Please turn with me if you'd like to 1 Corinthians chapter 8, verses 1 through 13. That's on page 956 of the ESB Pew Bibles. Over the next couple of weeks, you'll be treated to some guest speakers. We're going to have Ken Warchanowski, who's a third year seminarian student from Mid-America Reform Seminary next week. And then the week after that, we'll be hearing from one of our own ruling elders, Angel Contreras, But for now, we're going to continue through 1 Corinthians. So chapter 8, 1 through 13, the entire chapter. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we ask for the illuminating power of your Holy Spirit as we look to your word. We want to understand this passage and we also want to apply it. So we're gonna trust you to communicate the true meaning of this passage and to do the convicting heart work to show us where and how we need to apply it as we follow Jesus. Amen. If you look up the word headwind and you look It's definition, you'll see a couple of definitions. One is this, a wind having the opposite general direction to a course of movement. That's the definition we're probably most familiar with. This used to be a problem for sailing ships. In the days when they had these great ships that were traveling across the ocean before steam and gasoline and diesel and nuclear powered ships were manufactured. They had sailing ships and they had a difficult time sailing into the headwind. They could kind of sail diagonally back and forth at about a 45 degree angle, but it significantly slowed their progress. And of course, no ship could sail directly into a headwind. It just wouldn't work. We probably don't think about headwinds too much today because we travel by car for the most part. Unless it's a very windy day, we don't really have to think about it. Maybe we have to make a steering wheel adjustment here and there if it's coming from the side. And then, of course, if we're heading into a headwind while driving, we might have to press on the accelerator a little bit more. But it's not too much of a problem. Most of us have experienced this kind of headwind if you've been on a bike and you've tried to ride a bike into a headwind. This is where you can really feel the power of a headwind. It makes a huge difference. I know some road bikers who will just decide, I'm going to take the day off. They actually skip a training day if there is a particularly strong headwind. It's just so demoralizing to pedal with that constant hindrance. It just doesn't feel like you're going anywhere. The other definition of headwind is this, a force or influence that inhibits progress. A force or influence that inhibits progress. There were some raw believers in Corinth that were acting as a headwind hindrance to their brothers and sisters in Christ. They had become an influence or a force that inhibited other believers. And the problem was that they were attending cultic meals held in pagan temples. And even though they had rationalized their behavior and in their own minds justified their own behavior, they didn't see a problem with it. But regardless, Paul still calls it a sin. He points out how they had become a headwind hindrance. Now, we don't attend cultic meals today in pagan temples, praise God, we just don't have to deal with that kind of a temptation. However, being a spiritual hindrance or a headwind hindrance to other believers still happens today, and being a spiritual hindrance is something that we want to avoid at all costs. Thankfully, there's something else that we can be besides a headwind hindrance, and we'll get to that as we move to our application So let's read 1 Corinthians 8. Listen to that language that describes their hindrance to other believers. Now concerning food offered to idols, we know that all of us possess knowledge. This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Therefore, As to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one. For although there may be so-called gods in heaven and on earth, and indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, for whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. Not all possess this knowledge, but some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God, and we are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do, but take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, If food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble. Verse one, he begins by saying, now concerning. We've seen that phrase before. It showed up at the beginning of chapter seven, verse one. Chapter seven, verse 25, and we're gonna see it show up later in the book of Corinthians. When Paul starts off saying, now concerning, it means he's introducing a new topic. And we're reminded that this is a conversation. He's writing in response to some specific concerns that the church in Corinth had written to him about and had questions about. So when we see now concerning, he's introducing a new topic. This new topic is food offered to idols. And the rest of the immediate context makes it clear that what he's talking about when he says food offered to idols is visiting the pagan temples, participating in the cultic meals, and eating the food offered to idols. It's not just eating the food, it's where they're eating and in the context of their eating it. So we need to unpack a little background regarding this issue. In Corinth, if you recall, we said there were pagan temples that just dotted the landscape. They were all over the place in Corinth, very common. very much accepted in that first century culture. These temples had cultic meals associated with worship rituals, and the temples held these meals. The temples could also be rented out for civic functions and for private celebrations and things like that, kind of like a banquet hall would be today. But often when they had celebrations in these places, they consisted of these cultic meals, and the cultic meals had three parts. They had the preparations, They had the sacrifice, and then they had a feast. And sometimes this feast was often followed by the availability of prostitutes. We looked at that in chapter 6. When they made the sacrifice, the meat was divided up. Some of the meat was offered as an offering to the pagan god. It was burned up, gone. Some of the meat was distributed to the guests and those participating in the cultic meal. And then the rest of it was left over. They often had more sacrifice than they had balance to feed. And because there was no refrigeration in the first century, it had to be fairly quickly. So what they would do is they would take this sacrificed meat and they would sell it to a local meat market and then they would turn it around and for a profit sell it to the public. So these kinds of cultic meals were so common, in fact they were so common, so acceptable that they've been compared to going out and eating at a restaurant today. So as often as you think of, or as strange or as normal as you think of going out to eat, that's how they consider these cultic meals. It's very much accepted. Nobody raised an eyebrow at attending a cultic meal. So that's the issue. When Paul writes now concerning food offered to idols, that's what he's talking about. Everything I just described, those cultic meals. Now the situation in Corinth seems to be this. At some point in the past, Paul has made it clear to this church that they are not to participate in these cultic meals at pagan temples. But they've been thinking. And they're pretty smart, and they've taken what they know about God and what they know about these pagan temples, and they've decided that it's okay. So they've justified this in their own mind. And they've decided that, well, we're going to do that anyway. We don't see a problem with it. And on top of that, who is this Paul that we have to listen to and agree with everything he says? That's the situation. Part of it is them justifying their own sinful behavior. Part of it is an authority challenge to Paul. He's gonna address that. Chapters 8, 9, and 10 all go together. When he starts off 8.1 and says, now concerning, he's gonna continue this all the way to the end of chapter 10. is concerning this particular topic. So it's a big issue, and he writes to the issue and the situation. And this morning we're just gonna look at chapter eight. So verse one, the quotation marks, you're gonna see first off, right off the bat, you're gonna see some quotation marks in verse one. Those are there, once again, by the translators, by the ESV translators, to indicate to the reader that what is contained in those quotation marks are Paul quoting back or citing or referencing their words or their point of view. So when we see that all of us possess knowledge, Paul's saying, that's what you're saying. You, raw believers, are saying that you have knowledge. Well, what knowledge? What do they know? He spells it out in verse four, which is also in quotation marks. An idol has no real existence and that there is no God but one. So once again, let's kind of reconstruct the situation here. The raw believers that were justifying their behavior were saying this, well, we know that there's only one God and that these pagan gods that are sacrificed at the temple, they don't really exist. They're not existent. So what's the big deal? If this is just nothing, then we can go and participate in these meals because it doesn't really have any meaning. And so, let's just go ahead. It's just like going out to eat. We can be present for whatever ritual or pagan show they want to put on as they sacrifice the meat, but in the end, these idols are just the imaginations of men. It's no big deal. So Paul begins this section by telling them they're missing the point of what knowledge means. Your knowledge is correct. I'll say that later on. You got that right. That's true that there's one God. That's true that these pagan guys don't really exist. But you're using this knowledge, A, to justify your sinful behavior, and B, to act as a headwind hindrance to other brothers and sisters in Christ. You're missing the point. You're misusing knowledge. Followers of Jesus, of course, are not to use their knowledge for selfish or sinful reasons. And leading other people into sin is sinful. This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. And he kind of juxtaposes these two, knowledge and love. Now, knowledge and love are not necessarily polar opposites. We don't have to choose between, as believers, we don't have to choose, well, do I want to have knowledge or do I want to be loving to others? I guess I have to pick one of these. No, we don't have to pick one. It could be both. It should be both. As believers, we don't have to choose. Likewise, knowledge does not inevitably lead to arrogance. There's a lot of humble people that are also Intelligent. So Paul's contrasting the two here to show the raw believers that they have mishandled their knowledge for selfish reasons. So leading other people into sin, that's not helpful. That's a hindrance. It's sinful. Verse two, if anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. This is Paul saying, if you think you've arrived, then you're not there yet. If you think you know everything, then that's a sure sign that you don't. That's what he's telling them. The spiritually mature person does not claim to know it all, and Paul is teaching them they are not to view themselves as superior over their brothers and sisters. Verse three, if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Knowing here is in the sense of a spiritual, relational knowing of someone by God. A person's ability to love God is dependent upon whether or not God has called them into a saving relationship through the Son. If anyone loves God, it is because they belong to God. Those who belong to God, who truly, truly love God, now unbelievers can say they love God, they can profess to love in a God of their own making, but it's impossible to truly love God while at the same time be rejecting or remaining indifferent to the Son. We need to see that connection. John 14, Jesus said, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and manifest myself to him. You see how he's making the connection between keeping my commandments, those are the ones who really love me and who are love chief among the commandments of Jesus is to repent and believe in him. It is not possible to truly love God while at the same time holding Jesus out at arm's length. If there's no repentance and belief in Jesus, then it's impossible to truly love God or be loved by God in a saving sense. So Paul brings us back to this importance of relational love because that's what they're missing in their interactions with their brothers and sisters. These broad believers are going to these cultic meals in Corinth. They're too busy rationalizing their own behavior and appealing to their knowledge of monotheism and the non-existence of idols. They don't even consider how their behavior is acting as a headwind hindrance to their brothers and sisters. Verse four, he kind of reigns in that, back to the issue, eating food offered to idols, in other words, the cultic meals. Now we know that because look at verse 10, it says, if anyone sees you eating in an idol's temple, it's definitely the cultic meal in the idolatrous temple that the issue is here. When we get to chapter 10 later on, he's gonna talk about eating meat sold in the marketplace that had been sold, or that had been sacrificed, and he's gonna say, go ahead, no big deal. That's not the problem. The problem is participating in the cultic meals at the pagan temples and eating that meat in that context. So, yes, your theological basis for your position is correct. There's only one God, and these idols are really nonexistent. So basically he's saying, good job. I'm glad you remembered from my teaching that there's only one God. Verses five and six, he elaborates on this truth. He's saying, yes, we understand that Pagan world, there's many gods and lords. Sometimes these pagan gods are referred to as lords, small l, gods, small g. And he acknowledges that that's part of the culture, although there's only one true God, and he is our creator. He exists to glorify and serve him. And then in verse seven, this is where Paul explains how there being a headwind hindrance, a serious hindrance. Verse seven, he's saying, However, not everyone's there yet. Your knowledge is correct, yes, there's one God, these gods really don't exist, but you need to understand, not everybody's in the same place yet. And why is that? It's because they're raw. These were first century, first generation believers. They were raised in this culture from birth. that all these gods existed. It so permeated the life and the day-to-day living that it was just infused into their bloodstream. Paul says, for those people, they can't just shut it off. It's not that easy. When they go to these cultic meals, they believe they're still participating in a worship service. And their consciences, being weak, are defiled. Now, the weakness is that they have not completely embraced the non-existence of these gods, like the raw believers that were being a hindrance. New Testament scholar Gordon Fee puts it this way. They may tell their heads all they want that the god is only an idol and that an idol has no genuine reality. The fact is that their former way of life is woven into their consciousness and emotions in such a way that the old associations cannot thus be lightly discarded. If you were raised a certain way your entire life and then let's say at 38 all of a sudden somebody tells you something that's completely different than everything you've learned and been taught by your parents and everybody's agreed upon and it's been part of the culture, that's going to be quite a shock. You can't just shift gears in a couple seconds. It's going to take a while. Well, how is their conscience defied? Well, if they're participating in these cultic meals, So that's how their consciences are defiled. Idolatry, remember in 1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 11, idolatry is one of those sins listed where Paul says they will not inherit the kingdom of God. Idolatry is sin, so that's how it's defiling. It's sinful. Verse 8, Paul says food is morally, spiritually neutral. Eating food, any kind of food is not a problem. The New Testament declares all food is clean. We can eat anything, it doesn't matter. No big deal, that's not the problem. Verse nine, but when you eat it in this context of participating in a cultic meal in a pagan temple, that is the problem. They were thinking, I'm free in Christ to do whatever I want. Paul says, no, no. I want you to think about how this is impacting others. Now, when we get to verse 10, or just verse 10, chapter 10, he's going to provide another reason why he's prohibiting this eating cultic meals in pagan temples, but he starts off Verse 11, he then holds them responsible by doing this. You are causing your fellow believers to be destroyed. You are leading them back into idolatry. So by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed. It's almost like Paul is saying, have you thought about that? The brother for whom Christ died, have you thought about that? Thus, sinning against your brothers is wounding their consciences when it is weak. You sin against Christ. Not only are you sinning against them, you're sinning against Christ. Have you thought about that? This would have gotten their attention. He's using this principle of if you do this to one of the brothers and sisters, you're doing it to Christ. Jesus taught that. If you've done this to the least of these, you do it unto me. Paul, when he was on the road to Damascus, get accused by Jesus of persecuting the church. And Paul was what? Persecuting believers. Or he said, excuse me, Paul was accused of persecuting Jesus. Paul, Paul, why do you persecute me? I'm only persecuting the church. Right, you're persecuting me. So this connection between what is done to other believers is done to Christ. He's bringing that truth to bear in this teaching. By sinning against your brothers, you are sinning against Christ. This is a serious headwind hindrance that apparently they weren't thinking about. They hadn't connected the dots yet. To summarize chapter eight, we'd say this. Paul is teaching the raw believers in Corinth that attending cultic meals is sinful and therefore prohibited. By attending and participating in these meals, Paul was holding them personally responsible for leading other believers back into idolatry and back into sin. Their behavior was a hindrance to the spiritual growth and life of other believers in the church. He's going to continue to expand in the next couple of chapters on the same topic, but that's the opening salvo. That's the opening shot from Paul in response to this hindrance behavior. Now, praise God, this is no longer an issue for us today. I very much doubt that any of us are ever going to be tempted to participate in a cultic meal and eat food that has been sacrificed to a pagan god. I just don't think we're going to run into that today. But there are ways where it is still possible to act as a headwind hindrance to other believers. There are many ways. I'm going to name a couple for the application purposes as examples. Number one, minimizing God's Word. minimizing God's word. I know someone that several years ago that I used to talk with on a frequent basis and whenever we would get into theological discussions and doctrine and specifically life application aspect of scripture, they would often conclude the conversation by saying, well, it's not a salvation issue. And then we'd move on to something else. And after a while I realized, In fact, every time it seems like we get into conversation, it usually ends with them saying, kind of throwing their hands up and saying, well, at least it's not a salvation issue. And then the conversation stops. What they're really saying is, this isn't all that important. What they're saying is this really doesn't matter in the big picture of following Jesus Christ. What they're saying is, and this is where the danger is, minimizing God's word. Imagine this being said to a new believer or someone spiritually immature, young in Christ, or to a student, a teen in high school or junior high. Imagine continually saying this over and over. Well, it's not a salvation issue. What they're hearing is, don't worry about what it says. Whatever position you take, it really doesn't matter. Given this system of downplaying and minimizing the authority of God's word, there would only be a handful of verses in the Bible that would be considered binding on Christians. The rest, we would be free to believe whatever we want to believe. to kind of just toy around with, or to come up with an understanding that's part scripture, part our own desires and our own heart imaginations, and part compromise with the world. That would be the result of that, if we constantly throw the Bible up in the air and say, well, it doesn't really matter, it's not a salvation issue. Now, there are a few things that are not directly related to our salvation and that believers in Christ can agree to disagree on. Yes, there are some issues like that, but it's not all like that. And I want to be sure we understand that this is a hindrance. Anytime we minimize God's word, that is a hindrance. Can you imagine what that would do to influence a brand new believer? It's essentially telling them, look, you're free to sit in judgment over any part of scripture that you come across unless it explicitly says, believe in Jesus. Other than that, I guess it's not a salvation issue. Minimizing God's word is a surefire way to act as a headwind hindrance to other believers. of progress. We don't want to ever be that person that says, well, it's not a salvation issue, when it really is. Or it's not a salvation issue when what we really mean is, I personally don't have that figured out yet. Let's not make the arrogant mistake of thinking that if we don't have it figured out, then that means no one can figure it out. We are sitting on top of 2,000 years of church history And a lot of this stuff has been looked at before and has been figured out. So I want to be sure that we don't tread into the waters that minimize God's Word. That's one way to be a hindrance. Number two, when our beliefs and our behavior don't match. When what we say we believe and then what we actually do don't match. That can be a hindrance. That can be a hindrance to new believers as they watch us and they say, well, they don't really believe that because they're not doing it. But where this really brings a stiff, strong headwind is with our kids. It's with our kids. Actions. speak louder than words. When our children watch us, we can say whatever we want, but what's going to be imprinted upon them is what we do. And our belief system is going to be communicated through our actions. And that belief system and that impact that is made through our actions is going to last a lifetime. Making sure our beliefs match our behavior, making sure our walk matches our talk, right? Our children see that. If we say Lord's Day worship is important, but then we say, well, mom and dad decided we're not going today, we're just tired, or we stayed up really late last night, or we just need to recharge, we need a break, or whatever worldly reason you want to put in there. The children are not going to learn the fourth commandment. They're not going to learn Lord's Day worship is important. What they're going to learn is, I can go when I want to go. That's what they're going to learn. Or how about self-control? Just kind of losing it. If we say self-control is important, it's important to stay calm, but yet we're blowing up, What are they gonna see? They're gonna see the blowing up, and they're not gonna hear self-control. They're gonna hear it's okay to blow off a little steam once in a while. And they see us snapping at our spouse or at them. It's gonna make a difference. Now, there are gonna be times when our walk doesn't match our talk, and our kids are gonna see it because they live in the same house. When that happens, it's probably a good idea to acknowledge it and to apologize. Call it out yourself, rather than just sweep it under the rug or ignore it, call it out, because that too is going to be a powerful imprinting influence. Are we aware of anything in our lives that would act as a headwind hindrance to others or to our kids? Something else that might lead them to adopt a false understanding of Scripture or a false application of Scripture. Here's a helpful way to remember it. Stay away from anything that would cause someone to go astray. Stay away from anything that would cause someone to go astray, whether it's minimizing God's Word, our behavior not matching our beliefs, or anything else. One of the biggest deterrents for us as believers to stay away from being a headwind hindrance are these words from Paul right here, recognizing that any time that that's happening, we are not only sinning against our brother and sister in Christ, we are sinning against Christ. That should get our attention. That's something we want to stay away from. It's important to recognize headwind behavior in our own lives and repent. Well, just like a strong headwind can be demoralizing if you're on a bike and hinder spiritual progress, a tailwind does just the opposite. There was one particular person who was very much into biking. They entered several races per year. They were constantly training. They had the latest bike and the tow clips and the computer app and everything, and so they were on one of their regular loops, and there was an extremely strong headwind. And the only thing they could think of in their mind was, my time is going to be terrible today. I'm going to come in last place. This is going to be the slowest I've ever done this route. And then they got to the halfway point, and they turned around. And all of a sudden, it was like somebody hit the nitrous. They were just pedaling, and it was exhilarating. They were going extremely fast. When they got back, they ran inside, and they said, honey, honey, look, this is the fastest I've ever done that section of that lap ever. It was a record, new personal best. A tailwind makes a difference. It multiplies our pedaling effort. It provides the right conditions for record-breaking time. Likewise, spiritually, when we act as a tailwind instead of a headwind to our brothers and sisters in Christ, it's like a strong wind giving added strength and speed to other people's spiritual progress. And this can take any kind of form. It can take the form of encouragement, simply going with someone, Maybe someone's starting a new challenge. They say, you know what? I want to get up early every morning and get into the Word. So someone comes across or comes next to them and says, I'll do it with you. That's a tailwind. That's encouragement. Or I want to begin a prayer for so many minutes every day. And they say, you know what? I'll do it with you. That's a tailwind. How about building others up? Sharing your story. God has worked in all our lives in very unique and remarkable ways. Simply communicating one of those God moments where he revealed something or did something or caused something to open up. That's a talent, sharing that with other people. Shedding light on a passage. I don't know if this has ever happened to you. Have you ever done some study or listened to a good sermon or a podcast or read a good book or something where you finally Nail down a passage that's been troubling you, and then within the next few days, someone comes up and mentions they're struggling on that same issue, that's a tailwind help. Pointing them to that resource, explaining it to them, sharing that knowledge of God's Word, that's a tailwind. Praying for others, surrounding someone, and if you've never been in the center of a prayer with people standing around you praying, either in a small group setting, or even just your own family, that is a powerful Holding each other accountable. Getting together with a close brother or sister and asking them, how's your walk? Get specific, how's your walk with Christ? How you doing? Maybe getting together with specific accountability questions that you want them to ask and that you're going to ask them. That's a tailwind help. What a difference it makes to have a tailwind. It's like filling our sails. It's like blowing in our back. It's providing added strength and speed to our spiritual progress. Can we pray and ask God that we would be a tailwind help to our brothers and sisters in Christ? Pray against ever being a hindrance, but pray for a tailwind help either to our brothers and sisters, the local body of Christ, anybody in our sphere of influence, our family. Can we pray to be a tailwind help And then finally, we're going to close with this. It's very difficult to be speaking of wind and helper and not talk about the Holy Spirit. In scripture, the word for spirit is the same word for wind, both in Greek and Hebrew. And the Holy Spirit is literally called the helper in John 14. So it's kind of hard to talk about wind and helper and not talk about the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that when we place our faith and trust in Him, we are given an automatic tailwind helper. And that helper is the person of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. If you're here this morning and you're saying, yeah, I want to make some spiritual progress. First of all, I want to know God. I want to grow in my relationship with Him. It starts with faith in Christ. It starts with faith in Christ. to start in 10th gear, maybe you're on the road and just kind of like doing that slow pedal, but whizzing by, and then all of a sudden you have to come to a stop sign and forget to downshift, and then you have to try to start in 10th. Very difficult. Almost impossible. Imagine being in 10th gear on a very steep incline with a 60 mile an hour headwind. It's not going to happen. That's the same as if you were trying to grow spiritually and not be in Christ. It's like trying to start off in 10th on an incline with a headwind and 12 inches of cement. You can't do it. It can't be done. The first step of growing spiritually is getting right with God. That means repenting of sin and turning to Jesus in faith. Only in Christ can anyone have any kind of spiritual relationship with God. Only in Christ, with sins forgiven and salvation secure, Can we get to the work of making forward progress with God? Acts 2.38 says, and this is the Pentecost sermon of Peter when everyone is convicted of their sin and asks how they are to be saved. Peter says, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the ultimate tailwind helper. John 14, Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. That's the scriptural grounds for the teaching we just went over. It is impossible to please God but be loved by God in a saving sense. outside of Christ. It is impossible to have the ultimate tailwind helper of the Holy Spirit until you're in Christ. Of course, Jesus is talking to the original disciples who would be the apostles in the early church, but the sending of the Holy Spirit to be a spiritual helper is universally true for all believers today. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate tailwind helper that propels people forward in their spiritual progress. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. The Holy Spirit enables us to understand the things of God and understand Scripture. Being a headwind hindrance is a very ugly thing to look at. We saw it in chapter 8. We never want to be responsible for hindering someone's progress, sinning against them, and in the process, sinning against Christ. Instead, we want to be a tailwind helper to our brothers and sisters. The Holy Spirit is not only our ultimate helper, but he will enable us to be Heavenly Father, we thank you for this portion of scripture, and even though we are so far removed from even grasping what it was like to be tempted to participate in a cultic meal in a pagan temple, we understand what it means to be a hindrance, and we understand what it means to be a help. Father, we thank you for sending the ultimate tailwind helper, the Holy Spirit, and we ask that we too would be tailwinds to those around us. that we would provide encouragement, support, challenge, accountability, and simply unconditional acceptance in Christ. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.