I invite you to take your Bibles this morning, turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, actually 1 Corinthians chapter 10, sorry, 10.23 through 11.1. If you haven't brought a Bible with you this morning, we have pew Bibles in the pew racks in front of you, and our passage this morning is found on page 958. 958 in those pew Bibles. We have for several months now been working our way through on Sunday mornings, Paul's letter to the Corinthians, first letter to the church in Corinth. And we have seen this church to be one that's filled with all kinds of problems, all kinds of issues. Many of them are are ones that we wrestle with in the church today, morality and division and those types of things. And for the last few chapters, we've been dealing with an issue that may seem somewhat distant, and certainly it does reflect the culture of Paul's day, and that is the issue of eating food sacrificed to idols, which is not much of an issue for us in this country today. And yet, there are many things that we can learn from what Paul teaches. There are many applications to our church and to our lives. We can learn, as we've seen in the first section in chapter 8, about a proper attitude toward, quote, the weaker brother. Seeking not to cause a weaker brother to stumble over something that we may feel freedom in doing. We saw in chapter 9, kind of an interlude but an important one, the Apostle Paul talking about giving up his own rights. We talked about how we are rightly so a rights-conscious people. And yet, sometimes in the Christian life, we are called to give up some of the rights that we have for the good of others. Our last time together, the beginning of chapter 10, we saw that Paul actually comes back and says, going to an idol's temple and participating in the festival there is altogether wrong because even though idols are nothing, there are demons. There is a satanic enemy that lies behind false worship and all false worship. So don't be part of that. Don't partake of it. Paul moves on to something a little different. We'll talk about this in more detail, but it is the issue of that food, the meat that was sacrificed in the temple but wasn't consumed there, later being sold in the meat market. Is it right or is it not right to eat that meat later as sold in the meat market? I'll give a little more history there in a few moments. But the bottom line here is that Paul is teaching us to Act in love to the glory of God. So let's look at our passage this morning, 1 Corinthians 10, beginning in verse 23, hear the word of the Lord. 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? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to 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. And thus far, God's holy word, may he write its truth on our hearts this morning. Let's go to him in prayer. Our God, indeed, we pray that whatever we do in this life, eating, drinking, or any of our other activities, may it all be for your glory. Be glorified in our midst this morning, we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Freedom is a hallmark of Christianity. It's a hallmark of biblical religion. Freedom is an important biblical theme. The first redemptive act in Scripture in the book of Exodus was God's freeing his people from slavery in Egypt. parting the Red Sea so they could escape the Egyptian army that was closing in on them. The New Testament uses words for freedom. In fact, it uses the word redemption. A common word for our salvation is redemption, and it has to do with a price paid. But the bottom line of this word redemption is to gain someone's freedom or to gain one's own freedom. being set free by paying a particular price. And the Bible talks about and Christianity teaches that we are free from God's condemnation if we are trusting in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. Christ has set us free by his death on the cross from sin's guilt as well as sin's power and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us continues to enable us to be free from the power of sin. The New Testament teaches us that we have freedom from keeping the law as a means of salvation, free from keep doing works as a means of salvation, because doing good things can never earn favor with God. It's by faith alone, Scripture says. We're free from living under ceremonial law, Scripture teaches us. We're free from living under extra biblical laws. So the Apostle Paul says in Galatians chapter 5, for freedom Christ has set you free. Stand firm therefore and don't submit again to a yoke of slavery. For freedom Christ has set you free. Christianity, biblical religion is about freedom if we understand that properly. I was first ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the OPC, and when the OPC was first formed, there were some early splits. The OPC took a stand on the truth of Scripture and came out of the mainline Presbyterian denomination and attracted all kinds of conservative Christians to their group, and one of the debates was over we as a denomination, or the OPC as a denomination, should ban alcohol, tell people they can't drink. Abstinence was the best policy. And the OPC said no. That's an extra-biblical command. The Bible commands us not to be drunk with wine, but it does not command that we are never to drink alcohol. There was a good stand for freedom. And oftentimes we Presbyterians, also in the PCA even, we understand our various freedoms in the Lord Jesus Christ. Freedom is a good thing. It's an important thing. But proper use of freedom is also just as important. Using our freedom correctly, using our freedom wisely. Freedom does not mean, for instance, that we have the freedom to sin, to do whatever we want. Not like our most recent bachelorette. I don't know who's our, why I said our, she's not mine. I haven't watched the show, but I've read articles, right? I'm a Christian, but I can be engaged in sexual sin because God will forgive me. And that's the attitude, and many Christians have that today. It's not the freedom to sin. Biblical freedom is not the freedom to sin. Proper use of freedom involves freedom that does not itself become bondage. Does our freedom become bondage? It can become bondage even in lawful things sometimes. And there are times when the exercise of our freedom is itself sinful. So we're going to reflect on that this morning in this passage from 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Paul begins in verses 23 and following by affirming Christian freedom. He begins with these words, you'll see in the ESV that they are put in quotation marks. He says, all things are lawful, quotation mark. And again, in the next line, all things are lawful. Now those are in quotation marks in the ESV because they are most likely quotes that come from the Corinthians themselves. Actually, if you remember a few chapters back, Paul has quoted these words already. All things are lawful, the Corinthians are saying, excuse me, we have freedom in all things. But Paul says with qualification, but not all things are helpful. Not all things build up. But here is this statement, all things are lawful. Look at verse 25, eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. Eat what's out there. And he even gives a biblical basis for this in verse 26, right out of Psalm 24, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Everything that God has made, he has called good. It is for our good and it is to be received with thanksgiving. Eat what's out there in the meat market, whatever is there. He says again in verse 30, if I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? It's okay to eat. There is freedom to eat as long as we partake with thanksgiving, Paul says here. And there is here, once again, this important place of Christian freedom. We, as God's people, need to stand against extra-biblical rules. Some rules are good, laws are good, but in terms of what binds our conscience, we need to stand against man-made rules. I grew up in circles where we sometimes joked, as many of you did, Christians don't dance, don't drink, don't smoke, and don't go with girls that do those things. I forget exactly how the rhyme goes there, but you get the point. These extra rules, why do we draw the line and say no to those rules? Because they're man-made laws that set man up as the authority, not God as the authority. They are a form of legalism. They are really in one sense a form of rebellion when we make these absolute rules. There's nothing wrong with not dancing. I tend to avoid it. I did with my daughter on her wedding day. You know, there are other things I don't do. Right? It's our wisdom. We just don't want to do such and such a thing. But when we set them up as rules, as standards that we must follow, that becomes a problem. So we must stand firm on Christian freedom. What does the Bible command? What does the Bible forbid? Those are our standards, not extra biblical standards. But secondly, let's go back to these qualifications in verse 23. All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. And then Paul makes this clear statement in verse 24, let no one seek his own good but the good of his neighbor. Here's the standard in our freedom. We're not to seek our own good but the good of our neighbor. I may have a right to do such and such. I may have the freedom to do such and such, but is it good for my neighbor? Is the question that the Christian needs to ask. Is it good for my neighbor? Now who is my neighbor here? Who's Paul talking about? Well in verse 23 he says, not all things build up. It's the same word that he's used back in chapter 8 about building up our brother or sister in Christ, the weaker brother or sister. So it includes Christians but as we go on in verses 27 and following it also includes unbelievers. They are our neighbors. And we are to seek their good as well, Paul says in verse 24. Now in 27 and following, he talks about how this works out. If one of the unbelievers invites you to go 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. Paul's already said, if you go to the meat market, don't ask the butcher, was this used in this morning's idol ceremony, idol sacrifice? Just buy the meat and go home and eat it. But if you are with an unbeliever and the unbeliever says to you, oh, by the way, this was used in the idol ceremony this morning, Paul says, don't eat. Don't eat for the sake of the one who informed you. Verse 28, for the sake of conscience, not yours but his, for the good of the other. Don't eat that meat. And we might think or we might be tempted to think that this would be a great chance to show this unbeliever that there is only one true God. That idols are nothing, therefore I can eat it as a Christian because there is after all only one true God. Wouldn't that be good for the unbeliever we might ask? Now remember Paul has said back in chapter 8 that's even hard to grasp for some young Christians. Don't eat even in the presence of the weaker brother or sister. At best it sends mixed signals. The unbeliever who doesn't really understand freedom in Christ, the unbeliever who thinks in terms of this world being made up of many gods, sends mixed signals. He's going to see you if you're in this situation as partaking in some way in the gods of this world. So Paul says we're to show in our actions, not just in our words, in our actions, that there is one God and there is one Lord. And we are to have nothing to do with other so-called gods. Again, we live in a different situation today, don't we? We live in a different historical and cultural context, so the eating of food offered to idols may not be one that applies directly to us, but there might be other areas where we see these things as well. I've heard many times, several times over the last 20 or more years of Christians who go to bars at night to witness. I don't know exactly what to think about that. There are sinners there. What a great place to go and talk to sinners. As Pastor Dean told me this morning, well, there are a lot of sinners in the grocery store, too. But there's also drunkenness. There are pickups, which lead to one-night stands. Are we implicitly supporting this? I'm not going to make a absolute stand this morning but I think it is unwise to take up that kind of ministry. There may be other areas in your life as well where it's important to send a proper sign, a proper signal and not send an improper one to your neighbors. who are unbelievers. Paul here clearly is not saying cut off all communication with unbelievers. He says if you're invited to go to an unbeliever's house, go. What a great opportunity to go and develop friendship with an unbeliever. Go and talk about the Lord Jesus Christ with the unbeliever. Be involved with non-Christians. is what Paul is essentially telling us here, this is not a detachment from them. That's the attitude that some people have, I need to be detached from unbelievers or I'll be defiled by them, I'll be defiled by the world, but that's not what we're called to do. We're called to be with those who do not believe, ultimately why? So that they may be saved. as the Apostle Paul says, verse 33, that they might be saved. We're not to be detached, but we're to be wise in testifying to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then third in this passage, we also see that our freedom in Christ is the freedom to glorify God. A great truth of Christian freedom. Or to use that freedom to serve others but third and finally our freedom is the freedom to glorify God. So Paul says in verse 31, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. Give no offense. Doesn't mean we kind of run around briskly trying not to offend anyone with anything we do, but it means we have the gospel in mind. We have the good of the other in mind, in all of our actions, in all of our attitudes. That's what he means here by give offense. Paul himself says in verse 33 that he tries to please everyone in everything he does. Well, that's true and false, isn't it? Paul certainly could not be accused of being a people pleaser. But still, he tries to please. And again, what does he mean? That they may be saved. He does not seek, as he says in verse 33, his own advantage, his own good, his own advancement. But he seeks the good and that means ultimately the salvation of others. So what has God done for us in Jesus Christ? God has given us freedom from and he's given us freedom for. He's given us freedom from living for self, freedom from living for sin, and he gives us freedom for living for God and for others. We're building up believers for the salvation of unbelievers. And as he says here in the final verse, 11-1, it means walking in the way that Paul walks and ultimately in the way that Christ himself walks. Be imitators of me as I am of Jesus Christ. So we need to ask the questions, can I do such and such to the glory of God? Can I really do this action? Can I go to this place? Can I watch this? Can I listen to that? To the glory of God. And the second question is, am I doing this for the glory of God and the good of neighbor? These are exactly the questions that Jesus himself, in a sense, asked. He came to live for the glory of God and for the good of others. This is what it means to have true freedom in Christ, overcoming our bondage, being able to carry out what is our true purpose. As we transition now to coming to the Lord's Supper this morning, we focus a little more on this, on what Jesus Christ has done. Christ indeed has come to set us free. If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. We, in an unconverted state, were in bondage to self and to sin. Without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, we ultimately live only to serve self. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So on the cross that's what Jesus did. He came to pay the price for the freedom for all of his people so that we might be able to know God. He laid down his life and in doing that he gave himself as an example, not just an example because we need the power of sin to be broken in our lives. So this death and the transformation of the Holy Spirit transforms us. But it is to walk in the way of Jesus Christ. Turn away God's wrath to break the power of sin and to give new life for us. This table this morning both reminds us of that work of Jesus Christ and also is a means to strengthen us to follow Jesus Christ. So this table this morning is for all who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who recognize their sin, who turn from it, who accept Christ and Christ alone as their Savior. who are members of his church. So I want to invite all here this morning who are trusting in Christ, who are members of his church to come to this table this morning and to eat. If you're here and you're not a believer, you are not trusting in Jesus Christ, use this time to reflect on the great love of God in Christ for sinners. And it is our prayer that you quickly turn and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Let's go to our God in prayer. Our Father, how we thank you that you have indeed set us free. Thank you, O God, for the freedom that we have in Christ. And yet, O God, we pray that you would help us to exercise that freedom wisely. May you be glorified in our lives. May we seek the good of our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in Christ and those who do not believe in you. And we pray for those closest to us that you would bring them to salvation in Jesus. God, we offer this time to you. Be present now as we draw near to you around this table. May we do it all to your glory in Jesus' name. Amen.