Well, for the last time until August, please join me and open with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. As many of you know, I'm going on sabbatical this summer, and so for our sermon series through 1 Corinthians, today we're going to wrap up chapter 10, and we're going to drop anchor, as it were, and pick up right back in chapter 11 when I return in the fall. I will say that in God's providence, I do think this is the perfect place to pause. We find the conclusion here in chapter 10 of this long section, 8, 9, and 10, dealing with this controversy about eating meat sacrificed to idols. And if you look at chapter 11, Paul turns to an entirely new subject. Church, and worship, and spiritual gifts. And so, this is a very fitting place to pause. for the summer. But today we're going to look, beginning in verse 23, down through chapter 11, verse 1. We'll complete this section here in 1 Corinthians 10. Let's listen then. I am the reader, but God Himself is the speaker. Let's listen to the Word of God. All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience. I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? And if I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced? of that for which I give thanks. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all of the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many that they may be saved. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. Amen. Bow with me again in prayer. Our God and our Father, this is your world. We pray that you would teach us what it means that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. That you would teach us what this means for how we live. That you would teach us what it means to love our neighbor as ourself. That you would teach us and guide us and lead us and strengthen us, Lord, to be imitators of the Lord Jesus Christ. All for your glory. All for your praise. This we pray in the powerful name of Jesus, your son. Amen. Well, after three chapters and five sermons through these three chapters, today we finally come to an end of this long discourse. about eating food used in pagan worship. And I think if we were honest, we'd probably admit that we're kind of ready to move on here. We're kind of ready to move on because, I mean, if we are honest in America today, it's really unlikely that we will ever be faced with a controversy like this in the specifics. You know, we might, and we do argue sometimes, whether our beef is, you know, grain-fed or corn-fed, grass-fed, free-range, free of hormones and things of that nature. But, I mean, we're unlikely to ever be faced with the question, has this food been used in a pagan worship service? And well, of course, there are some parallels, and we've seen some parallels and some applications these last few weeks. It's definitely not something that applies to us in the day-to-day quite like it did in Corinth. But given this, today I think it's important for us to remember how it is that God leads us into His will. Many times in the church, I've seen a tendency in Christians to approach the Bible kind of as if it were written like our modern day law codes. Think about the fact that here in America, you know, we have a law on the books for seemingly every imaginable situation. Just at the federal level, I've looked up, Congress has enacted over 30,000 laws in the last 200 years. And that speaks nothing to the laws at the state level, the county level, the city level, the local level, the laws of your neighborhood association, right? But that's not how God has revealed to us biblical law. God's law is not exhaustive, not by any stretch of the imagination. We cannot open up scripture and find a clear commandment for every ethical issue that we face. So how do we make sense of this then? How do we rightly apply something like this, a section of scripture about eating meat sacrificed to idols, when we won't face this situation quite in the same way? Well, most often in Scripture, what we find is what we might call case law. Case law is when we look at a specific situation and we look to apply the principle in that situation. So we obey on the basis of precedent, we might say, rather than just on a specific rule or commandment. In this instance, here the apostle lists several possible scenarios about eating meat sacrificed to idols. And what we see is that he applies principles to them. Our job then, our calling, our responsibility, is to look at this case law, this situation in Corinth, and find those principles. to find those principles because applying those principles is how we rightly apply the law of God to our situation in our day, no matter what we might face. And so today, I want you to see just this. I want you to see how the apostle applies three foundational principles of Christian ethics to this specific situation so that you can see those principles and apply them to what you might face this week or beyond. whatever it is, question or issue that you are facing in your own life. Broadly speaking, the three principles, not in this order, but the three that we see are love of God, love of neighbor, and freedom in Christ. And if we think about this, hear me when I say that no matter what ethical decision that you are faced with, Chances are that everything comes down eventually to these three things, loving God, loving neighbor, and yet the freedom and security and powerful enabling that we have through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I want you to see today. So let's look at this as kind of a case law. where we are to find general rules and guidelines to help us live faithfully in our day. And in this respect, I wanna say three things today in this order. Good of neighbor, guided by freedom, for the glory of God. So let's begin here. Think about how Paul begins by emphasizing a principle for Christian behavior is that it aims for the good of neighbor. Look at verses 23 and 24 again. All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. As Paul wraps up this larger section, he returns again to this slogan that the Corinthians were apparently using to justify all sorts of crazy behavior. We consider this already back in chapter six and in chapter eight. But this phrase, all things are lawful, are what the Corinthians were saying. Most likely they had learned that from the Apostle Paul himself, but they were twisting it to mean something very different, to serve their own ends. Even the visiting of prostitutes we saw a few weeks back. In this respect, the Apostle Paul certainly would agree that when it came to the demands of the Mosaic Law under the Old Covenant, in Christ, all things are lawful. Certainly, the Apostle Paul would argue, and we see this throughout the New Testament, that when it comes to our justification and our right standing before God, all things are lawful because we are dead to the law. Romans 7.4, believers have died to the law through the body of Christ that we might belong to another. The Scottish Puritan Ralph Erskine said here, the Christian is dead to the law in point of justification. He is dead to every part of the law in its old covenant form, to the precept of it, to the penalty of it, and he is not to be justified by the one nor condemned by the other. In Christ, all things are lawful in one sense, because we are dead to the law. But the Corinthians were using this to justify antinomianism, we might say. All things are lawful, they were taking to mean and apply, I can do whatever I want in the Christian life. All things are permissible for me and all the time. And this is why the Apostle Paul qualifies the statement here. Yes, in one sense, all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. What freedom is it to be able to do whatever we wished, whatever we wish, if only to be enslaved again to the very things that we were formerly in bondage under? What freedom is it to give ourselves to things that hurt and destroy and tear down ourselves? The body of Christ. The name of Christ. What freedom is it to return to that toxic manner of life that characterized us before Christ? That's not freedom. As Paul says in Galatians 2, is Christ a servant of sin? He asked. Does His work now enable us or encourage us to give ourselves to sin? Certainly not. For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. So all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. Not all things are beneficial. Not only that, but not all things build up. Did we not realize that our freedom in Christ was given to us so that we might serve one another? That's what he emphasizes again in verse 24, let no one seek his own good but for the good of the neighbor. Our freedom in Christ is so that we might love our neighbor as ourself. Freedom in Christ has been given to us, not so that we can just zealously, eagerly throw off restraint and seek our own good, as if our guiding disposition in life centers on our rights, our autonomy, what we want to do. No, instead we've been granted freedom so that we might actively, purposefully, zealously seek the good of others and to build them up. Noteworthy here is that the Greek construction of this phrase in this verse reveals, I think, that neighbor, in verse 24, is probably not the best translation. When we think of neighbor, we think of people who are like us, friends. But it's really, the phrase is more broader than that. Literally, it reads, for the good of the other, the other person. I think here, of course, we could run back to the parable of the Good Samaritan. When Jesus is asked, well, just who is my neighbor? And Jesus points out to the ones that the Jews considered their greatest enemy. The phrase, I think, quite literally entails and includes the one who is not like me. The one who I might disagree with. The one who I might differ with. Paul is saying in this respect, seek the good of those who have, I think in this context, a different understanding of custom, Jew or Gentile, or those who have a different understanding of conscience or freedom, those who might be, you know, have scruples that are too strict in our eyes or too loose in our eyes. We are to seek their good. We know, of course, it takes no special work of grace to seek the good of people who are just like us, those we get along with, those who love us in return, those whom we enjoy, their personalities and their preferences, right, and their company. But in the Gospel, our calling and our freedom is to seek the good of the church, the good of the community, the benefit of that body no matter who they may be. Because, you know what, the church is not a group of friends that you've chosen for yourself. The church is the family of God that God has chosen for you. Just like you can't choose your brother or your sister or your mom or your dad or your aunt or your uncle or your cousin. You can't, you haven't chosen those people to be your family in the same way you haven't chosen the church either. And yet we are called to love them and to seek their good. One theologian said here, churches are often ruined by self-concern. They're ruined when each person seeks their own advantage. But when we eagerly prioritize the advantage of others, we actually work for our own advantage as well, even when we don't seek it. This, brethren, is the first guiding principle when it comes to matters of Christian ethics. To the Christian, we must not begin with what is my freedom and how can I exercise it to my advantage. We must begin with how can we exercise our freedom for the advantage, spiritually and physically, of the other that God has brought into my life. And so brethren, I just press that home to you. Press that home to you before we move on. Where is God calling you to put on the mind of Christ here? We might say. I mean, we can all think of the person that we don't get along with well. We don't like very much. They have some crazy opinions on things, maybe politically or socially or theologically. They kind of rub us the wrong way. We don't like their personality. They have all these flaws and weaknesses and yet they don't see them and it annoys us. We need to hear this. We need to apply this rightly. Jesus Christ gave his life to free you from bondage so that you might be free to love your neighbor, the one next to you, as Christ has loved you. It's amazing how beautiful, how not only does serving others represent true freedom in the Christian life, but it'll also lead to true happiness and fulfillment and godliness as well. So this is the first foundational principle of Christian ethics. Don't ask what your fellow Christian can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your fellow Christian and for their good. But secondly, after love of neighbor or good of neighbor, you see then guided by freedom, guided by freedom. In verse 25 through 30, if you look at that section here, we get several scenarios, case law, regarding this situation of meat sacrifice to idols. But what's most interesting is Following, or beginning of verse 25, following verses 23 and 24, we would probably expect the Apostle Paul to begin with an illustration of what he just taught, seeking the good of others. He just emphasized that, so you would think that when he turns to the case there with the eating of the meat, that he might illustrate that point. But that's not where he begins. Now, he'll get there in a moment at the end of the passage, but where he begins first is to establish our freedom in Christ. Our freedom in Christ not to be judged by others on matters indifferent. Brethren, this is important. It's important because as we are to pursue the good of others, we are to never give in to the legalists, we might say. Think of the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. They got offended at so many things he did. He never caved in and gave in when they were operating under a legalistic or unrighteous or hypocritical standard of the law. We need to realize that our freedom in Christ is something that has been purchased for us by the Lord Jesus himself, and that is something that is precious. That is a gift of the gospel, and it must never be undermined. We might say, Paul would never have us fall again under the bondage of sin. Well, in the same way, he would never have us fall under the bondage of man either. Both are destructive. So he begins with freedom and see how he turns to address the various situations of this meat that's been sacrificed to idols in verse 25 and 26. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any questions on the ground of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. It was required by Jews that they investigate everything they bought in the marketplace to determine whether it had been used in pagan worship. They were very, very meticulous to find out such things. And they did so, of course, based upon Old Testament law and participating in sacrifices and participating in Gentile or pagan things. Paul is very clear here, he makes a very emphatic break with Jewish custom. One commentator said, it's clear that Paul had ceased to be a practicing Jew, in the sense of that term. Because he says here, eat whatever you want from the marketplace. Eat whatever you want. One simple statement, all the man-made rules get thrown out. One simple statement, all the superstition gets thrown out. Eat whatever you want because food doesn't defile you. Eat whatever you want because it doesn't matter if an earthly object has been, in a sense, associated with paganism. You've got nothing to fear. Christianity is a matter of the heart. It's what comes out of a person, not what comes into the body that defiles a person. Eat whatever you want. Key to this question, though, is this phrase, without raising any question on the ground of conscience. This is a way of saying, this is not a matter of conscience. You see, in this sense, by saying, don't raise any question, he's saying, don't worry about this as if it was a conscience issue, because it's not. You see, matters of conscience are matters where we wrestle with whether an action is sin or not. Matters of conscience concern those things that we don't have a specific command or a verse in scripture. And so we evaluate things based upon where the word of God is silent. And again, we try to put these principles into action, right? But Paul doesn't even allow that here. He says your conscience is irrelevant when it comes to eating meat in the marketplace. It's not a matter of conscience. How can he say that? Well, because he quotes Psalm 24 1 and verse 26, the earth is the Lord's. His point is basically God created it, we can eat it, that settles it. Brethren, this is important, really, to us in the day-to-day, because matters of God, wherein He has spoken, are not matters of conscience. And we are not to allow people to try to make those things matters of conscience if they are not matters of conscience. Now, I'm going to speak to a very sensitive issue here. And now, I know I've got all your attention. I want to speak to the use of alcoholic beverages. I'm not doing this to grind an axe or to make a point, but because I just think that this is the best way to illustrate Paul's point. I think it's the best modern-day illustration of the point that Paul makes here. And I know that many Christians have different views. I know this can stir up strong feelings and convictions. So if I say something you disagree with, I welcome you. Come talk to me in private. and let me know what you think in that sense. But the truth is, in Christian circles, traditionally, whether a Christian is free to drink alcohol or not is often treated as a matter of conscience. But when we evaluate scripture, drinking alcohol is not a matter of conscience. I won't take time to prove this to you, but the Bible is full of positive statements about the lawful enjoyment of alcoholic beverages. In fact, the Bible says more good things about alcohol than it does bad things. And what's interesting, I think, and the reason I'm using this illustration is because Paul quotes Psalm 24 1 to defend the Christian's right to eat meat. But we find kind of a parallel statement about wine in Psalm 104 15. We read there that God gave wine to gladden the heart of man. So just as a good steak, for example, is a gift from God where no Christian has the right to say, you should not be eating that. Wine is the same thing. It is a gift from God, it's a bestowal of his love. And no, Psalm 114.15 is not speaking about grape juice because this phrase here, this Hebrew phrase translated to gladden the heart, refers to the intoxicating effects of alcohol upon the heart, upon a person. So since scripture is clear that drinking alcohol is not a sin, but that it is permissible in some situations, it's not a conscious issue. To be clear though, it is a wisdom issue. Because the Bible not only says many positive things, but it gives many warnings about how dangerous alcohol and sinful alcohol can be in the manner of over-drinking. And we need to take those seriously. So maybe someone is convinced that it's not wise for them to drink, or that it's not helpful for them to drink, or that it doesn't build up their neighbor, or that it doesn't help them evangelize. Those are matter of wisdoms, and those are matters I commend to you to take them seriously. But those matters of wisdom are never to be imposed upon other people. That would be like saying, for example, I'm not going to eat beef because there's this Hindu neighbor of mine I'm trying to evangelize, and he would be offended. And then you demand of every other Christian that they don't eat beef because they should have the same evangelistic desire that you have. That's not right. It's not only not right, it's sinful. It is sinful to take away another's freedom that they have in Christ. It is sinful to set standards of spirituality for other people that are not commanded or demanded by God's word. So the point I'm making here is that our freedom in Christ is something that is very precious to the apostle. And he speaks very emphatically that we are free where God has spoken. If scripture speaks to an issue, it's not a matter of conscience. Conscience conserves matters where God hasn't spoken. A few examples might be how we dress, the use of makeup or jewelry, our hobbies, how we spend our money, our vocation, how we spend our time, our entertainments. Is it a sin for me to watch this movie or to wear this outfit? It might be. and you are responsible for taking those principles in scripture that you see and making that decision so that you do not sin. And the other input of other people is certainly helpful in helping you make those decisions, but other people aren't to make that decision for you. Because our Lord doesn't want us just following rules for the sake of following rules. He doesn't want us following the opinions of other people just to follow the opinions of other people. Our Lord wants your heart. He wants you to do whatever you do joyfully and willingly and eagerly out of love for Him. Not just to do it because you're trying to meet a standard. He wants your heart. So Paul begins with this freedom we have in Christ, we have, and he's very clear this is something we enjoy, and he says, eat whatever you want. Don't even raise a question of conscience because conscience isn't in play here. God has spoken. That's your confidence. But there's another scenario here in verse 27. What if situation changes and now you're eating at the house of an unbeliever? Now this too was forbidden by the Jews. Another break with Jewish custom in the Old Testament pattern by Paul here. But what does he say? If you're eating in the home, eat whatever they serve you. And don't raise a question on the matter of conscience because conscience isn't in play. You're free. But what if things get a little bit more complicated? Verse 28. What if someone whispers in your ear, this food has been used to pay sacrifices? What do you do then? Now, Paul doesn't identify who this person is that says this. So we might wonder, is this the unbelieving host? Is this a fellow Christian sitting at the table next to you? Is this another unbeliever who's at the table? Well, I believe the context clearly points to this last option. This is a fellow guest with you who is not a believer, but who knows you're a believer. And the reason I say this is because Paul uses a different word here to refer to the sacrificial meat. There were two words, common words often used to refer to meat sacrifice to idols. One was used by Christians. They disapproved of the meat and the Jews, they disapproved of it. And the word kind of has a kind of a derogatory emphasis on the word idol and idol meat. But the other word was most commonly used by those pagans who approved of this pagan sacrifices. And that's the word that Paul uses here in distinction from the rest of the passage. So Paul putting this word on the lips of the one who informs you tells us this is an unbeliever who's whispering to the Christian that the meat had been used in pagan worship. That's why Paul says, don't eat of it. This might be a pagan putting a Christian to the test to see if their faith is real. It might be someone trying to see if Christians were hypocrites. Maybe they still dabbled in pagan practices. Maybe testing a Christian to see if he would renounce idols. In other words, these are people who would not know that the earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof. Does that make sense? This is important. Because that's why Paul says don't eat. I do not believe that Paul would say don't eat if this was another Christian raising an objection. Because this is not a matter of conscience. A Christian should know God's word. Down in verse 33, Paul makes it clear that he has the unbeliever in mind, he wishes to save them. So he's not necessarily saying curb your liberty to meet the wishes of other Christians because they should know better. No, certainly. At times, that is a matter of wisdom, and we might want to, or often are called to set aside our liberty for the sake of a weaker brethren, a weaker Christian, but I don't believe that's Paul's point here. He's already made that point in other places, but that's not his point here. His point here, most emphatically, is to defend our freedom. That's why he says in verse 29, do this for his conscience, not yours. Yours is informed by the word of God, an unbeliever's isn't. And that's why he breaks off right here in the middle of 29, and he just burst out and says, which clearly kind of just off the cuff, just abruptly changes, why is my liberty determined by someone else's conscience? And if I partake with thanksgiving, why am I denounced? Verse 30. Paul quickly makes it personal. My liberty, I partake. Clearly, he's going back to chapter 9 and how he had been challenged on some of these things. And he's reaffirming the fact that, look, I might choose to give something up, but that's my choice, not yours. So, even though he says don't eat because of what an unbeliever might think, it's like he can't even get the words out of his mouth before he reemphasizes and defends our freedom and liberty in Christ not to be judged by others. We might give up things to evangelize and save unbelievers. We might be called in other situations to give up our rights and our freedom, but we're never called to do so in the face of legalism. God does not command us to lay aside our freedom in places where God has clearly spoken. So this then is the second principle. Our life as Christians is to carefully hold intention, these two themes, good of neighbor, love of neighbor, and yet our freedom that we have that must not ever be taken away or encroached upon. We are to seek to build others up and to give up our rights for their good, but never simply to appease, never to allow ourselves to be put back under the bondage of commandments of mere men. Good of neighbor, guided by freedom. Well, this all comes together in our third and final point. It's undoubtedly the most important point. It's undoubtedly the most central principle for all of Christian living. Good of neighbor, guided by conscience, now the glory of God. The glory of God. In verse 31, after this case law, he broadens everything under a large overarching principle. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. All food and all drink and all behavior in the Christian life ultimately rest under this principle. that whatever we do, we are to do for the glory of His name. That our God in Christ may be seen, may be loved, may be cherished, may be revealed, may be magnified in the eyes of others, that He may be worshipped, that He may be adored. That God alone rises up out of our lives so that people see Him. It's not as though our food and drink don't matter at all. It's not that our conscience and freedom aren't important. But what is it that matters most? The glory of God. Everything serves this end. This is the ultimate purpose and aim of everything in life. This is the all-encompassing reality that swallows up everything else. Everything in life is subordinate to the glory of God. Everything we do is to aim for the glory of God. Everything is to be judged and evaluated according to whether it brings glory or diminishes the glory of God. Now, on one hand here, eating and enjoying marketplace food or the other good gifts that God has given us, yes, including maybe perhaps the drinking of wine, brings glory to God because He made it and He gave it to us to be enjoyed. And so it doesn't matter if someone says to us, don't eat pork, don't eat shellfish, don't eat food that's been used in pagan worship, don't drink wine, We know from scripture that we can lawfully enjoy these things, and when we do, we bring glory to his name, when we enjoy them rightly and righteously. But on the other hand, it's balanced with this love of neighbor. We can bring glory to God by enjoying these things, but we can also bring glory to God by setting aside these things for the greater good of our neighbor. Verse 32 and 33, give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God. Just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many that they may be saved. We can give glory to God by enjoying things. We can give glory to God by seeking the salvation of others. To give no offense refers to behavior that really is kind of unintentional. should go without saying that if even in our freedom we intentionally provoke others, even with what we've lawfully have the right to, we sin. To intentionally provoke or to intentionally instigate others is not a heart of love. We are to strive as much as possible to give no offense to anyone. But it's important here in this context, just as we consider back in chapter eight, to give offense does not mean to hurt someone's feelings, ultimately. It does not mean that we are not free to do something that might go against their convictions. It does not mean that if someone doesn't like your liberty or your freedom, you should leave it off. We cannot prevent, sometimes, wicked people or self-righteous legalists from being angry or offended at us. That's just gonna happen. No matter what, it is. Some of you not wearing a suit here this morning, you men, or any of you ladies who aren't wearing a dress, maybe you're wearing pants or shorts, that's gonna offend somebody in this day and age. It always will have, always will. We'll never be able, in this sense, to keep people from being angry or offended us because they think we're sinning in matters indifferent. But we are to do as much as possible, in this sense, not to give offense, which means not to cause other people to stumble into sin. Again, to give offense is not speaking about offending people. To give offense in this context is speaking of behavior that would tempt others to copy you. And by copying you, they might fall back under the enslavement of sin or false religion. Consider this back in chapter 8. If you eat food sacrificed to idols, and a weak conscience Christian sees that, and if they are tempted to then return to the temple and participate in those pagan offerings, you are leaving off. do not cause others to stumble and sin. And this applies to the Jews, to the Greeks, and to the church. It takes wisdom to know the kind of specifics, the cultural standards, the differences between Jews and Greeks and Christians. And to be sensitive to each one, to each demographic, to each culture, to each tradition, so that we might not cause them to sin. Brethren, these then, The principles that we are to carefully apply. Depending upon the people. And depending upon the situation. And there is no one size fits all. Other than, do all for the glory of God. And do all that they might be saved. Think then about how this raises our conduct far above just rules and regulations. People and the glory of God are the goal. Does that strike you for how intentionally personal that is? People are the goal. God, who is a person, is the goal. Paul directs us away from just a standard of a written code. And of course, there are standards, the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments, the commands of Scripture. Those are non-negotiables. But ultimately, Paul calls us to fix our eyes upon the person of God and the person of our neighbor. Don't we wish for our fellow image bearers to be saved? Don't we wish to bring praise and glory and honor to the God who has given us life and given us new life through the gift of his only son for us and our salvation? This then is the principle, above all principles, we are to cultivate a deep love for God, a deep love for those who bear the image of God, and from that personal love is to overflow a service to others in order that God might be glorified in us and in them. And yet, brethren, as we bring this to a conclusion now, I just want to conclude with one last detail that I don't believe, that I'm convinced we must not overlook. The linchpin that kind of holds it all together. Verse 1 of chapter 11 is unfortunately one of the, or I should say, one of the more unfortunate chapter divisions in our New Testament, because 11.1 certainly goes with chapter 10 and not with chapter 11. But notice how Paul concludes, be imitators of me as I am of Christ. You know, if we just take a step back and we think about the principles we've seen here, two of them are really just a summary of the law. Love God and love neighbor. And we know certainly that just like every other commandment at the end of the day, if left to ourselves, that law condemns us. We'll never perfectly love God. We'll never perfectly love neighbor. We'll never imitate Christ as we ought to or as we should. And this is why I think with this closing refrain, it brings us back to remember the other principle, the other aspect that is so important. We must never forget our freedom. In the call to imitate Christ, we are reminded of his perfect love towards us. of how He perfectly gave up His rights for us. That He gave up His life for us. That He sought our good, even to the extent of His own suffering and death on the cross. And in these words, we are also reminded that He perfectly and fully and eternally glorified His Father. Everything that He did was for the glory of God. And this reminds us that as we are in Christ and we cling to him by faith, we receive by faith his perfect obedience of loving God and neighbor. And on that basis, we are set free. We are free not just to follow a principle, but a person. We are free, fixing our eyes on Christ and finding the enabling power through Him and the pouring out of His Holy Spirit that we don't rely upon our own efforts, that we don't obey or disobey to our own condemnation, but that we are free to give ourselves because everything has been paid for. Everything has been accomplished. Everything has been secured for us in Him. And so in that freedom, we then can put on the mind of Christ. And let the power of Christ work through us. So brother, this is how the gospel brings us all back. The gospel brings us back to the centrality of everything that is commanded here, love of God, love of neighbor, and our freedom in Christ because of who we are in Him. Don't you see then, there's a thousand different scenarios that we might be faced with regarding ethics and behavior in the Christian life, but it all comes back to the centrality of Jesus Christ for you and in you for the glory of God. And that's what we've seen all along. From the beginning of 1 Corinthians, what has been my exhortation to you? 1 Corinthians is about making Jesus Christ and Him crucified the center of our hearts, the center of our homes, and the center of our church. May God give us grace as we drop anchor here until August, to make Christ and Him crucified central to it all. Amen. Let's pray.