:58.060 --> 00:14:04.220 that can be totally fine for one person, but for another person, it could cause them a huge problem. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:10.240 Might lead them down the path to sin, to sin against their own conscience, to sin against Christ. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:20.360 And so there is a glory to seek, but it's not to glory in, I've got the right to do whatever I want. I've got 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:29.460 freedom in Christ. God is glorified when we put love for others ahead of my personal freedom to do what I want. 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:39.780 There is glory for God. There is glory for God when love for others makes my rights fade into insignificance. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:49.840 And the third principle, and we've kind of already touched on it, but he drives it home towards the end of 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:57.800 chapter 10 is this, consider everyone's conscience. And this is where things get really interesting. This little section 00:14:57.799 --> 00:15:06.559 reminds us that Christian ethics is not like, it's not like a wooden law, fixed laws that are just applied 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:14.299 unthinkingly. Rather, we're always having to be thinking, always having to be applying the truths of 00:15:14.299 --> 00:15:22.259 God's Word into different situations. And this is a great example for this. So, we should always be 00:15:22.259 --> 00:15:29.639 asking, how do I glorify God now, and in this situation, and now, among this group of people. 00:15:29.899 --> 00:15:35.879 So, the first setting, verse 25 and verse 26, is the setting of the meat market. And Paul gives him 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:41.419 very straightforward teaching. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of 00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:46.639 conscience. And he quotes Psalm 24 from which we sang, for the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:53.899 So, everything belongs to God. Jesus has declared every food to be clean, so don't worry about what 00:15:53.899 --> 00:16:00.879 you are eating. And here's an important principle. Remember, Paul knows that some people have weak 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:11.620 consciences. He is teaching and training and strengthening consciences. I know you have an issue with this, 00:16:11.620 --> 00:16:18.480 but really, you don't need to. It's his pastoral encouragement. Okay? So, in the meat market, 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:28.480 you can eat anything. Then there's a second setting, verse 27 to 30. If an unbeliever invites you to a meal 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:36.100 and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:46.040 Eat what's put in front of you. Don't ask the question. Don't risk shaming the host. Receive the 00:16:46.040 --> 00:16:56.180 hospitality. Significant for people in cross-cultural mission. But then, what if the situation changes? 00:16:56.740 --> 00:17:03.000 Verse 28, but if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it, 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:10.440 both for the sake of the one who told you, both for the sake of conscience. Same food, 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:20.920 but now everything has changed because of that one simple statement. This has been offered to an idol. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:26.619 And now Paul says, if that happens, you don't eat it because clearly the conscience of the other 00:17:26.619 --> 00:17:34.979 person is an issue. Again, for the sake of an unbeliever, it's avoiding any confusion. 00:17:36.939 --> 00:17:43.939 It was avoiding the confusion that Jesus and the idol are equal. It's making clear that Jesus is not 00:17:43.939 --> 00:17:49.019 an add-on. He's not another one of the many gods that they worship. He is uniquely different. He's not 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:59.839 like the idols. And so, the danger to avoid when it comes to conscience is we must be careful to always 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:07.599 pay attention to the conscience of others. Not like the bull in the china shop, we must be sensitive 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:12.660 to the sensitivities of others. We do not want to cause someone to stumble. 00:18:12.660 --> 00:18:22.220 We do not want someone to have a false view of Jesus. We don't want someone to have to wrestle 00:18:22.220 --> 00:18:30.779 and agonize and fall into sin because we've been inconsiderate. Rather, there's a glory to seek. 00:18:31.900 --> 00:18:37.380 And this is where verse 31 comes, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:44.360 do it all for the glory of God. And what does that look like? It looks in part like, verse 32, 00:18:44.520 --> 00:18:52.440 not causing anyone to stumble. It looks like, verse 33, trying to please others. 00:18:54.420 --> 00:19:00.000 It looks like seeking the good of others so that people might be saved rather than put off following 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:08.940 Jesus. And it absolutely looks like following the example of Christ. Christ who always showed an 00:19:08.940 --> 00:19:17.920 unselfish, loving concern for others, who was willing to put His rights to one side in order to faithfully 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:27.480 and obediently carry out God's plan of unselfishly and sacrificially loving, serving, dying for people like us. 00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:32.860 Jesus lived for the glory of God, and He calls His people to do likewise. 00:19:35.120 --> 00:19:40.079 So, when we think about application, of course, the situations change, but the principles remain. 00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:47.539 It may be that we go through our whole lives, and the issue of food offered to idols may never be a 00:19:47.539 --> 00:19:54.839 problem. It is quite likely. But there will always be questions of conscience, and there will be always 00:19:54.839 --> 00:20:00.419 areas on which Christians disagree. And so, we need always to be asking the question, 00:20:00.639 --> 00:20:08.000 how do I act in such a way that God is glorified? How do I move beyond just asking, is this thing 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:14.879 banned? Let me check the list, to, is this beneficial? Not beneficial for me, but beneficial for others. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:23.340 It's important for us to realize that the issues of food and drink matter, because everything matters 00:20:23.340 --> 00:20:29.200 to God. Spending, watching, all of those things matter, but God's glory matters more than anything. 00:20:32.320 --> 00:20:40.180 And it reminds us that our love for one another has to be more important than us simply claiming my 00:20:40.180 --> 00:20:48.019 rights. So, that's the narrow focus when it comes to doing everything for the glory of God. Just for 00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:56.100 a few minutes, we're going to move to the wider focus, to Paul's own missionary practice. You know, 00:20:56.120 --> 00:21:03.039 thinking about how do we learn to live well, you know, as people? How do we learn to figure out what's 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:09.880 right and what's wrong as general principles, but also as situations become more complicated? What do we do 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:16.480 in certain situations? Most of us, we probably find that's a mixture of teaching that we receive, but also 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:25.960 examples that we watch. You know, when we're children, there is stuff that we pick up from. Just being in our 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:31.140 families, we pick up on stuff. We don't need to be taught it, we just see it. Sometimes we are taught it as 00:21:31.140 --> 00:21:35.580 well. But we just come to understand there are certain things that are right, and there are certain things that are 00:21:35.579 --> 00:21:43.179 good, and there are certain things that are bad and are not so good. And maybe as we get older, maybe as we 00:21:43.179 --> 00:21:48.699 come into the workplace, we're looking to find a mentor. Maybe we're given a mentor for a job. Maybe we 00:21:48.699 --> 00:21:54.939 have that sort of onboarding thing when we get a new job, and we have someone whose task it is to explain 00:21:54.940 --> 00:22:03.779 what the job involves and how to do that well. It's really helpful to have a good, committed mentor. 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:13.600 In a sense, Paul functions as a mentor for this young church, a real mixed bag of people, various 00:22:13.600 --> 00:22:19.200 levels of maturity, all kinds of pride and divisions going on. Some of them are claiming my rights. They're 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:24.920 fighting over who their favorite Bible teacher is. Some of them are so full of their idea that they can 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:31.759 have freedom from rules, that they're doing crazy stuff, and they're full of divisions. Divisions about 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:37.860 what is moral and not in God's eyes. They're full of divisions even when they sit at the Lord's table. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:45.180 And so, Paul writes this letter, and he very much wants to show by his own example as well as by his 00:22:45.180 --> 00:22:50.480 teaching, here is how you begin to apply the gospel to everyday life for the good of others. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:58.460 So, if you've got a Bible, four very quick examples to see how Paul does everything for the glory of God, 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:03.980 that that's the engine that drives his life. Chapter 3. It's in the middle of a discussion about the church 00:23:03.980 --> 00:23:08.279 and its leaders. There are some people saying, I follow Paul, I follow Apollos. 00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:14.660 Verse 5. What after all is Apollos and what's Paul? Only servants through whom you came to believe, 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:21.819 as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:26.079 So, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but only God. 00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:32.859 Paul is not concerned about his reputation. I should be the number one Bible teacher. His concern 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:41.279 is that God gets the glory for new life and for growing faith. Chapter 4. There are people who are 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:45.500 doing Paul down. Paul, you're not much of a teacher. You're not much of a leader. You're not very charismatic. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:56.279 Look at what he says in verse 10. Some irony here. We are fools for Christ, he says of himself and his 00:23:56.279 --> 00:24:03.379 fellow apostles. But you're so wise in Christ. We are weak, but you're strong. You are honored. We are 00:24:03.379 --> 00:24:09.399 dishonored. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty. We are in rags. We're brutally treated. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:14.920 We're homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we're cursed, we bless. When we are persecuted, 00:24:14.920 --> 00:24:25.599 we endure it. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world, right up to this 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:35.699 moment. Paul is not for a second concerned about his comfort, his status in the eyes of society. 00:24:35.699 --> 00:24:44.879 He is willing to be a fool for Christ, considered to be a nobody, so long as people would see Jesus as 00:24:44.879 --> 00:24:51.539 the somebody. In chapter 9, verse 1 to 6, 00:24:51.539 --> 00:25:02.599 He's saying, Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? He's making this argument that he has rights as an 00:25:02.599 --> 00:25:08.940 apostle. He has rights, for example, to travel with a wife. He has rights, for example, to claim 00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:15.839 money and food from them because he's bringing God's Word to them. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:26.220 Don't we have the right to food and drink? Verse 4, don't we have the right to take a believing wife? 00:25:29.019 --> 00:25:35.519 But, verse 12, if others have this right of financial support, shouldn't we have it all the 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:41.459 more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than 00:25:41.460 --> 00:25:48.579 hinder the gospel of Christ. So, Paul is so concerned that people not think he's simply in it, 00:25:48.620 --> 00:25:54.600 he's not simply a preacher of the gospel to make money for himself, that he takes nothing from this 00:25:54.600 --> 00:26:03.180 church to make absolutely sure that Christ gets the glory. And then we read, chapter 8, verse 13, 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:10.140 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, 00:26:10.840 --> 00:26:17.240 so that I will not cause them to fall. He's not concerned to satisfy his appetite. He's not saying, 00:26:17.380 --> 00:26:23.980 I really like eating meat, so I don't care what you think. He's willing to never eat meat again, 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:31.600 if that will be a source of blessing to his brothers and sisters in Christ. At all points, 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:38.379 Paul is concerned for the glory of God. And at all points, we see that Paul's faith is a thoughtful 00:26:38.379 --> 00:26:47.139 faith. And his first thought, in this moment, with this particular group of people, in this particular 00:26:47.139 --> 00:26:56.319 situation, what will bring God glory? What will honor Christ and the gospel most? And Paul's logic 00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:07.439 is absolutely shaped by the gospel that he teaches. Jesus left heaven, gave up his rights, gave up 00:27:07.439 --> 00:27:16.859 everything to come into this world. Jesus gave his life on the cross to die for his people, suffering 00:27:16.859 --> 00:27:28.579 death on the cross in order to save and rescue. And because Paul knows that, and it's his heartbeat, 00:27:29.579 --> 00:27:35.199 he says, I'm willing to give up my rights to serve Jesus and to serve the church of Jesus. 00:27:38.019 --> 00:27:43.059 Paul understands, as someone who preaches the Bible, as someone who preaches about Jesus, 00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:51.399 that there are going to be times when he gives offense. In chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians, he says, 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:56.819 in verse 18, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, 00:27:57.460 --> 00:28:04.819 but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. And then down in verse 23, 00:28:05.059 --> 00:28:10.559 we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:16.279 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom 00:28:16.279 --> 00:28:22.639 of God. So, he knows that the gospel will always offend. People will hear about a Savior who humbled 00:28:22.639 --> 00:28:28.579 himself to die, and that's crazy. People will be offended by the fact of being told that they're 00:28:28.579 --> 00:28:34.720 sinful and they can't save themselves, and they need a Savior. But he will always preach that, 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:42.259 but Paul will not add offense intentionally in the way he lives. There is gospel offense, 00:28:43.259 --> 00:28:48.860 and we must be about that if we're going to be faithful to Jesus, but there is an offensiveness 00:28:48.860 --> 00:28:54.460 that sometimes as Christians we can be guilty of, which we are to have no part of. 00:28:54.460 --> 00:29:03.360 That's Paul's pattern. Now, let's just draw this to a close and think more as we move more widely to 00:29:03.360 --> 00:29:10.140 today, as we put this into practice for our own lives, this principle, whether you eat or drink, 00:29:10.180 --> 00:29:15.880 or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. So, I recently, it was too late, it was after 00:29:15.880 --> 00:29:20.920 New Year, but I came across this advice, why not skip resolutions and make a rule of life? 00:29:20.920 --> 00:29:25.320 I don't know how many people made resolutions. I don't know how many of them have wobbled and 00:29:25.320 --> 00:29:29.860 collapsed already, but I quite like that idea of having a rule of life. That seemed like, 00:29:29.940 --> 00:29:35.700 here's a good idea, to have a focus, to have a lens through which to view all of life. And then I came 00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:39.900 across, I never heard of a rule of life before, but I think it's a really ancient practice in the church, 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:46.900 and it's defined this way. Here's a rule of life defined, an intentional, conscious plan 00:29:46.900 --> 00:29:55.280 to keep God at the center of everything we do. The starting point and foundation of any rule of life 00:29:55.280 --> 00:30:03.700 is a desire to be with God and to love Him. That sounds a wonderful thing, doesn't it? Here's a rule 00:30:03.700 --> 00:30:11.940 of life. I want consciously to make God central. I want the foundation of my life to be enjoying life 00:30:11.940 --> 00:30:18.660 with God and enjoying His love. The advice then moved on to like a lengthy kind of five-page plan 00:30:18.660 --> 00:30:21.940 and taking a whole day to figure that out, so I decided that was a bit too much for this year. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:27.220 And then I came across 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. I thought, yeah, here's the simple approach. 00:30:28.320 --> 00:30:38.720 Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. There's a great starting point for a rule of life. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:43.559 Think about it. Think about it for tomorrow, regardless of what your day holds, whether it's 00:30:43.559 --> 00:30:48.799 super busy or it's quite quiet, regardless of what's coming next in your calendar. 00:30:50.339 --> 00:30:57.400 No matter what conversation you're about to have, think about the chores that you'll need to complete. 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:04.980 Perhaps you have reports and paperwork to fill out. There'll be meals to cook, laundry to do, 00:31:04.980 --> 00:31:14.440 perhaps a Bible study to teach. In all of those little moments, wouldn't it make a difference if 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:21.420 we went into them thinking, I'm going to do this and this to the glory of God? 00:31:23.339 --> 00:31:28.960 Then there's no such thing as an ordinary thing. Everything becomes full of meaning. 00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:34.120 Think about the different hats that we wear in the course of a day. If you're a Christian, 00:31:34.119 --> 00:31:41.539 you are a child of God. You're also someone who has a wide variety of relationships in your family, 00:31:41.619 --> 00:31:47.179 in your friendship, in your work, in your university. Think about your responsibilities 00:31:47.179 --> 00:31:53.219 that you spend doing your nine-to-five or whatever it looks like. Think about all your responsibilities 00:31:53.219 --> 00:32:02.239 in the context of serving in a church. And again, apply that rule of life. How can I do this? 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:10.140 Be this person, be this person, the child of God, the father, the husband, the son, 00:32:11.140 --> 00:32:22.319 the worker to the glory of God, showing love for others, putting the needs of others, 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:30.299 the conscience of others ahead of mine, to follow the example of our Savior in the gospel. 00:32:30.299 --> 00:32:37.639 Whatever we do, do it to the glory of God.