All right. So, let's see. So don't lead your neighbor into temptation. Questions about that? Or about, I guess I could branch out into anything, but I probably should start with the topic of the morning. Thoughts that came to you while you were listening. David. I'm not sure if it makes any difference, but in verse 33, in verse 14 of this text, is there any indications that Paul is either, when he says, all things are lawful for me, is he speaking of himself? Or is that in quotes, as if he's speaking, other Corinthians have told him that's why they can't participate in these, in the things that might Okay, so David's asking, is Paul quoting what's going on in Corinth? All things are lawful for me, right? So that's a possibility, right? That is a possibility. So that the Corinthians are saying, all things are lawful for me, but Paul is coming back to that and saying, but not all things edify, or not all things are helpful, right? But I still think the same thing. You still have to make the same qualification. Because even if the Corinthians are saying, all things are lawful for me, then the Corinthians can't be saying, so adultery is lawful for me, so coveting is lawful for me, right? So you still have to, they're still, they would still, or even in Paul's mind, they would have to be talking about the kinds of things that are, adiaphora is the fancy word that are, yeah. So, is that helpful? So, yes, either way. Yeah, okay, okay, so in the text, is there anything, and the answer is, so in the English text, what indicates that it's quoted? Quotation marks, right? And in Greek, you don't get any quotation marks. In fact, in Greek, you don't even get any spaces. The original Greek is just this long set of letters, and you've got to figure out what all the words are. And in the oldest, it's capitals, all caps. So you're really kind of flapping around there. So no, there isn't anything. Yeah. Good. It doesn't have what, I'm sorry? For me? What? Oh, in verse 23, okay, yeah. Better open it up. First Corinthians 10, 23. Yes, okay. So yeah, all things are lawful, not all things are helpful. So yeah, there's an asterisk in the text here. The Nestle text omits the word for me, right? Oh, Frank. In verse 30, they're talking about why am I even spoken of? This question seems to indicate that maybe Paul was accused of eating meat that was offered to idols, and with the same suggestion there, probably inferring that, then why does he have the right to tell someone else not to eat meat offered to idols? Okay, so this is how I would read it. So Paul's having a discussion with somebody, and this person over here says, okay, I understand, Paul, what you said. You said that the earth is the Lord's, and therefore I can eat. In this situation, I can eat, okay? And so now Paul's had a discussion with that person and says, you can't always do that. And so now it seems to me that in that discussion, the other person is coming back with this question. Why am I being spoken of evil if I'm eating with thanks? Or like the classic morality question, right? Why is something immoral? Who does it hurt? I think that's what we're getting at. The person who's asking that question, as Paul's proposing it there, is asking, who am I hurting? How am I hurting them? So, yeah, if I partake, why am I being, if I partake this way, why do you speak evil of me? You could say it that way. I think that's where we're getting at. Yeah. Good. Now, I know we've been working this problem for about, what, four chapters now, three chapters, so, but I hope, you know, I hope as we have opportunities to encourage people. I mean, I think that maybe the applications in our day are probably more to like life-dominating kinds of sins, right? So one person says, I come from an alcohol, being an alcoholic, right? That's my background. And the way that I deal with that is I don't deal with, I don't touch alcohol at all. Okay. And what I would say is in that person's sanctification, it would be okay to point out this text, but I don't think you want to go to the point of saying in a particular situation, what you need to do, you know, you must drink alcohol in, you know, moderation because you're allowed to or something like that. Or, hey, look, here's some alcohol. And if you apply this text, you could drink. I think that that'd be stepping across those kinds of boundaries for that kind of person. or anything where somebody says, you know, to avoid a sin, I draw this particular line. And you could say, okay, the scripture says you don't have to draw the line there, but I wouldn't encourage them to cross that line in their own moment. Let them, you know, meditate on it, come to their own convictions on that. Yes. Yes. Okay, so the question is, okay, so we're in a fellowship, a broad, multi-denominational fellowship, the North American Presbyterian Reformed Churches. And so there's, I don't know, maybe a dozen denominations that are part of that. And one of them is the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, RPCNA. And the RPCNA, as an example, would only sing Psalms, right? In fact, there's probably one or two OPC congregations where the elders have said, we think we should only sing songs and sing the macapella. Okay, so every once in a while, then what will happen is one of those members will come and visit us. Okay, are we causing them to sin in that particular situation? And I think part of the answer is, so part of the answer is, okay, what do their churches instruct them to do when they come visit us? Well, the first thing they do is they instruct them, don't not visit them, right? The first thing that if you went to the RP church in, I don't know, down in Indiana somewhere. They would say, hey, if you're visiting Prescott, Arizona, don't just on the Lord's Day, you know, sit at home, go and worship. So that the first thing is they wouldn't. OK, so then when you do worship, we believe that you shouldn't sing the songs that they're singing. OK, so so so today we sang three psalms and they and they wouldn't even sung those because they had musical accompaniment. All right, so then oftentimes in that situation, if I know that they're here, I might sing one or two verses a cappella to try to accommodate them and allow them to participate in that part of the service, right? Okay, so then I think the further question is, so does that mean if we're in fellowship with them, that we should actually place ourselves under their convictions so that, you know, I mean, right? So why don't we just sing Psalms only a cappella and that way when they come won't be a big deal. And you can get a really good answer for this question from R.C. Sproul on YouTube. He has a video and it's called, it's something in the title is The Tyranny of the Weaker Brother. And what he's getting at there is, okay, your weaker, let's say your weaker brother doesn't smoke and doesn't dance and doesn't chew and doesn't, you know, I mean, right, you pick all these things that they don't do, right? Okay, so, all right. Now, how are we all going to get along, right? And so I think the way we all get along is we say, the Bible says this about those things. So there's freedom to do those. So I have to, as the elder of the church, I have to say there's freedom to do these things. So we believe that we are that the Bible says to us, when you come to public worship, that hymns are a way that we can express that worship. And so I have to say, that's what the Bible says, because that's what my convictions are, and et cetera, right? OK, so we have to say that much, and then And then, all right, now, if someone demands, okay, that you must not do this, now they've crossed a line, I think, in that kind of situation, right? So they tell me I could never smoke a cigar ever because some people have placed that line in their life. See, now I think that's where you're getting into the tyranny of the weaker brother in that kind of situation, I think. So, is that helpful? It is, so when you look at, yes, when you look at Reformed churches, there's been, historically, we all started singing Psalms only a cappella, with a few kind of exceptions, back in the, whatever, 1500s, and then, you know, it's kind of moved over time, and so, yeah, I might, if I get to heaven, I might find out that I'm wrong about hymns, but at this point, where I look at it, look at the evidence myself, I say, I think the OPC is correct, and that's all I can do. Somebody else? David. Going back to that question, it is interesting that the RBCNA would say don't not fellowship with this group of believers. Right. What would your counsel be if you're traveling and you're on the Lord's Day, having to come to a town and the only church there is a PCUSA church with a woman pastor, and you happen to know that they're singing maybe the same songs, but you're not getting the word of God preached to you. you say well go worship with them and do we draw the line of music and then the voice Yeah, okay, so David's asked, okay, what would you do if the only church in town has a woman pastor, right, and is preaching and is associated with a denomination where the ministers don't have to believe the gospel, right? So what I would say in that case is don't worship in that case, and the way you would draw the line is you go to the Belgic Confession where it talks about what's a true church. I mean, that's at least one of the clearest places, right? So what is a true church? Well, it proclaims the gospel, right? So for instance, if our denomination went liberal and went into the sense of you have people who are, quote, ordained and are not proclaiming the gospel at that point, I would ask the elders or call the elders together, and we would talk about telling you we need to leave. At that point, we should leave. And if we should leave, then you shouldn't go and fellowship there individually as well. Do family worship. Get on YouTube. Do something. Find somebody broadcasting a solid service. Let me see. Where's my hymnal here? So going back to that, the RPC&A would say, we don't do music right, but we don't do it right if you're in terms of the gospel presentations, you don't get that right, then you have to break the rules. That is correct. So that's, yes. I'm just trying to find that here. I think it's article 20, so I'm just seeing. Nope, I guess not. That would have been too easy, wouldn't it? Pardon? 27, let me see. 29 marks of a true church. Okay, so here's what you would look for. Okay, so if you're looking for a true church, the first thing it says is just because there's hypocrites there on that day doesn't mean it's not a true church, right? There may be people who come into a particular congregation on any day, they might not be believers. So you can't say, well, there's an unbeliever and therefore they're not a true church. So that's one thing you can't say. But we are speaking of distinguishing the body and fellowship of the true church from sects that call themselves a church, right? So like David's example, this thing's the PCUSA, they hang their shingle out, it says church on it, right? And so, okay, the true church can be recognized by these marks. Pure preaching of the gospel uses the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them, and it practices church discipline for correcting faults. Then you have to get to, okay, where's the line that they practice discipline? What we would say is that our membership vows. So again, if they don't believe in the Trinity, don't go. They don't believe the Bible's the word of God, don't go. They don't believe Jesus is the only way of salvation, don't go. So those are the kind of things we, remember what I said at the table, You said, I believe the gospel, but that's not enough to admit you to the table. You've got to come to the elders and say, do I believe the gospel? Or maybe to put it in the negative, do I believe errors that the Bible says these kind of people, the church cannot identify them as Christians, right? So if you come to me and say, I'm a Christian, and I don't believe in the Trinity, I would say, I love you, and you're not. And then, of course, we have to have a discussion and talk about that, but John. I did not. Excellent, right, exactly. That would impinge upon this as well. In that verse you're talking about, again, I think what Sproul would call, now you're talking about the tyranny of the the weaker brother. Or you might even be, what you might also be getting into in that verse is this kind of idea. In order to be sanctified, so where's, what's the means of sanctification? The means of sanctification is good diet. Somebody tells you that, run screaming. Okay, right? That's that, you know, okay. Right? So the means, that's why I kind of spent some time a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about, okay, Paul says, I'm beating my body. What does he mean by that? I think he means the same thing that he says in Romans when he says, you must mortify the flesh. Right? That's the same idea. So then if you're gonna talk about sanctification, how do you mortify the flesh? And the way you mortify the flesh is you identify what God says is a sin, right? The first thing you gotta define, your definitions, right? Okay, bowing down to idols is a sin. You identify that, right? Then you go to, okay, why is it so abhorrent and why is it so glorious to worship the true God? Right, so that your will is driven to those two things. That'll mortify the flesh. Because why is it so repugnant to be an idolater? Because what you're saying is this thing has things I can commune in. This idol has, and of all the fullness that this idol offers to me, I want that. And God says, well it's dead, it's deaf, it can't talk, all it's gonna, right, and you're gonna get on your knees and bow down to it. I mean, so what does that do? Now, when you preach that to yourself in the power of the Spirit, that mortifies the flesh, right? So that's part of it, and so you bring Christ to bear against that sin in the power of the Spirit. That's the overarching thing, and I can give you lots more examples of that, but you get the idea. That's how you mortify the flesh. Don't do it with forbidding marriage. That's nuts, right? So. Yes. I'm not sure how to ask this exactly, but as a Reformed person, and you go, let's say, to a combination of churches in a town, and you almost become a weaker brother when you go to these churches if they're not Reformed, because they're Arminian, or because they're Credo Baptist. It's almost like the more you're Reformed, the more weaker you are. And I don't know, where do you draw the line on, okay, which area am I going to, just to be able to go to a church in the town, which area can I stand versus. Yes, yes, okay, so where, again, where do I draw the line? Where does God, let's suppose God calls me to, I don't know, I'm trying to think of something, someplace up on the rez, right? Okay, so he calls me far away from anything that might be a Reformed church. Okay, so what am I gonna do in that situation? And what I would say then is, again, I would see what's the closest true church and be part of that. So the answer is, how far can I stand the errors And the answer is, I think that you can stand the errors all the way to, as long as they don't cross over, they don't cross over what is a credible profession of faith. So I would go to a Baptist church. I would just, I would go. Now, in that case, I might, so I, but I think, so if I go to a Baptist church, am I the weaker brother or the stronger brother? Okay, the stronger brother is the one who understands the scripture correctly. So if I went in that situation to a Baptist church, in my mind, my understanding of the scriptures, I'm the stronger brother. And so then every time I go in the doors of the Baptist church, I'm not going to put my arm around the same three people and say, you guys are wrong about baptism. You're wrong about baptism. I'm not going to keep beating them up about it, right? If it comes up in Sunday school and they want to talk about it, I'd raise my hand and say, I'm a Presbyterian, and I'll give you my best argument for it. But we're not going to. It's kind of like Romans. Is it Romans 14? You don't receive brothers in order to dispute. I don't receive you as a brother in order that we can have this theological argument all the time. I'm gonna receive you as a brother, and when it comes up, we'll talk about it. Unless it's the Trinity, and then I'm not gonna receive you as a brother, right? Or unless it's the Bible's word of God, and then I'm not gonna receive you as a brother. So yeah, that's what I think would be helpful. John. consequences of violating your conscience? Well, I think the things that, okay, so some of the consequences of violating your conscience are what you read about here in, say, Psalm 38, right? So we sing that, and probably 90% of us are going, in my life right now, this isn't going on. My bones aren't burning. But many of us can remember those days when maybe something like that did happen. When you're getting ulcers because you know what you need to do is you need to repent and you're too rebellious or too hard-hearted to do that. But we sing them as a congregation because maybe somebody is caught up in that. Or we sing that as a congregation because we want to. So again, to mortify the flesh means I don't want to go there, right? Why is it so abhorrent to not repent? Well, that psalm is picturing it for me. And then lastly, so that I can receive, so that I can say about Jesus, thank you so much for enduring that kind of pain that I might be received by you, right? So we understand all those, we understand that kind of thing for those. Now, old man disease, remind me the question. Yes. Okay, so consequences, yes. Okay, so the consequences might be that, right? So one of the consequences is, again, ulcers, I'll just pick something, right? Or it might be some other physical ailment that God brings to your life. You can see in the psalmist, one of the things that God brings is external circumstances of enemies. And the psalmist says, it seems to say, these enemies are here because I'm in this iniquity, right? Job has this big long list, right? If I did this, then this would be appropriate for consequences. If I did this, this would be appropriate for consequences. Now you may not get those just because God's merciful, right? So that may be one thing that happens. So again, let me see if I can find my notes here for Psalm 51 just because that'll be real fast to have it. Come on. Okay, well, okay, so Psalm 51, take not your Holy Spirit from me, right? What's one of the consequences? That your experience, not that, okay, if you're saved and you have eternal life, the Holy Spirit will not fully and wholly leave your life, but your experience of the Holy Spirit will be not as full and joyous. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation. That would be another one. So the consequences of this sin, if you stay in it, might be the loss of the joy of your salvation. So you can look at those kinds of things. The other possibility, sadly, might be that you sear your conscience. and then you don't feel anything because you've gone into this, but now your conscience is saying, oh, you're okay, and that's the harlot, what is it? The harlot eats and wipes her mouth and says, I haven't done anything, right? So that's kind of, it would be that. That would be a horrible consequence, because now you're in a really bad spot. Now you're lying to yourself, right? So. Jennifer. Another consequence might be that God reveals that what you believe to be true was really an idol. Because when we were first married and he went to seminary and I had to work, I had a little baby and I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. And that just felt like working was violating my conscience, but the Lord showed me that that was an idol and I needed to love my husband, take care of my family, lay down my life, and work to do that. So sometimes I think one of the consequences Yes, sometimes, of course, in a situation where you're trying to evaluate the morality of it, so Mary Jane's giving an example here from her life, you may change your mind on the morality of it and the situation has caused you to do that reevaluation or to study it and reevaluate it. I have a divorce. I had quite a long period of time, years where I thought that if you were divorced, there is no remarriage at all. Right? But over time, as I kept looking at it, studying it, I changed my mind on that, and I came more in line with what the confession says. So, yeah, so it might drive, one of the consequences might be the Lord's telling you to look at this, look at this, look at this, and you might change your mind. Bob. I think the greatest consequence really is the fact that you didn't fall out of fellowship with God, and God will let you. Yes, yes. The most horrible thing is the separation from God. Yes, your sins have made a separation between you and your God. Yeah, I agree. Right, right, as a family, right, we, you know, whether, no matter which side you're on, that you both wanna look at the situation and let's, you know, grant that you, okay, you seem to, okay, you heard Paul talk. So Paul taught and he said, you can eat anything offered to idols because God made everything, right? The fullness is from God and he gives it to you and you thank, just make sure you thank God, right? Okay, so you've heard that, but, there's still something in your conscience where you say, if I did that, there's just, there's just something I, you know, I mean, so you want to, you can keep working that, you can keep talking about it, but I wouldn't violate my conscience in, you know, until I was fully persuaded. I think that's the, that would be the guidance from that side of it, just, just to make, you know, your, your relationship with God is so much better than, than violating your conscience, even if, Intellectually you think your conscience is wrong, but your conscience isn't convinced yet that it's wrong. Yes, yes. I was trying to think of a situation in Jesus' ministry where this happened. I couldn't think of anything, but anybody have any suggestions? Where he was concerned about someone's conscience and he restricted what he could do in that situation. Anyway. Yes. Yes, yes, but I think what, part of what he's doing there is trying to show, he's trying to show them their sin, right? So, I mean, who in their right mind would not want a guy's withered hand to be healed on the Sabbath? How hard-hearted do you have to be to get angry at that? I think that's, you know, really a lot of what's going on there. Pardon? And yes, and they, and right. Oh yeah, yeah, right. So Jesus, yes, so David mentions Jesus paying the temple tax, right. So you'll remember that what he says is, so we won't give offense, not because it's demanded that I pay this tax, right, but so we won't give offense, go get a fish, take the coin out, pay the tax, right. Yeah, that's a great example. If you'll just say the words, yeah, I'm not sure about that. Scott, I have to think about that. All right, good questions. All right, John. Yes, yes. So one of the things I try to do in the Lord's Supper is I try to tell people, or either by showing them or telling them, that the Lord's Supper is for sinners, right? Don't stay away from the Lord's Supper because you're a sinner, but don't come to the Lord's table as an unrepentant sinner of something you know God is speaking to you about, that you need this thing. You know you need Jesus, and come to the table in that sense. So that's, yeah. So, but yes, you don't want to do anything that would violate your conscience. And if coming to the Lord's table at a particular point violated your conscience, I would say don't do that either. I try to encourage people and build them up in their conscience while we're doing that. But yes, that would be like anything else. Good. All right. Let me pray for us. Well we thank you for the questions that you stir up in our hearts regarding the Word of God. We thank you for the blessing you give to us of our fellowship together. We thank you for your encouragement not to tempt others in ways that would violate their conscience. We thank you that you have shown to us the beauty of a life that imitates Christ, a beauty of a life that whatever we do, we have opportunity to do it for the glory of God. And we pray that even in this difficult situation of looking out for our neighbor's conscience, at least difficult to perceive what's going on in their conscience. We pray that you would love us and help us to be tender towards their consciences and to not encourage them to sin. And we thank you for the blessing of the spirit to be able to lay down our lives for one another in this way. We pray for your grace in Jesus name, amen.